r-

LIBRARY OF

I885_IQ56

a ^. fto^efM

: B\t<HOr»ism),a g-',

: Tern (Sterna hirundo).

BIRDS.

Penguin KPygoscelis eaniata).
The Amazon Parrot (Chrysofis).
. Heron {Ardea cinerea).
Eared Owl {/tsio otus).

Black-beaded Gros-beak (
Inipeyan Pheasant Lophoj

CASSELL'S

NATURAL HISTORY

EDITED BY

P. MARTIN DUJ^CAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.

PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KINo's COLLEGE, LONDON ;
CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATIRAL SCIENCES, PHILADELrHIA

Vol. I.

ILLUSTRATED

CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited

LONDON. PARIS i: MELBOURNE

APES AND MONKEYS.
PROFESSOR P. MARTIN DTJNCAN, M.B. (Lond.), F.R.S. F.G.S., &C.

LEMURS.
J. MURIE. M.D., LL.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c„

PROFESSOR P. MARTIN ])UNCAN.

CHIROPTERA.

W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.

INSECTIVORA.

AV. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.

CONTENTS.

CLASS MAMMALIA.

ORDER I.-QUADRUMANA.-THE APES AND MONKEYS.

CHAPTER 1.

INTllOUUCTIOX — THE MAX-SHAPED APES— THE GORILLA.

Tlie ■\VorliI of Monkeys, auil its Division into great Groups— Distinction between tlie Old World and New World Monkeys
—L'lassification of Monkeys— The Gorilla, Ancient and Modern Stories about it — Investigations of Savage and
Du Chaillu — General Description— The Head, Brain, Teeth, Taste, Smell, and Voice— The Air Sacs, and Ear^
The Limbs and Muscles— Methbd of Climbing— Diet— Hunting the Gorilla — Attempts to Capture Alive— A Tame
lioiilla 1

CHAPTEK II.

THE MAXSHAl'to APES (coillmiicd) — THE N-SOHIEGO MBOIVE — THE KOOLO-KAMKA — THE SOKO — THE CHIMPANZEE.

The Nschikgo MBjuvs^Its Nests and Habits— A Specimen Shot— Differences between it and the Gorilla— Structural
Peculiarities— The Koolo-1L\mba— Meaning of the Name — Discovered by Du Chaillu— Its Outward Appearance
and .A.natomy— The Soko -Discovered by Livingstone— Hunting the Soko -The Chimpanzee— In Captivity— On
bo.ird Ship— A Young Cliiuipaiizce— The Brain and Nerves— Anatondcal Peculiarities— General Remarks upon the

Ljioup

CHAPTER III.

THE M.\N-SHAPED APES (fontinucil) — GEXl S Sulllll THE ORAXG-I'TAX.

n of the Name —Description of tlie Orang— Rajah Brooke's First Specimen— Mr. Wallace's E.tperiences in Mias
Hunting— Tlie Home of the Mias— A Mias at Bay— Their Nests, Habits, Food, and Localities— Different kinds of
Orangs— Structural Points — The Intelligence and Habits of the 'Voung- The Brain and its Case— Resemblances
and Differences of Old and Young

CHAPTER IV.

THE M.VX-SIIAPED APES (c liciuded) THE GIliBOXS— THE SIAMANGS — THE TRUE GIBP.OXS.

oneral Characteristics of the Species -The Siamang— Its Habits and Anatomy— Distinctness from the Orangs and
Gibbons— Special Peculiarities— The White-handed Gibbon— Where Found— Its Cry— Its Habits— Special
Anatomical Features— The Hoolook— Where Found— A Young One in Captivity -Shape of the Skull— The
WooTEx APE-Ita Appearance and Habits— The Wow-wow- Very little known about it -The Agile Gibbon—
Reason of the Name- Peculi.irities of the Anatomy— General Comparison of the Different Varieties of the Great
Ajjes

CHAPTER V.

THE IiOO-SHAPED MONKEYS — SEMXOPITHECr.5 — COLOBrS.

leneral Characteristics of the Monkeys of the Old World— Distinguished from the Apes by Length of the Hinder Limbs
and presence of Tails— Divifled into those with and those without Cheek -pouches— Use of the Cheek-pouches—
The two Otetiera of Pouchless Monkeys— The Sacred Monkeys, or Semnopitheci— Derivation of the Name—
VOL. I.

Ti NATURAL HISTORY.

Fiist Discovery — Ape Worshiii in InJia— General Description— Limited to Asia— The Simpai— Its Locality and
Appearance— The Bldeng— Hunted for tlieir Fur— Its Colour and Appearance— The Long-nosed Monkey-
Reason of the Name— Quaint Appearance of the Young —Anatomical Peculiarities— Their First Appearance in
Europe— Description of the Nose— Peculiar Formation of the Stomach— Bezoars — The Hoonuman Monkey- The
Sacred Monkey i:f the Hindoos— Legends about it— The Douc Monkey— Its Appearance and Habitat— The
Black-i.ecgeii I>ouc— Anatomical Peculiarities —The Crowned Monkey— The Red Monkey- The Sumatra
Monkey -The White-bearded Monkey — Found in Ceylon— Its lutelligence— The Gheat Wanderoo -Other
Ceylonese Monkeys— The Genus Colobus, or Thumbless Monkeys— Description of the Hand and Wrist— Dif
ferent Varieties— Colobus Veuus- Colobus Gueueza— Then- Habitat and Pecidiarities- Fossil Semnopitheci . S)

CHAPTER VI.

the dog-shaped monkeys (confi/med) — the guenons.

The Guenons— Where they are Found— Early Notices of them— Resemblance to the Colobi and Macaques— Distinctive
Peculiarity of the Group— Often seen in Menageries— Their Terror of Snakes —Peculiar Expression of the Fac/)—
Beauty of their Skins— Minor Divisions of the Guenons— The Diana Monkey— Origin of the Name— Anecdotes
of their Mischief —The Mona Monkey— Description of one at Paris— The White-nosed Monkey— Origin of the
Name— The Talapoin— Anatomical Peculiarities— The Green Monkey— Found in Seneg:U hi abundance— The
Red-bellied Monkey— The Red Monkey— Observed by Bruce— The Mancjaeey- Singularity of its Appearance
— Special Structural Peculiarities ..... ........... 103

CHAPTER VII.

the dog-shaped monkeys (coilliliucd)- the MAC.iQUES.

Their Description and Anatomy, and its reference to that of the Semnopitheci and Guenons— The Common Macaque—
Its Character — Appropriateness of the Name— Occasionally an Albino— The Round-faced Macaque — Found in
China— Ideas of the Chinese about them— The Toque, or Bonnet Monkey— The Biiunder— Described by Cuvier
—Their Tliievirjg Propensities— Hindoo Tales of their Sagacity— The Moor Monkey— Belanger's Monkey — The
PiGTAii.Ei) Macaque- The Magot— One of the Commonest Monkeys— Described by Galen— Early Notices of—
Predatory Habits —Abundant at Gibraltar— Probably come over from Africa— Similarity to the Baboons— The
Wanderoo— Account of one in the Zoological Society's Collection— Geographical Range of the Macaques . . 114

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOO-SIIAl'ED MONKEYS (continued) — THE HAliOONS.

Early Accounts of the Baboon— Origin of the Name— Held as Sacred by the Egyptians —Used as the Emblem of Thoth —
Brought into Europe in the Middle Ages— Their Literature— General Description of the Family — Structural
Peculiarities— Brain — SkuU — Geogi~Aphical Distribution— The Sacred Baboon -Found In Great numbers in
Abyssinia-Formidable Antagonists— Size and Colour of the Male .and Female— Anecdotes— Propensity for
Spirituous Licpiors and Thieving— The Gelada Baboon— The Pig-tailed Baboon— Usually called Chacma-
Description of it -Its Ferocity in Captivity- Le Vaillanfs Monkey— The Sphinx Baboon— Its Dexterity of Aim
—The Anubis Baboon— Its Locality and Food — Method of Running -The Common Baboon — Often found in
Captivity — Anecdotes — Anatomical Peculiarities ... .......,,. 129

CHAFTER IX.

THE IIOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (cOntUdcd) — THE llAKOONS.

The Second Division of the Baboons— The Mandrill— Easily distinguished from the rest -Peculiar Appearance and
Colour of tlie Face- The Cheek-ridges- Noticed by the Ancients- -Brutality of its Disposition— " Jerry " at the
Surrey Ganlens -Their Wild State— Anatomical Peculiarities— The Back-bone and Liver— The Drill— Distin-
guished from the Mandrill— Probable Antiquity of these Baboons— Theories of their Relationship to other Animals -
The Black Baboon— Its Locality and Description— Probably a Forest Ape— General Summary of the Dog-shaped
Quadrumana and Classification of the Group ] : (

CHAPTER X.
THE MONKEYS OF THE NEW WORLD.

THE CElilD.T! THE HOWLERS — THE WOOLLY MONKEYS THE SPIDER MONKEYS — THE S.UOVS.

The Monkeys of the New W^orld— How Distinguished from those of the Old— Their Division into Families— The First.
Family, The Cebid.e, with Prehensile Tails— The Howlers— Appropriateness of their Name— Where Found-
General Description— The Yellow-tailed Howler— Anatomical Peculiarities and Appearance of the Face —

CONTENTS.

Other Members of the Family-THE BLACK HoWLER— Its Locality— THE WOOLLY MONKEYS— The Capahro axd
Baurici nil— First noticeil by Humboldt— Peculiarities of the Skeleton — The Spider Monkeys— Seen by Hum
bolilt in the Brazilian Forests— Kemarkable Power of the Tail — Flexibility of the Limbs— Confoi-mation of tlie
Brain— Other Species— The Coait a— Curious Stories of them in Captivity— The Chameck— The Black Spider
Monkey - Its Geographical Kange— Its Position in Sleep— The Variegated Spider Monkey— The Sajous— The
Caiarara— Observed by Bates on the Amazon— Other Varieties— The Brown Sajou— The Capuchin Sajou—
Described by Brehm— Their Remarkable Dexterity and Cleverness — Diseases of Monkeys

CHAPTER XT.

THE CEBID.E (concluded.) — THE SQVIIUIEL MONKEYS — DOI'ROUCOULIS — SAKIS.

General Description of the Second Division of Cebidre —Without Prehensile Tails— The Squirrel Monkeys- Described
by Buffon and Humboldt— Peculiarities of the Species —Anecdotes by Le Vaillant— A Tragic End- The Widow
Monkey— Origin of the Name— The Onappo— Its Nocturnal Habits and Peculiar Cry— The Douroucoulis, or
Owl Monkeys— General Description of the Family -Peculiar Formation of tlie Arm-bone— The Thbbe-striped
Owl Munkky -Described by Humboldt and Bates- The Kedi'ooted Dol'roucouli — The Sakis— Remarkable
Resemblance in the Face to Man- - Structural Peculiarities- Thi: (.'ouxio— The Parauacu— The Monk — Descrip-
tion of the Brain— Other Varieties of the Sakis— Anecdotes of tliem- The Black headed Sakis— General
Description .................... 185

CHAPTER XII.

THE marmosets AND TAMAUINS — H.IPALE — MIDAK.

The Dentition of the Genus Hapale, or the Marmosets, or Ouistitis— The Face— The Paw-like Hands and Feet— Their
Claws— The Skull and Brain, and the Nature of the Diet— The Common Marmoset— Its Habits— The Cloaked
MAR.MOSET— The Genus Midas— The Tamarins -Their Dentition — The Negro Tamarin— Its Habits— Midas
Argentatum— Deville's Midas— The Silky Tamarin— Notes on the Arctopitliecini in General . . . .197

CHAPTER XIII.

general remarks on the MONKEYS.

The Classification of the Monkeys of the New World— The Geographical Distribution of the Genera— The Fossil Monkeys
of tlie New and Old World and their Alliances— The Former Old Fauna of Em-ope, Asia, and Africa— The Resem-
blance of Monkeys to other Animals and Man 203

CIIAPTKR XIV. •

TME .iENTKA IN:.'::IS AMI I.lMI.KMr;: IIAIAIIMII:.

The Name of the Genus Lemur popularly given to the (iroup Lemuroida the Coirect Name — Their Distinctive Characters
—Their Hands and Feet— Ankle-bones -Tail -Rilr ilimhih Nostrils -Coloiu- of tlie Eye -Ears -Teeth— Brain—
P.esemblince to Monkeys— Tlieir Locality Lemur at Liberty— Its Playfulness — Division of the Lemurs— Beauties
of Madagascar— Genus Indris — Described liy Grandidier— Their Locality— Colour— Fingers — Teeth — The Diade.m
iNDRis— Specimens at the British Museum - Little known about it— The Woolly Lemur— Described by Sonnerat—
The Short-tailed Indris— Distinguished by its Tail— Its Skull— Genus Lepilemur— Their Teeth— Tail— The
Weasel Lemur— The Grey Lemur— Specimens obtained by Pollen— Their Cry . . . . . . .210

CHAPTER XV.
THE L E M U R O I D A (cmilniiicl)-

THE GENERA LrMUR AND CliriltOGALE.

I'Jed by the French ;!/«*«— Restricted to Madagascar— Their Activity— Different Species —How to Distinguish them
—The Ring-tailed Lemur— Reason for the Name— Tail— Colour of Body— Eye— H.and and Foot— Geographical
Range -Anatomical Peculiarities— Playfulness in Captivity— The Wh-te-fronted Lemur- Specimen in the
Zoological Gardens— The Lemur of Mayotte— Where Found— Colour— Manner of Life— The MoNGOosr,
Lemur- Description of one sent to Buffon— The Ruffed Lemur— Described by Ellis— Domesticated Specimens
—The Black Lemur— Geographical Range— Hand— Foot— Genus Cheirogale- Bushy Tails— Resemblance to the
Hapalemur— Nocturnal Habits -Difficult to Distinguish— The Forked-crowned Cheirogale— Wonderful
Powers of Leaping— f'ry— Reason for the Name— A Nest-makini,' Variety— Specimens in the Jardin des Plantes—

Resemblance to the Galagos 225

1*

NATURAL mSTOST.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE LEMUROIDA {_c<yncluded) — THE G.VLAGOS,

The Galagos— Demidoff's Galago and the Mouse Galago— The Senegal Galago— The Sennaah Galago— The
Maholi Galago— The Geand, ob Thick-tailed Galago— Monteibo's Galago— The Afbican Slow Lemues—
Van Bosman's Potto— Genus Arctocebus, ob Beab Monkey Tribe— The AngwAntibo— The Asiatic Slow
Lemueoids— The Slow Lokis— The Slendeb Lohis— CIenus Tarsus— The Spectbe Tarsier, or Tabsius—
The Malmao— Genus Cheiromys— The Aye-Aye— The Piizzlc of the Naturalists— Opinions regarding it— Speci-
men Examined by Owen— Feeding— Teeth— Hands-Classification of thj Lemm-oida — Geogi-aphical Distribution . '2'.il\

CHIROPTERA, OR WING-HANDED ANIMALS.

THE BATS.
CHAPTER I.

t.'iSIFICATION 01' bats — THE FEVIT-EATING BAl

e of ^Esop's Fables— Opinions of the Ancients regarding B.ats— Scaliger's Statement of the Puzzle— Opinions of the Middle
Ages— The True Position of the Bats— The Wing of the Bat— General Structure : The Breast-bone, Arms, Fingers,
"Wing-membrane," Wings, Skull, Eibs, Pelvis, Legs— In Repose- Walking— The Teats— Organs of the Senses—
" Blind as a Bat"— The Eyes— Spallanzani's Experiments— The Bat's Power of Directing its Flight in the Darkest
Places— Their Food— In Winter Quarters— A Battue of Bats— Fedgivorous AND Insectivorous Bats . . . 259

SUB-OEDEE I.— MEGACHIROPTEEA, OE LAEGE BATS.

PTEROriD.^, OB FIiriT-E.^TING BATS.

laracferistics of Fruit-eating Bats— Distribution— Diet— Flying Fox of Ceylon: its Habits, as described by Sir E.
Tennent-The Flight of the PtcropU/w -Known to the Ancients— The Fruit Bats in the Zoological Gardens—
Indian Flying Fox— Diet — Dissipated Habits— Great ICvlong — Linnseus's Description- In their Dormitories—
NiccjBAR, Maned, Japanese, and Grey Fruit Bats— Grey-headed Fbuit Bat— Gould's Fruit Bat— Kous-
sette— Egyptian Fruit Bat— Hottentot Fruit Bat— Maritime Fbuit Bat— SIargined Fbuit Bat -White's
Fruit B.vr— Hammer-headed Bat— Habpv Bat— Greater Harpt Bat— Cloaked Fruit Bat— Dwarf Lonu-
« tongued Fruit Bat— Black-cheeked Fbuit Bat— Fijian Long-tongued Fruit Bat 20 '.

CHAPTER III.
SUB-ORDEE II.— MICEOCHIROPTEEA, OE INSECTIVOROUS BATS.

horseshoe DATS AND MEQADEKMS.

N'SECTIVOROUS B.VTS- Mr. Dobson's Objection to the Name— Characteristics— Nasal Appendages— The Vespebtilio-
NINE AND Emballondrine ALLIANCES— The Fur in the two Alliances- The Horseshoe Bats— General Charac-
teristics — Distribution — Diet — Carnivorous Propensities — Greater Horseshoe Bat — General Appearance —
"Nose Leaves ;'—Habitat—THE Lesser Horseshoe Bat— Habitat— The Mourning Horseshoe Bat— The
Australian Hoeseshoe Bat— The Obange Bat— Phyllorhin.e— The Diadem Bat— Character of their "Nose
Leaves "—Captain Hutton's Account of their Habits— The Persian Trident Bat— The Megaderms- The Lyre
Bat— Characteristics— Called Vampire by Europeans in India— Mr. Blyth's Account of a Megaderm'a Blood-
thirstiness— The Cordate Leaf Bat— The African Megaderm— The Desert Bat :

VE.SPERTILIONIDiE, OR TRUE BATS.

The Genus Vespertilio and the Family Vesiiertilionidas-Ch.ai-acteristics : Nostrils— Tail— Ears— Dentition— Diet— Distri-
bution—Long-eabed Bat— Ears- Distribution -Asleep— In Captivity -BARBASTELLE-Characteristics— Distribu-
tion—Habits— Flight — In CaiJtiiity-BiG EARED Bat— Townsend's Bat — The Genus NyctophUm — Its Ti-ue Place
— Characteristics — Geopfroy's Nyctophile—Pipistrelle— Distribution— Diet— Noctule— Natural Food — Mr.
DanieU's Observations -Sebotine— Parti-coloured Bat — Hairy-armed Bat — Negro Bat — Kuhl's Bat —
Nilsson's Bat— Coeomandel Bat— Thick footed Bat— Temminck's Bat— Wel\titsch's Bat— New Zealand
Bat— M01I3F.-00L0UEED Bat— Natteber's Bat— Daubenton's Bat— Whiskered Bat— Black and Orange Bat
—Painted Bat— ItARPY Bat— Red Bat— Schreiber's Bat— Bbown Pig Bat— Straw-coloured Bat. . . 292

CHArTEU \-.

EMTIALLONUUID-'K, OU THICK-LEGGED BATS. r

Characteristics of the Emba.lto,iirnda\ or Thick-legged Bats— C'l'vier's FuBY—The Genus Surfoptenix—HTRiVKU Sack-
winged Bat— The Pouch or Sa.c in the 'Wing-raembrane— Dentition— Moi'ntain Bat— Tomb Bat— Origin of its
Name— Dentition— The Peculiar Sac or Pouch under the Chin — Other Sjiecies of the Genus (note) — Egyptian
Ehinopome— Difficulty of Assigning its True Place in tlie System— Characteristics— G heat Habe-lipped Bat —
Seba's Description— Linnasus's Mistake — Dentition — Distribution — Tile Genus ^itftinomi'it — Oestoki's Bat — Palk
Chestnut Mastiff Bat— Distribution— Habits— Smoky Mastiff Bat— Habits— Collared Bat— Hideous ITgU-
ness-Oharacteiistics-NEVV Zealand Short-tailed Bat -Characteristics— Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane,
Thumb, and Foot

PllYLLOSTOMIU.i;, OU

I)istinguishing Murics of the PIit//hst07nidce — Location — Diet — Blood-sucking Propensities — E.xaggerations of tlie Older
■\Vritei-s— Testimony of Azara— Darwin's Evidence— Bat-bites— The Witness of Bates, Wallace, Fraser. Prince
Maximilian-Conclusion of the Whole Matter — The Desmodonts and Javelin Bat— The Tongue in the Genus Phiil-
/osfomn— Blainvilles Bat— E.\traordinary Development of Face and Head— Owl-faced B.\t— Javelin Bat —
AUied Species— Vampire Bat— Mr. Bates' Testimony to its Inoffensiveness, and Description of its Habits— Neu-
wied's Large-leafed Bat— Gkeat-eared Leaf Bat— Soricine Bat— Redman's Bat— Sezekorn's Leaf Bat-
Spectacled Stenoderm— Jamaican Stenoderm—Desmodus— Classification— Dentition— Blood sucking Propen-
sities— The Bites- -Stomachs of Desmodus, Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bats — Concluding Remarks .

ORDER IXSECTIVORA.

C IL'-GOS — BANOSRINGS — Jl'MPIXG SlIKEWS HEDGEHOGS TAXKEtS RIVER SHREW.S.

Functions of the Insect-eaters in the Order of Nature — Their Leading Peculiarities— Classification— Colugos— Various
Opinions regarding theii- Place — CoLlGO, OR FLYING Lemur— The Pa«nf/i«m— Parachute-like Membrane— Dentition
-Offspring— Diet— Bangskings— Tana— Ferruginous Baxgsbing - Horsfield's Bangsring — Low's Ptivo-
cERQi'E— Short-tailed Bangsring ^Tumping Shrews -Elkphaxt Shrew —Algerian Jumpin': ;^iif.i:\v rrri-.o-
DROME— Rhynchocyon- Hedgehog— Characteristics-Distiihution -Diet -Attacks Snakes ami M). i s T i>t- for
Eggs and Game— Its " Spiny Skin "—" Rolled up''— Enfiuies Female and Young-LoNG K m;i i. 11;1";iii.m; -
Collared Hewjehog— Bulau— T.vnrecs— Tanrec— Texuhac Telfair's Tendrac-Rict, 'I'fni'Iia- Kai-.ed
Earth Shrew— Agouti — AxMicjui — West African Pjter Shrew 342

CHAPTER 11.

GOLDEN MOLES — .MOLES — DESMANS — SHREWS.

;eneral Description of the Golden Mole Family— Their Points of DifftiLiur from tlie True Mole— The Cape Golden
Mole— Its Varieties— The Family of True Moles— Thk (.imm-in M hi Described— Distribution— Teeth— Fore-
limbs -Breast-bone- Not a Miserable Creature— Extieiii. \.,M„;ity Hiit -His BUndness a Popular EiTor— A
Thirsty Soul -His Fortress -The Roads leading to it Sp.-.a ,.f a Frightened Mole— " Mole-hills "—A-wooing—
His Strong Family Affections— His Persecution a Doubtful Benefit -The Blind Mole— Several Allied Species —
The Star-nosed Mole— Its Snout -The Common Shrew Mole— Other Species in the United States— The
Family of Desmans -The Desman -Its Otter-like Habits -Its Trunk— The Pyrenean Desman— The Hairy-
Taile:i Mole-Shrew- The Family of Shrews— The Common Shrew, or Shrew-Mouse— Superstitions about it
— Dekay's Shrew— The Garden Shrew— The Tuscan Shrew— The Rat-tailed Shrew— The Water
Shrew— Essentially Aquatic -Its Prey-AUied Species-THE Tibetan Water Shrew— The Tailless Shrew
—Concluding Remarks— Classilication— Distribution— Affinities

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Orang-utan and Chimpanzees in the Berlin
Aquarium

Group of Apes and Monkeys, and a Lemur

American Monkey, with Prehensile Tail .

( )ne of the Anthropomorpha— The Chimpanzee

(Jne of the Cynomorpha — The Baboon

( iroup of Lemurs ....

Foot and Hand of a Monkey— A Catarhine 5L
— A Platyrhine Jlonkey— Monkey
Pouches

The JIale Gorilla ....

Female Goiilla and Youu,^

Front View of the Skull of the Gorilla

A Family uf Gorillas

Face of the tiniilla ....

Check

Palm of the [•'•;,{

Hand uf v.,,,,!..;
Side Vie"- nf tin. Sk

■ikelr

G(nilla— Back of the

-The Land of th

not of Man-
villa

Bones

Forest in the Ga

Gorilla

Bones of the Fore-arm and Arm of the Gorii

View. Shoulder or Blade-bone
Hand-hones of the Gorilla
Hunting the Gorilla ....

Bones of the Ankle arul

Ankle and Foot of (,
Young Gorilla and Dog ....
The Nsehiego JIbouve ....
Skeleton of N.schiego ....

Skull of Nsehiego

The Koolo-Kamba

Portrait of a Young Soko

A Soko Hunt

The ( 'liimpanzee

A Village in the Gaboon Country

Sick Orang-utan

Brain of Chimpanzee ....

Orang-utans To fn

Front and Side Face of the Orang .

The Orang at Bay

A Family of Orang-utans

The Orang and its Nest ....

A Y'oung Orang

The Air Pouches of Orang— The Brain of Or
Wrist-bones of Orang ....

The Siamang

Skeleton of the Siamang ....

Group of Siamangs and Gibbons

The "White-handed Gibbon

Skull of Hoolook

The Hoolook ....

The Wooyen Ai)e .

The Agile Gibbon .

Jaw of the Gibbon— Bai-k of Ja
Gibbon ....

Face of the Black-crcsted Monkey

The Negi-o Monkey .
j The Long-nosed Monkey .
' Y'oung Long-nosed Monkey

Stomach "of the Long-noso:I Miinl;c'>

The Sumatra Monkey
[ TheDouc

The Crowned Monkey
I The Priamus Monkey
I Colobus Verus ....
I TheGuereza ....
1 The Diana Monkey .
I Face of the Diana Monkey
; The White-nosrd Monkey

Tlie Ilradaihl Slu, aiders of tlie Tal

Th.' (Ii-.ii aii.l Kid Monkeys .

Tlie i;,'.l-brlli,.a Jlonkev .

The Mangabey— The Foot and U,
gabey ....

The Common Macaque

The Toque . .' .

The Bhunder, and a Bonnet Monkey

The Moor Macaque .

The Pig-tailed Macaque .

The Magot ....

Wrist-bones of the Magot

Face of the Wanderoo

The Wanderoo ....

Cynocephalus ....

Judgment Scene from an Egypt

Baboons upon an Ant-hill

Brain of the Baboon

The Sacred Baboon .

View in Abyssinia .

The Sacred Baboon .

Y'oung Hamadryas .

A Village in Nubia .

The Pig-tailed Baboon

Skull of the Chacma

Skidl of the Anubis Baboon .

The Anubis Baboon

The Common Baboon

To face piif/e

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Tlic llanJrill '■J*'

Young- MaiulriU 1S7

Skull of tho Mandi-ill 1S8

The Drill ISO

Tho Black Baboon ICl

The Skeleton of the JIandiill 162

A Group of Howlers 16J

Bones of the Tail of the Howler . . . .107
Section of Head and of Air Sac of the Howler —
Upper Part of Breast-bone and Collar-bones of
the Howler— Brain of the Howler . . .168
Yellow-tailed Howler and Young .... 169

The Capano 170

Group of Spider Monkeys . To face page 173

Brain of the Spider Monkey 173

Jaw of the Spider Monkey 174

The Coaita . . " 176

Tho C'hameck . . . . . . . .177

The lilaek and Variegated Spider Monkeys . .179

The Hooded Spider Monkey 180

The Brown Capuchin 181

TheCai 184

The CaUithrix Amictus 188

Arm-bone of Owl Monkey 189

The Red-footed Douroiicouli . . . .190

Brain of Monk 192

The Monk 193

The Cou.\io 194

The White-headed Saki 196

The Common Marmosets 197

Hand-bones of Marmoset — Foot-bones of Marmoset. 198

DeviUe's Midas 201

Skull of Marmoset 202

Head of the Black Howler 20.5

Y'oung Orangs 209

Group of Lemuroids . . . To face page 211

Lemuroids at Home in Madagascar .... 212
Head of Indris (Propithecus) Verrau.xii, to show

Lemuroid Nostrils 213

Eye of Lemuroid, slinwiuf;- { ..i,ti;„ ti..u and Dila-
tation of Pupil— T'|.i"r Siiit'inr I'.rain of Lemur

Catta 214

Side View and Under Surtaee of the Tongue of a

Lemuroid .21.5

Gamett's Galago 216

Skull of Black Indris, showing Adult Dentition —

Milk Dentition of Indris 219

The Diadem Indris and the 'Woollv Indris . 220

The Black or Short-tailed Indris ' . . . .221

The Weasel Lemur 224

The Grey or Broad-nosed Lemur .... 22.5
Ring-tailed Lemurs . To face page 227

The Jlongoose Lemur, or Woollv ilacaeo . . 229

The Ruffed Lemur . . .' . . .230

Skeleton of the Ruffed I,emur 231

Head of the Black Lemur 232

The Forked-crowned Cheirogale .... 234
The Maholi Galago and the Senegal Galago . . 236
Ears of Maholi Gaiago, contracted and open . . 237
Tho Muscles and Tendons of the Tail of Grand
Galago— Foot -bones of Grand, or Thick-tailed

Galago 233

Monteiro's Galago 239

Palm of Hand of Gamett's Galago— Sole of Foot,

with long heel, of Garnett's Galago . . .240
The Potto in its Sleeping and Waking Attitudes . 241

The Angwantibo 242

Hand and Foot of Aretocebus 243

The Slow Loris 244

Rete Mirabile — Slow Loris 24.5

The Slender Loris, showing its Attitu'.c; and

Habits 247

The Tarsius .249

The Aye-Aye 251

Forest Scene in Madagascar 2.53

Bones of the Hand and Foot of Aye- Aye . . . 256
Skull of the Aye-Aye (side and front view) . . 237

Marsh Bat 258

Skeleton of the Slouse-coloured Bat .... 260

The Sternum of Flying Fox 261

Barbastelle Walking— Head of Long-eared Bat . 263
Head of the Spectacled Vampire . . . .264

Head of the Kalong 266

Fruit Bats of Ceylon at Home . . Tu f.nv page 267
Dentition of the Egyptian Fruit Bat . . .267
Representation of a Fruit Bat on an Egyptian

Monument 269

Collared Fruit Bat with Young .... 270

Kalong 272

Head of the Maned "Fruit Bat— Head ul the Grey

Fruit Bat 273

The Roussette .....•■■ 27.''
Head of the Margined Fruit Bat .... 276
Tho Hammer-headed Bat . . ... 27^

Teeth of the Dwarf Long-tongued Fruit B it . . 278

The Black-cheeked Fruit Bat 279

Hairs of Bats, JIagnitied 280

Head of the Greater Horseshoe il.ct . ; . . 281

Tho Greater Horseshoe Bat 282

Head of Lesser Horseshoe Bat . . . . 283

Head of the Mourning Horseshoe Bat . . . 284

The Orange Bat 285

Head of the Male and F.'Tiiale Diaibn, Bat . . 286
Headof the Persian Trid.nt r.,(l . .287

Head of the Lyre Bat-TcUi "f tlic Lyre Bat . . 288
Head of the Cordate Leaf Bat— Head of the African

Megaderm 289

The African Megaderm— Head of the Desert Bat . 290

The Desert Bat 291

Dentition of the Thick-legged B:it . . - - 292
British Bats at Home . . . To facjpage 'i93

Long-eared Bats in Flight 293

Long-eared Bat Sleeping 294

Head of Barbastelle 295

Ear and Head of Townsend's Bat .... 296

Geoffrey's Nyctophile 297

Pipistrelle in Flight 298

Head of Noctule 299

Head of Parti-coloured Bit 301

HeadofTemminck'sBat-Welwitsch's Bat . .303

New Zealand Bat ^04

Head of Mouse-coloured Bat 30.5

Black and Orange Bat 307

Skull of Harpy Bat-Skull of Re 1 Bat . . .309
Foot and Thumb of the Brown Pig Bat . . -311
Head of Straw-coloured Bat 312

XATVRAL UISTUlil'.

Dentition of Striped Saek-winged Bat — Wing of
* Striped Sauk-wingcd Bat, fi-om Ijelow — Arm of

Striped Sack- winged Bat, from above . .313

The Mountain Bat 314

Skull of Tomb Bat— Dentition of Tomb Bat . .315
Head of Male and Female Long-armed Bat — Head

of Male and Female Blaek-bearded Bat— Skull

ofRhinopome 316

Egyptian Rhinopome — Head of Great Iiare-lipped

Bat 317

Skull and Front Teetli of (.'estoni's Bat . . .318

Head of Cestoni's Bat 319

Head of Collared Bat S21

The Collared Bat 322

Head of Kcw Zealand Short-tailed Bat— Tectli of

New Zealand Short-tailed Bat— Thumb and Foot

of New Zealand Short-tailed Bat . . . 32i
The New Zealand Short-taUed Bat . . . . 31' 1

SkuU of Javelin Bat 325

Mouth of Spectacled Stenodenn — Head of Blain-

rille'3 Bat 32»

Skull and Dentition of Blainvillc's Bat— Blainville's

Bat 329

Head of Owl-faced Bat 330

Head of Javelin Bat— Head of Vamiiire Wi. . .331
Head of Sorieinc Bat . . . . . . 333

Redman's Bat 334

Skull of Desmodus 338

Dcsmodus 339

Stomach of Dcsmodus — Stomach of Long-eared Bat

— Stomach of Ptcrojius 3i0

.Low's Ptilocerque 342

Skeleton of Shrew — Dentition of Hedgehog . .343
Hind Foot of Colugo — Bones of Hind Foot of Colugo 345
Lower Incisors of Colugo— Coin '^'o .... 34(i

Skull of Colugo 347

Dentition of Ferruginous Bangsring — Tana, Golden-
tailed Variety 34 s

Sole of Right Hind Foot of Elepliant Shrew —

Elephant Shrew 351

Sole of Right Hind Foot of Pclrodrouic— the Rhyn-

choeyon 352

The Hedgehog 351

The Bulau 35N

1. Teudi-ac; 2. TtUair's Teudrac : 3. Tanrec

Til f lice page 35!)

Dentition of Tanrc 359

The Agouta 362

Upper Jaw of West African River Shrew . . 363

Lower Jaw of West African River Shrew— The West

African River Shrew 364

Skull of Golden Mole— Dentition ef tJolden Mole . 365
Sternum of Golden Mole— Fore Foot of Golden Mole 366

The Common Mole .367

Dentition of Common Mole — Fore Liiubs of Common

Mole— Sternum of Common Mole . . . SIpS

Mole's Fortress 37J

Side View of Snout of Star-nosed Mole — Front View

of Snout of Star-nosed Mole . , . .3'

Dentition of Desman " 37'

•1. Pigmy Shi'cw; 2. Common Shrew; 3 and 4.

Water Shrew ... To Ji':' page Z' ■

Dentition of Common Sln-cw 37 ?

l{at-taUed Shrew . . . . , . , S7.

INTRODUCTION.

HE Natural History of Animals has always been a most interesting and
instructive subject, and its popularity increases yeai- after year. It is
a branch of knowledge which is entertaining at every age, and it is a
favourite stuUy with men of eveiy race and country, and of every intel-
lectual capacity. AJl children delight in having their little tasks assa
ciated with pictures of animals, and the alphabet is learned all the more
readily by its being illustrated \vith spirited drawings of household pets
and the terrible creatures of the woods. The marvels of the intelligence
of the dog and hoi-se are inexhaustible soui'ces of delight to joung
readers ; and there are few greater pleasures than those which are felt when living animals, whose
descriptions and habits have been the subject of instruction and amusement, are seen in some large
menagerie or zoological gardens. On the whole, it is probable that few books are so interesting to
young men and women as those wlucli relate to animals, and it is their study which, in the majority
of instances, leads to the desire for further knowledge of Natural History. The young student soon
begins to yearn for iiifonnation regarding the manner in which diiferent creatures live; how some
breathe air, how othere live in water; how it is that some fly and othere crawl; and he desires to
comiect the peculiar construction of animals with theii- method of life. Or he may l>e content with
endeavoiu-ing to understand the names of animals, and the reasons why they are arranged or classified
in a particular manner by scientific men.

As yeai-s roll on, if the interest in Natural History has not diminished, the man, with increasing
intelligence and scope of reading, masters the knowledge desired in his youth, and has the opportunity,
should he cai-e to gi-asp it, of the highest intellectual enjoyment. He can enter into the consideration
and discussion of the mysterious problems of life : of its origin; of the reasons why animals difler; why
they are distributed here and there, or limited in theii- position in the world ; what connection there
may be between those of the past and of the present, and of the relation between ' the creation and
the Creator.

Be-sides tliis, even should he not aim so high, the man who has had a slight training in Natural
History often employs his knowledge for the benefit of art and commerce. How beautiful are the
representations of animals on some old coijis, how gi-otesque are those on others ! Yet the most correct,
and, therefore, the most beautiful, were the result of the careful study of Nature, ^\^lat benefits to
men have resulted from the production of certain breeds of horses, sheep, and oxen ! But it has been
the study of Nature, and of the laws of the powei-s of inheritance, which led to most of these results:
and thus the practical man is dependent upon the student for his success.

NotwithstancUng the interesting nature of the study of the Natural History of Animals, there is

xiv AATCHAL HISTOKV.

certainly iiiorj interest taken in it during early life than later on. As a rule, men have no time for it,
or they iind that, after gaining a certain amount of knowledge, they must study hard if further progress
is to be made. Moreover, the vast amount of useless things which had to be learned at school and
college ha\e no relation to Natural Historj-, except, perhaps, to convey erroneous ideas and to teach
flibles, so that tliis important science lias generally to be begun in earnest after the usual education
has been completed. When the determination has been made to learn the Natural History of Animals,
the student will have to study two separate, yet iiiter-dependent, branches of knowledge, namely.
Zoology and Comparative Anatomy : for the one considers the external shape, habits, distribution, and
classification of animals, and the other refers to their internal construction, anatomy, and physiology,
and the relation which the internal parts bear to the external in the scheme of classification. These
stu<lies are evidently inseparable.

Now, it is the ftict that, owing to the importance of Comparative Anatomy to those who study
the Anatomy of Man, it is much more frequently learned than simple Zoology. Comparative Anatomy is
useful to the medical man, but Zoology is not, and therefore the majority of students whose previous
education has led them up to Natural History care but little for the classificatoiy part. It is equally
true that the iiames and the apparently complicated methods of expression used by zoologists deter
most people from the study. If this is a coirect view of the relation of the Natural History of
Animals to our education, and to the advance of our intellectual cultiu-e, it is evident that there is a
weak point in the method of the instruction of this charming science during that age when young
people begin to inquire for more solid information. The story-book has been read, and the heavy
work on Zoology and Comparative Anatomy is as yet sealed, and hence books are required in advance o*"
the one which will lead up to the other; books which — ^whilst they entertain — instruct arid convey,
in- simple language, the residts of tlie best and latest scientific inqtiiries. This kind of litcratmv
should, moreover, be sufficiently meritorious to attract the general reader who may desire information
in any particular portion of the Natural History of Animals.

The book of which this is the Preface has been written in ortler to obviate the difficulties
■which have been alluded to, and to form a useful and entertaining Natural History of Animals.
It is the result of the work of several English naturalists— of men who have felt the want of
such a book in their own studies, and who have had to encomiter the difficulties which it is
trusted that it will remove. Every endeavour has been made to explain the most interesting facts
simply and correctly, and to unite the studies of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. The anecdotes
of the instinct and habits, and of the methods of the capture of animals, have been given so as to
illustrate particular gifts and the actions of important organs and structures.

The plan of this Work is not to open with a classification of animals, the majority of whose
names and shapes are entirely unknown to the reader, but to describe the shape, nature, and habits
of groups of creatures, and then, when they have become familiar, to arrange and classify them.
In a popular work it seems more desirable to proceed upon a plan of this kind, than to lead off'
with an introduction dealing with the nature and importance of Natural History studies,
with the abstract ideas of classification, and with the explanation of the necessity of dividing
the Animal kingdom according to the principles of Comparative Anatomy. For, obviously,
such an introduction would to a large extent defeat the very objects with which this Work
has been uudertakou.

IKTSODUCTIGir. .-.v

It is necessary, llo^veveI•, to make a few observations on what is terniotl classification and its
nature. Animals are classified by their resemblances and (tiflerences. Those creatures wliic'a
resemble eacli other more than others are grouped together, and are separated from dissimilar
groups. The lii-st act in classification is to distinguish one animal from others by difierences in
the shape and internal construction, and the second is to gi-oup together the beings whose differences
are small. A kind or species is a letter of the Zoological Alphabet, and it is usually sr.id to refer
to beings which i)roduce otliers like unto themselves. A genus is a gvoiip of species closely
resembling each other ; a word in zoological language made up of few or many letters of the
alphabet. There may be few or many species in a genus, and wliilst some of them very closely
resemble each other, others are not quite so much alike ; and these link on one genus to another.
The notion of a genus is to include a number of kinds in a group wliicli has a character given to it:
that is to say, certain peculiarities of sluqie ainl ui" anatomy. It will be obvious that the genus Ls an
artificial atl'air, and is necessary for the purpose of making science ea,sy.

In ordiT to explain this, look at a domestic cat, a lion, a tiger, a leopard, and a cheetah, and it
will be obser\ed tliat tli.^re are differences between them in shape and colour wliich cause them to
be separated into distinrt si'EriES. They all have some points of construction in common ; and,
therefore, they are classified together as five species of a genus — the genus Ulix.

Then consider tile figure and colour of a hyrena, and of a civet, and study their internal
anatomy, and it will be found that although there niv differences between them which are siittieient to
necessitate the placing of the hyoenas in one genus {J/i/'i ,i-i), and the civets {Viverra) in another ; yet
the genera are closely united or allied, in consequcnci' "1' tlicir possessing many similarities.

On comparing the genus Felts with the genera Hyu ua and Vicerra, it will be noticed that the
last two resemble each other more than they do the fir.st, and thus two families are formed — one the
i^e^Mwr, to comprehend the genus Felis; and another the V iverrina, io include the genera of hysenas
and the civets. But the slight resemblance between these families is sufficient to cause them to be
grouped in an order which is called Carnivora, or that of carnivorous beasts.

Again, the Monkeys and Sloths do not i-esemblo each other in shape and internal construction
sufficiently to be placed in the same oi-der even, but they and the Carnivora, and many other animals,
suckle their young. They may, therefore, be separated, in a classification, from other animals which
fly and lay eggs, and do not suckle : as the birds. The Birds form one CLASS, and the Mammalia, or
animals that suckle their young, form another. Other Classes are formed by the Reptiles, Amiiliibia,
Fishes, etc.

All the animals of these numerous Classes have a back-bone; but if we examine a nautilus, a
snail, a beetle, a worm, a coral, or an animalcide, nothing like an internal skeleton made up of bones,
some of which are placed inside the back, can be discovered. Hence all the animals can be arranged
into two SUE-KISGDOMS, those with and those without back-bones, or the Vertebrata and tl.e
Invertebrata. (The name verlehmta is taken from the Latin word vertebra, which means a turning-
joint in the body, or a back-bone.) Those are the sub-kingdoms of the animal kingdom, which is so
called in contradistinction to the kingdom, of plants.

It must be remembered, however, that the best classification is but an attempt of a finite
understanding to arrange the infinitely variable things of Nature. It is but an artificial and arbitrary
arrangement which is necessary for study : for were the whole truth before us, there would be no

xvi yATUSAL IIISTORY.

classification which would deiJend on marked differences in shape and internal consti-uction. Were
the figures and anatomy of every animal that has lived, and of every creature which is now living on
the globe, placed before us, the gaps which enable one genus to be separated from another would be
filled up, and even species would cease to be distinguished. But, in spite of the artificial nature of
the classifications, there is this to be said of them : that they give some faint indications of the
philosophy of creation. The differences and resemblances of animals relate to structures of the body
which have been inherited from creatures that lived in the remote past; and we glean this when it is
known that the young unborn of one genus resenible.s the old and fully-formed creatures of kinds
belonging to other classes which preceded' it in the histoiy of the globe, and when it is shown by
the microscope that some of the parts of the bodies of the most insignificant animals of the invertebrate
sub-kingdom resemble those of the most gifted of animals.

A classification thus opens out a little of the scheme of Nature, and it proves that the
resemblances and differences of animals are not matters of chance, but that there is a law which has
produced them. Such a law, ;is yet perhajis not fully comprehended, is Man's idea of the action of
tlic will of the Divine Creator.

CASSELL'S I^ATURAL HISTORY.

APES AND MONKEiS, \ND

CLASS MAMMALIA.

ORDER I.— QUADRUMANA.— THE APES AKD MOK'KEYS.
CHAPTEK I.

^^TKODl■CTIo^• — thi

THE GOUILLA [T roijlndijtes GoriUa).

The World of Monkeys, and its Division into gi-eat Groups— Distinction between the Old World and New World Monkeys -
Classification of Monkeys—The Gorilla, Ancient and Modern Stories about it— Investigations of Savage and Du
Chaillu— General Description— The Head, Brain, Teeth, Taste. Smell, and Voice— The Air Sacs, and Ear— The Limbs
and Muscles— Method of Climbing— Diet— Hunting the Gorilla— Attenipts to Capture Alive — A Tame Gorilla.

IF one of each kind of the Apes and Monke3-s wliich are now li\uig on tlie globe could be collected
and placed in a large zoological garden, and if those which lived in former ages, and wliose skeletons
have been discovered by geologists, could be brought to life, and added to the whole, they would
certainly form a very amusing and remarkable assemblage. Wliat endless fun there would be, what
scamperings, skii-mishes, and quaiTels would take place ; liow they would grin, chatter, and pull tails
all the live-long day ; and as evening began, how some, which had been (juiet spectators before, would
commence howling, and how others would rush about amongst their tired and sleepy companions,
with noiseless bounds until the return of daylight !

If each of these repi-esentative Monkeys could give an account of itself, whence it had come,
how it lived in its native forests and woods, and what it did with itself all d ly, a most interesting and

2 NATURAL niaroRY.

novel Natm-al History book could be compiletl, for only the histories of a few have been written, and
they are by no means always veracious. They would have come from Asia and many of its islands,
from Africa, from South America, and the Isthmus to the north, and Europe would have sent
one from the rocks of Gibraltar ; and yet, unless those of the same country had been properly
introduced, either by Dame Nature or by the chapter of accidents incident to such a very un-
likely meeting as we are imagining, they would not know many of their fellows. They are
exclusive in their habits, and theii- j)articular parks and forests are limited in extent, and some-
times very much so. Of coui-se, there are .some exceptions, and many kinds which roam over
large countries, and are even found in different islands, have gained the superior intelligence and
the ready affability and easiness of intercourse characteristic of the cosmopolitan and traveller.
Every kind of temper and capacity would be shown ; the Gorillas would probably be shy and cross,
the Chimpanzees lively and kind, the Baboons gi'umpy, the Spider Monkeys restless, and most of the

AMERICAN

Jfacaques impudent and cunning — the result of a knowledge of Apes and of many Monkeys. There
would be every shade of colour, and of shape and size ; there would be many without tails, some
with stumps, and othera with long tails of no great use except to afford temptation to the mischievous;
and not a few with tine large ones useful in the extreme, by acting as a fifth limb. Many woiild ha^e
very human faces and sharp eyes, others would look more like dogs, and fierce enough, and there
would be every variety of posture. Some wauld sit veiy well, others \yould go on all-fours, and
there would be others swinging with theii- long and strong arms, and making tremendous jumps
and bounds assisted in .some by the prehensile tail. Some would want one kind of fruit, and
others different kinds of vegetables, but only two or three tiny little ones would care much about grabs
and eggs. All would have the very best possible limbs for climbing, grasping, picking, and stealin::,
and all would have good hands, that is to say, fingers and thumbs and wrists, in front, and foot-hands,
that is to say, feet with a great thumb-like toe behind. In a general sense they would all be four-
handed or Quadrumanous, and this peculiarity would distinguish them from any interlopers who might
have got into the assemblage unasked.

It may be doubted whether the most scientific of the scientific could do much in the way of
science at first with such varied and amusing creatures before him ; but the mind will attempt to com-
pare and notice differences under all sorts of circumstances, and therefore some general tiiiths would

TUE irulCLD OF MOyKEYS. 3

possibly be got at amiilst all the noisy debates, divisions, and clieers and counter-cheers of this Ajjcs'
Parliament. There would be clearly two sides to this house of representati\es, the Americans and
the Old World-ites, and the most uncritical observer would separate tliem. It never entered into the
mind of a Monkey of the Old World to have a tail which would be as useful as another leg and hand,
and as manageable as if it had an eye at its tip — that is an invention of Dame Nature in the American
tropics, and is an evident improvement. Now this tail is visible enough, and so is another A)nerican
pasuliarity. The Monkeys there have a broad end to the nose, and the openings of the nostrils look
outwards, being separated by a thick gristle ; but those of the Old "World have a thin gristle in the
same place, and the nostrils are not wide apart but open in front, more or less like those of men and dogs.
Here are, then, two " parties," those with nostrils wide apart witli a wide and thick gristle — " broad

noses," called in scieutitic language " Plutyrhines "*; and those with the nostrils '■ looking down
vcard," or •' Catarhines."t

The great American section, or that of the broad-noses, is sjilit up to a certain extent, for all have
not long prehensile tails, those of some being short ; and others have them feeble in strength and
■Imost brushy with fur. Here are, then, the means of readily knowing one set from another, so far
as these far travelled Monkeys are concerned.

The Old World section, with its close and downward-looking nostrils, at first sight appears very
1 nited, but after a little noticing there seem to be many different groups in it. Fii-stly, the com-
nione.st kinds make up for the absence of a clinging tail, such as their American cousins have, by havins;
something ^\■hich the Transatlantics would be glad of, namely, cheek jwuches— comfortable receptacles
for nuts and such delicacies within the mouth, where food can be kept as in a cu])boar<l, until it

s, flat or broad ; ^nvi;, nostrils.

-J- (fara, downwards : ^11

4 NATURAL EIHTURY.

is required, or can be enjoyed in safety. These are the ^■al^^able properties of many of the smaller
African tribes. Then they also have, in the absence of soft clothes and comfortable chairs to sit
upon, fur or hau" and a natural hardness or '■ callosity," or seat, which does not wear out, and which
is often strangely coloured. Another gi-oup has no cheek pouches, but it possesses the callosities, and
these less favoured creatures come mainly from Asia and the great islands, and only a few from
Africa.

Finally, the most important group of the section consists of the large Ajjes, with neither tails,
callosities, nor cheek pouches, but having very man-like features ; for instance, the great Troglodytes,
Chimpanzees, and Oraugs, the first two from Africa, and the last from the gi-eat Asiatic islands and the
mainland.

These tii1)es could be, vMth nioie study (especially if the merry company were broken up by the

anatomist taking them one by one and dissecting them), divided over and over again, and separated
into kinds or species, which would not, however, always tally with the corresponding arrangement of
the naturalist, who would go by the skin and the outside of the animals.

One thing would be quite clear to every one, and that is that some of the creatures gi'eatly resemble
man at first sight, and that although this likeness diminishes \vith study, still there is a group,
which desei-ves the title of the " man-shaped." Others form a group which go usually on all fours,
looking like dogs, more or less, and they are the " dog-shaped," but they of course retain the more
or less man-like peculiarities which characterise the whole of the Monkeys.

Hence, after all these divisions and differences and resemblances have been mastered, it would be
found that the noisy assemblage could be arranged as follows : —

1- — Cat.\riiines. — Old World Monkeys, man-shaped and dog-shaped.

2. — Platyrhines. — New "World Monkeys.

The first section, the Catarhines, may be divided into the man-shaped, or in the Greek the
Anthropomorpha, and the dog-shaped, or the Cynoiiiorpha.

THE MONKEYS OF OLD. 5

Or tliey may be arranged as those, with : 1, cheek pouches and callosities, for instance, the
Baboons ; 2, those with callosities only, the Monkeys ; and 3, those without either, and without a tail,
the Apes.

The second section, or tlio Phitijrhines, may be divided into those : 1, with prehensile tails; and
2, those with the t;iils not prehensile ; and 3, those whose tail is furry.

This great array of manikins (whence they get their name of Monkey — the word homtmcuhis,
" a sorry . little fellow," having possibly something to do with it) is formed by creatures next
to man, the highest in the scale of animals. They could be very readily distinguished from
all othei-s, were it not for the existence of a group of beings which resemble them in .some par-
ticulai-s. These ai-e the next lowest in the scale, and they have thumbs on the hands and thumb-
toes on the feet, but their fur is woolly, and they are cat-like in shape. They are called the Lemure,
or by some zoologists " Half Apes." These Lemurs only resemble in a slight degree some of the

Monkeys of the New AVorld, but they are more like them than any other animals, and therefore are
classified with them.

The order of beings to which these various creatures belong is known by the name of " Primates,"
which implies the rank they hold in the scale of creation. Man stands first, very distinct in his
intellectual powers and spiritual gifts fi'om the most intelligent of the Quadrumana and as much
superior to tliem in his construction. Then comes the world of Monkeys, the " man-shaped " at tiie
head, and the little marmosets, with furry tails, at the bottom of the ai-ray, and linked on to these
are the Half Apes or Lemure. They all form a gi-eat order of the animal kingdom which stands first
and at the head of all other ordere of the animal world.

But what would the old Monkeys whose bones have been dug out of strata which are older than
the Himalayan mountains and the Alps say could they visit such a collection as that suggested?
They would recognise their fellow-monkeys, but would look upon them as pigmies in size. They
would be few in number, for though Monkeys go the way of all flesh very rapidly, skeletons of them
are very rarely found, so rai'ely indeed that many Indians believe that the other Monkeys bury them.
The fact is, that there are plenty of Jackals, to say nothing of birds of prey, ready to snap up a dead,
dying, or invalid Ape, and to turn its protoplasm into their own. Some few tumble into holes, and may
be preserved- there, and probably that was how the old bones were hidden up. The old kinds
resembled the new more or less, but for the most part those which have been carefully examined

XATURAL ItlHTOPA'.

idiiig modem species. Tliey were as great Apes in their nature as

advantage, tliat their roaming ground was wider, for they lived in

iitries where their modern representatives arc found. Nevertheless.

in tTosToUrdai^ "the Catarhines were kept to the Old World, and the Platyrhi.ies enlivened

ites, after man, stand the man-shaped or anthropomorphous*
,r(! inhabitants of equatorial Afi'ica, and of the large Asiatic islands
st and foremost amongst them is

were larger tliau the corn

are the present, and hud t

Europe as well as in tl

even

the American forests alone.

In the great order of the P
Apes, the (Jrcat Tail-less. Tl
and the adjacent mainland, ai

THE GOKILLA.

Africa, to the south of tlie Great Desert, has always been a country of won
attractive to imaginati\-e and restless men , and its ,)

dark iioindation, so ignorant and supcistitio\is, hi

m. w

\^

ITU UINL MON

KE.

. A

Til CHEEK 1(1

Liirs

from its love of the marvellous, shadowed tlie truth with much mystery. Hence, travellers in
those tropical regions, which are so fatal to Europeans, have from the earliest times told of the,
man-like creatures they had heard of and sometimes seen ; and they have associated them in the
equatorial part of the continent with liuman dwarfs, pigmies, and monstei's. For centuries these
degraded human races have been sought after, and now whilst it is admitted that dwarfed men
exist, it has come to light that most of the stories whicli led to the belief in their hideous asso-
ciates were derived from the existence of large man-like Apes — creatures of dread to the natives —
whose traditions are full of credulous anecdotes about them. Hidden in the recesses of -vast forests,
where the .silence of nature is intense, and moving with great activity, where men can liardly follow,
these animals acquired most doubtful reputations, and their ugly pei-sonal appearance, so suggest! \e
of violence, was magnified in every way in the eyes of the timid natives.

So dreaded were these Apes, and so environed were they with a superstitious mystery, that
Europeans had travelled and traded close to their haunts for centuries before one of them was
seen by any other eves than thos? of the timid negroe-!. "Many stories about them had long been

' "A-Sfji-o^, ir.an ; fiopipv,, forai o:' shape.

OLll STURIE--^ ABOUT GORILLAS. 7

toil], anil iii.leeil some of tliem are as okl as tlie days of the Carthaginians. For instance, Hanno,
a Cartliagiuian, was ordered to sail on a voyage of discovery round Africa some centuries before
Ciirist, the exact date not being fixed; and he sailed and rowed in his gidleys out of the present
Strait > f Giliraltar, and coasted southwards until he came to the great bay, probably somewhere about
the Gaboon itiver, neai- the equator, in Western Africa. It is stated in the history of his voyage : —

" On the third day, having sail-xl from thence, passing the streams of fire, we came to a bay
called the Horn of the South. In the recess there was an island like the fii-st, having a lake, and
in this there was another island full of wild men. But much the gi-eater part of them were women
with hairy bodies, whom the iuterpretei-s called Gorillas. But, pui-suing them, we were not able
to take the men ; they all escaped, being able to climb the precipices, and defended themselves with
pieces of rock. But these women (female Gorillas), who bit and scratched those who led them,
were not willing to follow. However, having killed them, we Hayed them, and conveyed the skins
to Carthage, for we did not sail any further, as provisions began to fail."

I'robably the streams of fire were a part of a volcanic eruption. Written in the Pcrijilus or
voyage of Hanno this story is thoroughly African, and might have been the model upon which
liundreds of later ones have been formed, for it is a combination of the novel in nature, and of what
is true and false. It is curious that a commander of so civilised an expedition, and a man whoso
eyes had been accustomed to the grace of Grecian statuary and to the beauty of his own country-
women, should have mistaken a Gorilla for one of the fair sex ; and, moreovei-, it is possible that
from the mounting of the rocks, and the flinging of stones by the males, the whole were Balwons.
Nevertheless this is the oldest record of the name which is associated with the most interesting ot
modem discovei-ies, and it accounts for many stories which were kept floating in the thoughls of
successive generations of travellers.

Gradually the truth came forth, but not until many Europeans had wandered in Gorilla
Land. One Andrew Bartlett was an English sailor, who got caught by the Po-tugii'^Ke for
some reason or other, and was kept a prisoner in Angola, which is situated neai-lv ten degrees
south of the line, and near the great virgin forests, which are the haunts of the Gorilla and
Chimpanzee, and hi? " strange adventures " were published in 1625, by Purchas, in "His Pil-
grimages. "

Battel speaks of two monsters which excited the fears of the nati\'es. " The greatest is called
Ponrjo, in their language, and the lesser is called Eiujeco. This Pongo is in all j)ro])ortii)n like a
man, but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man : for he is ^■ery tall and hath a man's
f;ice, hollow eyed, with long haire upon his brows. His bodie is full of haire, but not very thick,
and it is of a brownish colour. He cUfiereth not from man but in his legs, for they have no calfe.
He goeth always upon his legs, and cai-rieth his hands clasped on the nape of his necke, when he
goeth upon the ground. They sleepe in the trees, and build shelter for the raine. They feeil upon
the fruit that they find in the woods, and upon nuts, for they eat no kind of flesh. They cannot
speak, and have no understanding more than a beast. The people of the coimtrie, when they ti-availe
in the woods, make fires when they sleepe in the night : and in the morning when they are gone,
Pongo will come and sit about the fire till it goeth out, for they have no iniderstanding to lay the
wood together. They goe many together and kill many negroes that travaile in the woods. Many
times they fiill upon elephants which come to feed where they may be, and so beat them with their
eluljbed fists and pieces of wood that thej' will ninne roaring away from them. Tliese Pongos are never
taken alive, because they are so strong ten men cannot hoid one of them ; but they take many of their
young ones with poisoned anows. The young Pongo hangeth on its mother's belly with its hant'.s
clasped about her, so that when any of the coimtry people kill the females, they take the young which
hangs fiist upon his mother. When they die amongst themselves, they co\er the dead with gi'eat
heaps of boughs and wood, which are commonly found in the forests."

The Pongo appears to be the Gorilla, and Battel tells much truth about it, mixed up with absurd
fiction, whilst the Engeco, or as it is called by the natives of the Gaboon, the enche-elco, is th.e
Chim]>anzee.

Early in this century, in 1819, Bowdich says, in a description of a mission from Cape Coi.st
Castle to Ashantee, "that the favourite and most extraordinary subject of conversation when in the

8 KATUMAL MlaTUkY.

Gaboon Eiver was the Itige/m. Tliis is an animal like the Oiang-Utan, but muoh exceeding it in
size, being five feet high and fom- feet across the shoulders. Its jiavv was said to be even more dispro-
portioned iu its breadth, and one blow of it is said to be fatal. It is commonly seen by the natives

when they travel to Kaybe, lurking in the bush to destroy passengers, not to eat them, for it feeds
principally ou wild honey, which abounds."

Sometimes, the natives assert, when a company of villagers are moving rapidly through the
shacks of the forest, they become aware of the presence of the formidable Ajk; by the sudden

BELIEFS OF THE NATIVES.

tlisappearance of one of theii- companions, who is hoisted up into a tree, uttering, perhaps, only a short
choking sob. In a few minutes he falls to the ground a strangled corpse, for the animal, watching his
oi)portnnity, has let dowa his huge hind-hand and seized the passing negro by the neck with a vice-
like "rip, and has drawn liim up into the branches, dropping him when life and struggling have
ceixsed.

The missionaries, when they were established in the Gaboon region, found that all along the coast
the Gorillas were believed by the natives to be luiman beings, members of tlieir own race degenerated.
Some natives who had been a little civilised, and who thought a little moi-e than the rest, did not acknow-
ledge this relationship, but considered them as embodied spirits, the belief in the transmigration of souls

FEMALE GOKILH WD 1 01 ^ f (From the T 311 ncl is J ihc Zoolyj >.al ioudij nfLonlon)

being prevalent. They siid that the enchp elo oi Chmipanzee his the spnit of a coai>tman, being less
fierce and more intelligent thin the enr//> ena, oi Goiilla -which liis tint of a bvhhman The majoiity
however, fully l)elie\ed them to be men, ind seemed to be uniflected by the aiguments ofleied to
disprove this fancy ; and this was especially true of the tribes in the immediate vicinity of the locality.
They believed them to be literally wild men of the woods. Nevertheless, they were eaten when they
could be got, and their flesh, with that of the Chimpanzee and other Monkeys, fonned and still forms
a prominent place in the bill of fare.

Impressed thus with a belief in their kinship and of their ferocity, it was not surpi-ising
that live Gorillas could not be obtained by European ti-avellers. Even a bold and skilful hunter of
the elephant, when pressed to bring in one, declared he would not do it for a mountain of gold.

In 18-1:7 the first sight of a part of a Gorilla was obtained by an American missionary ; it was
a skull, and its sliape stmck him as being so extraordinary that he believed the natives were correct
in attributing it to the much-talked-of Ape of whose ferocity and strength he had heard so much.

NATURAL HliTOL

Collecting others, he at last handed them over to a fellow labourer, Dr. Savage, who jwssessed
much anatomical knowledge. Every attempt was made to obtain even a dead Gorilla, but without
satisfactory results. Savage lived for years in the neighbourhood of tlie Gaboon river, and not only
gradually accumulated a fiiie collection of the bones of the great Ape, which he at first thought was the
Oran^-Utan, and which he subsequently described as the Gorilla, but also put together a history of its
habits and aspect as gleaned from the natives. He was in the heart of Gorilla Land, which may be
said to extend from t«u to fifteen degrees of latitude on each side of the equator. It is bounded by
the sea on the west, and extends to an unknown distance to the east, being watered by the Gaboon,
Danger, and Fernandez Vas rivers. Mountainous far from the coast, and very undulating every-
where, it consists of dense forest, wild jungle, and open places. Traversed as this country is by
navigable rivers which are visited by traders, it struck this observer that it was indeed remarkable that
the Gorilla should have been so imknown to civilised men ; b\it he was soon impressed with the dread
the natives had of it, and also with the fact that it sought the
remoter parts of the neighbouring woods. From the descriptions
of the natives, who never attempted to interfere with the Gorilla
except in self-defence, its height is above five feet, and it is dis-
jiroportioiiately broad across the shoulders. It is cohered with
coarse black hair, which greatly resembles that of the Chimpanzee ;
with age it becomes grey, and this fact has given rise to the
report that there are moi-e kinds than one. Resembling a huge
Ape in shape, with a great body, comparati\ely short legs with
large hind-thumbs, its bulk is considerable, and its arms, reaching
further down than in man, enable it to grasp and climb well. It
does not possess a tail, and the head has a wide and long black
face, a very deep cheek, great brows over the deeply-seated hazel
eyes, a flat nose, and a wide mouth with very strong teeth. The
top of the head has a crest of longish hair, and elsewhere it is
exceedingly thick and short. The belly is verj' large. From
inquiiy he ascertained that when walking, their gait is shufiling,
and the body, which is never upright like that of man, moves from side to side in going along.
Usually it walks by resting the hands on the ground and then bringing the legs between them, and
swinging the body forward. They live in bands, and the females generally exceed the males
in number. They are exceedingly fei'ocious, never running away from man, and the few that
have been captured were killed by elephant hunters and native traders as they came suddenly upon
them whilst passing through the woods.

It was said, at this time, by the natives, that the Gorilla makes a sleeping-place like a hammock,
by connecting the branches of a sheltered and thickly-leaved part of a tree by means of the long, tough,
slender stems of parasitic plants, and lining it with the dried broad fronds of fern, or with long grass.
Tliis hammock-like abode may be seen at different heights, from ten to forty feet from the ground, but
there is never more than one such nest in a tree. They avoid the abodes of man, but are most com-
monly seen in the months of September, October, and November, after the negi-oes have gathered in
their outlying rice-crops, and have returned from the " bush " to their valleys. So observed, they are
described to be usually in pairs, or if more, the addition consists of a few young ones of different ages
and apparently of one family. The Gorilla is not gregarious. The parents may be seen sitting on a
branch resting their backs against the tree trunk munching fruit, whilst the young Gorillas are at play,
leaping and swinging from branch to branch with hoots or harsh cries of boisterous mirth. This rural
felicity, however, has its objectionable sides, for occasionally, if not invariably, the old male, if he be
seen in quest of food, is usually armed with a short stick, which the negroes aver to be the weapon
with which he attacks his chief enemy the elephant. Not that the elephant directly or intentionally
injures the Goi-illa, but deriving its subsistence from the same source, the Ape regards the gi-eat pro-
boscidian as a hostile inti'uder. When, therefore, he sees the elephant pulling down and wrenching oft"
the branches of a favourite tree, the Gorilla, stealing along the bough, strikes the sensitive proboscis
of the elephant with a violent blow of his club, and drives off the stai-tled giant trumpeting shrilly

STIiENGTR OF THE GORILLA. 11

with pain. In passing from one tree to another the GoriUa is said to walk semi-erect with the aid ot
liis chib, but witli a waddling and awkwaril gait ; when without a stick, he has been seen to walk as
a man, with his hands clasped across the back of liis head, instinctively balancing its forwaid position.
If the Gorilla be siuprised and approached, whatever the ground may be, he betakes him.self on all-
fours, dropping the stick, and makes his way very rapidly, with a kind of sidelong gallop, resting on
the front knuckles, to th3 nearest tree. There he meets his pui-suer, especially if his fivmily is near
and rsquiring his defence. No negro willingly approaches the ti'ee in which the male Gorilla keeps
guard, even with a gun. The exjierienced negro does not make the attack, but reser\es his fire in
self-defence. The enmity of the Gorilla to the whole negro race, male and female, is uniformly attested.
Thus, when young men of the Gaboon tribe make excursions into the forests in quest of ivory,
the enemy they most di'ead to meet is the Gorilla. If they have come unawares too near him
with his family, he does not, like the lion, sulkily retreat, but comes rapidly to the attack, swinging
ilown to tho lower bianche.?, and clutching at the nearest foe. The hideous aspect of the animal, with
his green ejes flashing with rage, is heightened by the skin over the orbits and eyebrows being drawn
rapidly backwards and forwai'ds, with the hair erected, producing a horrible and fiendish scowl. If
tired at, and not mortally hit, the Goi-illa closes at once upon his assailant, and inflicts most dangerous
if not deadly wounds, with his sharp and powerful tusks. The commander of a Biistol trader once
saw a negro at the Gaboon fi-ightfuUy mutOated from the bite of a Gorilla, from which he had
recovered. Another negro exhibited to the same voyager a gun barrel bent and partly flattened by
a wounded Gorilla in its death struggle.

The strength of the Gorilla is such as to make him a match for a lion, whose strength his own
nearly rivals. Over the Leopard, invading the lowei- branches of his dwelling-place, he will gain au
easier victory ; and the huge canine teeth, with which only the male Gorilla is furnished, doubtless
have been gi\en to him for defending his mate and oftspring.

As the appearance and some of the movements of the Gorilla are very man-like, some of the
natives consider that the souls of men have entered into their bodies, and hence many apologies arc
made for some of their tricks and reported doings. Moreover, from this belief some of their skulls
are made objects of fetish worship, and are marked with broad stripes of red paint, cros.sed by a
white one. These were the stories told to Savage.

On returning to America, Savage investigated the parts of the skeletons he had obtained, and
compared them with those of the Chimpanzee. Owen, in England, having received some corresponding
specimens, continued the investigation, and all were agreed in deciding that the Gorilla was a sjiecies
in itself, diftering fioui the Chimpanzee, but sufficiently like it to be connected with it in a genus. The
Gorilla was termed Trorjlodtjtss Gorilla, and the Chimpanzee, which will be noticed in the next chapter,
kept its name of Troglodytes ni'jer. The word Troglodytes was very ill chosen, and it does not refer
in any way to the natm-e or habits of the animals. It was taken from TpoiyAoSurai, the name of an
Ethiopian tribe who dwell in holes or caves. The native name is Ngina.

The descriptions of the habits and anatomy of the Gorilla, fragmentary as they were, excited
great interest in the minds of many travellers, and especially in that of Du Chaillu, who left
America in 18-5.5, determined to explore Gorilla Land, and to obtain some of the great Apes, dead
or alive.

He first met with the Gorilla amongst some beautiful scenery, near the Sierra del Crystal, at the
head waters of the Ntarabounay, a stream which runs into the Muni or Danger River. Close to some
rapids down which the torrent was ru.shing with great velocity amongst huge boulders, and sending its
spray up to the tops of the highest trees of the banks, was a deserted village, and amongst its ruins
were some broken-down sugar-canes. Hei'e and there the canes had been taken down, and torn up by tlift
loots, and they were lying about in fragments, which had evidently been chewed. He writes : — " 1
knew that there were fresh tracks of the Gorilla, and joy filled my heart ; they (the native hunters) nov/-
looked at each other in silence, and muttered, Nguijlu, which is as much as to say in Nepongwe, Ngin:i,
or as we say, Goiilla. We followed these traces, and presently oame to the footprints of the so-long
desired animal. It was the first time I had ever seen these footprints, and my sensations were indescrib-
able. Here was I now, it seemed, on the ]ioint of meeting face to face that monster of whose ferocity,
strength, and cunning, the nati\cs had told me so much ; an animal scai-ce known to tlie civilised

12 NATURAL EISTOSr.

world, and which no white man before had hunted. My heai-t beat till I feared its loud pulsations
would alai-m the Gorilla, and my feelings were excited to a painful degree. By the ti-acks it was easy
to know that there must have been several Gorilhis in company. We prepared at once to follow them.
The women were terrified, poor things, and we left them a good escort of two or three men to take
care of them, and reassure them. Then the rest of us looked once more carefidly at our gun.s, for the
Gorilla gives you no time to re-load, and woe to him whom he attacks. We were armed to the teeth.
My men were remarkably silent, a.s if they were going on an expedition of more than usual i-isk ; for
the male Gorilla is literally king of the African forest. He and the crested lion of Mount Atlas are
the two fiercest and strongest beasts of the continent, The lion of South Africa cannot compare with
either for strength or courage. I knew that we were about to pit oui-selves against an animal which
even the leopard of these moimtains feai-s, and which perhaps has driven the lion out of his territory ;
for the king of bea-sts so numerous elsewhere in Afiica is never met in the land of the Gorilla. We
descended a hill, crossed a stream on a fallen log, and presently approached some huge boulders of
granite. Alongside of one lay an immense dead tree, and about this we .saw many evidences of the
veiy recent presence of the Gorillas. Our approach was very cautious : we were divided into parties.
We were to surround the gi-anite block, behind which the animals were supposed to be hiding, and
suddenly I was .startled by a strange discordant, half-human, devilish cry, and beheld four young
Gorillas running toward the deep forests. We fired, but hit nothing. Then v.'e iiished on in pursuit,
but they knew the woods better than we. Once I caught a glimpse of one of the animals again, but
an intervening tree spoiled my mark, and I did not fire, but ran till we were exliausted, but in vain,
and the alert beasts made their escape." As the hunters sat round their fire in the evening, before
going to sleep, the adventure of the day was talked over, and of course some very tough yams and
stories were told about the Gorillas, most of which ought to have put this traveller on his guard, and
impressed him that the gi-eater part of the ferocity and the lion-like courage of the new animal were
derived fi'om the imaginations of a very superstitious and not over-courageous race of men. They
were great believers in witchcraft, and they believed that many men whose names they mentioned,
and who are dead, had their spirits now dwelling in Gorillas. However, Du Chaillu, a few daj^s
ifterwards, started on a hunt which had a more satisfactory termination than the last. He and the
rest got on the track of an old male, and suddenly as they were creejjing along in silence, which
made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the >voods were at once filled with the tremendous
barking roar of the Gorilla. Then the uirderbush swayed rapidly just a-head, and presentlj' before
them stood an immense male. He had gone through the jungle on all-fours, but when he saw the
party he raised himself and looked them boldly in the face. " It stood about a dozen yards from
us, and was a sight I think I never shall forget. Nearly six feet high (he proved four inches shortei-),
with immense body, huge chest, and gi-eat muscular arms, with fiercely glaring large deep gi'ay eyes,
and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like some nightmare vision ; thei'e stood before
us the king of the African forest. He was not afraid of us. He stood there and beat lus breast
\vith his huge fists till it resounded like an immense bass di-um, which is their mode of ofiering
defiance ; sometimes giving vent to roar after roar. The roar of the Gorilla is the most singular
and awful noise heard in these African woods. It begins with a shai-p bark like an angry dog, then
glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the
sky, for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it when I did not see the animal. His
eyes began to flash fiercely, for we stood motionless on the defensiv.?, and the crest of short hair
which stands on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and down, while Lis powerful fangs were
shown a.s he again sent forth a tremendous roar. He advanced a few steps, then stopped to utter
that hideous roar again ; advanced again, and finally stopped when at the distance of about six yards
from us, and then, ju.st as he began another of his roars, beating his breast with rage, we fired and
killed him. With a gi'oan which had .something terribly human in it, and yet was full of brutishness,
he fell forward on his face. The body shook convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs moved about
in a struggling way, and then all was quiet ; death had dpne its work, and I had leisure to examine
the huge body. It proved to be five feet eight inches high, and the muscular development of the anus
and breast showed the immense strength it had possessed."

Du Chaillu once had a capital view of some Gorillas at their meal. News having come that

GORILLAS AXD TUEIR HABITS.

13

Gorillas had been recently seen iu the neighbourliood of a plantation on the Fernandez Vas river, just
south of the equator and not far from the West Afiican coast, Jie got iip early and went into it. \\v
writes : " Th^ plantation was a large one, and situated on very broken gi-ound, surrounded by tlio
viigin forest. It was a lovely morning ; the sky was almost cloudless, and all around was as still a;j

death, except the slight nistling of the tree tops moved by the gentle land breeze. When I reached
tlie place, I had just to pick my way through the maze of tree-stumps and half-burned logs by tlie
side of a field of cassada.

" I was going quietly along the bordei-s of this when I heard in the grove of plantation tree s
towards which I was walking a great crushing noise lilce the breaking of trees. I immediately hid
myself behind a bush, and was soon gi'atified with the sight of a female Gorilla ; but before I hiid
time to notice its movements, a second and third emerged from the masses of colossal foliage ; at
length, no less than four came in view. They were aU busily engaged in tearing down the larger trees.

U K ATI'S A L uisTonr.

One of the females had a young one following her. I had an excellent opportunity of watching the
movements of the impish-looking band. The shaggy hides, the prot'ubei-ant abdomens, the hideous
features of these strange creatures, wliose forms so nearly resemble man, made up a picture like a
vision in a morbid dream. In destroying a tree, they first gi-asjwd the base of the stem with one of
their feet, and then with their powerful arms pulled it down, a matter of not much difficulty with ; o
loosely-formed a stem as that of the plantain. They then set upon the juicy fruit of the tree at tho
bases of the leaves, and devoured it with great voracity. While eating, they made a kind of chucklin,f^
noise, expressive of coirtentment. Many trees they destroyed, apparently out of pure mischief. Now
and then they stood still and looked around. Once or twice they seemed on the point of starting off
in haste, but recovered themselves, and continued their woi'k. Gradually the}' got nearer to the edge
of the dark forest, and finally disappeared." On the next day he was carrying a light gun, having
f^iven his heavy double-ban-elled rifle to a boy to can-y, when in a deep hollow, flanked with sugar-cane,
he saw on the slope opposite to him a gigantic Gorilla standing erect, and walking directly towards
liim. Pointing his rifle, he turned to look for the boy, but he had seen the Gorilla and bolted forth-
with. The huge beast stared at Du Chaillu for about two ininutes, and then without uttering any
noise moved ofi' to the shade of the forest, running nimbly on his hands and feet.

This running movement is performed principally by the arms, for the animal places the backs of
its knuckles on the gi-ound, straightens its elbows, and swings the huge body and short legs so that
they come in front. Then the feet support the weight of the body until the knuckles are put on the
ground in advance.

Anxious to possess some adult Gorillas, Du Chaillu oflfered rewards to the native huntei-s, and on
one occasion they brought in three live ones, one being fuU-gi-own. This was a large adult female, who
was bound hand and foot, and with it was her female child, screaming terribly, and the third was a
vigorous young male, who was also tightly bo\ind. The female had been ingeniously secured by the
negroes to a strong stick, the wri.sts being bound to the upjier part, and the ankles to the lowei-, so that
she coidd not reach to tear the cords with her teeth. It w;vs dark when they were brought in, and the
scene was wild and strange in the extreme. " The fiendish countenances of the Galibanish tiio, one of
them distorted by pain, for the mother Gorilla was severely wounded, were lit up by the ruddy glare
of native torches." The young male was secured by a chain, and Du Chaillu gave him the name of
Tom. His feet and hands were untied, and he immediately showed his want of gratitude by i-ushing
at his possessor, screaming with all his might ; but the chain was happily made fast, and he did no
hanu. The old mother Gorilla was in an unfortunate plight. She had an arm broken, and a wound
in the chest, besides being dreadfully beaten about the head ; she gioaned and roared many times
during the night, probably from pain. She lived until the next day, her moanings were more frequent
in the morning, and they gi-adually became weaker as her life ebbed out. Her death was like that of a
human being, and her child clung to her to the last, and tried to obtain milk from her breast after she
was deatL The young one was kept alive for thi-ee days on goat's milk, but it died on the fourth day.
The young male would not be photogi-aphed, for pointing the camera at him made the irascible little
tiling a small demon, but after some attempts his likeness was taken. These Gorillas were caught on a
promontory which runs into the sea like a spit. A wom<in had seen " two sets of Gorillas on it with
yo ing ones, and the njitives a.ssembled, and aimed themselves with great spears and axes, forming
a line across the sjjit, ad\ancing towards its extremity. They made a good deal of noise, and
liL'wildered the Gorillas, who were shot down or beaten in their endeavotirs to escape. There were
eight females together, but no lai-ge male." Du Chaillu, on heai'ing this, modified his opinion
respecting the solitary habit of the animal, and he subsequently obtained proofs that they roam in
bands of from five to ten. It is true, however, that when Gorillas become aged, they seem to be
more solitary, and live in pair.s, or as in the case of old males, quite alone. He was assured by the
negi-oes that solitaiy and aged Gorilhis are sometimes seen almost white, for the hair becomes
grizzled with age. Evidently the animal migrates here and there in liLs restricted district during
certain sea.sons, and they search for a little yellow ben-y called "rubino," which gi-ows on a tree
resembling the African teak ; and also two other fruits, one like the nectarine in size, and of the
colour of the jwacli, but not having the rich bloom, and the other like a plum. The same traveller
cau'e suddenly on a band of Gorillas in a forest ; " a whole giouii was on a tree hidden by the

WHAT GU RILL AS ARE LlKl

THE O0KILL1

dense foliage. They bolted off, making the thinner boughs bend with their weight, and an old male,
apj)arently tlie guardian of the flock, made a bold stand, and stared at him through an opening. As
soon as voices were heard, the shaggy Ape roared a cry of alann, scrambled to the ground through
the entangled lianas that were around the tree tiiink, and soon disappeared into the jungle."

Having hatl, then, so many opportunities of seeing Gorillas alive and dead, Du Chaillu, of course,
added largely to the knowledge of their general shape and habits, and obtained skins for stuffing, and
bones for the anatomists. Five specimens were sent over by him to England, and great discussions
took place ; some naturalists asserting that the
ferocity and courage of the great Ape were
imaginary, and othei-s believing in the truth of
Du Chaillu, whose oidy fault was over-sensa-
tional writing, and who strenuously denied many
of the native stories. Then the anatomists had
a gi-eat quarrel about the brain of the creature,
and handled each other very severely. Of the
nature of the outside of the Gorilla there could
be no doubt, fortunately, for there are the
stuffed skins and bones to be seen, and
an examination of those in the national col-
lection will prove how closely Savage must
have questioned the natives who gave him
reliable information, and how little can be
added to his description. Du Chaillu says that
in length the adult Goi'illas vary as much as
men, and believes that the tallest are six feet
two inches in height, but tliat the average is
from five feet two inches to five feet eight

inches. The females are smaller, or have a lighter frame, their height averaging aliout four feet
six inches. The colour of the skin in the Gorilla, young as well as adult, is intense black, so far as
the face, breast, and palms of the hands are concerned. The fur of a grown, but not aged specimen, is
iron-gray, and the individual hairs are ringed with alternate stripes of black and gray. It is long on
the arms, and slopes downwards from the shoulder to the elbow, and upwards from the wrist to it.
The head is covered with reddish-brown hair, which is short, and reaches the short neck. The chest is
bare in the adults, and thinly covered with hair in young males. In the female the breast is bare, and
the hair elsewhere is black with a red tinge, but it is not rmged as in the male ; moreover, the reddish
crown which covers the scalp of the male is not apparent in the female till she has almost become full
grown. The eyes are deeply sunken : the immense overhanging long ridge giving the face the
expression of a constant savage scowl. The mouth is wide, and the lips ai-e sharply cut, exliibiting no
red on the edges, as in the human face. The jaws are of tremendous weight and pow-er. The huge
eye-teeth or canines, of the male, which are fully exliibited when, in his rage, he draws back his lips
and shows the red colour of the inside of his mouth, lend additional ferocity to his aspect. In the female
these teeth are smaller. Tlie almost total absence of neck, which gives the head the appearance of
being set into the shouldere, is due to the backward position of the joints which fix the head to the
spine, and this allows the chin to hang over the top of the front of the chest. The brain-case is low
and compressed, and its lofty top ridge causes the profile of the skull to describe an almost straight line
from the back pai-t, or occiput, to the ridge over the brow. The immense development of the muscles,
which arise from this ridge, and the corresponding size of the jaw, are e\-idences of the great strength
of the animal. The eyebrows are thin, but not well-defined, and are almost lost in the hair of the scalp.
The eyelashes are thin also. The eyes are wide apart ; and the ears, which are on a line with them, arfr
smaller than those of man, but very much like his. In a front view of the face the nose is flat, but
somewhat prominent — more so than in any other Ape ; this is on account of a slightly projecting nose-
bone, very unusual in Apes. The chest is of gi-eat capacity ; the shoulders being exceedingly broad.
The abdomen is of immense size, very prominent, and rounded at ^le sides. The front limbs have a
2

NATURAL HISTORY.

prodigious musciiliir development, and are very long, extending nearly as low as the knees. The fire-
arm is nearly of uniform size from the wrist to the elbow, and, indeed, the great length of the arms,
and the shortness of the legs, foi-m one of the cliief differences between it and man. The arms are not
long when compared with the trunk, but they are so in comparison with the legs. These are short,
and decrease in size from below the knee to the ankle, having no calf. The hands, especially in the
male, are of immense size, strong-boned, aiid thick ; the fingers are short and large, the cu-cum-
ference of the middle finger at the first joint being five and a half inches in some Gorillas. The skin
on the back of the fingers, near the middle, is callous, and very thick, which shows that the mo-st
usual mode of progi-ession of the animal is on all-fours, and resting on the knuckles. The thumb is
short, and not half so thick as the forefinger ; and the hand is hairy as far as the division of the
fingers, which are covered with short thin hairs. The palm of the hand is naked, callous, and in-
tensely black. Tiie nails are black, and shaped like those of man, but are smaller in proportion, and

'^:^mt:' 'A

PALM or THE lUOT Op 101 NG GORILLA

(From the Tii

BACK OF THE HAND OF YOVKG GOUILLA.

of the Zoological Society of London.)

project very slightly beyond the ends of the fingers. They are thick and strong, and always .seem
much worn. The hand of the Gorilla is almost as wide as it is long, and in this it approaches nearer
to that of man than any of the other Apes. The foot is proportionally wider than in man ; the sole is
callous, and intensely black, and looks somewhat like a giaiit hand of immense power and grasp. The
transverse wrinkles show the frequency and freedom of movement of the two joints of the great
toe-thumb, proxdng that they have a power of grasp. The middle toe, or third, is longer than the
second and fourth, and this is unlike the foot in man. The toes are divided into three groups, so to
speak ; inside the great toe, outside the little toe, and the three others partly united by a web. Du
Chaillu thinks that in no other animal is the foot .so well adapted for the maintenance of the erect
position, and he ei-roneously believed that the Gorilla is much less of a tree-climber than any other
Ape. The foot in the Gorilla is certainly longer than the hand, as in man. These descriptions are
fairly con-ect, but it is necessary to examine the results of the later writers on the subject, from whom
we may glean the following facts.

The Gorilla has a large head, and on looking at a stuffed specimen one is at once struck with the
width and length of the face, and the gi-eat prominent brows immediately over the eyes. There
appears to be no forehead, for the head recedes rapidly backwards, and then comes a high
ridge of hair, in old males, running from before backwards on the top of the scalp, and meeting

GENERAL DESCRIFTIUK OF TUE GORILLA. IT

another which is less prominent, and placed across the back of the skidl, from the back of one ear to
that of the other. The animal has the power of moving the flesh and skin which constitute the scal[>
freely forwards and backwards, so that when it is in a rage its scowl is made all the more threatening
and ugly by its frowning and bringing do^vii the hairy ridge close to above the eyes. The hazel eyes
iire large, and they are separated by a small prominent bridge belonging to the nose, the rest of
which is broad and flattened out. The jaws pi'oject forwards, and are long and wide, the teeth being
large and strong, and visible when uncovered by the fleshy and rather hairy lips. The ears are small
for the size of the head, when they are compared with those of other Apes, and they as well as the
skLu of the face are naked and dark.

Nature has been kinder to the females so far as beauty is concerned, for they have less
marked crests of hair, smaller brows, and shorter side teeth, and therefore more amiable faces
under all cu'cumstances.

Of course the outside appearance of the head has much to do with the skull beneath, and this has
been very carefully studied by anatomists. As a whole, the skull of a full-grown male Gorilla is larger
than that of a man, but it is lighter, although it appears to be more massive on account of its being
marked by gi-eat bony ridges or crests, which correspond with the lines of hair on the top and back of
the head, one being on the top like the crest of a helmet, and
the other crossing the back and reaching the other so as to
form a rude X shape. Careful measurement proves the
great size of the Gorilla's skull as a whole, and that this is
dependent mainly on the dimensions of the bones of the face,
the cavity for the brain being smaller than that of man.
But it does not appear at first very easy to exj>lain how
it is that this massive-looking skull shovild be lighter than
that of man. A careful examination of the bones of the
Gorilla's skull explains the difiiculty, and in a very interest-
ing manner.

The massive and solid look is given to it by the crests
or ridges beneath the hair already mentioned ; they are of
gi-eat use, for they give attachment to very powerful
muscles, especially to those which move the lower iaw, and

, , ,, , j_l i 1 -J. ^ -1 1 m c r A 1 **"'^ ''■■^^^' °'- THE SKILL OF GORILLA.

enable the teeth to bite forcibly. The surface of the bones
of the head for a certain depth is solid enough, but below

this solid layer there is a cellular arrangement consisting of a network of bone, with cavities com-
municating with each other with the internal parts of the ears and nose. Below this is solid bone
again. So that there are three layers, and the central one gives lightness and .strength to the whole ;
moreover, it protects the brain under the skull from receiving shocks during falls or blows by boughs.

When the skull receives a sharp blow, for instance, in front or behind, or low down at the sides,
the outer layer of .solid bone is often cracked, and even forced in. If there were no cellular layer, the
tender brain would be injured dii-ectlj^, but the network of bone and the large spaces amongst it take
ofl" the jar from that important organ, and sufl'er the outer layer to be pressed in without afiecting the
deeper .structures. It must be a very hard blow that can press the celhdar layer in sufficiently to
break through the third layer, which is solid but thin. Very possibly the larger au- sjjaces of the
cellular layer assist the senses of hearing and of smelling also.

There is another very strong bone connected with the skull, which feels like a ridge, passing
backward from the eye to the ear ; and it has something to do wdth the other ridges, for the muscles
which are attached to them, and which pass down to the lower jaw to give it great power of mastica-
tion, are covered on the cheek by it. Tliis cheek-bone forms a kind of arch, and gives the gi-eat
breadth to the upper part of the face of the animal.

In a fi-ont ^-iew of the skull of the male Gorilla the ridge or crest on the top of the head stands
np like a little peak ; then over the eyes is the great brow ridge, which seems to press the upper part
of the cavity for the eye (the orbit) flat, so that it is not round as in most animals, but rather squai-e
in outline. These three sets of ridges, those of the upper and back part of the brain case, that of the

18 NATUMAL HISTOHi:

brow and those of the cheeks, so hvrge and important, are distinctive of the adult male animal, and a
.skull possessing them belongs to the Gorilla and to no otlier animal.

The females and the young of both sexes liave not the top ridges, and the others are small in
coni2)arison with those of the male adults.

Clearly the ridges give strength to the head, muscular power to the jaws, and what is of gr-eat
importance to a large active animal, do not interfere with the lightness of the strong skull.

The skull is hollow beneath the top and back ridges, and this space is occupied by the brain and
its investing membranes, and the nerves coming from it, to supply the muscles of the face and head,
the skin over them, and the organs of special sense, such as the eye, the ear, and the nose. The space
is considerable, and for an Ape the Gorilla has a large brain. He has a large body, very many muscles
capable of complicated movement, and he can see, hear, and smell admirably ; and as the nerves which
Supply the necessary energy for all this come from the gi-eat nervous centre, as the brain is called, it
must be of considerable size and complexity. Moreover, as many of the motions and sensations of
the Ape resemble those of man, the brains of both will resemble each other to a certain extent. But
all that part of the brain which serves in a manner, as yet past our comprehension, to assist the pro-
duction of the high intelligence and moral powers of man, we should expect not to find in the purely
sensual animal, and the expectation is realised. Again, although bone for bone, muscle for muscle,
and blood-vessel for blood-vessel, those of the great Ape and man may be compared with wonderful
exactitude ; still man in relation to the Gorilla has a greater power of elegance of movement, and
of producing complicated muscular efforts, and of employing many different muscles to produce a
common end, and therefore his nei-vous system must be all the more perfect. Thus, the Ape cannot
imitate the graceful actions which sway the body as when a well-made man walks leisurely, and it
cannot get all the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and larynx (or organ of voice) to act simultaneously
and orderly, so as to produce +he sound of articulate voice. Yet these actions are performed by man
without any special effcit ; they may be done without thinking, and are mechanical, as it were, or
more properly, " putomatic," done a-s if by a machine ; they require a very perfect arrangement of
the nervous sj'Stem, and an unusual amount of nervous matter.

No amount of schooling, could it be given, would ever make a Gorilla entertain the notion of
insuring its life ; arithmetic is impossible ; the fine arts and poetry are unattainable, and therefore by
so much is its brain the smaller and simpler.

The brain case, or the space enclosed by the crested skull bones, is compactly filled with the
nervous material in all animals, so it is only necessary to ascertain the relative dimensions of the
spaces in different animals to get a notion of the difference in the sizes of their brains. The space
can be measured by filling it with sand, and then measuring its bulk in a proper measure.

Some Gorillas have larger spaces for the brain than others, and in this they resemble man.
for there is a considerable difference between the capacity or the size of the space in a well-educated
European and a savage Australian. And, doubtless, some Gorillas are cleverer than others, or are
more active, generally speaking, so have larger brains ; but an avei'age may be taken of the different
sizes in them as in man, and the results come out as follows : —

The average or mean size or capacity of the brain case in the Gorilla is about 31 cubic inches, a
cubic inch being a six-sided space of one inch long, broad, and high. In man, the European may have
a brain case holding 1 1 4 cubic inches, and the Australian only 63 cubic inches; the mean of the
European size is 93 cubic inches, that of the Australian being 75. Hence the brain case, and there-
fore the mass of the substance of the brain of the Gorilla, is not one-half that of the lowest race of man.

Only the brains of young Gorillas have been examined, and these have not been in a very satis-
factory state ; but enough has been gleaned from their study to determine that they are not so high,
wide, or long, relatively, as those of mankind. The brain of man is a wonderfully complex stnicture,
and the nervous matter is folded and packed in many ways or " convolutions," and the nerves ai-ise
from special parts which are connected by cross and long fibres or " commissures." All these structures
exist, but not in perfection, in the Gorilla's brain ; and although the ner\'es are large, that portion
of the brain which originates theii- energy and action is much smaller than in man.

Apparently the brain grows to a certain age in the Gorilla, and then the skull increases in out-
ward size, and the creature has a huge body, with mental capacities far below those of a child or man.

THE TEETH. 19

The ridges and crests on the top and back of tlie Clorilhi's skull are larger than those of any of
the great tiesh-eating animals of the cat tribe, and it has therefore been thought that they were
a proof of tlie occasional bad habits of the great Ape, and of his indulging now and then in
negro flesh. Large as are the crests in the old males, they are barely present in the females and
young, and they must be regarded partly as of use to the larger animals, and partly as ornamental ;
for in animal nature, as a rule, the gentlemen are more beautiful than the ladies, the idea of beauty
being, of course, veiy much a matter of taste. They are evidently protections against falls, and they
also give origin to muscles. The back crest, when looked at from behind, is almost fen-shaped, the
bone being broad, and the great muscles of the neck and back are attached to it. They pull the
head backwards, and the single, long crest on the top gives origin to the muscles, which pass down-
wards on the temples to the lower jaw. Indeed, the energy of the muscles of the side of the
head is principally devoted to the lower jaw, to its crushing, crunching, and masticating office?,
for the food, although often soft enough, is occasionally inside the sugar-cane, and several harder
woods. The powerful upper jaw is, of course, attached to an equally strong lower one, which
foi-ms the front and lower part of the face. The upper jaw reaches out fer in front of the eyes
and nostrils, and is straight rather than bulged, and appears narrow, from side to side, in comparison
with the great, wide cheek-bones, but it looks formidable with four strong front teeth, projecting
only slightly, and a large, long, eye tooth on each side, sticking out rather far below the others.

On looking at the under surface of the roof of the mouth and palate, the cause of the length
of the front of the face is seen. Instead of the back teeth forming an open cm-ve around the
roof of the mouth, as iir men, they are placed in a long, and almost parallel straight row. Five
gi'eat teeth on each side thus foi-m with the bone, into which their fangs are planted, a long side
to the face. In front of these is the large eye, or dog tooth (canme tooth), mentioned above.

The palate and roof of the mouth are long and compai-atively narrow, and hence no Gorilla
could speak distinctly, or use his tongue glibly enough to talk as a child. Howling and a kind of
bark may, on the contrary, be done to perfection.

But although of no use as regards speech, the long roof of the mouth, with its wide ranges
of teeth, is of great importance to a vegetable-eating creature, which does not want the sugai-y
juices of its food to run out of the corners of its mouth, and which spends the gi-eater part of its
time in filling its capacious stomach. * The lower jaw fits the upper one, and when its teeth
clench with those above, the cavity of the mouth is nearly shut, and it is quite closed by the
lips and cheeks outside.

As might be expected from the gi-eat muscles which unite the lower jaw to the skull, it is
large and strong, but it has no projecting chin, and this slopes in a retiring manner. The side of the
jaw which supports the teeth is, as in man, curved upwards behind at what is called the angle. The
jaw is very movable, and can act sideways in munching, or up and down, as in biting ; and
having these powers — thanks to the action of diflerent sets of muscles — it has teeth fashioned to
bite, and to crunch, and to chew. They gi'eatly resemble those of the upper jaw, on which they
work, and a superficial view of them all leads to the opinion that they greatly resemble those of
man ; there are, however, many difl^erences. As in the iijijier jaw, the front and eye teeth are
nearly straight in fi'ont, the last-mentioned projecting outwards, and the front teeth biting inside
the upper ones ; and the back teeth are in straight rows also.

The following story is told by Du Chaillu to illustrate the cause of the wearing of the front
teetli of the Gorillas. He had gone into the interior, and was suti'ering from hunger, so went
out into the forest for game. Not finding any, he was about to retrace his steps, when he heard
the unmistakable roar of a Gorilla. He writes, " I plunged forward into tht,- thick of the forest,
breaking, as I went along, small boughs to enable me to find my way back, and tearing my clothes
in the thorny \inderwood. The roar became nearer, and seemed to shake the ground under me.
I heard the rustling of the branches, and fancied there must be more than one. The excitement
of the moment was great, and was increased by the prospect of obtaining food for all our party.

* The back eilye of the hard, bony pahite, ivith wliicli the soft pala'.c and uvula are continuous, forms a wide concave
notch, whilst that of man projects in the centre of the notch.

20 yATURAL HIHTORY.

Suddenly the roaring ceased. I stopped, tliinking that it was a male, whicli was prcpanng to
advance on me. But I listened in vain— the beast had fled. When I reached the spot I sav.-
nothing but broken branches of trees. I measured some of them with my tliumb, and fjund boughs
of five inches' diameter broken in two by the powerful gi-ip of this monster of the forest. Although
disappointed in my cha.se, I was glad to find a corroboration of the explanation I had given of
the wearing down of the animal's front teeth, for some of the branches plainly bore the tooth-
marks."

As the teeth of the Gorilla are admirably adapted for theii- duties of masticating and biting
vegetable food, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, and as they resemble in number and general
an-angement those of man, it is necessary to notice them briefly. They are of three kinds, the front
ones, which bite when the jaw is moved up and dowai, the large eye teeth (or dog teeth), which pierce,
and the back teeth, which crush and grind. The first -mentioned are called incisor teeth or cutters, and
there are four in the upper and four in the lower jaw, as in man ; the inner two in each jaw being

larger than the outer two. Tliey project slightly, and those of the upper jaw cut on the lower ones,
and are, when the jaws are clenched, in front or " over-hung." In shape they are adapted for biting
a piece out of anything, and they have one fang each, which fits into a socket in the jaw. In the
upper jaw there is a space between the incisor teeth and the gi-eat eye or dog teeth. This is one
of the mattei-s which distinguish the jaw of the Gorilla from that of man, whose teeth aj-e continued
in a row without any spaces where the gum is visible between them. The cause of the space is that
the lower eye tooth is so large and long that when the mouth is closed it fits in there. This space is
called a " diastema," and, as it is a term which will often be mentioned, it is necessary to notice that it
is taken from the Greek word Bido-rij/ao, "an interval." In the lower jaw the incisor teeth are succeeded
by the eye teeth without any diastema. The eye or dog teeth ai-e usually caHed canines, from Canis, a
dog, they being very distinct in that animal. They are four in number, two being in each jaw, one
on each side, and those of the upper jaw are long and pointed, being ro\mded, moreover, outside,
and marked by gi-ooves inside. The lower canines are nearly as large as the upper ones, and, as already
noticed, fit in the diastema in front of those of the upper jaw.

Behind the canine teeth are, on each side in both jaws, five crushing teeth, that is to say, ten
in each jaw, and twenty in all. In the upper jaw there is a continuous row of teeth from the canines
in front to the last of the crushers, which occupy the position of the upper ^\^sdom teeth of man, but
in the lower jaw there is not tliis serried row of teeth, for, between the crushing ones and the canine,
there is another space or diastema into which the upper canine tooth fits when the mouth is closed.

TUE TEETH.

21

All these liiiul teeth are made to endure constant grinding, one over the other, in masticating,
besides frequent shocks — as wlien nuts are ci-acked — and to last for years. Covered with a beautiful
cnamci, whicii gives them strength and smoothness, they are safely tixed by fangs in sockets in the
bone, in such a manner that the nerves and blood-vessels supplying them do not sufi'er from pressure.
They are not quite flat at the top, for then they could not grind, and they are not aciitely sharp-
pointed, for then the points would prevent the side-to-side movement of the jaw, and would be broken
ofl'; but they have rounded projections, or cusps, on them, separated hy grooves, so that thoss of

SKELETOS OF THE

the teeth of one jaw can fit into those of the other. All these teeth are not quite alike, and they are
divisible into two kinds, the three hinder ones being the molar teeth, from Mola, a mill-stone, and the
two in front of them being called false molai-s or pre-molars (front molai-s). Every one who has had
• ' b;ick tooth (a molar) taken out, will remember its three fangs, and in a Gorilla there would be the
same terrible wi-ench in extracting a molar for the same reasons as ^yith us. But, fortunately for it,
tooth decay Ls unknown, and the molare, with their three fangs, last as long as life. The pre-molars
have two fangs only in man, but it appears that sometimes there are three to those teeth in the upper
jiw of the Gorilla, and two only in the lower. They are smaller than the true molars or thiee back
teeth, and in front of then\ ; and that nearest the canine tooth is often tall, and almost like a foin--sided

22 NATURAL UISTURY.

pyramid in sliape. Tlie size of the crushing or molar teeth is very distinctive of the Gorilla when it
is compai-ed with the other great manlike Apes, for the upper ones are equal in size, and in the lower
jaw the hindmost tooth is larger than the others. Moreover, these lower teeth have five cusps or pro-
jections. There is a ridge extending obliquely across the crowns of the lower molars from an inner
to an outer cusj) ; and the cross-like grooves of the upper surface of the- corresponding teeth in man
are not seen. The manner in which the teeth of the Gorilla differ from those of other Apes will bo
mentioned in the several descriptions. Milk teeth, or those of the first set, are found in baby and
young Gorillas, and when they ftiU out the permanent set come out of the jaw and replace them,
adding also to theii' numbers. The long canine teeth are chai-acteristic of the old males, and those of
the females and young are much smaller. The thii-ty-two teeth of the Gorilla, eminently adapted for
a mixed vegetable diet, are therefore arranged as follows : — Uppar jaw — four incisors, two canines,
four pre-molars, and six true molars, and there is the same number in the lower jaw.

It is a very remarkable fact, and one which will be of some interest in comparing one of the other
great Apes with the Gorilla, that the skull of the young Gorilla (of both sexes) and that of the full-
gi'own female diffei-s materially from that of the male in the absence of the prominent ridges of the
top and back of the head. This gives a roundness to their skulls which would at first sight lead to
the belief that they could not belong to the same species.

Living upon such nice things as sugar-canes and pine-apples, the Gorilla has a long and well-
foi-med tongue to taste them with,* and a good nose to enjoy their scent and fragrance. The
nostrils are open, and look downwards, being separated by a moderately wide piece of flesh covering,
gristle, or cartilage, and they are protected above by ver'y dense bones, which form the slight ridges
called the nasal bones. Up the nose a passage leads to the aii- spaces in the bone of the front
of the head, and they and some curiously curled bones not very far from the nostrils are covered
with a delicate membrane well supplied with the nerves in which the function of smell exists.

Both the natives and Du Chaillu allude to the roaring and yelling of the old male Gorillas,
and it will be noticed further on that the young ones can make noise enough. Dr. Savage was
told that when the male Ls first seen he gives a terrific yell that resounds far and near through
the forest, something like Kh — ah! Kh — ah, prolonged and shrill, and others have compared the
noise to distant thunder. They have an organ of voice on the top of the windpipe, made on the
plan of that of man, but deficient in many respects, and especially in those fine adaptations of
structure which produce the human voice. But there is a very remarkable
arrangement in their lai-ynx, as it is called, which, although it has nothing
to do with the formation of sound, may possibly make it more resonant
and growling, and this is one of the things which separate the great Ape
from man Ln matters of mere construction.

At the back of our tongues, and also of those of the Gorilla, is a little
flap, rather hard and gi'istly in us, and only membranous and soft in the Ape,
which covers over the top of the aii'-passage into the windpipe when any food
is swallowed. The food or drink would otherwise get into the aii'-passage, and
would be constantly going " the wrong way." Immediately under this flap,
or, as it is called, the epiglottis, is a space limited in front by the hard
substance we call in our thi-oat the "Adam's apple," and at the bottom of it
are the movable structures by whose action voice is produced. Now, in the
Gorilla, this space is not shut in front as it is in us, but there are two

THROAT OF GOP.ILLV. . .. .-, -i i.iii, i-,i i

openings in it, one on either side, which lead to a complicated sac or pouch.

This pouch is made of thin membrane, and covers, when blown out like a
bag — for the air coming out of the windpipe can be forced in — the front of the windpipe, and
projects sideways under the muscles of the throat, and even amidst those of the armpits. The
Gorilla can thus blow Ids neck out, as it were, and when he is yelling, the air in the bag

* The tongiic lias the same Wnd of paiiiUa;, or sliglit projections of its surface, as in man ; some calleil fungiform
are seen at tlie tip, and on tlic .s\irface generally, ai:'l others more or less cup-shaped. These last are found at the back,
and are not arranged in any definite shape or optler.

THE SPIXAL CORD. 23

or pouch must resound. Pos.sil)ly this great bag of air may have something to do with
making the body lighter when the animal is climbing and using all the force it can with its arms.
These so-called " laryngeal " pouches are found in many Apes and Monkeys, but their double opening
into the space below the little flap is peculiar to the great Apes, which are sufficiently man-like as to
he called by the term Anthrojioid — the Gorillas, their allies the Chimpanzees, the Orangs, and the
.Siamangs.* All the other Moidceys of the Old World with sacs have but one opening into a space,
or, as it is termed, the ventricle of the organ of voice, or larynx. The Jlonkeys of the New
World have a different arrangement of ail- pouches, which will be noticed in the proper place.

The Gorilla has one little peculiarity which distinguishes it from all other Apes and Monkeys,
and which causes it to be more like man, and insignificant as it may seem, it is of some interest.
In man thei-e is a decided projection of bone behind, or rather below the ear, and this is called
the teat-shaped process of the ear-bone (Mastoid process), and is of importance to the organ of hearing
and also to the muscles which steady and keep the head erect, and allow of its being moved in par-
ticular directions. This process exists to a certain extent in the Gorilla but not in the Chimpanzee,
Orang-Utan, or in any other of the Quadrumana. It is smaller in the Gorilla than in man, but
it is made up, as in lis, of a nximber of spaces enclosed by bones which have to do with the
organ of hearing in some way or other, and which are lined with membrane. On the outside a
muscle is attached, which passes downwaiils and inwards to the toji of the breast-bone, covering
the great blood-vessels and nerves of the neck.

In examining this process of bone, attention is of course drawn to the ear itself, and there
is no doubt of the remarkable resemblance of those of man and of the Gorilla. The great Ape
has evidently a very quick sense of hearing, for it gets out of the way of men as quickly as is
possible, when it can only hear them in the forest and jungle, but that it shoidd have the outside
ear fashioned nearly after the resemblance of that beautiful structure in man is very remarkable.
The ear of the Gorilla is smaller in proportion to the .size of the head than those of other Apes,
and is about the same length, but broader than that of man ; the lobe, which is perforated by
lis for earrings, is perhaps less pei-fect in the GorUla, but all the curves and folds, whicli are so
complicated yet so gi-aceful in the human ear exist in it, modified more or less, and not so
hannonious in their general symmetry, as in man.

With all its great strength, the head of the great Ape cannot move as readily on the neck
as that of weaker man, for the skull is not placed on the neck end of the back-bone quite in the
same manner, and its position is not that which is admirably (a-s in us) adapted for carrying
the head erect. One of the greatest marvels in the structure of man is the manner in which
the tender mass of nerves called the spinal cord or marrow passes out of the hard skull into a bony
canal down the spine, and yet does not suffer injury as head and back move and roll about.

The spinal coi-d or marrow passes out of the skull through a special opening, on the outside of
which is a joint on either side. These joints fit on to corresponding ones on a ring-shaped bone (atlas bone),
and this bone rests on one equally hollow, and whicli has an upward projection which enters the ring
(axis bone), and is clasped to it by a strong ligament. It is this projection which prevents the spinal
man-ow from being injured by the head moving too freely, and yet life hangs almost on a thread, for
were this strong ligament to break the soft nerve would be pressed in by the bony projection, and death
would ensue. All the motions of the head are connected with these bones and their joints, and the way
in which it is carried is in relation with the position of the opening in the skull for the spinal marrow.
If the head is to be carried erect, as in man and in many birds, the opening is far from the back
part of the head. If the face is to look upwards, as it does in a* pig or dog, the ojiening Ls very far
backwards. In the Gorilla it Ls not quite at the back, but further in that direction than in man, and
hence the face of this Ape is more liable to be looking upwards than forwards. This is really the case,
for the natural jjosition of the animal is not erect, but on all-fours, and then it wants to look, not on
the ground, but upwards and forwards, by tilting the head. Many of the great muscles of the back
crest have to do with this. It is noticed also that the joint whicli permits the head to move on the
ring-shaped bone (the atlas bone) is not so long or curved as in man, and therefore the movements
of the Gorilla's head ai-e restricted.

* The Gibbons have no air saca.

24 XATUMAL mSTOEY.

All accounts of tlie life of a Gorilla tell of its moving rapidly amongst ti-ees, climbing readily and
noiselessly, and gathering its food constantly. It is therefore necessary to examine into the manner
in wliich this is done, and how it relates to the shape and anatomy of the creature.

In climbing trees, the Gorilla, like a man under the same circumstances, lifts up the arms over
the head, and clasps or holds on with one hand, but the position of the hand is not the same. Ape.*
seize instinctively with the knuckles towards them, and not with the end.s of the fingers and palm a.s^
man : and this makes a gi-eat difference, for the muscles of the back are therefore more important to the
Ape than those of the chest in climbing. Then with some muscular effoi-t the body is lifted or rather
drawai up, so that the unemployed hand can reach and clasp higher than the other ; and having thus
two hands holding on to a bough or a tree, the muscles of both arms are used to draw up the ponderous^
tiunk, head, and limbs mitil the face comes more or less on a level with the wrists. When this is

atcompi

if the ums
1

suddenly forced ujiwards to enalile the huge grasp of the fingers to
A the " hand-over-liaud '' process is continued as long as is

FOKEST IN THE GABOON COfXTnY— THE LANT) OF THE GORILLA.

ry. Doubtless the clasping feet a-ssi.st in this movement, wliich is only rarely performed by
man, but which is one of the commonest with the great Ape. A sailor or an acrobat may often use
the muscles which are required to perform this feat of carrying ujiwai-ds the body with the aid of the
arms, but ordinary jjeople rarely employ their energies in this manner ; the Gorilla, on the contrary,
must climb often and for some distance every day of its life, both for food, amusement, and for shelter.
It becomes, therefore, an interesting question whether tlie Gorilla ha.s any special muscles or bones which
enable it to climb easily and rapidly, and for a considerable time, or whether there are the same kinds
of bones and muscles in its hands, arms, and shoulders, which are to be found in man modified more
or less. The results of careful inspection have proved that, although there are no peculiar structure.s
given to the great Ape wherewith it may climb, still the bones of the arms and shoulders, and the
muscles which are attached to them, greatly as they resemble those of man, are larger and stronger.
Bone for bone, and almost muscle for muscle, the climbing limbs of the man and the Gorilla may be
compared with extraordinary exactness ; the structures of the last-mentioned being, as it were, simple
exaggerations of the fomier, and the increased size bearing a distinct relation to the agility and energy
displayed. It must be remembered, however, that whilst in man the muscles of the chest as.sist
principally in climbing, in the Ape those of the back and shoulders are the most important.

It is hardly necessary to notice the relation which bones and muscles have to movement, and the

no IF THE GOEILLA CLIMBS.

25

most unleurned in anatomy neetl only be reminded that muscles are adherent to certain parts of bones.
The bone, by itself, is motionless, and the force which can move it, and with it, the surrounding fle,sh
and skin, acts thi-ough the muscles, and these consist of vast numbers of long microscopic fibrils,
placed side by side, and adherent, at both ends, to different bones. The fibrils have a vast amount of
energy in them, and they can contract, or, in other words, shorten ; the diminution in length being
accompanied by a display of force. As the fibrUs shorten, they tend to bring the motionless bones
closer together, and to impart motion, wliich may be rapid, and more or less forcible. If one bone is
stationary, the other may be brought towards it V)y the muscular contraction, or if both are not fixed,
both may move. The nervous force produces the muscular contraction, whose vigoiu- and lasting
power depend a great deal upon the supply of blood sent to the fibrils through the blood vessels
(arteries), and removed through the vein.s.

In the principal act of climbing hand-over-hand, a bough or some stationary object is grasped by
the fingers, the arm being straight, and the body hanging, as it were, to it. The fii-st motion is the
lifting up of the arm ; the second is the grasping with the hand ; and the third is the bending of the
straight elbow, and bringing the shoulder up nearer the fijced j)oint, or the part grasjicd. Whilst

this is being done the body is not limp, but more or less stiflened by the spine, which runs down the
back, and consists of many bones, being made rigid by the contraction of many small muscles.
Now the bones and muscles of all the parts of the body engaged in climbing are so arranged that the
spine shall not suffer any jarring, but shall be lifted up safely. Were all the muscles which pull
upon the arms attached to it, every unusual efibrt would drag it almost to pieces, so there is a wide
flat bone placed between the spine and the arm. This so-called blade-bone is jointed by a ball and
.".ocket joint to the arm-bone, but is only united to the spine and ba«k part of the head by muscles.
Muscles start from the spine to the blade-bone, from the blade-bone to the bones of the arm and fore-
arm, and from these List to the bones of the fingers, and by their shortening or contraction, the fingers
being stationar}', the body is at last brought closer to them. '

In order to explain the firet motions of climbing, it is necessary to remark that on looking at the
skeleton of the Gorilla the shoulder-blades are seen to be of the same general shape as those of man ;
they are much larger, however, and there are some anatomical points about them, which clearly have
to do with tJie ability of the gi-eat Ape to keep its anns up for a long time, and to pull up its heavy
body when the hantls and fore-arms are fixed and immovable by clasping. One muscle, which in our-
selves forms the cushion on the shoulder, and reaches down the outside of the arm for a little distance,
is called the deltoid or A-shaped muscle, and its especial duty is, when the shoulder-blade is fixed, to
lift up the arm l)y its contraction. The movement is permitted because between the spots where the
inu.scles are adherent to the blade-bone on the one hand, and to the outside oi the arm-bone on the
• other, a distance of several inches, there is a joint like a ball and socket. Tlie muscle is not

2G NATURAL MISTURY.

attached to a flat surface ou the blade-bone, but to a raised edge, which rims rather obliquely, and is
called the spine of the bone. Now tliis muscle is of immense importance to the Gorilla, as may be
imagined from the nature of its function or ofiice : it is placed in the same position as in man, and
between the same kind of bones, but the spine of the blade-bone is longer, bi'oader, and more slantingly
set in the Ape, so that extra strength and greater power are attained.

This spine, or rather raised ridge, can be felt when we place the right hand over the left shoulder
as far as possible, keeping the fingers between the neck and the end of the shoidder, and its slanting
position can be traced test in the Gorilla ; and it may be mentioned, that in the Chimpanzee the
direction is much more oblique. Above this spine of the blade-bone there is the upper part of the
blade, and it is covered with muscle, the space thus occupied being much larger in the Gorilla than in
man. This muscle starts from this bone, to which it is attached, and is imited to the arm-bone, close
to its joint with the blade-bone ; it is larger in the Gorilla than in us, and one of its uses is to assLst
the deltoid just mentioned.

There is i-ather an interesting arrangement in the old Gorillas, which is not found in the young or
in man, and which appears to have to do with the power of this muscle and its prolonged action. The
muscle is well supplied with blood, and the nerve which endows it with energy is particularly well
prevented from being compressed during the movements of the muscles amongst which it runs, any
compression being very injurious. The upper edge of the blade-bone is notched, and a dense tissue or
ligament stretches from one point of the notch to the opposite one, enclosing a small open space ;
now the nerve runs through this space, and is protected by the hard tissues of bone and ligament
from the contraction of the soft muscles. In the old Gorilla a further protection is found in the
presence of a little projection of bone in this space, which acts as a greater preventer of pressure.

After passing through this space the nerve entei-s the very substance of the muscle, and is
distributed to its fibrils.

The upper arm reaches down from the shoulder to the hips in the Gorilla, and its bone {os
humerus, from the Latin) is strongly marked on its surface by roughnesses and ridges, to which the
great muscles are attached. In man the shape of the upper arm varies with the strength of the
individual, but in the strongest man tuid in the most beautifully-shaped woman it has a swelling on
the front, and tapers more or less towards the elbow. This is caused by the two-headed or biceps
muscle, and by other muscles ending in tendons. But the Gorilla has a very shapeless upper arm ;
it is, as it were, fat and roimd throughout, and very large above the elbow, and this is because of the
size of the bone within, and on account of the muscles not tapering as they do in man, but being well
developed right down to tiieir ends. Hence, elegance of shape is sacrificed to extra muscular strength
and size of bone.

On looking at the arm-bone, wliich, being connected to the shoulder by a joint, has much to do
with the act of climbing and striking, it will be noticed that it gi'eatly resembles that of man in shape,
but is longer, stouter, and clumsier. The joint is nearly in the shape of a rounded knob, and the corre-
sponding depression or cup on the blade or shoulder-bone into which it fits, is an oval and concave
surfoce, and they are kept close together by a kind of capsule which stretches from one bone to the other
and encloses the joint. Perfect freedom of movement is insured by the bones being covered with
glistening cartilages, and a delicate and moist membrane, and the motion from the shape of the
apparatus is almost equal to that of a chandelier where there is what is called a cup-and-ball jomt at
the ceiling. It has already been noticed that muscles are attjiched to the blade-bone and to the arm-
*bone below the joint, and that, tliis being movable, when they contract they move the ai-m, and the
instance was given of the action of the deltoid muscle in raising the arm. In the Gorilla, this gi-eat
nuLscle reaches lower down than in man, and there is a very strong mark in the .shaft of the bone for its
insertion. This gives the mu.scle greater play than in us, and enables it to lift, more slowly perhaps,
Init more efficiently, for the arm-bone between the joint and the place where the muscle is attached, is
the long arm of a lever which is shorter in man. Below the globular head of the arm-bone is the shaft
or cylindrical part of the bone which gives origin to the three-headed muscle called triceps, and is covered
Tiy the two-headed one (biceps) already mentioned, besides the deltoid. A deep groove allows one of the
ends or heads of the biceps to pass along and slide o\er the joint and to reach the shoulder-blade. The
' shaft as a whole ls more or less cylindrical, with a slight angular outline, the angles being projections of

THE GoniLL.rs uaxd. 27

lioue wliicli strengthen the wliole, besides giving attacJinient to ninsclcs ; the cylindrical sliape is the
best for strength and liglitness, and these properties are increased l)y the adoption of a plan which
engineei-s have long since unwittingly copied. The shaft is hollow, and is cellular at both ends, solid
bone covering the outside, conditions which oppose fracture, and produce increased strength, indeed
greater strength and lightness than a solid bone would have. Below the shaft is an expansion, on which
are placed the surfaces for the jointing on of the two bones of the fore-arm, and the bone is especially
ill old Gorillas perforated tliere, a condition seen in some very old human bones. There is an im-
portant point in the relative length of the upper arm-bone, and the bones of the fore-arm in the
Gorilla, in other Apes, and in man, for in this great Ape and in us the humerus is longer than the
others, and in the Chimpanzee they are almost equal, whilst in the rest of the Monkeys they are very
unequal, the bones of the fore-arm being much the longest.

Although they have such strong arms, covered with a stout skin and \nth. hairs sloping
downwards, the Gorillas .sometimes manage to break them, and then Nature endeavours to repair- the
injury. In the skeleton of the old male Gorilla in the British Museum there are proofs of a former
fracture of the humerus or upper arm-bone. Tire ai-m was broken across, and as it could not be kept
quiet, Dame Nature ha.s not done her work as well as a modern surgeon could on a patient whose arm
he could put in splints, for it is thickened, shortened, and twisted.

Tlie fore-arm of the GorDla has its long hairs pointing upwards to the elbow, and the limb does not
slope gracefully towards, and become slightly smaller above the wi-ist, as in man, but remains thick and
fleshy as fai' as the hand. There are two bones in the forearai which are jointed above with the lower
end of the arm-bone (humerus), and which are also connected by joints at their lower ends with tlie
small bones forming part of the wrist. The bones of the fore-arm are called the i-adius and the ulna
in the Gorilla as in man. They are larger, stouter, and wider apart in the gi-eat Ape than in ordinary
Europeans, but they greatly resemble those of the Australian aborigines. As these bones are covered
with muscles, some going to the fingers, and others coming from the upper arm, there are many
ridges or surfaces on them, for their origin and attachment, and these gi'eatly resemble those of
man ; moreover, the muscles perform the same functions and movements.

When compared with that of a strong man, the wrist of the Gorilla is broader, and the bones, of
the same number, are larger from side to side, and this extra breadth makes this part of the hand
very wide. As the Gorilla's hand often has to support the weight of the body, on the back of the
fingers and knuckles, it is long, broad, and very strong, surpassing in these respects those of man ;
but the thumb is peculiar. It does not look a well-foi-med one; it is evidently short, and out
of proportion to the long fingers. The human thumb reaches not fai- from the second joint of the fore-
finger ; but the top of that of the Gorilla is on a level with the first joint, or at the end of the long
hones of the hand, and which are called metacarpal- bones.

Remarkable then for its breadth and tluckness, the Gorilla's hand has also a long palm, wliich is
not only due to the length of the bones, ju.st mentioned, but also to the fact that the web or undivided
skin between the fingei-s, where they join the hand, is not slight as in man, but long and very decidedly
visible. The -W'eb extends half way up the first joint of the fingei-s. The fingers are therefore made to
appear short* (although their bones are long), and they look dumpy and swollen, and this appearance
is increased by there being callous pads of skin on the back of the middle and end joints. Finally, the
fingera slope to the nails, which are not much larger or longer than those of man. The back of the
hand is haii-y as far as the divisions of the fingers ; and the callous pads, just noticed, almost do away
with the appeai-ance of some of the joints. The short thumb, not so big as the forefinger, has a nail
which does not reach the end of it, .and the under-parts of the thiunb, fingers, and palm have a bare
skin. Professor Owen, in .summing up the difference between the structure of the hands of the Gorilla
and of man, remarks that in the gi-eat Ape the liands are instruments for great power of gi-asp, and for
sustaining gi-eat weight, and the length and strength of the whole upper limb accord -with their
mechanical powers and requirements. In man, the framework of the hand bespeaks an organ of
varied and delicate prehension, and the form and proportion of the rest of the arm-limb relate to the
free motions and complex functions of the instniment.

* See page 16.

NATUEAL nisTonr.

Having raised the nnn )>y its muscles, the fingers and thumbs grasjj an object, or, in otlier
v.ords, certaiii muscles which are placed between the liones of the fingers and between the fingere and
the bones of the fore-arm, contract and move the bones, which are jointed. The tops of the fingers
are bent on the palm, and the thumb is closed on them, and this continues as long -ah the contraction
permits. All the apparatus for long-contiaued clasping is present in the Gorilla, and there are
nearly the same kinds of muscles employed as in man. There are, however, some differences,
to one of which it is necessary now to allude. The thumb, for instance, of the Gorilla is of gi-eat
importance in gi-asphig, biit it has not to perform such complicated movements in other things as
that of man. In man its movements are most wonderful, and by using one muscle after the other
which belongs to it, it can be moved so as to describe a cii-cle with its tip. This is done in the action
of " twiddlino-," but also in many others where the will hardly influences the mu.scle, and where the
thumb may be said to be moved imconsciously. Gorillas in their quietest and most reflective
moods cannot indulge in the sober practice of twiddling, for an important twiddling muscle is
absent in them. But it is no great loss, and perhaps it is a real gain, for this muscle would Ije in
the way of rapid clasping, as it rather tends to keep the thumb from the fingei-s. Whilst the great
Ape is thus deficient it has a muscle on the other side of the hand which is not possessed by man,
and whose office appears to be to separate as far as is possible the fourth and fifth fingers (their first

joLats), and by so doing to enlarge the
gi'asp of the whole hand. As the hand
of the Gorilla is at least a thii-d larger
than that of the avei-aged-sized man, there
is of coiu-se a corresponding increase in
the space which can be grasped. The
muscles are stronger and stouter than in
us, and therefore the hand is a more
powerful one. Nevertheless it is incom-
petent of performing many actions whicli
are readily done by a child.

Having lifted up the arm in the
act of climbing, and having gi-a.sped
something, the thu'd motion commences,
the object being to draw up the body
to the wrist and fingers, which of cour.se remain as fixed points. All the muscles which
inten-ene between the fore-arm bones and the spines of the back have to contract and shorten, so
as to bring the last-named bones towards the fixed point, and they may be dialed into three
;;roup.s — those which reach from the arm-bones to the blade-boue, those which connect the l)lade-
bone and the back-bone, and those which unite the arm and the back-bone. All contract at once
and shorten the distance Ijetween the body and the arm; some fix as it were the lilade-bone,
and twist it slightly, placing it in a straight line for the pulling of others; and the most
important bend and pull down the elbow. Two muscles may be noticed in particular. One
wliich has already been noticed forms the lump on the front of the arm when the wi-ist \s brought
close to the .shoulder, and is called " biceps," because it has two heads or points of adhesion to the
blade-bone, not far from the joint of the arm-bone. The fibres pass over the arm from the blade-bone
down to one of the bones of the fore-arm, in front of the bend of the elbow, and when they contract
they tend to bend the elbow and bring the wri.st near the shoulder, or the shoulder near the wrist
when the fingers ai-e fixed or clasping, The biceps of the Gorilla is a vast muscle, but it wants the
symmetry of that of man, and it does not taper downwards so as to make the arm narrower above the
elbow. Another muscle is at the back part of the arm, and from having three upper heads or attach-
ments is called the "triceps." Two of the heads are attached to the ami-bone, and one to the blade-
bone, and the lower one is fixed on to the piece of bone of one of the fore-ai-m bones, on which
the arm rests when "elbows are on the table." Its action is to drag the blade-bone towards that
bone, and it is assisted in this by a muscle which passes from the spine to the arm-bone, and whose
oflioe in climbing is to drag the spine towards the arm. Finally, there are numerous muscles which

OF THE GOKILLA

THE GORILL.Va CUEi'T. 29

pass fi'om the long spines of the pieces of the back-bone (veitebrie) to the bhitle-bone, and which iu
climbing tend to drag tlie tirst towards the kst-mentioned bones, and to move the body generally
iijivard-;. The huge size of the blade-bone assists in this m the Gorilla, as its large surface can gi\e
adhesion to larger muscles than a smaller one ; and as the arm-boues are large, there is all the more
room for muscidai- play.

Considering the bulk of the body of a Gorilla, and the nature of the movements of climbing,
it is to be expected that those muscles and bones which are connected, as just stated, with the blade-
bone, should be large and strong. This is remarkably the case. On examining the back of a Gorilla
one is struck with the great projection of the back-bones in the neck. In man each back-bone or
vertebra has a projection or spine which sticks out backwards more or less. These are small in the
region of the neck, but in the Gorilla these spines are very long there, and give a peculiar hump-
necked appearance. Theu- size, however, is iir exact relation with the size and strength of the muscles
attached to them, and some of these go to the blade-bone to assist in the act of climbing.

It is this hump-necked appearance and the round-backed look produced by the great size of the
blade-bones which make a Gorilla so ugly about the chest and head, but beauty is of much less use
in an African forest than good stout bones and active muscles.

The hind part of the neck does not form a gi-aceful curve as in a well-made man, but a
projection which gi-adually slopes into the line of the back. Moreover, the shoulders of the Gorilla
do not slope from the neck — on the contrary, their direction is that which rendei-s the hand-over-hand
raovi'ment of climbing the readiest of commencement. They are " high," as the term is, the head
axnd neck being as it were sunken between them, so that the chin, instead of being on a much higher
level than the top of the breast-bone, is naturally lower than it. The front of the neck is thiLS hidden
l^y the huge lower jaw.

Gorillas have collar-bones which are in the same position as those in man, but they are straighter,
stouter, and stronger : they are not placed almost horizontally between the front of the blade-bone and
the breast-bone, as in us, but as the shoulders are " high " they slant downwards to the breast-bone. By
placing the hand on the upper part of the opposite side of the chest the collar-bone may be felt with
the tips of the fingers like a ridge, and it is one which many know to their cost is very readily
broken by a fall on the end of the shoulders. The bone is something like the letter f in outline,
without the cross-bar, and it is fixed at both ends : so when a force acts on one end in the direction of
the length of the boue it tends to bend, and often cracks and breaks across.

Now a fractured collar-bone would be a serious thing to a Gorilla ; he coidd no longer lift up his
aim, and he would be in constant peril and difficulty ; hence, Nature has given him not only a very
strong and straight bone, but has by the " high " shoulder posture rendered a ftill on the top of it
almost impossible. A fall would probablj- injure the upiier part of the arm, which is well protected
by the thick cushion of muscle, flesh, and haiiy skin which covers the bone.

Travellers and hunters have noticed the rapidity and ease with which the Gorilla moves when off
the ground, and when the size and the weight of the animal are considered it becomes evident that
not only must it have gi'eat muscular power but a stout heiart, good circidation, and capital "wind."

It must be i-emembered also that it is a great eater of vegetable food, and that it has to consume
a large quantity to obtain a supply of nourishment : in other words, it has a very capacious stomach,
which has to be carried about and kept very well filled.

In order to meet these requirements there is a very capacious chest (much more so than in man),
which contains the large lungs and heart, and the belly is flaccid and large, so that the stomach need
not press upwards and interfere ^vitll the breathing, or with the action of the circulation. Man has
twelve ribs on either side, but the Gorilla has thirteen, each of which is longer, stouter, and broader
than ours, the result being to make the cavity enclosed by them the gi-eater, but apparently less
readily influenced by the muscles of respiiution.

Wlien we breathe deeply and endeavour to inspire more than is usual we employ certain muscles
■which act on the ribs, enlarging the cavity of the chest, and then diminishing it as the expiration occurs.
The larger the spaces between the ribs, and the more elastic the ribs themselves, the greater is their
possible amount of movement. In us it is very great in the child, great in man, but much less in old
age, when the elasticity of the ribs diminishes. In the Gorilla, the breadth and strength of the ribs

so yATURAL EISTORY.

keep the cavity of the chest always vast, and certainly from their solidity and from the small sjjacs
v/hich exists between the successive ribs, great and unusual eflbrts of respu-ation are not veiy possible.
So large is the cavity of the chest in the Gorilla, and so capacious are the lungs, that it is possibly
not necessary for it to put itself out of breath, and to call extraordinary muscular exertion into play,
during its uneventful life.

Having thirteen ribs on either side, and each rib being attached to a separate bone of the sj)ine,
the Gorilla has therefore one more spine bone (vertebra) than man, and is all the more long-backed.
Moreover, the breast-bone, which is on the front of the chest, is broader in the Gorilla than in man,
and at leii.st one-third longer, thus adding to the capacity of the cavity of the chest, making it of about
500 cubic inches ; that of man being 330 cubic inches.

The lungs and heart of the gi-eat Ape resemble those of man, and the great ai-teries are given ofi'
from the main blood-vessel in the same manner in both.

The GorilliUi appear to be great eaters, and to roam about, either in small bands or alone, seeking
for theii- favourite food in the forest, and the plantations close by. Sometimes they seek the high
plains and rough ground of the hills, especially where certain trees are found, and they invaiiably
cling to the forests about water. They eat the cabbage of the palm nut tree, and partake of the papau,
banana, and amonuim fraits. AVild sugar-canes attract them, and they are esjiecially fond of the
succulent white i)arts of the pine-apple and its leaves. Some hard kijids of nuts are readily cracked
■vdth theii' huge teeth, which are also brought into use in tearing open the stems of jui?y jjlants.

All the examinations of the dead bodies of the Gorillas jn-ove their diet to consist of such things,
and the remains of berries, pine-apple leaves, and other vegetable matters were found, but not flesh or
anything like it. This food is, however, not very nwirishing, and it must be taken in large quantities
and frequently. Hence the animal must not only have good climbing powers to get his food, but a large,
stomach and intestines to digest it rapidly. There is no doubt that the figure of the Gorilla testifies to
its kind of food. The abdomen is very large, and sticks out when the animal is in the erect position ;
its paunch is vast, and therefore the bones which support it below, or the haunch bones, are very wide.

These hainich-bones form pai-t of a gii-dle of bones which, in a skeleton, unites the legs to
the spine, and which contains, in li^-ing animals, the bladder, jiart of the reproductive organs, and
the unborn yoiuig.

It is called the pelvis, or basin-shaped bone (being veiy unlike one); its upper edge is formed by
the expanded haunch, or ilium bones (ilium, or gut, alhuling to the support given l>y the bone to the
bowels), and its lower one by the bones on which men and Gorillas sit, or the hip (the ischium, or hip-
bone). In the Gorilla the pelvis is enormous, and the edge of the haunches is long, so as to give
attachment to the muscles which enclose the vast digestive apparatus behind and at the side, but
it does ]iot form a graceful curve behind and below, for certain muscles which are of great use
to man in maintauiing the erect po.sture, and which straighten the thigh in tlie bod)-, are weak
in the gi-eat Ape. These muscles originate outside and below the top of the haunch, and when
large and strong, require a peculiar shape of bone : they form in man what does not exist in the
Gorilla, and that in which the Hottentot Venus glories. But the Gorilla can sit just as well upon
a pair of short and expanded hip-bones (ischial tuberosities, in the language of anatomists), and as
he has no tail (the bones forming it in other Monkeys being diminished in number and united in
a short process), he can do so for a considerable time with comfort. The sitting in the upi-ight
position is moderately easy to the Gorilla, and the older ones evidently oft«n do so. They squat
and rest their liroad backs against a tree, and as this is a very constant and favourite i)osition,
they wear a good deal of their back hair off.

The fate of a hunter is thus given by Du C'haillu, who jiledges himself to three very debatable
points : that the Gorilla meets its enemy erect ; stands and fights ; and kills by a blow across
the abdomen: — "We set off towards a dai-k valley where Gambo said we should find our
prey. The Gorilla chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests, for its home is found on tlie edges of
the clearings only when in search of plantains, sugar-canes, or pine-apples. Often they choose for
their peculiai- haunt a wood, so dark that even at midday one can scarce see ten yards. Tliis.
makes it the more necessary to wait till the monstrous beast approaches near before shooting, ii>
oi'der that the first shot may be ftital. It does not often let the hunter reload. Our little party

THE TUIGU-BOXE OF THE GUIULLA. 31

SPiiii rated, as is the custom, to stalk tlie wood in various directions. Ganiho ami I kept togetlier.
One bi-av(^ fellow went alone, in a direction where he thoiiglit he could find a Gorilla. The
other three took another course. We had been about an hour .separated, when Gambo and I
heard a gun fired, but a little way from us, and presentlj' another. We were already on our way
to the spot, where we hoped to see a Gorilla slain, when the forest began to resound with the
most terrific roai-s. Gambo seized my arm in gi-eat agitation, and we hunied on, both filled
with a dreadful and sickening alarm. We had not gone far when our worst feai-s were realised.
The poor brave fellow, who had gone off alone, was lying on the gi-ound in a pool of his own
blood, and I thought, at firet, quite dead. His bowels were pi-otruding through the lacerated abdomen.
Beside him lay his gun. The stock was broken, and the barrel was bent and flattened. It bore
plainly the marks of the Gorilla's teeth. We picked him up, and I di-essed his wounds as well
a.s I could with r.ags torn from my clothes. When I had given him a little brandy to drink he
came to himself, and was able, but with gi-eat difficulty, to speak. He said he had met the Gorilla
suddenly, and face to face, and that it had not attempted to escape. It was, he said, a large
male, and seemed very savage. It was in a gloomy part of the wood, and the darkness I suppose
made him miss. He said he took good aim, and tired when the beast was only about eight yards oft".
The ball merely wounded it in the side, and it at once began beating its breasts, and with the
greatest rage advanced upon him. To run away was impossible, for he would liave been
caught in the jimgle before he hacl gone a dozen steps. He stood his gi-ound, and, as quickly
a-s he could, reloaded his gun. Just as he raised it to fire, the Gorilla dashed it out of his
hand, the gun going off in the fall ; and then in an instant, and with a terrible roar, the animal
gave him a tremendous blow with its immense open paw, frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and
with this .single blow laying bare part of the intestines. As he sank bleeding to the ground, the
monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would have his brains dashed out wath
it. But the Gorilla seemed to have looked upon this also as an enemy, and in hisr rage almost
flattened the barrel between his strong jaws."

In spite of this anecdote, and some drawings by Du Cliaillu, wliicli represent the Gorilla standing
erect, it is verj^ doubtful, from anatomical reasons, wlutlitr tliis is possible. The comparative
smallness of some of the most important muscles in the Gorilla, which in man produce the erect
position, ha-s already been noticed, and it is now necessary, for the same reasons, to examine into
the nature of the lower limbs.

The thigh-bone (called from the Latin, femur) of the Gorilla is shorter than the arm-bone, the
revei-se being the case in man ; and hence the Ape appeai-s to Ije too shoi-t in the legs for its long
body and arms. It is stout and rather straight, and has not the forward bend of the same bone in
man : moreover, some well-marked ridges which run dowii the back of it, and which were exceedingly
well developed in the oldest races of men, are deficient in the Gorilla. The same may be said for
the markings on the bone, which indicate the presence of powerful muscles whose action is to keep
the thigh straight with the back — or in other words, to keep the Ijody erect. Below the knee are the
two bones of the leg ; the inner one, or shiji-bone (the tibia), is very short for the height of the
animal, and the joint on its lower part, on which moves the ankle-bone, is not so deep artd perfect as
in man, whose weight is constantly to be borne on it whilst it is being moved in walking. The little
outside bone, called fibula, or the clasp-bone, in the Gorilla is so made that it adds singularly to the
inability to maintain the erect posture whilst walking, and even in standing still. The lower end of
this bone in man forms the prominence outside the ankle, and covers and protects the outside of the
topmost bone of the ankle, to which the foot is attached. It strengthens it and prevents that turning
in of the foot, which is antagonistic to the placing the sole flat on the surface of the earth, so that it
can receive the weight of the body on its broad space and allow of the position so characteristic of man.
In the Gorilla this bone does not come down as far- as the ankle, and all the safeguards again.st in-
twisting are not present. Why, is clear enough, because the Gorilla treads on the outside of its foot-
like hand, and always has the sole turned in. There are some other points which require to be noticed,
however, about the leg. It is short and evidently wanting in " calf." It is therefore deficient in that
symineti-y of which many mortals are most proud. Nevertheless, it has a high instep, also a human
desideratum; but in spite of this the ankles are thick and shapeless-looking. The Undon which

32 NATURAL EiaTORY.

reaches from the calf to the back heel-bone (os calcis) gives a slender appearance to the lower limb of
•nan, but there is no myth about a Gorilla having been held by that slim spot and dipjied in Styx, to be
for ever invulnerable elsewhere. This tendon (tendo Achillis) so characteristic of man, is supplied
with muscular fil)res close to its insertion into the heel-bone in the Gorilla, which thus gains i i
strength what it loses in elegance. A snapping of the tendon would be indeed a grave matter in the
huge Ape, and Nuture has thus provided against this accident.

The thick auklo.-i of the Gorilla are ratlier exaggerated bv the hair which covers them, and

it is found over the whole of the upper surface of the foot to the clefts of the toes. The sole is not
thus covered, and its bare state enables graspmg to be performed with ease, whUe the absence of hair
assists the delicacy of the sense of touch. Another cause of the ugly appearance of the foot is tha
backward projection of the heel, and the hand-like look is of course given by the great toe-thumb,
which projects from the side of the foot at an angle of 60 degrees at least. The sole is narrow behind,
and expands to where the great toe-thumb projects, so as to become very wide close to the clefts
between the other toes. It is marked with lines or indentations, and there is a kind of pad beneath
the ball of the great toe-thumb. The GorOla seizes objects and gi-asps boughs with its feet, +he gi-eat
toe-thumb being exceedingly movable to and fro as well as across the sole of the foot. Hence the
hand-like appearance of the foot and the thumb-like appendage of the great toe. Yet it is a foot,
and the movable toe is not really a thumb.

Tlli: GUJilLLA'fi FOOT.

Each kuiil of animal must be compared witli others, some of wliieli api)ear to he mere
complicated and some less highly orgaiiised, so that its peculiar constructiou can be comprehended.
Man, as the peifectiou of living forms, is natiu-ally considered the model or type with which all others
shoulil be compai-etl, and therefore anatomists who begin by studying man name the bones, muscles,
and other striiotures of animals after his. That is to say, any of their structures which are com-
parable with those of man, by their native position and use, are named similarly.

The question then aiises, and can of coui-se on this principle be answered, are the hinder extre-
mities of the Gorilla feet or hands ? do they resemble human feet or human hands in their anatomy.
or in the arrangement of their bones, muscles, leaders, and blood-vessels 1

By placing side by side the joined bones of the foot of man and those of the hind extremity of
the Gorilla, it will be observed that the same number are present, and that they can be compared,
as regards their shape and position, in a most remarkable and satisfactory manner.

A human foot is composed of three parts, so far as its bones are concerned. These are the toes,
or the \ery movable bones in the
front of the foot (1), and then there
.-.re five slender Ijones (2) placed side
by side, and reaching from the toes
to the pieces forming the back of
the foot or ankle. The five
l)ones thus parallel, and situated
Ijetween the beginning of the toes
and the ankle-bones, are counted
from within outwards. That at-
tached to the great toe is the first,
and that to the little toe is the
fifth. These are called metatarsal
bones, and give length and narrow-
ness to the foot, and they can be
leadily felt with the finger on our
own bodies.

Bclmid them are the seven
lx)nes of the " tarsus," or ankle, all
connected together in a strong arch,
and jointed in front to the five bones

just mentioned, and above to the two bones of the leg. The hindmost part of the ankle or heel is
formed by the heel-bone, os calcis (3), which forms the back part of the arch of the sole. The Achilles
tendon is united to it behind, and above it Ls jointed with a bone, on which rest the bones of the leg,
the astragalus bone (4), so called from the Greek word, which means a " die," for the boys and men in
the olden time tossed these bones, and played with those of the sheep as modern boys do.

There are two bones of the ankle just in front of these ; one in contact with the heel-bone is called,
from its shape, the cuboid or cube-shaped bone (5), and the other, jointed to the astragalus, is, from its
faint resemblance to a boat or hull cf a ship (navis), termed the navicular bone (6). In front of these
two are three othei-s placed side by side, and jointed Ln fi-ont to .some of the metatarsal bones.
They are called, from theii- wedge-shaped outlines (wedges for the arch of the foot), cuneiform bones (7),
and there are the inner, middle, and outer of them. The inner is curved on its front suriace, and has
a joint there for the end of the slender (metatarsal) bone of the gi-eat toe. It is longer than the
next wedge-shaped bone, so that just a little spot of the second slender bone of the second toe touches
it close to the corresjjonding one of the gi-eat toe. This inner wedge-shaped bone, the metatarsal
l)one of the great toe, and the joints of the toe itself, are all on a line, which is pai-allel to the bonei
of the next and other toes. The middle and the outer wedge-shaped bones have each a slender
metatarsal bone attached to them, and the two remaining slender metatarsals are jointed on to
the cube-shaped bone which projects in front of the heel-bone (os calcLs). It is the length in front,
and the solidity and arched fonn of the ankle, together with the parallel dii-ection of all the slender

84 NATURAL MIHTOMY.

metatarsal bones, which give the human foot its beauty of foi-m, strength, antl ability to sustain the
weight of tlie body flat on the sole. Compare the liinrler grasping (so-called) hand of the Gorilla with this.

At first sight there is a great difference, for the great toe and its metatarsal bone form an angle
Avith the bone.s of the other toes and their metatarsals. Instead of the toes and their slender bones
being parallel and fixed in this position, the great toe of the Gorilla has a power of moving ^o as
to cross the foot more or less below, as the human thumb can cross the palm. It has also the
capacity of being stretched out from the foot, so that its movements greatly resemble those of a
thumb. In fact, we want a word to express a toe-thumb.

On examining the foot carefully, it will be found that each of its bones may be compared and
identified in position and office with the same in maa There is a heel-bone with a great projection
behind, for the fi.xing on of the Achilles tendon, and this is jointed on to a bone above, like
the human die-bone or astragalus, and to one in front, like the cuboid. The astragalus resembles
that of man, but the upper and outer surfaces on which the lower ends of the leg-bones move, are
slightly different, so as to admit of greater turning in of the ankle. The wedge-shaped bones are
there, and the inner one, with its joint for the slender bone of the great toe, is shorter and broader
than in man, so as to allow of great movement of the toe-thumb in front of it. The slender bones, or
metatarsals, are larger and longer, but their shape and dii-ection, with the exception of the first, are
singularly like those of man. As a whole the foot of the Gorilla, for thus it must be called, is
broader in front of the ankle-bones and longer everywhere than in us, init it has a sideway and almost
club-foot look about it ; its position is " turned in," like the foot of a young child before it walks.
This is owing to the conformation and easy jointing of the bones of the ankle and foot, and also to
the action of a front muscle of the leg which pulls the very movable bones inwards. The structures
allow of a very ready turning in of the ankle and foot, and such as would render climbing easy with
the aid of the toe-thumb ; but they evidently interfere with the steadiness in walking. It is a huge
foot, and it is only half an inch or so shorter than the leg below the knee ; it is unwieldy as a foot, but
is a capital foot-hand, which cannot readily have its toes stretched out straight, for theii- usual position
is that of being slightly bent in the direction of the sole.

Mr. Walker purchased from a native a fine healthy male Gorilla, apparently about two years of
age, and shipped it for England. Being under the impression that he had taken too much care of all
the other living ones which he had obtained at different times, he determined to let the new acquisition
have its own way, and only take care that it did no mischief. When purcluased, the animal was by
no means strange or spiteful, but rather what may be termed shy, and suspicious of strangers. At
the expiration of about a week, however, it became sufficiently tame and confiding to admit of its
being allowed to run about loose, and to do as it liked. At the same time its food, instead of being
confined to the fruits on which it is supposed to feed in its wild state, consisted in general of fragments
from the table, and beside these it had anything edible it could lay its hands on, and occasionally a
basin of condensed milk and a raw egg beaten up in it was given. It liked amomum fruit, but
this produced diari-hcea, which had to be treated with chlorodyne and raw egg. Finding that the
animal became restive, it was left entirely to its own devices, and e.specially as every one in the ship
was at the same time so very busy as not to be able to pay much attention to it. It soon became
quite at home, alternately eating, sleeping, and playing with a large bull-terrier (of by no means the
most amiable disposition), which had a most decided dislike to negi-oes, but nevertheless took very
kindly to the Gorilla, so that the two animals became constant playfellows. By allowing the Gorilla
to rough it, instead of watching it, and appointing someone to take care of it, in which case these
animals become so much attached to their keeper or attendant, that a separation from him almost
invariably causes these affectionate Apes to pine away and die, and by habituating it to such food
as is generally to be found on shipboard, it was hoped that it might be brought to England. But
accidents will happen, even to Gorillas. It came down to dinner one day, and ate scraps with the
dog, and went to sleep. When looked for, some hours aftei-wards, it was missing, and must have
fallen off the taflrail into the sea. Strangely enough, this young one was not given to climbing. It
■will be noticed that these remarks are totally at variance with those of M. Du Chaillu, who was
impressed with the untenable character of the Gorilla ; so we must wait until further evidence is
produced, and probably until a little Gorilla is safely lodged in the Regent's Park.

YOUNG GOIilLLAS. 3g

Many attempts have been luado to obtain a live Gorilla for exhibition in Europe, and some
years since a' showman really had one which he called a Chimpanzee, but the fact was not known to
scientitic men until a photograph of the creature was exhibited after its death. In June, 1876,
Air. Moore, the learned curator of the Free Public Museimi, wrote to the Tmies after seeing a young
Uorilla in Liverpool. He stated — "A veritable young living Gorilla was yesterday brought into
Liverpool by the German African Society's Expedition, which arrived by the steamship Loanda, from
the West Coast. The animal is a young male, in the most perfect health and condition, and measures
nearly three feet in height. Its beetling brows, flattened podgy nose, black muzzle, small ears, and
thick fingers, cleft only to the second joint, distinguish it unmistakably from tli j Chimpanzee.

" Could it liave graced our own Zoological Gardens it would have been the lion of the day ; for, in
addition to the great scientific interest of the species, the abounding life, energy, and joyous spirits of
this example would have made it a universal favourite. Courteously received at Eberle's Alexandra
Hotel by the members of the Exhibition, I foiiud the creature romping and rolling in full liberty
about the piivate drawing-room, now looking out of the window with all becoming gravity and
sedateness, as though interested, but not disconcerted, by the busy multitude and novelty without,
then bounding rapidly along on knuckles and feet to examine and poke fun at .some new comer ;
playfully mumbling at his calves, pulling at his beard (a special delight), clinging to his arms,
examining his hat (not at all to its improvement), curiously inquisitive as to his umbrella, and so on
with visitor after visitor. If he becomes over excited by the fun, a gentle box on the car would
bring him to order like a child, like a child only to be. on the romp again immediately. He points
with the index finger, claps with his hands, pouts out his tong'.'.e, feeds on a niixetl tliet. decidedly
prefers roast meats to boiled, eats strawberries, as I saw, with delicate aiipreciutiveness, is excjuisitely
clean and mannerly. The palms of his hands and feet are beautifully pluniii, sut't. ami bhuk as jet.
He has been eight months and a half in the possession of the Expedition, has ^low n -,i>nir six inches
in that time, and is supposed to be between two and three years of age." Nearly .miv otlit-r attempt
to rear them in Europe has failed. The Zoological .Society has, at rave intervals, ih,s,cssc,1 s|.ci iuiens of
young Gorillas, but the climate of England would appear to be (piite unsuited U> llicui, fm-, d, si.ite Mr.
Bartlett's every care and attention, none of these interesting creatures sur\ ivrd for aii_\ Icn-tli ot lime.

Du Chaillu insists on the ill-temper, ferocity, and untamable nature of the young Gorilla, as the
results of his experience. One was brought to him about thiee years of age, with its neck put in the
cleft of a stick -to keep it quiet, and after much trouble they got it into a bamboo cage. It was a
little black thing of two feet six inches in height, and its habits, escajies, and death are annisingly
told. " As soon as I had the little fellow safely locked in his cage, I ventured to approach to say a
few encouraging words to him. He stood in the furthest corner, but, as I a])proached, he bellowed and
made a precipitate rush at me ; and though I retreated as quickly as I could he succeeded in catching
ray trouser leg, which he grasped with one of his feet, and tore, retreating immediately to the comer
furthest away. This taught me caution for the present, though I had a hope still to be able to tame
him. He sat in his corner looking wickedly out of his grey eyes, and I never saw a more morose or
more ill-tempered face than had this little beast. The first thing was, of course, to attend to the wants
of my captive.' I sent for some of the forest-berries which these animals are known to prefer, and
placed these and a cup of water within his reach. He was exceedingly shy, and would neither eat nor
drink till I had removed to a considerable distance. The second day found Joe, as I had named him,
fiercer than the first. He rushed savagely at any one who stood even for a moment near his cage, and
seemed ready co tear us all to pieces. I threw him some pine-a])ple leaves, of which I noticed
he ate only the white parts. There seemed no difficulty about his food, though he refused now, and
continued during his short life to refuse, all food except such wild leaves and fruits as were gathered
from his native woods for him. The third day he was still morose and savage, bellowing when any
pei-son approached, and either retiring to a distant corner or rushing to attack. On the fourth day,
while no one was near, the little rascal succeeded in forcing apart two of the bamboo rails which com-
posed his cage, and made his escape. I came up just as his flight was discovered, and immediately get
all the negroes together for pursuit, determining to surround the wood and recaptm-e my captive. I
was startled by an angry growl issuing from under iny low bedstead. It was Master Joe, who lay
there hid, but anxiously watching my movements. I instantly shut the Vindows, and tolled to

SS NATURAL HISTORY.

my people to guard the door. Wlien Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and,
with his eyes glaring, and every- sign of rage in his little face and body, got out from
beneath the bed. We shut the door at the same time and left him master of the premises,
)3referring to devise some plan for his easy capture rather than to expose ourselves to his
terrible teeth. How to take him was now a puzzling quesaon. He had shown such strength and
such rage already, that not even I cared to run the chance of being badly bitten in a hand-to-hand
struggle. Meantime Joe stood in the middle of the room looking about for his enemies, and examining,
with some surprise, the furniture. I watched with fear, lest the ticking of my clock should strike his
ear, and peihaps lead him to an assault upon that precious article. Indeed, I should have left Joe in
possession, but for a fear that he would destroy the many articles ol* value or curiosity I had hung
about the walls. Finally, seeing liim quite quiet, I dispatchetl some fellows for a net, and opening the
door quickly, threw this over his head. Fortunately we succeeded at the first throw in perfectly
entangling the young monster, who roared frightfully, and struck and kicked in eveiy direction.
I took hold of the back of his neck, two men seized his arms, and another the legs, and thus
held by four men this extraordinary little creature still proved most troublesome. We carried him as
quickly as we could to the cage, which had been repaii-ed, and therg once more locked him in. I
never saw so furious a beast in my life as he was. He darted at every one who came near, bit
the bamboos of the house, glared at us with venomous and sullen eyes, and in every motion showed a
temper thorouglily wicked and malioiou.s. As there was no change iii this for two days thereafter,
but continual moroseness, I tried what starvation would do towards breaking his spirit ; also, it began
to be troublesome to procure his food fi'om the woods, and I wanted him to become accustomed
to civilised food, which was placed before him. But he would touch nothing of the kind ; and as for
temper, after starving him twenty-four hours, all I gained was that he came slowly up and took some
berries from the forest out of my hand, immediately retreating to his comer to eat them. DaUy
attentions from me for a fortnight more did not Tiring me any further confidence from him than this.
He always snarled at me, and only when very hungi-y would he take even his choicest food from
my hands. At the end of this fortnight I came to feed him, and found that he had gnawed a
bamboo to pieces slyly, and again made his escape. Luckily he had but just gone ; for, as I looked
around, I caught sight of Master Joe making off on all-fours, and with great speed, across the littlo
prairie, for a clump of trees. I called the men up, and we gave chase. He saw us, and before wo
could head him off made for another clump. This we surrounded. He did not ascend a tree, but
stood defiantly at the border of the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded him.
As we moved up he began to yell, and made a sudden dash upon a poor fellow who was in
advance, who ran, tumbled down in affright, and, by his fall, escaped, but also detained Joe
sufficiently long for the nets to be brought to bear upon him. Four of us again bore him,
strugglhig, into the village. This time I could not trust him to the cage, but had a little light
chain fastened around his neck. This operation he resisted with all his might, and it took us
quite an hour to securely chain the little fellow, whose sti-ength was something marvellous. Ten
days after he was thus chaiiied he died suddenly. He was in good health, and ate ))lentifully of
his natural food, which was brought every day for him ; did not seem to sickeh until two days
before his death, and died in .some pain. To the last he continued entii-ely untamable ; and, after
his chains were on, added the vice of treachery to his others."

In one of his hunting excursions Du Chaillu obtained a younger Gorilla than the last, liut its end
was sad enough.

" I was accessory to its capture," writes Du Chaillu, " and we were walking along in silence, when
I heai'd a cry, and presently saw before me a female Gorilla, with a tiny baby Gorilla hanging to her
breast and sucking. The mother was stroking the little one, and looking fondly down at it ; and the
scene was so pretty and touching that I held my fire, and considered — like a .soft-hearted fellow —
whether I had noj better leave them in peace. Before I could make up my mind, however, my hunter
fired and kil'ed the mother, who fell without a struggle. The mother fell, but the baby clung to her,
and, with ))itiful cries, endeavoured to attract her attention. I came up, and when it saw me it hid
its poor little head in its mother's bi-east. It could neither walk nor bite, so we could easily manage
it; and I carried it, while the men bore the mother on a pole. When we got to the viiliii^e another

CONTRADICTORY GORILLA STORIES. 37

scene ensued. The men put the Loily down, and I set the little fellow near. As soon as he saw his
mother he crawled to her, and threw himself on her breast. He did not tind his accustomed nourisli-
ment, and I saw that he perceived something was the matter with the old one. He crawled over her
body, smelt at it, and gave utterajice, from time to time, to a plaintive cry — ' Hoo, hoo, hoo !' wliicli
touched my heart. I could get no milk for this poor little fellow, who could not eat, and consequently
died on the thii'd day after he was caught. He seemed more docile than the other I had, for he already
recognised my voice, and would try to hun-y towards me when lie saw me. I put the little body in
alcohol, and sent it to Dr. Wyman, of Boston, for dissection."

Of course all the stories about the Gorilla are not believed, and those of all writere, from Hanno
downwards, have been severely criticised.

A distinguished African traveller, Winwood Reade, stated that the name, leaving alone the stories,
of Hanno, was a blunder, and that the word Goiilla was misapplied, because the habits of the creature
do not tally with the story. The Gorillse of Hanno were found, it is supposed, on Sherboro Island ;
they scaled rocks and defended themselves with stones. They could neither have been Gorillas nor
Chimpanzees, but a species of Cynocephalus, or Dog-faced Monkey or Baboon. " These animals,'
writes tliis author, " which I have seen often enough, go in troops, which Gorillas do not, and
actually defend themselves with stones, a fact which I assert not only on the evidence of natives, but
on the evidence of white men who have kept them in a state of captivity. They.iu-e also very ferocious,
and will always defend themselves when attacked either by man or beast. I spent five months," he
continues, "in the Gorilla country, and did not leave that part of Africa till I had completely satistie<i
myself respecting the habits of this animal. The evidence which I now lay before you is comjiosed of
statements made to me by men who had killed Gorillas. It is collected from three distinct parts of
Equatorial Africa, namely, from the Balengi of the Muni River, from the Shekani and Fans, of tlio
Gaboon, and from the Commi, Bakeli, &c., of the Fernando Vaz. But from the last river, where
Gorillas are plentiful, I obtained the most information."

" The Gorilla is found in those thick and solitary places of the forest where animal life is scarce.
His food is strictly vegetable. -"He moves along the gi'ound on all-foiirs, sometimes he goes uj) into
trees to feed on fruit, and at night he sleeps in a laige tree. When the female is pregnant, the male
builds a nest, where she is confined, and which she abandons as soon as her young one is born. The
(JO)illa does not beat its breast like a drum. It utters a kind of short sharp bark when enraged, and
its ordinary cry is of a plaintive nature. With respect to its ferocity, the hunters have a pioverb,
' Leave a Nyina alone, and it will leave you alone.' When it is at liay, and wounded, it will attack
man like the stag, the elephant, and other animals which an- iiatui^illy timid. But it makes its attack
on all-fours, and the hunters, who are themselves as nimble as Apes, often escape frpm it as men
escape from the charge of an elephant. I have seen a man who was wounded by a Gorilla ; his wiist
was crippled, and the marks of the teeth were visible. He told me that the GorOla seized his wrist,
and dragged it into his mouth ; it was contented with having done this, and then made off. The
nearest approach to an erect posture which the Gorilla attains is by supporting itself by hanging on
to the bi-anches. When I asked the people of Ngumbi whether a man had ever been killed by a
Gorilla, they said that their fathers had spoken of .such a thing, but that nothing of the kmd had
hapi^ened within the memory of anybody living. Such is the evidence of the native hunters upon the
habits of the Gorilla. I could not find that it differed in any important respect from the Chimpanzee,
excej)t in its superior size and strength, and in its certainly being more formidable when wounded.
But when I asked the hunters which was the most dangerous, the Leopard or the Gorilla, they reiilied
the ' Leopard.'

"I can make one or two positive assertions from my own experience. Although I never suc-
ceeded in viewing a Gorilla in its wild state, I can assert that it travels on all-fours, for I have seen
the tracks of its four feet over and over again. I can assert that it runs away from man, for I
have been near enough to hear one iimning away from me ; and I can assert that the young Goiilla is
na docile as the young Chimpanzee in captivity, for I have seen them both in a state of captivity. I
have also seen the lying-in nests both of Chimpanzees and Gorillas, the latter being the lai'ger of the
t.vo. The Chimpanzee has the character of being more intelligent than his big brother." This careful
traveller doubted some of the stories told by M. Du Chaillu about Gorilla killing, so he went to the

NAYUEAL HISTORY.

neighbouvliood wiiere this slaying was said to have taken phice. On arriving at the town of Ngumbi
jjretending to be trading, he writes, " I wfus asked whether I would buy Gorillas as M. Du ChaiUu
did. I refused to buy them, but said that I would give a large reward to any hunter who would get
uie a shot at one, and also a present to the King. They seemed astonished at this, and asked me why
I wished to do a thing that other white men had never wished to do. Now, I had taken with me
two interpreters, and managed to make them quarrel, so that there might be no collusion in the matter.
I examined Etia, a hunter, in whose company M. Du Chaillu professes to have killed Gorillas, by each
interpreter separately. I examined in the same manner the five guides who had escoi-ted him in the
Ojiingi country ; and though they spoke of M. Du Chaillu in high terms, and appeared to have a gi'sat
afl'ection for him, all replied that he had never shot a Gorilla."

GUKILLA ANl;

Still later accounts from able naturalists confirm Winwood Reade's view.s, and insist upon the
truth of the fact that no European ha.s ever seen a Gorilla in its adult age alive, and in its native
forests. They start off at the slightest noise, and are only hunted by natives for the sake of their
bones and skins, which are valuable enough in Europe. Moreover, exception has been taken to the
tales about the intractable and violent nature of the Gorilla, and more than one well-known African
naturalist sides with those who disbelieve in the ferocity of the young Gorilla.

The reason why the Gorilla flourishes in Western Equatorial Africa is probably because the gi-eat
Carnivora, or beasts of prey, are not found in the dense forests and open prairies which cover the
country. The jungle begins where the sea ceases, and then comes the virgin forest, extending some
.de^rrees north and south of the equator, and i-eaching unknown distances inland. There are no Lions,
and but few Leopards, Hyenas, and Jackals to be met with ; the great African beasts — the
Rhinoceroses, Girafles, Zebras, &c. — are absent. Snakes, Lizards, and a vast insect world abound, and
there are birds of prey. The Elephant is scarce, and, indeed, miles and miles may be traversed without

THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVE. 39

hearing or seeing any sigas of large aniuiul life. But of all the mammals tlie Monkeys are tbo
most numerous, and the Gorilla reigns supreme. He has the forest to himself, and but fe\y enemies.
He has companionc, however, nearly of his own size, and whose description we owe to Da Chaillu,
and they are so constructed, anatomically, that they link on, as it were, this greatest of all Apes with
the well-known Chimpanzee, which is also indigenous to the GorUla land. The new Apes are th?
Wscliiego Mboiive, or Tschi%o, and the Koolo-Kamba.

CHAPTER II,

THE MAN-SHAPED APES {confiitiwd)—T:nE nschiego mbouve— the koolo-kamba — the soko— the chimpanzee.

The Nschieoo Mbouve— Its Nests and Habits—A Specimen Shot—Differences between it and the Gorilla— Structural
Peculiarities— The Koolo-Kamba— Meaning of the Name— Discovered by Du Ghaillu— Its Outwawl Appearance and
Anatomy— The Soko — Discovered by Livingstone —Hunting the Soko— The Chimpanzee — In Captivity— On board
Ship— A Young Chimpanzee— The Brain and Nerves— Anatomical Peculiarities— General Remarks upon the Group.

THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVfi. »
This great Ape, which attain.s the height of four feet, and has a spread of arms of seven feet,
was discovered by Du Chaillu in the Gaboon district. It is remarkable for building very comfortable
shelters, and this led to its being found ; for Du Chaillu, in one of his excursions, was trudging along,
rather tii-ed of sport, when he saw a most singular-looking shelter built on the branches of a tree.
He thought it liad been made by the natives, and asked whether the hunters had the habit of
sleeping in the woods, but was told, to his great surprise, that it was a nest built by the Nschiego
Mbouve, an Ape. Moreover, one of the natives told him that it was a curious creature, which had a
bald head.

Many of the nests were seen subsequently, and it was noticed that they wei-e generally built
about fifteen or twenty feet from the groimd, and invariably on a tree which stands slightly apart
fi-om others, and which had no lower bough beneath the shelter. Occasionally they are to be seen
at the height of fifty feet ; and it would appear that the altitude has something to do with the
dread of the few flesh-eating and destructive beasts, such as the Leopard. The loneliest parts of
the forest are chosen, for the animal is shy, and is very rarely seen, even by the negroes. The
materials for the nest consist of leafy branches, and are collected by the male and the fenlale also, who tie
them together, and to the tree, very neatly with twigs of the vine. The roof is so well constructed
that it closely resembles human work, and it throws off the rain admii-ably, for it is neatly
rounded at the top. During its construction, the female gathers the branches and vines, whilst the
male builds ; but afterwards they do not occupy the same shelter, the male making another close by
in a neighbouring tree. The roof, wliich is usually some six or eight feet in diameter, is more or
less dome-shaped, or something like an extended umbrella ; and the Nschiego gets under it and
clasps the tree, or squats on a bough, so that its head is just beneath the under surface. The
nests are not occupied permanently, and usually for not more than eight or ten days, for the Apes,
living upon wild berries of a certain kind, select spots where they are plentiful, and leave them when
the store is exliausted. Du Chaillu never saw many nests together, and he does not think the animals
live in troops, but only in paii-.s. Sometimes a solitary nest is seen, inhabited by a Nschiego, whose
silvery haii' denotes its age, and probably its desire for solitude after a long and troublous life.

Being desirous of obtaining one of these shelter makers, as they were evidently new to science,
Du Chaillu took every precaution to surprise his prey ; bwt it is best to tell the story in his
own words : —

" We travelled with great caution, not to alarm our prey, and had a hope that, by singling out a

* Troglodytes Tsckiego (Duvernoy) ; Tmglodytca calms (Du ChaiUu).

iO NATURAL HISTORY.

sLelter, and waiting till ilark, we should find it occniiied. In this hope we were not disappointed.
Lying quite still in our concealment (which tried my patience sorely), we at last, just at dusk, heard
the peculiar ' Hew, hew, hew,' which is the call of the male to his mate. We waited till it was quite
dai-k, and then T saw what I had so longed all the weary afternoon to see. A Nschiego was sitting in
his nest. His feet rested on the lower branch, his head reached quite into the little dome of the roof,
and his ami was clasped lirmly round the tree-trunk. This is their way of sleeping. After gazing
till I was tii-ed through the gloom at my sleeping victim, two of us tired, and tlie unfortunate beast fell
at our feet without a struggle, or even a groan. We built a fire at once, and made our camp in this
place, that when daylight came I might first of all examine and skin my prize. The jwor Ape was

1

'";^^:

g

11 ^4

m

' !ii

^^I^JHMh^^F^

A

^B^^^^M.

i^Sx

V M

^tW' • -^Sii

~^- w

^fflR

8

A_^

W

1
1

^Jvl|^^^|

m

fC/

«|^^^

^^H

^m

^H

B^P9^BllBiinsP^^r4 f

HE

S

S

^^^^^HbMIIm^^b^^ji^^^^

filflH

^pb

'W-

^!^9

^^Rl^w

^^

hung up to be out of the way of insects, and I fell asleep on my bed of leaves and grass, as pleased a
man as the world could well hold. Next morning I had leisure to examine the Nschiego.

" I was at once struck with points of difierence between it and the Chimpanzee. It was smaller,
and liad a bald black head. This is its distinctive character. This specimen was three feet eleven
inches high, or long. It was an adult. Its skin, where there is no hair, is black, and the thick breast
and abdomen are covered with short and rather thin blackish hairs. On the lower part of the abdomen
the hair is thinnest, but this is not perceived \uiless looked at carefully, as the skin is the colour of the
hair. On the legs the hair is of a dirty gi-ey, mixed with black. The shoulders and back have black
hair between two and three inches long, mixed with a little grey. The arms down to the wrist have
also long black hair, but shorter than in the Gorilla. The hair is blacker, longer, glossier, and thinner
in general than that on the Gorilla, and the skin is not so tough. I noticed that the bare places, where
the hair is worn off by contact -svith hard substances in sleeping, were difierent from the bare places
which are so conspicuous on the common Chimpanzee.

THE ysCHIEGd MBOVVA

"It is not as powerful an animal as the Gorilla, its cliest is not so large, but the arms and fingers
are a little longer, and this is the case with the toes also. The nose is not so prominent, but the mouth
is wider and the ears are larger. Its chin is rounder, and has more small hairs, and the side of the
face is thinly covered with hair, commencing about the middle of the ear, and these would seem
to be signs of an incipient beard and whiskers. The lower parts of the body are biire, and the skin m
wliite there."

Apparently the disposition and temper of the Nschiegb are better than those of the Gorilla ; it is
less ferocious, and is even docile in captivity. It has not the hideous expression of the great Ape, for
there is something of a forehead above the ridge of the eyebrow, and there are no great crests on
the head, which is ronnder than that of the Gorilla. The teeth are rather smaller, Ijut are of the
same number. The height is less than that of the female Gorilla, as a rule ; and the male of this bald
kind is larger than its female ; whilst the little young ones differ in their colour from both, being
white. Finally, it would appear that there are hard callous pads on the back of the fingers, that
the hand is larger than the feet, and that the tips of the fingers i-each a little below the knee
Associated with tlie Gorilla and with the Chimpanzee
in the forests of Equatorial Western Africa, the Bald-
headed Troglodyte appears to have a restricted
geogi-aphical range, and not to be found over so lai-ge
a district as its companions, for it was only met with
on the table-lands of the interior, and in the densest
forests.

Subsequently Du Chaillu had a good opportunity
of substantiating his statements about the nests.

" On our way down, at sunset of the third day, we
lieard the call of a N'schiego Mbouv6 (Troglodytes
calvus). I immediately caused my men to lie down,
and was just getting into a liidiiig-i)l:ice myself, when
I saw, in the branches of a tree at a little distance,
the curious nest or bower of this Ape ; hard by, on
another tree, was another shelter. We crept up
within shot of this nest, and then waited, for I was
determined to see once more the precise manner in
which this animal goes to rest. We lay flat on the
ground, and covered ourselves with leaves and bush,
scarcely daring to breathe, lest the approaching animal
should hear us. From time to time I heard the calls.
There were evidently two, probably male and female.
Just as the sun was setting, I saw an animal approach
the tree. It ascended by a hand-over-hand movement,
with great rapidity, crept carefully under the shelter,
seated itself on the crotch made by a projecting bough,
its feet and haunches resting on this bough; then it
put one arm about the tnink of the tree for seeiu-ity.

"Tims, I suppose, they rest all night; and this posture accounts for some singular abrasions
of hail- on the side of the Nscliiego Mbouve. At a little di.stance off I saw another shelter made for the
mate. No sooner was it seated than it began again to utter its call. It was answered ; and I began
to have the hope that I should shoot both animals, when an unlucky motion of one of my men roused
the suspicions of the Ape in the tree. It began to prepare for descent, and, unwilling to risk the loss
of this one, I fired. It fell to the ground dead. It proved to be a male, with the face and hands
entirely black. As we were not in haste, I made my men cut down the trees which contained the
nests of these Apes. I found them made precisely as I have before described, and as I have always
found them, of long branches and leaves, laid one over the other very carefully and thickly, so as to
render the stiiicture capable of shedding off water. The branches were fiistened to the tree in the middle

SKELETUN OF NSCHIEGO.

NATURAL BISTORT.

of tlie structure by means of wild vines and creeiM;rs, wldcli are so i.buudant in these forests. Tlia
projecting limb on which the Ape perched was about four feet long. There remains no doubt in my
mind that these nests are made by the animal to protect it from the nightly rains. When the leaves
be^iu to dry to that degi-ee that the structure no longer throws ofl" water, the owner builds a new shelter,
and this happens generally once in ten or fifteen days. At this rate the Nschiego Mbouv6 is an animal
of no little ijidustry."

Tlie differences between the outside "appearance and the intelligence and temper of this Bald-
headed Ape and those of the Gorilla are accompanied by certain internal ones. A careful examination
of the skull of the Tschiego, as its clever French describer, Duvernay, calls it, .shows that it has
smaller ridges, a less prominent muzzle, and a wider and shorter roof of the mouth than the Gorilla.
The last of the upper crushing, or liack teeth, is the smallest. In the Gorilla they are nearly equal in

size. The lower jaw in the Nschiego has three nearly
equal-sized molar or back teeth, and the first and the
second have five projections or cusps, but the last has
only four. In the Gorilla it has five cusps. Tliese
minute diflerences are probably constant, and therefore
must not be passed over, although they may seem to be
of no importance to the creatm-es. But the classification
of animals can only depend upon the presence or absence
of structural peculiarities; and when such and such a
structure exists in one, and not in another, they cannot
both be of the same kind. According to the relation
of the structure to the life, and according to its being
constantly found, so is it important in deciding whether
the " kind " is a species, or a mere variety or race.
The great distinction between the two animals is that the Nschiego's forehead, foi-med by the
frontal bone, rises up from the great brow ridge, and is visible from the front. This is not the case
with the Gorilla, whose forehead recedes greatly. Both animals have the same number of ribs (tlrirteen),
but those of the Nschiego are more man-shaped and are not .so broad and close together ; and theii- chests
differ in breadth, for the breast-bone of the new Ape is narrower, but it is long and thick. The blade-
bone, so important to the Gorilla, is equally so to the Nschiego, but it is longer and narrower on the
back, and its .spine is very oblique. Possibly this confonnation cf the bone may have to do with the
constant climbing of the Bald-headed Ape, but nevertheless the spmes on the neck-bones, which give
origin to such exceedingly strong muscles in the Gorilla, are much smaller hi the Nscliiego. The first
neck-bone, or atlas, has no spine in this Ape, in which it is like man, and the axis, or second, has a
forked spme, and is crested at the end, but otherwise is like that in man.

Finally, the rudiment of a tail is like that end of the back-bone found in the Gorilla and in man.
'J'iiese are the principal points and the most important distinctions ; they show that the Nschiego
cannot be of the same kind or species as the Gorilla, but is a Troglodyte, resembling the Gorilla some-
what in its skeleton, and although smaller than the nia'e^ still quite, if not more, man-shaped.

The London Zoological Society own a fine example of the Bald-headed Chimpanzee {Anthropopi-
tliecus calims), which, under the name of "Sally," is known to every frequenter of their famous
Gardens, where it has resided since October, 1883.

. LL OF NSCHIE&U

THE KOOLO-KAMBA.*
This kind of Troglodyte is celebrated for saying koola-koolo over and over again as its favourite
cry, for having a very extraordinary fiog-like figure, and for being one of those creatures which are
exceedingly interesting to zoologists, because they are, as it were, half one thing and half another.

A neighbour of the great Apes already noticed, it associates also with the common Cliimpanzrp,
ill the quiet forests of Western Equatorial Africa. In one of these Du Chaillu first saw it, and he
describes his discovery as follows : —

" We had hardly got clear of the Bashikoway ants and their bites when my ears were saluted by
* Trorjlodiites Koolo-Kamla (Du Chaillu) ; Troglodytes Aiihryi (Gratiolet and AUx).

xnZ KOOLO-KAMBA. 43

the siugulai- cry of tlie Ape I was after. ' Koola-koolo ! koola-koolo ! ' * it said sevei-al times. Ganibo and
I raised our eyes, aud saw, high up on a tree-branch, a large Ape. We both fii-ed at once, and the next
moment the poor beast fell to the ground with a heavy crash. I rushed up, anxious to see if, indeed,
I had a new animal. I saw in a moment that it was neither a Nschiego Mbouv^, nor a Chimpanzee,
nor a Goi-illa. Again I had a happy day — marked for ever with red ink in my calendar. We at once
disembowelled the animal, which was a male. I found in its intestines only vegetable matter and
remains. The skin and skeleton were taken into camp, where I cured the former witli arsenic
sufficiently to take it into ObindjL The animal was a full-grown male, four feet thi-ee inches high, and
was less jiowerfuUy built than the male Gorilla, but as powerfid as either the Chimpanzee or Nschiego
Mbouve. When it was brought into Obindji, all the people, and even Quenqueza, at once exclaimed,
' That is a Koolo-Kamba.' Then I asked them about the other Apes I already knew, but for these
they had other names, and did not at all confound the species. For all these reasons I was assured
that my prize was indeed a new animal; a variety, at least, of those before known. The Koolo-
Kamba has several distinctive marks : a very round head, whiskers nimiing quite round the face and
below the chin; the face is round, the cheek-bones prominent, the eyes sunken, and the jaws not very
prominent, less so than in any of the Apes. The hair is black and long on the arm, which was,
however, partly bare. The Koolo is the Ape, of all the gi-eat Apes now known, which most nearly
approaches man in the structure of its head ; for the capacity of the cranium is somewhat gi-eater, in
proportion to the animal's size, than in either the Gorilla or the Nschiego Mbouve. Of its habits these
people could tell me nothing, except that farther in the interior it was found more frequently, aud that
it was like the Gorilla, very shy and hard of approach." They are rare animals, and Du Chaillu met
wth this one only; it was as large as a female Gorilla, and fi-om its structure was evidently a
great climber.

One was killed and sent over to Parts sevei-al years since, and its anatomy forms a great treatise
by the distinguished men whose names are appended to its" title, Troglodytes Auhryi.

They agi-ee with Du Chaillu in his slight notice of its shape and peculiarities to a certain extent,
and in his notice that the arms reach below the knee, that the shoulders are broad, and that the
eai-s are large, but they give some very interesting descriptions of its strange characteristics. It has
many points of resemblance with the Gorilla and many with the Nschiego, but it has others which
cause it to be like the common Chimpanzee, and which show some likeness to the gi-eat Baboon. It
fills up the gap in the animal scale between the Nschiego and Gorilla on the one hand, and the true
Chimpanzee {Troylod ijtes iiiger) on the other ; and were it not in existence, it would be neces.sary to
divide these Apes into two groups or genera, to make, in fact, a genus Gorilla and a genus
Troglodytes, the first to contain the Gorilla and Nschiego, and the last the Chimpanzee. They are all
therefore linked together in one genus by it, that of Troglodytes.

The shape and the peculiar anatomy of the Koolo-Kamba are not simply curious and only
interesting to those who study diy bones, for they have to do with its habits and mode of life, and their
examination is full of instraction to those who like to understand causes and effects, and design in
Natui-e. Much has been explained in the chapter on the Gorilla regarding the different pai-ts of the
body, and if that information is considered there will be no difSculty in comprehending all about the
Ape now under consideration.

The shape of the body as a whole is admii-ably adapted for gi-eat powers of climbing aud of
exertion of the limbs, and these last are adapted for the same end in a manner surpassing the great
Apes already described. But, moreover, the body is peculiarly suited, not for maintaining or often
iising the upright position or the legs, but for going on all-fours, like a Baboon or Dog. Doubtless the
Gorilla and the Nschiego do often stand up for a short time, and their construction points at tliis
being very possible, as their frame has a combination of sti-uctures for doing this and for climbing.
Now the Koolo-Kamba must differ ft-om them in its structure, for it requires those wliich enable it to
invariably go on all-fours, and yet to climb better than the others.

It never wants to sit down, except with its knees dra^vn up to its nose, and it squats on its
haunch-bones (the tubei-osities of the haimch — of the " ischiwm " bone).

* Koolo is the cry, and Kambe means "to say." _ .

44 NATURAL HISTORY.

The bod\- is very ball-like, and there is no ^■isible division between the chest, the stomacli, aud
the hips ; it is not troubled with a waist, and anything like one is positively below the hips, just over
where the thighs join the body. In fact, as before noticed, the shape is that of a frog. There are no
gi-aceful curves to the back, and there is no " small" to it. On looking at the chest, it will be noticed
that it is long behind and short in front ; the ribs go down close to the edge of the hips ; and in
order that this extra stoutness and strength of loin shall be there, there are fourteen ribs, instead
of thirteen, as in the other great Apes. The breast-bone in front sticks out, so that were the animal
to lie on its stomach its point would lean on the gi-ound, and not its front, as in us. This last
peculiarity is an adaptation for going on all-fours. The absence of waist and the shape of the loins
relate to the small size of one of the muscles of the back (sacro lumbalis), large and important in man.

The lielly is very large, and it is kept from pushing into the chest by the capacity given to the
space within the ribs and breast-bone, by a biilged-out state of the ribs at the back, and the projection
of the breast-bone. Hence, the frog-like figure looks asthmatical ; and as it is very liigh-shouldered,
there is but little neck.

All this bulging has not only reference to the maintenance of the capacity of the lungs, and its
independence of the great stomach, which, when full, would tend to jiress in all directions, but it
enables the muscles of the back and shoulders, which have so much to do with climbing, to be large
and vigorous. More space is afforded for the insertion or attachment of muscular fibres.

The blade-bone does not add to the bulk of the shoulders, for it is rather long and narro* for a
great Ape ; and its spine, which has so much to do with the muscles which lift up the arm, is vei'y
much aslant, and in the best direction for constant climbing, instead of much walking on the
knuckles. And that climbing and holding on are the usual motions may be credited, it is only
necessary to notice that the arms and the fingers are long, and that the tips of them touch below the

THE KUOLO-K.LMBA. 4.5

knee when the skeleton is placed upright. Moreover, this great length is accompanied by correspond-
ing strength, and also by a \evy curious condition of the hands.

The Koolo has a lai-ger hand in relation to its breadth than the (jtorilla, and there are no bunches
of muscle forming rounded swellings or balls under the thumb and little finger. On the contrary, the
long and narrow palm is, as it were, bent across, as if it could fit capitally on to a bough. There is no
doubt that this Ape, like all the others, does a good deal of swmging, by holding on to boughs with
its hands, when the arms are straight above the head ; and that they move along a bough, or from
tree to tree, in this position, without bending tlie elbow, and with considerable speed. This method
of getting along may also be seen in Chimpanzees. Evidently the curved palm will be of immense
advantage in such actions, and especially when it is combined, as it is in the Koolo-Kamba, with a
slightly beut-downwards condition of the fingers. The bones (phalanges) of the fingers are long, and
each is slightly curved, and not straight, as in man and the gi-eat Apes already noticed, so that their
tliree bones, when in their proper position, are decidedly out of a straight line, and present a general
curve, which is rendered all the more decided by the bend in the palm. All this is . very visefiil for
grasping and holding on. But it is not all ; in man and the other gi-eat Apes, the wrist con-
sists of two rows of small bones, one placed before the other : the first row is jointed to the bones
of the fore-arm, at what is called the wrist-joint, which moves forwards and backwards as a hinge ;
and the second row is so jointed on the first row that there is no movement, and in front it is jointed
to the bones of the palm, and to those of the thvimb. Now in the Koolo the second row of wiist-bones
— or as they are called from the Latin, carpus, a wrist — carpal bones are movable on the first row, and
muscular exertion can bend, not only the metacarpal bones and the fingers, but also the wri.st-bones.
Hence the hand is more movable in the bending dii-ection than that of man, and the rea.son is because
of the peculiar requirements of the creature's life. The thumb is small, and only reaches the first
joint of the forefinger : its tip can only touch the tip of one finger at a time, and not those of all, as
in man, and therefore it is not of much use in distinguishing objects by touch ; moreover, it cannot be
stuck out far — and this is necessary, for in clini'..ing its tip is reqiiired to be as clo.se to the fingers
as is possible. The muscles of the hands and arms resemble those of the Chimpanzee generally,
and will be noticed in describing it.

When the Koolo-Kamba walks, it does so like the Gorilla, by leaning on the backs of its fingers,
and hence it has callous pads on the back of their second bones. All the peculiar construction of the
hands and wrist bears a relation to the vast muscular development of the mu.scles of the back of the
chest and shoulders in the process of climbing ; and it is to be observed, as it was in the instance of
the Gorilla, that these muscles have more to do with such actions than those of the chest, which go to
the arm, and which are so much used in man for that purpose. The muscles of the chest are not large
and strong in the Apes, for, as has already been mentioned, they climb with the back of the hand towards
the face, and do not attempt, like man, to lift the body with the palm and nails turned towards him. This
last proceeding necessitates large chest muscles, and the former large ones at the back of the shoulders.

There is something remarkable about the haunch-bones, or those parts of them which support the
body when sitting. In man they are well iii front of the end of the back-bone, which tapers off and
turns in a little, and forms a rudiment of a tail. These tuberosities of the haunch-bone (as they are
called, because they are swollen out and flattened for the especial purpose in man) are placed, in the
Koolo-Kamba, behind the end of the .spine or the true rudiment of the tail, and this throws all the
under parts backwards, giving the animal a thorough Baboon and animal character. Oddly enough,
the rudiment of the tail in this Ape is smaller than in man.

A study of the foot shows that it is of immense use in holding on and in climbing, and of none in
walking. It looks more like a small hand, furnished with a gi-eat thumb, than a foot with a
toe-thumb.

It differs from human feet in the length of the toes, and this is rather an interesting artistic point,
for there is some diversity in the opinions regarding which should be the longest toes in man.

The Greek statues — those grand models of the highest types of mankind — very constantly have the
second toe the longest, and reaching more to the front, when the foot is on the gi-ound, than the great
toe and the third. Nowadays, after men have had their feet pinched, cabined, and confined in all sorts
of boots and shoes, generation after generation it is wonderful that their toes should be of any shape at

46 NATUMAL HISTORY.

all ; and, tlierefore, it must lie anticipated that the Grecian type will not always prevail. Neverthe-
less, although the great toe is often the longest, the third toe never is, except there is some decided
deformity, like double toes. It is, however, the third toe which is the longest in the Ape, just as the
third finger of the hand is the longest in man ; and hence the Ape's foot, with its gi'eat thumb, is
in this hand-like. But as has been mentioned before, bone for bone, and almost muscle for muscle,
the human and Ape's foot agree, and the hinder extremity of this last is really a foot with a toe-thumb.

On looking at the head of the Koolo, one is struck with the great ears, which are larger than'
those of the Apes already described, and almost as large as, but less detached, than those of the Chim-
panzee. The skull is globular, and with a low contracted forehead receding behind the brow crests ;
but there are only faint ridges on its sides, although the muscles of the jaw are large, and they come
from the sides of the skull. The head is very hairy, and the face, which is very prognathous (Greek,
ijnathos, jaw or mouth), or projecting in front, is black. It is rendered very tigerish and ugly by the
Hilt nose merging into a wide, thick, projecting upper lip, without any furrow ; and the mouth looks
like a wide slit, there being no chin, on account of the pouting nature of the great lips.

Like the other Troglod3rtes, the Koolo-Kamba has great air sacs or throat pouches, which are
hidden amongst the great muscles of the neck, and enter the organ of voice, or the larynx, between
the upper and lower structures for the production of vocal sound. Their size and general nature may
be satisfactorily compared with those of the Gorilla. (See page 22.)

Having something of a voice, this Ape has a better-formed palate than the others, and its tongue
has not such a jumble of papillfe or little needle points on it as they have, for the larger cup-shaped
ones are arranged at the back in the shape of the letter Y. The last molar tooth of the lower jaw has
five cusps.

A huge eater of vegetable food, it requires a large stomach, and this has the two openings very
close together, that is to say, the one for the passage of food in, and the other for the passage of food
out, into the small gut. There is, as in all vegetarians by nature, a large great intestine, enormous,
in fact, and this ends, as in man, in a blind gut with an appendix. The cause of all this is that
vegetable food does not contaiii much available nourishment, and large portions of it must come in
contact with the mucous or absorbing membrane of the stomach and bowels, in order that a proper
quantity of nutritious matter may be absorbed, and be made into blood. The contrary is the case in
flesh-eating animals, whose food contains a high percentage of nourishment ; for in them the stomach
and intestines are small, the surface required not being great, and nature is wonderfully economical.

THE SOKO.
, This animal, both as regards its name, description, and habits, we owe to Livingstone ; and the
stories which he heard of it from the natives, in the strange country to the west of the great lake
Tanganyika, must have wiled away many a weary hour during liis ill-health and gradual loss of energy.

The first notice of it is curious, and occurs in his " Last Journals." They were in want of
rain, and he writes : — " A Soke, alive, was believed to be a good charm for rain, so one was caught ; and
the captor liad the ends of two fingers and toes bitten off. The 8oko, or Gorilla, always tries to bite
off these parts, and has been known to overpower a young man, and leave him without the ends of
fingers and toes. I saw the nest of one ; it was a poor contrivance — no more architectural skill shown
than in the nest of our cushat dove." Here the consideration of this creature might have ended, for
Livingstone terms it a Gorilla, but this name, like that of Pongo, is evidently given to all great African
Apes with bad characters, and moreover, as will be noticed presently, when one of the illustrious
traveller's native companions came to England, and was shown a stuffed Gorilla, he decided that it
was not the same thing as the Soko.

In another part of his Journal Livingstone returns to the Soko, which he still calls the Gorilla ; but
in the drawings given it e\ddently is not one, and is neither as large in its body nor as ugly in the
face ; moreover, the large ears would cause it to be considered, were there not other reasons, as one of
the true Chimpanzees, or Troglodytes idger.

The following extracts from Livingstone possess undoubted interest : —

" 24th August. — Four Gorillas or Sokos were killed yesterday ; an extensive grass-burning
forced them out of their usual haunt, and coming on the plain they were speared. They often go erect,

but place the hand on tlie head, as if to steady the body. Wlien seen thus the Soko is an ungainly
beast. The most sentimental young lady would not call him a ' dear,' but a bandy-legged, pot-bellied, low-
looking villain, without a particle of the gentleman in him. Other animals, especially the Antelopes,
are gi-aceful, and it is pleasant to see them, either at rest or in motion ; the natives also are well made,
lithe and comely to behold ; but the Soko, if large, would do well to stand for a pictui-e of the devil.
He takes away my appetite by his disgusting bestiality of appearance. His light yellow face shows off
his ugly whiskei-s and faint apology for a beard ; the forehead, villainously low, with high ears, is well
in the background of the great dog mouth , the teeth are slightly human, but the canines show the
beast by their laige development The hands, or rather the fingers, are like those of the natives.
The flebh of the feet is yellow, and the ea^'einoss with which the Manyuema devour it, leaves the

0. (Cop

impression that eating Sokos was the first stage by which they arrived at being cannibals ; they say
the flesh is delicious. The Soko is represented by some to be extremely knowing, successfully
stalking men and women while at their work ; kidnapping children, and running up trees with
them, he seems to be amused by the sight of the young native in his arms, but comes down
when tempted by a bunch of bananas, and as he lifts that, drops the child ; the young Soko, in such a
case, would cling closely to the armpit of the elder. One man was cutting out honey from a tree,
and naked, when a Soko suddenly appeared and caught him, then let him go ; another man was
hunting, and missed in his attempt to stab a Soko ; it seized the spear, and broke it, then grappled with
the man, who called to his companions, ' Soko has caught me ! ' The Soko bit off the ends of his fingers,
and escaped unharmed. Both men are now alive at Bambarre."

" Tlie Soko is so cunning, and has such sharp eyes, that no one can stalk him in front without being
seen ; hence, when shot, it is always in the back ; when suiTOunded by men and nets, he is generally
speared in the back too, otherwise he is not a very foi-midable beast. He is nothing, as compared in
power of damaging hLs ivssailant, to a Leopard or Lion, but is more like a man unarmed, for it does not

4R XATURAL HISTORY.

occur to him to use liis canine teeth, wliicli are long and formidable. Numbers of them came down in
the forest, within a hundred j-ards of our camp, and woidd be unknown but for giving tongue like Fox-
hounds : this is their nearest approach to speech. A man, hoeing, was stalked by a Soko, and seized ;
he roared out, but the Soko giggled and grinned, and left him as if he had done it in play. A child,
caught up by a Soko, is often abused by being pinched, and scratched, and let fall."

" The Soko kills the Leopard occasionally, by seizing both paws and biting thern, so as to disable
them; he then goes up a tree, groans over his wounds, and sometimes recovers, while the Leopard dies.
At other times both Soko and Leopard dia Tlie Lion kills him at once, and sometimes tears his limbs

uP^'-h'-^'/^^f-^ /fh ^

HINT (AfU a Stclcfi hi V Ii ii3»i

off, but does not e it him The Soko eats no flesh , small bananas aie his d unties, but not miize His
food consists of wild fiuits, ^vhlch abound, and of these one is like laige sweet sop, but mdiffeient in
taste The Soko brings forth at times twins A vgiy laige Soko was seen by Mohamad's hunters,
sitting picking his nails ; they tried to stalk him, but he vaiiished. Some Manyuema tliink that their
buried dead rise as Sokos, and one was killed with holes in his ears, as if he had been a man. He i£
very strong, and fears guns, but not spears. He never catches women."

" Sokos collect together, and make a drumming noise, some say with hollow trees, then burst forth into
loud yells, which are well imitated by the natives' embryonic music. If a man has no spear, the Soko
goes away satisfied ; but if wounded, he seizes the wrist, lops ofi' the fingers and spits them out, slaps
the cheeks of his victim, arid Isites without breaking the skin ; he draws out a spear (biit never uses it),
and takes some leaves and stuffs them into his wound to staunch the blood ; he does not seek an
encounter with an armed man. He sees women do him no harm, and n^ver molests them ;a man

THE CHIjirAXZEE. '49

without a spear Ls nearly safe from liim. ]Man}-uema say, ' Soko is a man, and nothing bad in him.'
They live in communities of about ten, each having his own female ; an intruder from another camp is
beaten off with theii' lists and loud yells. If one tries to seize the female of another, he is caught on
the ground, and all unite in boxing and biting the offender. A male often cai-ries a cliild, especially if
they are passing from one patch of forest to another over a grassy space ; he then gives it to the mother."
The "Last Jouwials " contains a portrait of a young Soko (reproduced on page 47), which'
shows a short-armed, weak-legged, long-eared creature ; and in the engraving on page 48, the adults
which are being hunted are certainly very much shorter than the natives who are killing them. All
that can be said, then, is that possibly tlie Soko is a kind of Troglodyte, greatly resembling the kind
we have next to notice ; but its geographical range is most interesting. Its being found so many

hu]idi-eds of miles from the Sierra del Crystal, and beyond the woods of the coast-living Chmi]>anzeps!.
Aould appear to prove that formerly there were forest and jungle far away to the east, where tin n- ,11 ■
novr plains, rivers, and lakes with much forest land.

THE TKTJE CHIMPANZEE.*
The name Chiinpanzee has sometimes been given to all the gi-eat Apes just described, but reference
has been made, in considering some points in their anatomy and habits, to a particular animal which
beai-s this name. This one comes next to them in the descending order of the scale of beings, and com-
pletes the niimber of the kinds of these man-shaped Apes of Equatorial Africa. It is the animal, the
young of which have frequently been brought to England, where they have been celebrated for their
gentle fun, romping play, good climbing, apd their abOity to imitate many human habits-r-ciotiies-
wearing. tobacco-smoking, and tea-drinking especially. It is the Chimiianzee of Chimpanzees, the young
* -Trwjwhjlu tWiUT.

89 IfATVRAL EISTORY.

of which have such veiy human-looking faces and most babj'-like skulls. Being covered for the
most part, and especially on the top and sides of the head, wth long black hairs, it is called the Black
Chimpanzee, or Troglodytes niger.

It was a sight worth seeing to be present in the Monkey House of the Zoological Gardens, in
London, when the keeper paid an early morning visit to his attached friend, the Chimpanzee. If he was
not quite awake, or lazily inclined, and snugly covered up in his little wooden house, and the keeper-
called him, a commotion was heard inside, and then a round little figure with a large head came tumbling
out, and rushed to the iron wicket. He creeps along at a great rate on all-fours, but the body is half
erect, for the fore limbs are long, and the kniickles, or rather the back parts of the second joints of the
fi.ngers, are allowed to touch the ground and support the frame in front, whilst the elbows are kept
straight. The hind legs, being short, move one after the other as in a canter, and it is readily
noticed that although the feet touch the ground on their outer edges they can rest flat on the soles.

There is much joyful recognition, and after he has put his arms around the keeper's neck, he
enjoys being tickled and laid on his back in the straw. Making grunts and little laughs, he shows
his fine set of teeth, and his fine hazel-coloured eyes twnkle with fun. Then he nishes off, tumbling
head over heels, scampers over the straw, and with a jump clasps one of the horizontal wooden bars
in the cage, and swings himself up and on to it with an ease and gi-ace which many a gymnast might
envy. Running along this, and just balancing himself with the assistance of the back of his hand, he
nears a rope, and then, after seizing it, swings with arms out at full length, now catching hold of
others or of the wire lattice-work with his feet and toe-thumb, or suddenly coming to the ground with
a great bounce. This is usually preparatory to coming to the spectators, and he then squats down,
folds liis arms, and moves his .shoulders from side to side in a quick and restless manner. Another
scamper brmgs him to his house on the ground-floor, into which he looks, and then taking a lot of
biscuit, he gives a jump on to its shelving top, sits down, and begins to eat. He sits xipright enough,
and puts the biscuit into his mouth, b\it rather clumsily. He does not take it between the tips of
his fingers and the thumb, but between the thumb and the side of the fii-st finger, for the thumb is
short. Hence, as the food disappears, he appears to be cramming the knuckle of his first finger into
his mouth. *

One is struck with the colour of the face, which is nearly liairless, for the tint of its skin is a dirty
yellow-ochre ; but it is relieved by the beaxitiful white teeth, the hazel eyes, and the long hair which
comes down from the top of the head in front of the ear like a lock. The upper li]i has no fun'ow
running down from the small and flat nose, but it is very large, and the mouth looks like a slit in the
face when both lips are together. He has distinct eyelids ; and when he sits and looks foi-wards, the
chin reaches below the top of the breast and hides the neck. The palm of the hands is flesh-coloured,
or darker, and the foot looks very strange, for the hair is long over the ankle and very black, and it
ceases suddenly, so that the heel and all the .sides and the sole are naked and flesh-tinted. The
absence of hair on the face — there being a little straggling beard only — is possibly an ornament, and it
is noticed in many Monkeys ; but its absence from the under part of the hand and foot, of course, is
of use, for it gives a greater power of grasp and a finer sense of touch. The front hair comes to a
peak over the forehead, and the curve on either side is as gi-aceful as that of a Queen's Counsel's wig ;
then it covers a broad low head, which looks very big behind and decidedly over-burdened with two
great ears, larger than those of the Gorilla, and which are close neighbours to the high shouldei-s. Long
black hair, with the ears peering through, covers all the back and sides of the head and the wide
shoulders and very short neck, and is continued down the back*, which shows no sign of a waist, and
only becomes smaller just above the thighs. Here, then, is another instance of the frog-like body
shape, and it is pi-oduced by the same general internal an-angements which have been noticed in the
great Apes already described. Tliat is to say, large lungs, and a great stomach and digestive appa-
ratus, are more important than a slim and elegant figure; and good short back-bones, and at least thirteen
ribs on eadi side are more satisfactory possessions in an African forest than long bones and a weak
spine. •

The arm, fore-arm, and fingers, as a limb, are long, and the tips of the fingers reach just below
the knee. This is consistent with the scheme of the constniction of the animal, and its adaptation
♦ This intor;6tins r.nimd iWA in \f'C<.

THE CU1MFA.KZEE. 61

for the forest life, which requii-es the ability to move rapidly and also to climb very easily.
The ai-ms are m. constant movement when the Chimpanzee is walking, and if they are not
assisting in the motion they are uplifted, the head being, moreover, carried a little forward with
regard to the body. When the hands cla.sp a cross-bar, the little use of the small thumb is readily
noticed, and the body is allowed to swing, as it were, at the full length of the anns, the tluimb not
assisting in holding on. But when it climbs a pole, it gi-asps just like a man under the same cir.
cumstances, and the thumb partly encii-cles the wood. It is very cm-ious to feel the grasp of the
hand, and the vigorous squeeze that the foot can give, and to look at the palms and soles. The palms
seem very wrinkled across, but not to have a ball under the thumb of any size, and they seem narrow
for their length. But although this is the case, and the thumb is short, they assist in grasping very
forcibly. All the fingers and the thumbs have flat nails on them, which do not approach the character
of a claw, and corresponding nails are found on the feet. All the lieel is naked, as if it Game through
a hole in a stocking of black hair ; and as a whole, the foot is shorter than the hand, the thii'd toe
being the longest. The toe-thumb is easily movable, and assists in climbiiig, for it gi-asps with the
aid of the other toes very readily. Like the other large Apes already mentioned, it has no calf, and
the legs seem to be too small for it, and to be stuck on to the body by small hips. The roimdness
behind is wanting, and therefore the muscles which particidarly assist in the erect position are not
large, as in man.

Yet at fii-st sight there is something very human about the Chimpanzee ; it looks lilie a very old
child, and doubtless this is increased by its gentle habits and amiability ; and there is every apology
to be made for the early geogi'aphers and anatomists, who called it the " Pigmie."

One of the first living Chimpanzees which was brought to England took strange dislikes te
people. When it was brought on board the ship it would give its hand to be shaken by some, but
refused it to others of the sailors with marks of anger, and it speedily became very familiar with
the crew, except with a boy, to whom it never became reconciled. When the seamen's mess was
brought on deck, it was a constant attendant ; it would go round and embrace each person, while it
uttered loud yells, and then seated itself to enjoy the repast. If it was pleased at any favourite morsel,
or if a piece of sweetmeat was given to it, satisfaction was expressed by a sound like a " hem," in a
gi-ave tone ; but if it was made angiy or vexed, it would bark like a dog or cry like a child, and
scratch itself most vehemently. It was active and cheerful in warm latitudes, but it became languid
as it left the Torrid Zone, so that a blanket had to be given it as tlie English Channel was reached.

Bamboo, a Chimpanzee, once in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Eegent's Park, and the subject
of the following sketch, by Lieut. Sayers, " was purchased from a Mandingo, at Sien-a Leone, who
related that he had captured him in the Bullom country some months before, having fii-st shot the
mother, on wliich occasions the j'oung ones never fail to remain by theii- wounded parents. On becoming
mine, he was delivered over to a black boy, my servant, and in a few days became so attached to him as
to be exceedingly troublesome, screaming and throwing himself into the most violent passion if he
attempted to leave liim for a moment. He evinced also a most strange aft'ection for clothes, never
omitting an opportunity of possessing himself of the tii-st garment he came across, whenever he had the
means of entering my apartment. He carried it . immediately to the piazza, where invariably he
seated himself on it with a self-satisfied gi-unt; nor would he resign it without a hard fight, and, on
being worsted, exhibited every symptom of the gi-eatest anger. Observing this strange fancy, I pro-
cured him a piece of cotton cloth, which, much to the amusement of all who saw him, he was never
■without, carrying it with him wherever he went, nor could any temptation induce him to resign it even
for a moment. Totally unacquainted with their mode of living in the wild state, I adopted the follow-
ing method of feeding liim, which has apj)eared to succeed admirably. In the morning, at eight o'clock,
he received a piece of bread, about the size of a halfpenny loaf, steeped in water or mUk and water;
about two, a couple of bananas or plantains ; and before he retired for the night, a banana, orange, or
slice of pine-apple. Tlie banana appeared to be his favourite frait; for it he would forsake all other
viands, and if not gi-atified, would exhibit the utmost petulance. On one occasion I deemed it necessary
to refuse him one, considering that he had already eaten a sufiiciency, upon wliich he threw himself
into the most violent passion, and uttering a piercing cry, knocked his head with such violence against
the wall as to throw himself on his back, then ascending a chest which was near, wildly threw his

■o-> ■- KATCliAL HJ.sTOIiV.

arms into the air, and precipitated liimself from it. These actions so alarmed me for his safety tliat I
gave^ip the contest, and on doing so he evinced the gi-eatest satisfaction at his victory, uttering for
several miiaiites the most expressive grunts and cries; in short, he exhibited, on all occasions when
his- \^'ill was opiwsed, the isftpatient temper of a spoilt child; but even in the height of passion I never
observed any disposition to bite or otherwise ill-treat hLs keeper or myself

" Although he would never object to be caressed or uxu'sed by even a sti-anger, yet I never saw
hii^-,:eviuce the slightest disposition to make the acquaintance of any othef animal. At the time he
came ' into my possession 1 had two Patas Monkeys, and thinking they might become acquainted, I

placed Mr. Bamboo in the same apartment, where he resided for five months, yet I never saw the least
desire on his part to become even friendly; on the contrai-y, he showed evident anger and dislike at
th^ii- approach. This strange attachment to the human race, and manifest dislike to all others, I have
always considered One of the most extraoitlinary features of this genus. His cuiuiing was also remark-
alile. On all occasions when he thought he was unobserved, he would not fail to steal everything
•n-ithih his reach, for no other apparent purpose than to gratify a propensity for thieving ; did he, how-
ever, even think j'ou were looking at him, he would wait his opportunity with the greatest patience
before he commenced depredation. In his habits, unlike the Monkey tribe, he was exceedingly cleanly,
never soiling his bed or any place near it; and even on board ship (during the warm weather) he never
failed to seek the deck, unassisted, whenever the calls of nature required it. On being left by himself
in his piazza he would invariably seat himself on the window-sill, which was the higl-.est point he could

OT! \\r UT\''

64 l^^ATVRAL HISTOHY.

attain, and commanded a view of the barrack-yard as well as the interior of my bed-room ; but at sun-
Bet he would descend, enter a washing-tub, which he had of his own accord chosen as a sleeping-place,
and remain there all night ; as soon, however, as the sun rose, he would never fail to occupy his
favoxirite position on the window-ledge. From this, I shovdd say, that trees are ascended by the
Chimpanzee merely for observation or food, and that they live principally on the ground. Bamboo, at
the time of purchase, appeared to be about foui-teen months old, and from what I could learn from the
natives, they do not reach their full growth till between nine and ten years of age ; which, if true,
brings them extremely near the human species, as the boy or girl of We.st Africa, at thirteen or four-
teen years old, is quite as much a man or woman as those of nineteen or twenty in oiu- more northern
clime. Their height, when full grown, is said to be between four and five feet ; indeed, I was credibly
informed that a male Chimpanzee, which had been shot in the neighbourhood and brought into Free
Town, measm-ed four feet live inches in length, and was so heavy as to form a very fair load for two
men, who carried him on a pole between them. The natives say that in their wild state their strength
is enormous, and that they have seen them snap boughs off the trees with the gi-eatest apparent ease,
which the united strength of two men could scarcely bend. The Chimpanzee is, without doubt, to be
found ill all the countries, from the banks of the Gambia in the north to the kingdom of Congo in the
south, as the natives of all the intermediate parts seem to be perfectly acquainted with them. From my
own experience, I can state that the low shores of the Bullom country, situated on the northern shores
of the river near Siei-ra Leone, are infested by them in numbers quite equal to the commonest species
of Monkeys. I consider these animals to be gi-egarious; for when visiting the rice fanns of the Chief
Dalla Mohammadoo, on the Bullom shore, their cries plainly indicated the vicinity of a troop, as the
noise Jieard could not have been produced by less than eight or ten of them. The natives also affirmed
that they always travel in strong bodies, armed with sticks, which they use with much dexterity.
They are exceedingly watchful; and the first one who discovers the approach of a stranger utters a
protracted cry, much resembling that of a human being in the greatest distress. The tir.st time I
heard it I was much startled ; the animal was apparently not more than thirty paces distant, but had
it been but five I coidd not have seen it, from the tangled nature of the jungle, and I certainly con-
ceived that such sounds could only have proceeded from a human being, who hoped to gain assistance
by his cries from some terrible and instant death. The native who was with me laid liis hand upon
my shoulder, and pointing suspiciously to the bush, said, ' Massa, Baboo live there ! ' and in a few
minutes the wood appeared alive with them, their cries resembling the barking of dogs. My guide
informed me that the cry fir.st heard was to inform the troop of my approach, and that they would all
immediately leave the trees, or any exalted situation that might expose them to ^•iew, and seek the
bush; he also showed evident fear, and entreated me not to proceed any further in that dii-ection. The
plantations of bananas, pampaws, and plantains, which the natives usually intermix with theii- i-ice,
constituting the favourite food of the Chimpanzee, account for their being so frequent in the neigh-
bourhood of rice fields. The difficulty of procuring live specimens of this genus arises principally, I
should say, from the superstitions of the natives concerning them, who believe they possess the power
of ' witching.' "

A most interesting little male Chimpanzee was obtained from the natives of the Gambia coast some
years since, and became famous in London for its great intelligence and human-like conduct. His mother
was shot when he was about a twelvemonth old, about 1 20 miles from the sea ; and after being well taken
care of he was sent to England on board ship, where he had a free range of the rigging and decks, and
where he made himself much liked. A distinguished zoologist, Mr. Broderip, visited him in the Zoolo-
gical Gardens after he had undergone some tuition, and describes what he saw as follows : —

" I saw him for the first time in the kitchen belonging to the keepei-s' apartments, dressed in a
little Guernsey shirt, or banyan jacket. He was sitting child-like in the lap of a good old woman, to
whom he clung whenever she miwle show of putting him down. His aspect was mild and passive, but
that of a little withered old man, and Ids large eyes, hairless and crimpled visage, and man-like ears,
surmounted by the black hail- of liis head, rendered the resemblance very striking, notwithstanding the
depressed nose and the projecting mouth. He had already become very fond of his good old nurse,
and she had evidently become attached to her nursling, although they had only been acc.r.ainted for
three or four days, and it was with difficulty that ho permitted her to go away to do her work in

TUE C'RIUPAXZEE. 55

another part of the building. On her lap he was perfectly at his ease, and it seemed to me that he
considered her as occupying the place of his mother. He was constantly reaching up with his hand
to the fold of her neckerchief, though when he did so she checked him, saying, ' No, Tommy, you
must not pull the pin out.' When not otherwise occupied71ie would sit quietly in her lap, pulling his
toes about with his fingei-s, with the same passive aii- as a human child exhibits when amusing himself
in the same manner. I wished to examine his teeth ; and when his nurse, in order to make him open
his mouth, threw him back in her arm and tickled him just as she would a cliild, the caricature was
complete.

" I oflered him my ungloved hand. He took it mildly in his, with a manner equally exempt fi-om
forwardness and fear, examined it with his eyes, and perceiving a ring on one of my fingers, submitted
that, and that only, to a very cautious and gentle examination with his teeth, so as not to leave any
mark on the ring. I then oflered him my other hand with the glove on. Tliis he felt, looked at it,
turned it about, and then tried it with his teeth. At length it became necessary for his kind nurse
to leave him, and after much remonstrance on his part she put him on the floor. He would not leave
her, however, and walked nearly erect by her side, holding by her gown just like a chUd. At last she
got him away by oflering him a peeled raw potato, which he ate with great relish, holding it in his
right hand. His keeper, who is very attentive to him, then made his appearance, and spoke to him.
Tommy evidently made an attempt to speak, geisticulating as he stood erect, protruding his Ups, and
making a hoarse noise like ' hoo ! hoo ! ' He soon showed a disposition to play Avith me, jumping on
his lower extremities opposite to me like a child, and looking at me with an expression indicating a
wish for a game at romps. I confess I complied, and a capital game we had. On another occasioUi
and when he had become familiar with me, I caused, in the midst of his play, a looking-glass to be
brought and held before him. HLs attention was constantly and strongly arrested : from the utmost
activity he became immovably fixed, steadfastly gazing at the minor with eagerness, and something
like wonder depicted in his face. He at length looked tip at me, then again gazed at the glass. The,
tips of my fingers appeared on one side as I held it; he put his hands and then his lips to them, then
looked behind the glass, and finally passed his hands behind it, evidently to feel Lf there were anything
substantial there. I presented him with a cocoa-nut, to the shell of which some bark was still
adhering ; the tender bud was just beginning to shoot forth — tins he immediately bit ofi" and ate. He
then stripped ofi" some of the bark mth liis teeth, moving it by the crust of adhering fibres round his
iead, darted it down, and repeatedly jumped on it with all his weight. A hole was bored in one of
the eyes, and the nut agaiu given to liim, and he immediately held it up with the aperture downwai-ds,
applied his mouth to it, and sucked away at what milk there was with gi-eat glee. As I was making
notes with a paper and pencil, he came up and looked at me inquisitively, testing the pencil with
his teeth when he had it given to him. A trial was made of the little fellow's courage ; for when his
attention was directed elsewhere, a hamper containing a large snake, called Python, was brought in and
placed on a chair near the dresser. Tlic lid was i-aised, and the basket in which the snake was
enveloped was opened, and soon after Tommy came gambolling that way. As he jumped and danced
along the di-esser towards the basket he was all gaiety and life ; suddenly he seemed to be taken aback,
stopped, and cautiously advanced towards the basket, peered or rather craned over it, and constantly,
with a gesture of hon-or and aversion and the cry of 'hoo! hoo!' recoiled from the detested object,
jumped back as far as he could, and then sprang to liis keeper for protection. Tommy does not like
confinement, and vhen he is .shut up in his cage, the \'iolence with wliich he pulls at and shakes the
door is very great, and shows considerable strength ; but I have never seen him use this exertion
against any other part of the cage, though his keeper has endeavoured to induce liim to do so, in order
to see whether he woidd make the distinction. Wlien at liberty he is extremely playful ; and in his
high jiuks, I saw him toddle into a corner where an unlucky bitch was lying with a litter of very
young pups, and lay hold of one of them, till the snarling of the mother and the cries of the keeper
made him put the pup down. He then cUmbed up to the toj) of the cage where the Mannosets were, and
jumped fmiously upon it, evidently to astonish the inmates, who huddled together, looking up at the
dreadful creature over then- liead.s. Then lie went to a window, opened it and looked out. I was
afraid that he might make his escape ; but the words ' Tommy, No ! ' pronounced by the keeper in a
mild but fii-m tone, caused liim to shut the window and to come away. He is, in tmth, a most docile

66 NATVSAL HiSTOSY.

and affectionate animal, and it is impossible not to be taken with the expressive gestures and looks with
wliich he courts your good opinion, and tlirows himself upon you for protection against annoyance."

Whether they grow cross and savage as they get old is not known, for no adults have been kept
in captivity, but as this is usual in other Monkeys, it is probable that their interesting time of life is
that of childhood, and that when the age of fun and tricks has passed there is not much else but
brutality left.

Little or nothing reliable is known about the habits of the adults, and all the wickednesses of
Gorillas and Baboons have been attribvited to them, and, in fact, the very same stories will do for any
one of them.

These stories have, however, been believed ; and even Cuvier, the great comparative anatomist,
wrote, that the Chimpanzees live in troops, constiiict themselves huts of leaves, arm themselves with
sticks and stones, and employ these weapons to drive away men and Elephants from their dwellings.
They did not, he believed, scruple to attack the Lion, and they were exceedingly impolite to negi-esses
in general.

As they all, except possibly the Soke, live in a district where the forests are dense and close,
there is no doubt they ai-e rarely seen ; and indeed reliable travellers do not hesitate to say that a
white man has never seen them in a state of nature, except by obtaining a glance as they rush
off on being surprised. All the stories must, therefore, be received with suspicion, as tainted with the
residts of African fear and love of the wonderful ; especially as they come from the negi'O race living in
the remarkable tract of country extending along the "West Coast from the river Gambia to some
distance north of Angola, and thence into the interior to the little known regions between the
hills which run parallel with the sea many miles inland, and the country of the large lakes far away
to the East.

Gifted with wonderful agility and no little power of imitation and intelligence, and possessed of
very acute senses and ability to unite the actions of many gi-oups of nnisoles to a common purpose, the
Chimpanzee must have a well-formed nervous system — that is to say, a good brain and spinal cord. A
bram to originate or commence actions, and the cord of nerves to carry the orders of the bram to the
limbs. Measured over the brain case of the skull, tha^ of the Chimpanzee has a bulk of about
one-half of that of man, and less than that of the Gorilla ; but the brain itself has striking resem-
blances to that of man. The principal folds which are noticed on the human brain exist in the
Chimpanzee, but they are simpler in theii- foldings, and are large in proportion to the whole. This
means that there is not as much nerve structure packed in a given space as there is in man ; and
the distinction is most important, for the greater the packing the greater the nervous energy and
power. But the parts of the brain which have especially to do with the movements of the body,
and then- regulations and adaptations, are very well formed; and it is the comparative deficiency in
those parts wliich have a mysterious relation with the intelligence, instinct, and the mind which
causes the brain of the Chimpanzee to differ in appearance and size from that of man. But in both the
bram proper over-laps and covers the cerebellum or little brain. The nerves are well formed and large.

It seems that the brain of the Chimpanzee never has a chance of increasing in size, for after a
certain age the bones of the brain case become, as it were, soldered together.

The Chimpanzee has a famous pair of shoulders, a broad back, and, like the Gorilla, a very short
neck. Its weight is less than that of the greatest of Apes, and therefore it does not require such
huge muscles for climbing. The gi-eat bony spines of the neck-bones are smaller ; and the bones of the
upper part of the spine are not made as strongly.

Loving much to hang by the hands, with the arms stretched out above the head, the Chimpanzee
has the blade-bone more like that of an oi-dinary Monkey, and less like that of man and the Gorilla,
and its muscles are so placed as to permit of their acting readily when this position is kept up. As
) this position is extremely easy and useful, it is assisted by the animal's having a short and stout
collar-bone. Its arm-bone is tolerably near the length of that of man, but it is like a Gorilla's in
miniature. The bones of the fore-arm (the radius and \ilna), instead of being shorter than the arm-bone,
equal it in length, and the last named is much bent, so as to give a large surface for the muscles which
supply the hand and wrist.

As a whole, the hand of the Cliimjianzee is, in proportion to the size of the animal, larger than

TUE VHlMrAyZEE.

that of the Gorilla, but the thumb is shorter, and this makes it more Monkey-like than liuman ; and
the same may be said of the lower limbs, for the thigh-bone and those of the leg, although greatly
resembling those of the Gorilla, have many peculiarities which make them resemble those of the less
important Monkeys. Finally, with regard to the foot, that of the Chimpanzee is more Monkeyish
than that of the Gorilla. The great Ape's foot has many peculiarities which make it differ from
that of man, and these are all magnified, as it were, in the Chimpanzee, whose foot, therefore, is all
the more unlike oui'S. It is especially adapted for gi-asping and climbing, and less well suited for
occasionally standing erect and walking. Its heel is short and slender, and the toe-thumb is smaller,
and the whole foot is slenderer, than the Gorilla's. Moreover, it is more turned in.

When young, there are no crests on the head, but with age a small one grows on each side in
front, running from about the centre of each side of the brow ridge over the receding forehead, and
joining together in the middle line, close to the top of the skull. This meets a larger and stronger one,
which is a miniatui-e of the head crest of the Gorilla, and wliich reaches from ear to ear. The use is
probably for the attachment of the masticating muscles at the side, and for that of the muscles of the
neck behind ; but it is also a kind of ornament of the males.

Strong as this Ape is in its loins, from its extra ribs, the hip-bones seem narrow from side to side;
and one of the causes of this is interesting, not
only because it is also noticed in the other great
Apes, but also because it is one of their marked
distinctions from man.

The pieces of the ba«k-bone (or vertebrae),
as they pass between the hip-bones behind, unite
them together, and degenerate untU they form
the curious little taU-end of the back-bone,
which in us, and in the Apes, is curled slightly,
with the concave part of the bend forwai-d.
The pieces unite strongly to each other above
and below, and form really one bone, which is
called the sacnim. Now, if these pieces were
nearly or quite as stout and broad as those
higher up, the hips would be wide apart ; but

if they become narrow, the hips will be all the closer together. In man, the pieces are broad, and the
sacrum, as a whole, is so also, and the hips are widely separate; but the reverse is the case in the
Apes.

This difference in the breadth of the bone and the width of the hip has evidently to do with the
maintenance of the erect posture in man, and the inability to keep erect for long, and comfortably, by
these gi-eat Apes. The larger the surface of the saci-um, the greater is the mass of muscle passing to
the back and downwards ; and this is small in comparison in the Chimpanzee.

Where the proper vertebrae of the sacnim end — that is to say, the pieces of the back-bone which
are placed between the hip (ilium) bones — the tail begins. It is made up of three stunted bones,
which are something like ill-made back-bone pieces (vertebrae) ; they are usually inseparably joined
together to make a special bone, which is broad above, and tapering below. This bone, the rudiment
of the tail, which, from some fancied resemblance to a Cuckoo's back, has been called the cuckoo-
bone {os coccygis), is covered by ukin and embedded in muscles, which do not allow it to stick out
visibly even as a stump; for its tip is curled inwards. Tliis apology for the member which is
so vastly imijortant in many Monkeys is narrow in the man-like Apes, the black Chimpanzee included ;
but it is a little wider in man, although the general construction is the same. Could these bones —
which, by their being united, form this rudiment of a tail — be disunited and increased in number, stuck
out, and covered with skin and muscles, something like the very Monkey-like appendage would be
formed. But noble tails are not the gifts of the higher Apes, as they are called, from their many
points of resemblance in structure with man, and even in the smaller Monkeys they are extremely
variable belongings, being given to one kind and not to another in a manner far beyond our phUosophy.
Tl-.s Cliimpanzee has a long pahite, like the other gi-eat Apes of the West African

OF CHIMP.UiZEE.

roods.

58 NATURAL HISTORY.

Moreover, it has a uvula iii the back of the throat, and the back of the tongue is marked with
great papillse, which take up the shape of a T. It does not do more than grunt " hem," and . bark
after a fa»hion ; and the use of some great aii- -pouches, which resemble those of the Gorilla, are there-
fore not very apparent. But the bony structures of the palate are interesting, for at the back of it
they do not form a simple knob, as in the Gorilla, but resemble those of man, and there is a little
prominence, with a festoon cuiwe on each side.

It lives upon vegetable food, and its teeth are admirably suited for it ; they are of the same
number as those of the rest of the great man-shaped Apes, and do not differ very much from them.
The front teeth ai'e large, and project, and do not bite very up and down on the tips, so they wear
behind quicker than in front, their general shape being rather peculiar and distinctive. Female Chim-
panzees have smaller eye-teetli than the males, and all ha^e them with a sharp edge behind, so that
they can cut a pine-apple as well as pierce it. Behind them are the pie- and true molars, but the last
tooth of the upper jaw looks small, for its hmder projections or cusps are small. In the lower jaw
the last tooth has a fifth cusp, but it is smaller proportionately than in the lower Monkeys ; and the
first pre-molar has its front and outer angle stuck out very much after the fashion of the Baboons.
Now these are little matters, which do not appear to have anything to do with causes and effects, the
ada]itation of means to ends, or which do not enable the creature to chew and ci-ush its food a bit the
less vv -, or better than others; they refer to some hidden mystery which unites apparently very
diffei-ent animals together in the scheme of creation. Thus the Chimpanzee has human-like, Gori]l£>
like, Baboon-like, and other Monkey-like peculiarities, so far as the teeth are concerned, and yet
which do not interfere with the successful mastication of the food. We may make theories about
them of supreme interest, which may explain why animals are alike and unlike, and how the
structures of superior animals were foreshadowed in those of lower ones, and the structures of the
latter in those of still simpler forms of life.

It is the great front teeth, the large space hidden by the visible nose, the prominent ujiper, and
the great length of the lower jaw, which give such a Baboon-like appearance to the face of the
Chimpanzee's skull ; and this is interesting, for there may have been a kinship between the two tribes.

These man-shaped Apes, tlie Gorilla, the Nschiego Mbouve, the Koolo-Kamba, the Soko, and
the Chimpanzee, form a gi-oup of beings which is peculiarly situated geographically, and which is
separated from all others by anatomical differences. Their home is in Equatorial Africa, from the
Western Sea to the Great Lakes near the eastern side of the Continent, and none of the kinds com-
posing it have ever ber >. found out of this range. Then- bones have not been found in caves or in the
state of fossils anywhs e, so they must be regarded as essentially African. The gi-oup clings to forest
and jungle, and its members lead very m\ich the same kind of lives, for they are all vegetarians, liking
quietude, and either roaming singly or in pairs, or li\-ing in troops. There is no evidence whatever
that any of these species of Troglodytes have ever wandered ; and it must be admitted that they have
lived where they ai-e now found ever since the coiintry has been as it is, as i-egards its physical geo-
graphy and peculiar climate. As regards their anatomical distinctness from other beings, they may
be sepai-ated from man on the one hand, and from the Monkeys, wliich form the subject of the next
chapters, on the other. They are linked together as a group by many resemblances in then- construc-
tion, although there are differences enough to distinguish kind from kind. From man they one and
all differ in the shape of the head, the size of the bi-ain case, the nature of the palate, the shape of
the jaws, and in the last lower molar teeth and tooth-.spaces. Their head-ridges, the shape and length
of then- limbs, and the nature of their thumbs and toe-thumbs are very distinctive. The great air-
pouches, the shape of the chest, the extra ribs, aaid the shape of the hip-gii-dle, cause them to differ
much from man ; and their brain is, as it were, dwarfed and infantile.*

* They have several musciJar peculiarities. Thus the gi-eat muscle of the hind part of the loins (sacro lumbalis) is vast
and fleshy In man, but it is reduced to very small proportions in the gre.at Apes. The great oblique muscle of the body is
not attached to the hip, and the muscles of the buttocks are reduced excessively in the Apes. All ttis renders then- erect
position difficidt and not usual. The motions of the shoidder and aims are assisted by extra muscles ; one stretcheb from
the sixth neck-vertebra to the first rib, another reaches from the outer part of the collar-bone to the neck in front, to the
bone -under ths tongue (hyoid bone), and a third from the coUar-ljone to the side of the first vertebra. The small muscle of
the chest (i)ectoi'alis miner) reaches to the capsule which siu-rronds the shoulder-joint. There is an extra muscle, v/hich

CHAPTER III.

THE MAN-SHAPED APES {coiitiiii<cil)—Gen-as Simia—THY. orang-utan.

Origin of the Name— Description of the Orang— Eajah Brooke's First Specimen— Mr. AVallace's Experiences in Mias
Hunting— The Home of the Mias— A Mias at Bay— Their Nests, Habits, Food, and Localities— Different kinds of
Orangs- Structural Points— The Intelligence and Habits of the Young — The Brain and its Case— Resemblances and
Differences of Old and Young.

THE ORANG-TJTAN.*
The Malay.s call their chiefs Orangs, and the word relates to the inteDigence of those called by it,
meaning " a rational being." Tliey apply it also to their Elephants, and to the great Ape of Sumati-a and
Borneo. Utan, or as some spell it, Oetan (utang being wrong), means wUd, or "of the woods;" and
hence the conjoined words may be translated by what the natives really mean, " the wild man of the
wood." Tliere are two kinds of Orang-utan, and both are, to a certain extent, man-like, the resemblance
being gi-eatest in the females and in the young, and diminishing as the males grow older.

AH have long ruddy-brown hair, the tinge being decidedly red, a dark face, with small eyes, .small
nose, and great projecting jaws. The hair comes over the forehead and backwards over the neck ;
it is long on the limbs, and points downwards on the upper and upwards on the lower arm. It covers
the back, and seat, and legs, standing out often, and gives a very wiry look to the fur. What strikes
one dii-ectly on looking at a weU-stuft'ed .specimen of an old male, for instance, is the great length of the
fore-limbs, which reach far towards the ankle, the length of the muzzle, and the extraordinary breadth
of the face under the eyes, where the flatness resembles a mask more than a natural growtL In the
females and young this growth of the cheek-bone and its covering of fat and skin are not seen; and it
appears to be a mark of male beauty, as are also two sets of ridges on the skull, wliich gi-eatly resemble
those of the Gorilla,

Rajah Brooke, whose name will always be associated with Borneo, took great interest in Orang-utan
hunting, principally with a view to decide how many kinds there were ; and his fii-st impressions on
killing his first large one were excited by the prominent peculiarities just noticed. The first male he
killed was seated lazily on a tree, and when the people approached he only took the trouble to hide
behind the trunk, peeping fii-st on one side and then on the other, aad "dodging," as the Rajah did the
same. He was wounded in the wrist, and afterwards was despatched. The Rajah ^v^ote to the Zoo-
logical Society of London as follows : — " Great was our triumph as we gazed on the huge animal dead
at our feet, and proud were we of having shot the fii-st Orang we had seen, and shot him in his native
woods, in a Borneo forest hitherto untrodden by European feet. We were struck with the length of
liLS arms, the enormous neck, the expanse of face, which altogether gave the impression of great height,
whereas it was only great power. The hair was long, reddish, and thin ; the face remarkably bi'oad
and fleshy, and on each side, in the place of a man's whiskers, were the callosities, or rather fleshy
protuberances, which I was so desirous to see, and wliieh were nearly two inches in thickness. The
ears were small and well shaped, the nose quite flat, the mouth prominent, the lips thick, the eyes
small and roundish, the teeth large and discoloiu-ed, the face and hands black — these last being very
powerful. This animal was four feet one inch in height, and its fore limb was three feet five inches and
thi-ee-quarters in length; the width of the face, moreover, being as much as one foot one inch."

" WliUst the fore limb was so long, the lower limb, from the hip to the heel, only measured one
foot nine iiaches ; and hence there is gi-eat disproportion between the limbs, the legs and feet appearing
dwarfed in comparison."

The Rajah considered the Orangs to be as dull and slothful as one could conceive, and on no

reaches from the back to the elbow, and which allows the animals, when hanging by one band, to turn and twist the body
slightly. The metacarpal bone of the httle finger has a special muscle, which tends to enlai-ge the grasp of the hand. The
great Apes have, however, an imperfect or deficient proper flexor to the thumb, and the extensor of the first joint of the
thumb is wanting. The ill-developed " calf " has not its two great muscles combined in the one tendo AchUIis, as in man, and
the muscles of the foot are so arranged that they pennit of much more independent motion tlian those of man have.
* Simia satyrus. Simia mm-io.

CO NATURAL BISToRY.

occasion, when pursuing tliein, did tliey move so fast as to preclude his keeping pace with them easily
through a modei-ately clear forest, and even when obstructions below (such as wading up to the neck)
enabled them to get away some distance, they were sure to stop and allow the hunters to come up.
He never observed any attempt at defiance ; and the wood which sometimes rattled about his ears was
broken by their weight, and not thrown down, as some people imagine to be the case.

If pushed to extremity, the large male with crests on its head (which is called " Pappan "), could
be formidable ; and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying to catch a large one alivei
lost two of his fingers, besides being severely bitten in the face, whilst the animal finally beat ofi' its
pursuers. When the natives wish to catch an adult, they cut down a circle of trees round the one on
which he is seated, and then fell that also, and close before he can recover himself, and try to bind
hira. The Rajah also notices the little dread the natives have of them, and that they form seats
rather than nests in the trees.

These observations regarding their habits have been slightly opposed by Mr. Wallace, whose
descriptions of Orang— or, as he prefers to call it, from the Dyak language, Mias — hunting and of
their habits are undoubtedly the most reliable.

Wallace spent a long time in the islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra ; and one of his principal
objects in visiting the first especially was to obtain an insight as lo the nature and life of the great
man-like Apes of the country. After some time spent in hunting, he succeeded in shooting a full-gi-own
male Orang-utan, and he describes the scene as follows : —

" I had just come home from an entomologi.^ing excursion, when Cliarles rushed in, out of breath
with running and excitement, and exclaimed, interrupted by gasps, ' Get the gun, sir — be quick — such
a large Mias ! ' ' Where is it ? ' I asked, taking hold of my gun as I spoke, wliich happened luckily to
have one ban-el loaded with ball. ' Close by, sir — on the path to the mines ; he can't get away.' Two
Dyaks chanced to be in the house at the time, so I called them to accompany me, and started off,
telling Charley to bring all the ammunition after me as soon as possible. The path from our clearing
to the mines led along the side of the hUl, a little way up its slope, and parallel with it at the foot a
widp opening had been made for a road, in which several Chinamen were working, .so that the animal
could not escape into the swampy forest below without descending to cross the road, or ascending tf
get round the clearing. We walked cautiously along, not making the least noise, and listening
attentively for any sound which might betray the pi-esence of the Mias, stopping at intervals to gazs
upwards. Charley soon joined us,at the place where he had seen the creature, and having taken th(
ammunition, and put a biillet in the other barrel, we dispersed a little, feeling sui-e that it must b(
somewhere near, as it had jsrobably descended the hill, and would not be likely to return again. Aftei
a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound ovei-head, but on gazing up could see nothing. ]
moved about in every direction, to get a full view into every part of the tree under which I had beei
standing, when I again heard the same noise, but louder, and saw the leaves shaking, as if caused bj
the motion of some heavy animal, which moved off to an adjoining tree. I immediately shouted for aH
of them to come up and try and get a view, so as to allow me to have a shot. This was not an easj
matter, as the Mias had a knack of selecting places with dense foliage beneath. Very soon, how-
ever, one of the Dyaks called me and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great red hairy body
and a huge black face gazing down from a great height, as if wanting to know what was making such
a disturbance below. I instantly fii-ed, and he made off at once, so that 1 could not then tell whether
I liad hit him. He now moved very rapidly and very noiselessly for so large an animal, so I told the
Dyaks to follow and keep him in sight while I loaded The jungle was here full of large angular
fragments of rock from the mountain above, and thick with hanging and twisting creepers. Eunning,
climbing, and creeping among these, we came up with the creature on the top of a high tree near the
road, where the Chinamen had discovered him, and were shouting their astonishment wath open
moiith: ' Ya, ya, Tuan! Orang-utan, Tuan!' Seeing that he could not pass here without descending,
he turned up again towards the hill, and I got two shots, and following quickly had two more by the
time he had again reached the path ; but he was almost moi-e or less concealed by foliage, and
protected by the large branch^on which he was w^alking. Once while loading I had a splendid ^dew of
him, moving along a large limb of a tree in a semi-erect posture, and showing him to be an animal of
the largest size. At the path he got on to one of the loftiest trees in the forest, and we could see one

0RAMG-CTAN3.

HUNTING THE OltANG.

61

leg hanging down useless, having been broken by a ball. He now fixed himself in a fork, where he
was liidden by thick foliage, and seemed disinclined to move. I was afraid he would remain and die
in this position, and as it was nearly evening I could not have got the tree cut down that day. I
therefore fired again, and he then moved off, and going up the hill was obliged to get on to some lower
trees, on the branches of one of which he fixed himself in such a position that he covild not fall, and
lay all in a heap, as if dead or dying. I now vranted the Dyaks to go up and cut off the branch he
was resting on, but they were afraid, saying he was not dead, and would come and attack them. We
then shook the adjoining tree, pulled the hanging creepers, and did all we could to disturb him, but
without effect; so I thought it best to send for two Chinamen vnth axes to ciit down the tree. While
the messenger was gone, however, one of the Dyaks took courage and climbed towards him, but the
Mias did not wait for him to get near, moving off to another tree, where he got on to a dense mass of
branches and creejiers, which almost completely hid him from our view. The tree was luckily a small
one, so when the axes came we soon had it cut through ; but it was so held up by jungle ropes and
climbers to adjoining trees that it only fell into a sloping position. The Mias did not move, and I

THE OILiNG

began to fear that, after all, we should not get him, as it^was near evening, and half-a-dozen more trees
would have to be cut down before the one he was on would fall. As a last resource we all began
pulling at the creepers, which shook the tree very much; and, after a few minutes, when we had almost
given up all hopes, down he came with a crash aiwl a thud like the fall of a giant. And he was a
giant, his head and body being full as large as a man's. He was of the kind called by the Dyaks _
' Mias Chapyian,' or ' Mias Pappan,' which has the skin of the face broadened out to a ridge or fold
at each side. His outstretched arms measured seven feet three inches across, and his height, measuring
fairly from the top of the head to the heel, was four feet two inches. The body just below the arms
was three feet two inches round, and was quite as long as a man's, the legs being exceedingly short in
proportion. On examination we found he had been dreadfully wounded. Both legs were broken, one
hip-joint and the root of the .spine completely shattered, and two bullets were found flattened in his
neck and jaws ; yet he was still alive when he fell. The two Chinamen carried him home tied to a
pole; and I was occupied with Charley the whole of the next day, preparing the skin and boiling the
bones, to make a peifect skeleton, which are now preserved in the museum at Derby."

Tlie following description from the same author gives an excellent idea of the nature of the country
inhabited by another Orang, and of its Monkey companions : —

" After a few miles, the stream became very naiTow and winding, and the whole country on each
side was flooded. On the banks were abundance of Moiikeys — the common Maeacus cynomolgus, a
black Semnopithecv^, and the extraordinary Long-nosed Monkey {Nasalis larvatus). which is as large

62 KiTURAL HISTORY.

ds a three year-okl child, has a very long tail, and a fleshy nose, longer than that of tlio biggest-nosed
man. Tlie further we went on the narrower and more winding the stream became ; fallen trees
sometimes blocked up our passage, and sometimes tangled branches and creepers met completely
across it, and had to be cut away before we could get on. It took us two days to reach Semabanga,
and we hardly saw a bit of dry land all the way. In the latter part of the journey I could touch the
biishes on each side for miles ; and we were often delayed by the screw-f)ines (Pandaniis) which grew
abundantly in the water, falling across the stream. In other places dense rafts of floating grass
completely filled up the channel, making our journey a constant succession of diiBcidties. The
mountain or hill was close by, covered with a complete forest of fruit-trees, among which the
Durion and Mangosteen were very abundant ; but the fi-uit was not yet quite ripe, except a little
here and there. I spent a week at this place, going out every day in various directions about the
mountain, accompanied by a Malay, who had stayed with me while the other boatmen returned
For three days we found no Orangs, but shot a Deer and several Monkeys. On the fourth day, however,
we found a Mias feeding on a very lofty l)urion tree, and succeeded in killing it, after eight shots.
Unfortunately it remained in the tree, hanging by its hands, and we were obliged to leave it and return
home, as it was several miles off. As I felt pretty sure it would fall during the night, I returned to
the place early the next morning, and found it on the gi-ound beneath the tree. To my astonishment
and pleasure, it appeared to be a different kind from any I had yet seen ; for althovigh a full-grown
male, by its fully-developed teeth and very large canines, it had no sign of the lateral protuberance on
tlie face, and was about one-tenth smaller than the other adult males. The upper incisors, however,
api^eared to be broader than in the larger species, a character distinguishing the Siinia morio of Pro-
fessor Owen, which he has described from the skull of a female specimen. As it was too far to
cany the animal home, I set to work and skinned the body on the spot, leaving the head, hands, and
feet attached, to be finished at home. This specimen is now in the British Museum."

The Mias, as stated by Eajah Brooke, will tui-n upon an antagonist when hard pressed, and
with no small bravery and ferocity ; and this was satisfactorily proved by Mr. Wallace, who tells the
following story : —

" About ten days after this, on June 4th, some Dyaks came to tell me that the day before a Mias
had nearly killed one of their companions. A few miles down the river there is a Dyak house, and
the inhabitants saw a large Orang feeding on the young shoots of a palm by the river side. On being
alarmed he retreated towards the jungle, which was close by, and a number of the men, armed with
spears and choppere, ran out to intercept him. The man who was in front tried to run his spear
tlu'ough the animal's body, but the Mias seized it in his hands, and in an instant got hold of the man's
arm, which he seized in his mouth, making his teeth meet in the flesh above the elbow, which he tore
and lacerated in a dreatlful manner. Had not the others been close behind, the man would liave been
more seriously injured, if not killed, as he was quite powerless ; but they soon destroyed the creatm'e
wth their spears and choppers. The man remained ill for a long time, and never fully recovered the
use of his arm. They told me the dead Mias was still lying where it had been killed, so I offered
them a reward to bring it up to our landing-place immediately, which they promised to do. They
did not come, however, tUl the next day, and then decomposition had commenced, and great patches
of the hair came off, so that it was useless to skin it. This I regi-etted much, as it was a very fine,
full-gi-own male. I cut off the head and took it home to clean, while I got my men to make a close
fence, about five feet high, round the rest of the body, which would soon be devoured by maggots, small
lizards, and ants, lea^^ng me the skeleton."

On another occasion Mr. Wallace had an opportunity of observing the nest, or rather ne.st-making,
which is performed by these animals when severely wounded. " He was called by a Chinaman working
in Borneo to shoot a Mias which, he said, was on a tree close by his house at the coal-mines. Arriving
at the place, we had some difficulty in finding the animal, as he had gone off into the jungle, which
was very rocky and difficult to traverse. At last we found him up a veiy high tree, and could see
that he was a male of the largest size. As soon as I had fired, he moved higher up the tree, and
while he was doing so I fired again ; and we then saw that one arm was broken. He had now
reached the very highest part of an immense tree, and immediately began brealcing off boughs all
around, and laying them across and across to make a nest. It was very interesting to see how well

THE HOME OF THE OltJXG. C3

he had chosen liis [ihice, aiul how lapidly he stretched out liis uuwounded arm in every diieciion,
breaking off good-sized boughs with the greatest ease, and laying them back across each other, so that in
a few minutes he had formed a compact mass of foliage, which entu-ely concealed him from our sight.
He was evidently going to pass the night here, and would probably get away early the next morning,
i/ not wounded too severely. I therefore fired again several times, hi hopes of making him leave his
nest ; but, though I felt sure I had hit him, as at each shot he moved a little, he would not go away.
At length he raised himself up, so that half his body was visible, and then gi-adually sank down, his
head alone remaining on the edge of the nest. I now felt sure he was dead, and tried to persuade the
Chinaman and his companion to cut down the tree ; but it was a very large one, and they had been
at work all day, and nothing would induce them to attempt it. The next morning, at daybreak, I
came to the place, and found that the Mias was evidently dead, as his head was visible in exactly the
same position as before."

There is every reason to believe that the Mias, or Orang-utan, is confined to the two great islands
of Sumatra and Borneo, in the former of which, however, it seems to be much more rare. In Borneo
it has a -wide range, inhabiting many districts on the soutli-west, south-oast, nortli-east, and north-west
coasts, but appears to be chiefly confined to the ]o\v and swampy forests. It seems, at first sight, very
inexplicable that the Mias should be quite unknown in the Sarawak valley, while it is abundant iu
Sambas, on the west, and Sadong, on the east ; but when we know the habits and mode of life of the
animal, we see a sufficient reason for this apparent anomaly in the physical features of the Sarawak
district. Where Mr. Wallace observed the Mias it was where the country is loWj level, and swampy,
and at the same time covered -with a lofty virgin forest. Many isolated mountains, on some of which
the Dyaks have settled, are close by, and are covered with plantations of friut-trees. These are a
gi-eat attraction to the Mias, which comes to feed on the fruits, l.ut always retu-es to the swamp
at night. When the country becomes sligh+ly elevated, and the sdil dry, the Mias is no longer to
be found. For example, in all the lower parts of the Surloiu,' \-;illi'y it aboiuids, but as soon as we
ascend above the limits of the tides, where the coiuiti y. thminh still flat, is high enough to he dry,
it disappears. Now, the Sarawak valley has this peeuli.uity : the lower portion, though .swampy, is
not covered with continuous lofty forests, Imt is principally occupied by the Nipa palm; and near
the town of Sarawak, where the country becomes dry, it is greatly undulated in many parts, and
covered with small patches of virgin forest and much second-gi-owth jungle, on ground which has once
been cultivated by tiie Malays or Dyaks. " Now it seems to me," writes the same author, " that a vnde
extent of unbroken and equally lofty virgin forest is necessary to the comfortable existence of these
animals. Such forests form tlieir open country, where they can roam in e^-ery direction, mth as nnich
facility as the Indian on the prairie or the Arab im tlic> desi'it ; piissiiii; fVdiii tree-top to tree-top without
ever being obliged to descend ujion the earth. The elexated and tla' drier districts are more frequented
by man, and are more cut up by clearings and low secund i^iuw tli jungle. They are not adapted to its
peculiar mode of progres.sion, and they would be more e.\)».s, d to danger, and more frequently obliged
to descend upon the earth in such places. There is ]iroljalily also .i greater variety of fruit in the Mias
district, tlie small moiiiitaiiis ^^•lli,•ll rise like islands out of it serving as a .sort of gardens or plantations.
Itisasino-nlar and very iiit.avstiiiu sight to watch a i\I ias making his way leisui-ely throu-h the forest.
He walks deliberately along some of tlie larger branches in the semi-erect attitude, which the great length
of his arms and the shortness of his legs cause him naturally to assinne; and the disproportion between
these limbs is increased by his walking on his knviekles, not on the palm of the hand, as we should do.
He seems always to choose those branches which interniiui^h' witli an adjoining tree, on approaching
which he stretches out his long arms, and seizing the opiiosin;,' l.iai^lis, ^rasjis them together vnih both
hands, seems to try their strength, and then deliberately swings himself across to the next branch on
which he walks along as before. He never jumi)s or si)rings, or even appears to hun-y himself, and
yet manages to get along almost as quickly as a person can run through the forest beneath. The long
and powerful arms are of the gi-eatest use to the animal, enaliling it to climb easily up the loftiest
trees, to .seize fruits and young lea\es from sh^nder bou,i,dis which will not bear its weight, and to
gather leaves and branches with wliijli to foriii its nest."

Mr. Wallace, who described how it forms ii nest when wounded, states " tliat it uses a similar one
to sleep in almost every night. This is jilaced low down, however, on a small tree, not more than from

ORAXG AT DAY.

HABITS OF THE OKAXG. 65

twenty to fifty feet from tlie gi-ound, jirobably because it is warmer and less exposed to wind than
higher up. Each Mias is said to make a fresh one for liimself every night ; but 1 shouhl tliink that is
hardly probaljle, or then- remains would be much more abundant ; for though I saw several about the
coal-mines, there must have been many Orangs about every day, and in a year their deserted nests
would become very numerous. Tlie Dyaks say that when it is very wet the Mias covers liimself over
with leaves of Pandanus, or large ferns, which has, perhaps, led to the story of his making a hut in the
trees. The Orang does not leave his bed till the sun has well risen and has dried up the dew upou
the leaves. He feeds all thi-ough the middle of the day, but seldom returns to the same tree two days
running. They dn not seem much alarmed at man, as they often stared down upon me for several

FAMILY OF ORANG-rTANS.

minutes, and they only moved away slowly to an adjacent tree. After seeing one, I have often had to
go half a mile or more to fetch my gun, and in nearly every case have found it on the same tree, or
within a hundred yards, when I returned. I never saw two full-grown animals together, but both
males and females are sometimes accompanied by half-grown young ones, while, at other times, three
or four young ones were seen in company. Tiieir food consists almost exclusively of fruit, with
occasional leaves, buds, and young shoots. They seem to prefer unripe fruits, some of which were
vei'y sour, others intensely bitter, particularly the large red fleshy arillus, or riiad of one, which seemed
an especial favourite. In other cases they eat only the small seed of a large fiiiit, and they almost
always waste and destroy more than they eat, so that there is a continual rain of rejected portions below
the tree they ai'e feeding on. The Durion is an especial favourite, and quantities of -this delicious
fruit are destroyed wherever it grows surrounded by forest, but they will not cross clearings to get at
them. It seems wonderful how the animal can tear o])en this fruit, the outer covering of which is so

66 NJTURAL EISTORe.

thick and tough, and closely covered with strong conical spines. It probably bites off a few of these
first, and then, making a small hole, tears open the fruit with its powei-ful fingers. The Miiis rarely
descends to the gi-ound, excejit when, pressed by hunger, it seeks for succulent shoots by the river side ;
or, in very dry weather, has to search after water, of which it generally finds sufficient in the hollows
of leaves. Once only I saw two half-gi-own Orangs on the ground, in a dry iiollow at the foot of the
Simunjou Hill. They were playing together, standing eiect, and gi-asping each other by the ai-ms. It
maj' be safely stated, however, that the Orang never walks erect, unless when using its hands to
sui)port itself by branches overhead, or when attacked. Representations of its walking with a stick
are entirely imaginary. The Dyaks all declare that the Mias is never attacked by any animal in the
forest, with two rare exceptions ; and the accounts I received of these are so curious, that I give them
nearly in the words of my informants, old Dyak chiefs, who had lived all theii- lives in the places
where the animal is most abundant. The first of whom I inquired said : — ' No animal is strong
enough to hurt the Mias, and the only creature he ever fights with is the Crocodile. When there is
no fruit in the jungle, he goes to seek food on the banks of the river, where there are plenty of young
shoots that he likes, and fruits that grow close to the water. Then the Crocodile sometimes tries to
seize liim, but the Mias gets upon him, and beat.s him with his hands and feet, and tears liim, and kills
him.' He added that he had once seen such a fight, and that he believes that the Mias is always the
victor. My next informant was the Orang Kaya, or chief of the Balow Dyaks, on the Simunjou
River. He said : ' The Mias has no enemies ; no animals dare attack it but the Crocodile and the
Python. He always kills the Crocodile by main strength, standmg upon it, jjulling open its jaws,
and ripping up its thi'oat. If a Python attacks a Mias, he seizes it with his hands, and then bites it,
and soon kills it. The Mias is very strong ; there is no animal in the jungle so strong as he.' "

It is very remarkable that an animal so large, so peculiar, and of such a high ty]5e of form as the
Orang-utan, should be confined to so limited a district — to two islands, and those almost the last in-
habited* by the higher Mammalia; but in the Mid-Tertiary Period, and just before the formation of
the Himalayan Mountains, Orangs lived on the continent of India, and their remains have been
found fossilised. With what interest must every naturalist look forward to the time when the caves
and Tertiary deposits of the tropics may be thoroughly examined, and the pa-st history and eai-liest
appearance of the great man-like Apes be at length made known !

The Orang-utans appear, from what has been written \)j all competent observers, to be of two
kinds, the one larger, and the other smaller in stature ; the fij-st is called Simia satyrus, and the
other Simia nwrio. Simla is translated in old Latin dictionaries as an Ape, or Jackanapes, and the term
was used to designate the tribe or genus which should include all the species or kinds of man-shaped
Apes. But after a while there was thought to be suflicient reasons for separating the Troglodytes from
the genus Simia, and therefore thLs last-named one, instead of comprising the Gorilla, the N.schiego, the
Koolo, the Soko, and the Chimpanzee, has but the Orang-utan.

Why this separation should have taken place is of course a very natural question, and the
answer is that there are sufficient differences in the construction of the Orangs and the Cliimpanzees
and the others to wari'ant it. There is a gieater structural difference between the Orang and the
Chimpanzee than between this last and any of its congeners, that is to say, species included in the
genus Troglodytes.

Moreover, on examining several skulls and skeletons of all these kind.s, it seems as if, whilst the
Afric-m Ti-oglodytes may have descended from a common ancestor, jirobably a Baboon, th.^ Orang-
utan could not have come from the same stock.

There are some important distinctions in the anatomy of the Orang, some of which are evidently
produced by adaptation to a particular habit or mode of life, and others in which the results of
cause and effect cannot be ti-aced.

In making its way through the forest, and in climbing so constantly that any position on the ground
is rare, the great length of the fore limbs is of immense use to them. They nearly touch the groimd,
so long are they, when the creature is erect, and tliis peculiai-ity separates them from the Chimpiuizees.
In climbing, the blade-bone is of great importance ; and in the Orang it is broader, and more like that of
m;in than in the Chimpanzee and Gorilla, and its spine is inclined upwards ; and one of the processes
of the' blade-bone which has to do with the muscles which pass from the shoulder to the arm, anj

AXAXOMY OF THE UR.IXG. 67

wMcli is called the coracoid, is more inclined downwards than in the Apes already described. Now,
the blade-bone of the Chimiianzee and its coracoid are admirably adapted for climbing ; why are they
not, therefore, exactly like those of the Orang, and vice versa i This is not a difierence produced by
aiiaptation of means to ends, but one which relates to the oi-igin of the two animals, and to those which
J receded them. The same is the case in respect of the wrist of the Orang. It has one bone more than
\ he Chimpanzee, which has the same number as in other Troglodytes, and in man also. This bone is
lixed in lietween the two rows of the bones of the wrist, and is called the " intermediate," and is found
in the Monkeys which are below the Orang in the animal scale. It is an oflshoot of the scaphoid bone.

Oddly enough, although the number of the ribs of the Troglodytes is thirteen, and probably in one
of them there are fourteen, there exQ only twelve in the Orang ; and the breast-bone, which consists of a
large upper bone and several smaller ones (united above and below to each other, in the Troglodytes), has
these bones separate and halved, as it were, sideways in the Orang, resembliiig in it the condition of
the bones of the immature man. In the Troglodytes the round top of the thigh-bone, where it fits
into its socket, the hip, has a kind of rope-like ligament attaching the one bone to the other, but this does
not exist in the Orang. The knee-cap is very small, and the heel-bone hardly projects backwards ia
the Orang, and the " toe-thiimb" sticks out at right angles from the foot, being about one-quarter of its
length. The Orang is a great climber, and rarely, if ever, walks on its sole, which the Chimpanzee can
do slightly. The general appeai-ance and the natiu-e of the movements of the foot of the Orang is that
of a thin " club foot." All the tui'ning-in of the bones of the foot in the Chimpanzee is exaggerated in
the Orang, whose toe-thumbs are capable of gi-eat activity. Tame Orangs may be noticed to use the
foot, which is longer than the lower leg, in climbing, as perfectly as the hand ; and it appeai-s that the
frequency of their movements of gi'asping, i-ather than of delicate prehension, tends to the last joint
of the " toe-thumb" becoming small and losing its nail.

A huge air-pouch is packed away in front of the windpipe and amongst the muscles of the neck,
as in the Apes already noticed, and it commences in the so-called ventricles of the larynx. Its
extension amongst the ujjper muscles of the chest is most remarkable, for when full of au-, these
being relaxed, it must blow out the upper part of the body and neck in a singidar manner.

One of the muscles of the chest, common to man and Apes, the great pectoral (pectoralis major)
— which has already been noticed as springing from the ribs, the breast and collar-bone, and to be
attached in front of the groove in the upper arm-bone — is not a continuous sheet of muscular fibre
as in man, but is divided into a number of bundles, there being at least three great ones. Now, it
is between these and in their intervals that the vast laryngeal air-pouch is found on the chest. Great
as it is, however, it does not appear to have anything to do with the voice, except, jierhaps, to produce
resonance during distension.

The muscles of the hips, thigh, and leg-bones of the Orang cannot be distinguished generally from
those of the Chimpanzee ; but it is evident tliat the position of some is such as to make straightening
of the knee verj difficult, and on the contrary, they assist jumping and climbing, or any movement in
which it can be kept permanently bent. As it Ls most convenient for the foot of the Orang to lie well
expanded during climbing or holding on, and not for its bones to be too much forced together sideways,
the animal is deficient in a muscle which exists in man,* and which stretches transversely across,
between the ends of the metatarsal bones. In like manner the inabDity of the thumb to perform
many separate actions is produced by the absence of the flexor muscle ; but there is a slip of a
muscle whose tendon reaches the first jomt, and its oflice is to oppose the thumb, not to the jjalm of
the hand, but to the first joint of the second finger. This is a monkeyish peculiarity.

The animal, using as it do'^s its short toe-thumb for giiisping forcibly, requires aU the power
possible to be exercised between its bones and those of the ankle. Hence it has a muscle which exists
in the hand but not in the foo.. of man, and which, from its drawing the bones together, is called the
opponens (of the great toe). This does not appear to exist in the Troglodytes.

The other most important peculiarities of the muscles which relate to the gi-eater but less inde-
pendent movement of the toes and fingers, are the connection of the long flexor of the "toe-thiunb"
with the lower and outer part of the thigh-bone, and the possession of a complete set of deep extensor

* The rra?isfers«spait»

63 NATURAl SISIOET.

muscles for the four outer fingers. The extensor of the first, and the corresponding muscle of the little
finger, subdivide to supply the third and fourth. This -is the case in the next group of Ape.s also,
but in the Troglodytes each of these muscles has but a single tendon.*

Before considei-ing the anatomy of the brain, skull, and the inside of the Orang, it is as well to
become aware of some of its peculiarities when young, and in a state of captivity.

* A muscle, called the accessory flexor of the toes, is absent in the Orangs, and one termsd scansorius, or climber, exists
an the outside of the hip and the joint of the thigh.

THE HABITS OF THE YOUyG OliAXi

Several young Orang-utans have been brought to Europe and exhibited, to thy delight of every
one -who saw them, but Mr. Wallace was fortunate enough to obtain one in its native haunts, and to
observe it in its own climate. After shooting a female Mias, he found a little tiny one, lying face
downwards, in the swamp where they were. " It was only about a foot long," writes Mi-. Wallace,
" and had e\'idently been hanging to its mother when she fii'st fell. Luckily, it did not appear to have
been wounded; and after we had cleaned the mud out of its mouth it began to cry out, and seemed
quite strong and active. While carrying it home it got its hands in my beard, and grasped so tightly,
that I hatl great difficulty in getting free, for the fingers are habitually bent inwards at the last joint,
so as to form complete hooks. At tliis time it had not a single tooth, but a few days afterwards it cut
its two lower front teeth. Unfortunately, I had no milk to give it, as neither Malays, Chinese, nor
Dyaks ever use the ai*ticle, and I in vain inquired for any female animal that could suckle my little
infant. I was therefore obliged to give it rice-water from a bottle, with a quill in the cork, which
after a few trials it learned to suck very well. This was very meagre diet, and the little creature did
not thrive well on it, although I added sugar and cocoa-nut milk occasionally, to make it more
nourishing. When I put my finger in its mouth it sucked with great vigour, drawing in its cheeks
with all its might in the vain eflbrt to ex-
tract some milk, and only after persevering
a long time would it give up in disgust, and
set up a scream very like that of a baby
in similar circumstances. When handled
or nui-sed, it was very quiet and contented,
but when laid Aovnx by itself would in-
variably cry ; and for the first few nights
was very restless and noisy. I fitted up a
little box for a cradle, with a soft mat for
it to lie upon, which was changed and
washed eveiy day; and I soon found it
necessary to wash the little Mias as well.
After I had done so a few times, it came to
like the operation, and as soon as it was
dirty would begin crying, and not leave off"
till I took it out and carried it to the spout,
when it immediately became quiet, although
it would wince a little at the first rush of the
cold water, and make ridiculously wry faces
while the stream was running over its head.

It enjoyed the wiping and rubbing dry amazingly, and when I brushed its hair seemed to be perfectly
happy, lying quite still, with its arms and legs stretched out, while I thoroughly brushed the long hair
of its back and arms. For the fii'st few days it clung desperately with all four hands to whatever it
could lay hold of, and I had to be careful to keep my beard out of its way, as its fingers clutched hold
of hail- more tenaciously than anything else, anci it was impossible to free myself without assistance.
WTien restless, it would struggle about, with its hands up in the air, trying to find something to take
hold of, and, when it had got a bit of stick or rag in two or three of its hands, seemed quite happy.
For want of something else, it would often seize its own feet, and after a time it would constantly
n-oss its arms, and grasp with each hand the long hair that gi-ew just below the opposite shoulder.
Che gi-eat tenacity of its gi-asp soon diminished, and I was obliged to invent some means to give it
exercise and strengthen its limbs. For this purpose I made a short ladder of three or four rounds, on
which I put it to hang for a quarter of au hour at a time. At first it seemed much pleased, but it
could not get all four hands in a comfortable position, and, after changing about several times, would
have hold of one hand after the other, and drop on the floor. Sometimes when hanging only by two
hands, it would loose one, and cross it to the opposite shoulder, gi-asping its own hair ; and, as this
seemed much more agreeable than the stick, it would then loose the other and tumble down, when it
would cross both, and lie on its back quite contentecUv, never seeming to be hurt by its numerous

(Fr<

Wallace, 6y yteni

70 K..IUKAL HIS10RY.

Cumbles. Finding it so fond of hair, I endeavoured to make an artificial mother, by wrapping up a
piece of buiJ'alo-skin into a bundle, and suspending it about a foot from the floor. At fii-st this seemed
to suit it admii-ably, as it could sprawl its legs about jmd always find some liair, which it grasped with
the greatest tenacity. I was now in hopes that I had made the little orplian quite hapi)y ; and so it
seemed for some time, till it began to remember its lost parent, and try to suck. It would pidl itself
up close to the skin, and try about everywhei-e for a likely jilace ; but, as it only succeeded in getting
mou-ilifuls of hail- and wool, it would be gi-eatly disgusted, and scream violently, and after two or three
attempts, let go altogether. One day it got some wool into its throat, and I thought it would have
choked, but after much gasping it recovered, and I was obliged to take the imitation mother to pieces
again, and give up this last attempt to exercise the little creature. After the fii-st week I found I
could feed it better with a spoon, and give it a little more varied and more solid food. Well-soaked
biscuit, mixed wth a little egg and sugar, and sometimes sweet potatoes, were readily eaten ; and it
was a never-failing amusement to observe the curious changes of countenance by which it would
express its approval or dislike of what was given to it. The poor little thing would lick its lips, draw
in its cheeks, and turn up its eyes with an expression of the most supreme satisfaction when it had a
mouthful particularly to its taste. On the other hand, when its food was not sufficiently sweet or
palatable, it would turn the moutlifid about with its tongue for a moment, as if trying to extract what
flavour there was, and then push it all out between its lips. If the same food was continued, it would
set up a scream, and kick about violently, exactly like a baby in a passion. After I had had the little
Mias about three weeks, I fortunately obtained a young Macaque Monkey {Macacus cynomolgus),
which, though small, was very active, and could feed itself. I placed it in the same box with the
Mias, and they immediately became excellent friends, neither exhibiting the least fear of the other.
The little Monkey would sit upon the other's stomach, or even on its face, without the least regard to
its feelings. While I was feeding the Mias, the Monkey would sit by, picking up all that was spilt,
and occasionally putting out its hands to intercept the spoon, and as soon as I had finished would pick
off what was Irft sticking to the !Mias' lijis, and then pull open its mouth to see if any still remained
inside, afterwards lying down on the poor creature's stomach as on a comfortable cushion. The little
heljiless JMias would submit to all these insults with the most exemplary patience, only too glad to
have something warm near it which it could clasp affectionately in its arms. It sometunes, however,
had its revenge ; for when the Monkey wanted to go away, the Mias would hold on as long as it could
by the loose skin of its back or head, or by its tail, and it was only after many vigorous jumps that
the Monkey could make its escape. It was curious to observe the different actions of these two
animals, which could, not have differed much in age. The Mias, like a very young baby, lying on its
back, quite helpless, rolling lazily from side to side, stretching out all four hands into the air, wisliing
to grasp something, but hardly able to guide its fingere to any definite object, and when dissatisfied
opening wide its almost tootliless mouth, and expressing its wants by a most infantine sci-eam ; the
little Monkey, on the other hand, in constant motion, running and jumping about wherever it pleased,
examining everytliing around it, seizing hold of the smallest objects with the gi'eatest precision,
balancing itself on the edge of the box, or running up a post, and helping itself to anything eatable that
came in its way. 'Hiere could hardly be a gi'eater contrast ; and the baby Mias looked more baby-like
by the comparison. When I had had it about a month, it began to exhibit some signs of learning to
run alone. When laid upon the floor it would push itself along by its legs, or roll itself over, and
thus make an unwieldy progression. When lying in the box it would lift itself iip to the edge into
almost an erect position, and once or twice succeeded in tumbling out. When left dii"ty, or hungry, or
otherwise neglected, it woiild scream violently till attended to, varied by a kind of coughing or
pumping noise, very similar to that winch is made by the adult animal. If no one was in the house,
or its cries were not attended to, it would be quiet after a little wliile, but the moment it heard a
footstep would begin again harder than ever. After five weeks it cut its two upper front teeth, but in
all this time it had not grown the least bit, remaining, both in size and weight, the same as when I fu-st
procured it. This was, no doubt, owing to the want of milk or other eqiially nourishing food. Rice-
water, rice, and biscuits were but a poor substitute, and the expressed milk of the cocoa-nut. which I
sometunes gave it, did not quite agi-ee \nX\\ its .stomach. To this I imputed an attack of dian-hcea, from
which the poor little creature suflered greatly, Imt a small dose of castor-od operated well, and cui'ed

AXATOMV OF THE ORAXG. 71

It. A week or two aftei-w;ird.s it was again taken ill, and tliLs tinie more seriously. The symptoms,
were exactly those of iijtermittent fever, accompanied by watery swellings on the feet and head. It
lost all appetite for. its food, and after lingering for a week,. a most pitiable object, died, after being in
my possession nearly three months. I much regretted the loss .of my little pet, which I had at one
time looked forward- to bringing up to years of maturity, and taking home to England. For several .
months it had afforded me daily amusement by its curious ways and the iaiimitably ludicrous expres.sion
of its little countenance. Its weight was three pounds nine ounces, its height fourteen inches, and the
spread of its arms twenty -three inches. I preserved its skin and skeleton, and in doing so found that,
when it fell from the tree, it must have broken an arm and a leg, which had, however, united so
rapidly, that I only noticed the hard swellings on the limbs where the irregidar junction of the bones
had taken place."

There is evidently much intelligence in the young Orang, when brought in contact with man,
but probably in its native woods it leads a very quiet and almost mechanical life, there being nothing
to develop extra instincts, thought, or unusual intelligence. Of course, some are more active than
others, and many liave to use greater exertion than others to obtain food. Hence, whilst there is no

]{R,\I\ OF ORAXG.

lioijal ColUge of Siirjei

increased growth of the mental organ after Orang cluldhood, there may be gi-eat increase of the mus-
cular structures. In the fii-st instance, the brain cas,e does not enlarge internally, and the old ones
have no more brains than the young; and in the second, the ridges on the skull, the spines of the
neck, and the markings on the bones generally do grow immensely, so as to give attachment to
extra-muscular fibres.

Moreover, besides these causes of growth there are those hidden ones which refer to sex, the old
males acquiiing a hideous aspect in our eyes, but lovely in those of the more comely female Miases,
from the gi-owth of long head ridges and the curicms {-.icr pads. The bulk of the brain of an Orang is
about one-half of that of a man of ordinary miml ; and tin- brain itself, wliil.st it is hij;her in measure-
ment than that of any of the Apes already mentioiicd, is Iduj;- and flat in comjiarison with that of man.
In front it tapers off slightly, and is not flat in front and below, for tlicrn the eye-cases or orbits, Ijy
I rejecting upwards, render the brain, in theii- neighbourhood, as it ^\■ll■l•, rxcavated. As in the other
Apes, the back of the brain is well developed, and the several j)aits distinguishable in man exist.
One of the furrows so visible in the Troglodytes, which marks the .side of the brain towards the Ijack
(the occipitotemporal), is scarcely in existence in the Orang.

There is something veiy human in the appearance of the brain case in the young of both species
of Orang. The back and sides have the peculiar "bumpy" look of those of tlie child; there are then
no crests, and the brow ridges, extremely small, merge into a straightish forehead. The face looks long
in front of the eyes, or orbits, and these are elliptical or oval, and aiijiroaching the circular iu outline.

V2

NATURAL MISTORY.

The cheeks look wide even in the young ones ; and it will be noticed that the bone of the upper jaw
(superior maxillary bone) has a short projection, which joins the molar or cheek-bone at some distance
from the jaw. There is a hole or holes under the orbit in man and in the Troglodytes which transmits
a nerve to the face, and people who have tic-douloureux know where it is very well ; this is close to
the junction of the molar and jaw-bones in the Troglodytes, but in the Orang this junction is much
further off the middle of the face. This causes the extra width to the cheeks. The bone there forms
the surface upon which the curious pad of fat and skin rests, which gives such an ugly look to the face
in the old ones, when all these parts have grown to excess. The young have milk teeth, and in the upper
jaw the last crusliing or molar tooth has large cusps behind and projecting inwards, and the incisor
teeth ai-e equal in size. In the lower jaw the incisors are grooved in front in a curious manner; and the
gi-eat molar teeth Avitli five cusps have a curiously ^vrinkled-looking surface. Underneath the skull
looks long, and the hole for the spinal cord is much longer than broad, and the joints or condyles are
distant from the front of it. The palate is broad and the nose cavity also, and there is a bony styloid
process connected with the ear-bone.

In the female of the Simla morio, which is the smallest Orang, all the structures just mentioned
as characterising the young Simla satyrus and the young male Morio are exaggerated. There are faint

frontal ridges also, and the back ridge or crest is
shown, but there is hardly any difference in the size
of the brain case. The front bone of the upjier jaw
is very distinct ; and the creature whose skull is in
the British Museum had its permanent teeth, the
milk ones having fallen. There was the same number
of teeth as in the Ti-oglodytes and in man. But it is
in the old males that the juvenile structures are greatly
altered ; and it is indeed hard to believe their skulls
ever could have belonged to the same species. In the
old males the brain case has not increased in its
capacity, but it is furnished with huge ridges along
the front and crossing behind. The ridges commence
on the brow ridges and the outside of the orbits,
which are no longer nearly cu-cular, but flattened
above ; they pass on to the forehead, and curve to
join in the middle line of the skull, forming a crest.
This meets at the back a crest coming from the tip of
each ear-bone. The cheek-bones are huge and wide
apart ; the ujiper canine teeth are gi-eat, and theii- sockets mark the face. The palate is huge, wide,
and not arched ; and the upper middle incisors project, and are very large, cutting indeed upon three
of the lower ones.

All the roughnesses for the attachment of muscles are great, and the lower jaw is immense, and
the tooth next to the lower canine — the first false molar — is pointed and cutting behind. Finally, the
opening for the spinal cord (the foramen magnum) is round in front, and the condyle joints are close
to its anterior margin. These are changes during the growth which are worth considering, especially
as they cause the animal to depart from many of its man-like charactei-s, which are so well seen in
the young and in the females.

Tlie Orang has no uvula, and the papillae of the back of the tongue are in the shape of the letter "V.
Its stomach differs somewhat in shape from that of man and the Troglodytes, but its vegetable diet
determines the existence of a large intestine which has a little ending or appendix (vermiformis) as

asT BOXES OF OBAXG.

Is the intermediate bone.

CHAPTER IV.

THE MAN-SHAPEB APES {co»chide<!)~THT. gibbons*— 1

THE SIAMANOS — 2. THE TRUE GIBBONS.

General Characteristics of the Species— The Siamang— Its Habits anil Anatomy— Distinctness from the Orangs and
Gibbons— Special Peculiarities— The 'NYhite-handed Gibbon— Where Found — Its Cry -Its Habits— Special Anatomical
Features— The He joi.ook— Where Found— A Young One in Captivity— Shape of the Skull— The Wooven Ape— Its
Appearance and Habits— The Wow-wow— Very little Known about it— The Agile Gibbon— Reason of the Name —
Peculiarities of the Anatomy— General Comparison of the Different Varieties of the Great Apes.

The Orang-utan is not the only man-shaped Ape of the forests and jungles of the great Asiatic
Islands, for there are several others to be found there, and which also live on the main land, from
Malacca far away to the north in Assam ; southwards, in the peninsula of Hindostan, and in South
China.

They are less human-looking than the red Orangs, and they are smaller and moi-e slender, but
when they walk for a short distance erect, witli the arms above the head balancing the body, their
resemblance to a .small and hairy " lord of creation " is considerable. A very slight glance dis-
tinguishes them from the Orangs ; they have straight backs, small heads, large eyes, rather prominent
chins, very long fore-arms, and their fingers reach the ankle in some, and the gi-ound in others.
Moreover, the Orangs sit upon a surface of hair, and these are furnished with a hard padlike seat
which is bare, and is called a callosity, but they have no tail. They can run.

These long-armed Apes have a number of names, but as a whole they are called Gibbons ; and
as their outside and inside differences and distinctions from the Orangs are considerable and more
than those of the kinds of Orangs between themselves, they are grouped into a separate genus. The

• Tliil.ibatcs.

74 , KATVnAL EJSTGMY.

Orangs form, as has been stated before, the genus Simia, .inxiX these Gibbons constitute the genus
Hylohates, a term taken from the Greek uAo(3aT7)s, a walker in the woods.

Srf far as their intelligence, amiability, and teachableness are concerned, they are equal to the
Orangs, and indeed they seem to adapt themselves to the methods of men more readily. Not only do
they become very fond of theii' keepers, but they recollect them after the lajise of time ; and they are
constantly let loose by those who keep them in India to wander about the trees in the neighbom-hood,
and they will return to be cared for, and come, when called, to be fed.

I Interestmg to those who study the intelligence of anisials, they are equdly so to the conuncn
observer, who delights ill witnessing theii" surpassing agility, wonderful leaps, and gi-ax;eful swings fi-om
bough to bough. But to the anato-nist they present many complicated problems; for although evidently
hot so high in the animal scale as th-> Orangs and Chimpanzees, they have some things about them which
Cause them to resemble man more than do these great Apes, and others which cause them to resemble
the large army of Monkeys. They are the last of the man-shaped in the classification, and the usual
plan is to place them after the Orangs.

They are extremely delicate animals, although their fur is thick, and, in some kinds, long. They
require a considerable temperature and very pure air ; hence, although many have been brought to
Europe, and exhibited to the delight of thousands, they do not live long, dying usually from consump-
tion or from some lung disease. In the British Museum there are several gi'oups of stufled specimens
of them, and also many skulls and skeletons, and a cursory examination of the first will prove that it
is vei-y difficult to distinguish one kind from another, for in the same kind, or species, there is a great
variety of colour, and a different individuality in the two sexes and young. It has happened that the
same kind has been called by several names by different observers, and it is only when the skeleton has
been examined with the stuffed specimen that a satisfactory distinction between the species or kinds
has been made.

Evidently, the whole of these long-armed Apes, with small heads and callosities on the seat, are
separable into two divisions. In one the animals are larger than the others, -and have a very .singular
adaptation of the foot for rapid movement amongst the boughs, and they have aii--pouches ; and in the
second the animals are .smaller, and have the toes free, and have no pouches. So the genus Hylohatea
is divided into two divisions: 1. The Siamangs. 2. The True Gibbons.

THE SIAMANG.*

Sir Stamford Raffles brought the Siamang prominently before the scientific world, and noticed the
curioxis manner in which some of the toes were united, and he considered that this was to enable
them to swing rapidly from bi'anch to branch during their ordinary movements in the forest, when
any stretching out of the fingers might be dangerous and produce a fall. But in this, as in many
others, we owe to Mr. Wallace thanks for a concise description of the habits of the creature, which, fi-om
having its toes partly joined, has been named Syiuktctylus, from the Greek words aw and SoktuAoj,
which mean "together" and "finger."

"A very curious Ape, the Siamang, was rather abundant, but it is much less bold than the common
Monkeys, keeping to the virgin forest, iind avoiding villages. This species is allied to the little long-
aimed Apes of the genus Hyluhates, but is considerably larger, and differs from them by luiiang the two
first fingers of the feet united together, nearly to the end ; whence its name. It moves much more
slowly than the Hylohates, keeping lower down in the trees, and not indulging in such tremendous
leaps ; but still it is very active, and by means of its immense long arms — five feet .six inches across in
an adult about three feet high — :ean swing itself along among the trees at a great rate. I purchased a
• small one, which had been caught by the natives, and tied up so tightly as to hurt it. It was rather
savage.at fii-st, and tried to bite, but when we had relea.sed it, and given it two poles under the
verandah to hang upon, securing it l)y a .short cord running along the pole with a ring, .so that it couic
move easily, it became more contented, and would swing itself about -ndth gi-eater rapidity. It ate
almost any kind of fruit and rice, and I was in hopes to have brought it to England, but it died jusi
before I stai-ted. It took a dislike to me at first, which I tried to get over by feeding it constantly myself.

* Hylohates syndadyJus.

THE GJAMAXG. 75

One clay, however, it Uit me so sliarply ^vliile giving it food that 1 lost patience, and gave it rather a
severe heating, which I regi-etted afterwards, as from that time it disliked me more than ever. It would
allow my Malay boys to play with it, and for liours together would swing by its anus from pole to
jiole, and on to the rafters of the verandah, \nt\i so much ease and rapidity, that it was a coustimt
source of amusement to us. When I returned to Singapore it attracted gi-eat attention, as no one had
.seen a Siamang before, although it is not imcommon in some pai-ts of the Malay peninsula."

There are some interesting points about the relation of the construction of this animal and its
method of moving. Thus, in grasping a bough with the arm at full length above the head, so as to leave
it ^rith a swing iji order to grasp another rapidly and for a correspondingly short pei'iod of time, tlie
fingers require to be kept together as much as is possible, and to remain more or less bent on the palm.
The long thumb may or may not be used, but in order to move efficiently it must be free, and also
strong. Now in the Siamang these necessary peculiarities are present, and the common use of
the finger and thumb in taking hold of things in the ordinary manner is sacrificed to them, and there is
little or no delicacy of fingering or of prehension. Moreover, the fingers and thumbs are extremely
thin and delicate, and in order to render the fii-st finger less movable, it is, to acertaua extent, deficient
in its muscles of extension ; and the common bending or flexor muscle of the fingers is very inde-
pendent of that of the thumb. In compensation there is a special muscle found in this genus alone,
which pulls the top of the second finger towards the thumb.* The skeleton of the hand shows that
the fingers are slightly cui-ved. There is no doubt that the hand of the Siamang, although it has these
peculiar muscles, the curve of the bones, and also theestra bone noticed in the Orangs, is, as far as its
skeleton is concerned, much more human tlian that of the other Apes. The extensor muscles of the
fingers resemble those of the Orangs. The hand is larger than the foot in these animals, and the fore-
arm is much longer than the upper arm. ^ j'

A French natui-alist .states that the animal can leap, or, rather, swing — for it is dckie with the fore
limbs — with gi-aceful agility at least eighty feet, and the muscles of the arm, wfiich Vre connected
with the chest, aid in this. The pull is from the stationary arm to the chest of ''the movable
body by muscidar contraction ; and the greater the muscidar connection between the aiTu and chest,
the gi-eater will be the movement. In order to provide for this, the great mu.scle of the. front of the
upper arm, the biceps (see page 26), is not only attached, as in the other Apes and \x\ man, to the
blade-bone just above the arm-joint, but also to the che.st h\ front, for it is united there with the
great muscle which springs from the ribs and breast-bone, and is attached high up to the arm {pec-
toralis vmjor). In some of the other Apes this second pai-t of the biceps is attached to a bent
projection (coi-acoid) of the blade-bone, so that it has no direct attachment with the chest itself.

The Siamang can walk fairly in the erect posture by balancing with the arms, or by placing them
over the head, and it has a gi-eat power of gi-asp with its toe-thumb. The shape of the foot resembles
that of man more than that of the Troglodytes and Orangs, and the heel-bone is strong, and projects but
slightly, and the toe-thumb is stout and long. The muscles of the foot are, as it were, more separate
than in man, especially the flexors : and there is an extra muscle, an abductor of the third joint of the
second toe.

The ability, to walk well was proved wlien a tame Siatnang used to walk along a cabin table at sea,
without disturbing the crockery ; and curiously enough this was better done than were some of the
ordinai-y movements of the hand, for drinking out of the palm wa,s a most ineffective and clumsy eflbrt.

The bones of the foot resemble those of man more than do those of the Apes already noticed ;
but the first and second fingers are united by a fold of skin.

L'nder the jaw and along the throat of a tame Siamang, a large swelling, not very well covered
with hail-, wa.s visible enough. This was a vast air or laryngeal pouch, and pressure emptied it into
the thi'oat. Hence the creature in this point resembles the Orangs and the Troglod3i;es, but the use
of the sac could not be satisfactoi-ily decided. The sac opens into the windpipe by two apertures,
which are in a membrane that unites the base of the tongue and the organ of voice together. It has
an ii\ida.

They are quiet, inoflensive animals, full of affection for man, and having good memories. Their

* TiiS abductor of the third joint of tha second finger. Tlie thumb counts as the first nnssr.

76

NATURAL SISTOST.

temper is short enough sometimes, especially if there is any disappointment, but they have none of the
mischievous tricks or malice of the Monkeys. Liking milk occasionally, they still mainly feed ou
fruit and leaves, and lience the nature of their teeth, the size of their jaws, and the capacity of their
Drain case may be fairly anticipated.

Tlie bulk of the brain is less in comparison with that of the Orang, and the hind part does
not quite cover or overlap the cerebellum, and the whole skull is long and low, and slightly broad
behind. The most striking parts about it ai-e the cavities for the eyes (the orbits), which are neariy
circular in outline, deep, open, and swollen behind ; moreover, they are iivide apart, and there
is no 1)row ridge connecting them. They, the face and the lower jaw, occupy only one-half of
the skull, and the brain case is composed of the usual bones, which
are extremely faintly ridged, the ridges extending on either side from
tlie outer part of the orbit on to the frontal and {parietal (or side)
head bones. The back of the skull is rough, for the attachment of
muscles, and the opening for the spinal cord and the joints for the top
of the neck are far back, so that the head is set, as it were, forward
in respect of the spine. There is a long and naiTOw roof to the
mouth, and the diastema, or space in the line of the teeth, in front of
the upper eye or canine teeth, is very distinct. These teeth are
long, thin, and grooved, and project rather outwards as well as far
below the other upper teeth. Yet, in all jirobability, this is not a
bloodthirsty sign, but one which may have to do with sex, the males
of many of the Monkeys possessing these great teeth only, or having
them larger than the females. The first, or incisor teeth, occupy a
very small space, and they and the two front molars are like those of
man. An examination of the three true crushing molars shows the
last, or tliat nearest the back of the jaw, to be the largest. They
lave four cusps or projections, which are small but decided, and
somewhat resemble those of insect-eating animals.

The lower jaw is very remarkable, for it has a good straight chin ;
and the joint and the part which passes from it to the body of the
jaw, or the " angle," resembles that of man more than that of the
rest of the Apes.

The lower teeth are very unlike the upper, and the canines are
smaller ; the first false molar is pyramidal, and has a cutting surface
in front and behind. The true molars have at least five cusps or
pi-ojections, and are admirably suited for the creatui-e's diet.

One of the most curious points about the Siamang is that the
broad breast-bone, the blade-bone, and large chest, and the ribs
present human resemblances, but there are foui-teen pairs of these last. The hip-bones are long and
do not curve far in front, but the joint of the thigh is situated more after the manner of that of man
than is the case in the other great Apes.

Ever3rthing in this creature's anatomy, and, amongst other things, its delicate, long bones, gi-eat
gi-asp, supple back, small head, long neck, and long hair, assist in its peculiar life, which is evidently
one of much climbing, swaying, swinging, and passing from tree to tree with the hands rather thar
with the feet. It lives in Sumatra and in the Malay peninsula.

THE TRUE GIBBONS.
Tlie other kinds of Hylobates are called the True Gibbons, and although in their habits they
greatly resemble the Siamang, they are .smaller in size, and have some very remarkable structural
difference.?. They inhabit the mainland of India and the great islands of Borneo and Sumatra, or,
rather, all the great islands of the Indo-Malayan sub-region, except the Philippines. They are found
in Sylhet and Assam, and Camboja, in South China, to the west of Canton, and in the island of
"Hainan.

l.'^ _\_Nh LlLLONS.

THE GIBBONS. 77

THE WHITE-HANDED OR EAR GIBBON.*

A well-known kind of Gibbon, which is found in Tenasserini, is called the White-handed
Gibbon, or Hylohates lar. The old Latin dictionaries translated " lar " as a god who preserved both
lioiise and land, and presided over cities and houses, or the cliimney or fii-eside ; but this evidently
does not apply to the Gibbon. But the Lar, or Lares, were demon.s, genii, or sprites, and probably
the sprite-like activity of the Gibbons in their own woods suggested the name.

The Hylobates Lai- is found in great abundance in all the forests skiitmg the hills, which run

VHITE HANDED CIBBoN (F o

uj/a i,pti

from north to south in the countiy of Tenasserim, south-west of BurmaJi. They ascend the hills up to
an elevation of from 3,000 to .3,500 feet, but not higher, and are met with iu parties of from eight to
twenty in number, composed of individuals of all ages. It is rare to see a solitary one ; occasionally,
however, an old male will stray apart from the flock, and perch on the summit of some vast tree, whence
his howls are ' heard for miles around. The forests which these animals inliabit resound with their
cries from sunrise to about nine in the morning, and their usual call may be thus rendered : —

lid lib. 1 _

. dtr,

The soimds vary from the deep notes of the old ones to the sharp crei ile of the young, in horrible
unison. Dui-ing these vocal efforts tliey appear to resort to the tops of the loftiest trees, and to call

78 NATURAL II IS To UY.

each other from difl'erent jiarts of the jungle. After nine or ten o'clock they begin to think of eating,
and are soon engaged in feeding on fiiiit, young leaves, buds, shoots, and insects, for which they occa-
sionally come to the ground. When approached, if alone, they will sit so close, doubled up in a thick
tuft of foliage, or behind the fork of a tree, and so screened as to be safe from the shot of the sports-
man. With a companion this manoeuvre is of course useless. But even when the creature is forced
from its hiding-place it is not easOy shot, for it swing.s from branch to branch with its long arms,
shaking the boughs all round, and flinging itself from prodigious heights into the dense under-scrv.b,
and is quickly concealed from view. This long-armed Ape does not walk readdy on its hind-legs, and
has to stop frequently and jirop or urge itself on, having the knuckles on the ground. In sitting it
often rests on its elbows, and it likes to lie on its back. They make great use of their hind limbs, and
of the hiuid'foot espeinally, for they will cling on and swing with their fore-hands, and steal and carry
anything which pleases them with then- hinder ones. In captivity it is generally a gentle, jjeaceable
imimal, very timid ; but when captured after its young days have passed, it becomes very wild. The
adults soon die, and even the young seldom reach maturity when deprived of liberty. They are
liorn generally in the early part of the cold weather, a single one at a time, two being as rare as
human twins. The young one clings safely to the mother for about seven months, although she swings
iiud climbs to perfection, and then it shifts for itself They may be made cros.s, like most creatures,
liv being teased, and anger is then shown by a steady look, with the mouth held open, and the lips
occasionally drawn back to show the eye teeth, with which they bite severely. But usually it attacks
with its long hands, which are at such times held dangling and shaken in a ridiculous manner, like
a i)erson who has sutldenly bmut his lingers. It drinks in a curious and difficult manner, by scooping
tl'8 water in its long narrow haml, and thus con\ eying a very little drop at a time to its mouth.

Usually the young are feelile, dull, and queiiilous in captivity, and sit huddled up together on
the wround, seldom or never climbing trees. On the smooth surface of a matted floor they will
run along on their feet and slide on their hands at the same time. By being fed solely on plantains,
or on milk and rice, the)- are apt to lose all their fur, presenting in their nude state a most ridiculous
appearance. Few recover ; but by change of diet, and especially by allowing them to help them-
selves to insects, some of them come round, and resume their natural covering. For the most
part they are devoid of those pranks and tricks which are exhibited by the smaller Monkeys. The
length of a full-grown male was two feet .six inches ; the fore limb measured two feot one inch, and
the hind limb one foot seven and a half inches. The Lar or White-handed Gibbon hp.s a black skin
and hair, and there is a white band round the entire face, across the forehead.

The Lar is common in its native haunts, and is subject to great variation in its colour. Sume
are dark brown or black, with white hands and feet, and they have the circle of white haii-s around the
face, the band across tin- tnnlicad cnming down in a peak above the nose. Others are ochre-brown,
and have a lighter-coloured hand, foot, and anklet ; whilst many ai'e a dirty white. They take odd
fancies, and likes and dislike's. Some which are allowed in India to roam about the grounds of the
Zoological Gardens there will come in to sleep, and are exceedingly gentle to men, but extremely
savage to women ; otiiers do not do this.

In looking at the co. lection in the British Museum, every one must be struck with the long necks
of these creatures, which do not allow the little muzzle and snub-like nose to come down on a level with
the breast-bone (as in the Chimpanzee, for instance), and also with the extremely narrow and long
hands and feet, with their thin fingers. It will be also noticed that the nails of their thumbs and
toe-thumbs are flat, whilst all the rest are claws. Their chin is less prominent than that of the
Siamang, and this is shown in the skull. In the lower jaw there are some interesting differences
between the Lar and the Siamang which cannot readily he accounted for; firstly, the crushing teeth wear
in pits in the middle, whilst a ridge is formed in the Siamang ; and in the Lar the angle of the jaw is
decidedly turned in or inflected, as the term is, a condition which will be noticed in the other Hylobates.

No air or laryngeal sac is found in the Lar or in any Gibbon, and its noise has therefore nothing
to do with such an organ.

Their swinging from branch to biancli is assisted by the 'same arrangement of the muscle of the
arm as in the Siamang : and they have the transvermis pedis, wliich was stated to be wanting in the
Orang, and it is united with the adductor of the thumb.

THE WUOYEN APE, OR YUEN.

THE IIOOLOOK

Naturalists have ransacked nearly every i)art of the globe for interesting animals, and have pro-
ciu-ed them from very out-of-the-way places. One of these localities was particularly diflicult to get at
years ago, for it is in the hills, far away to tlie north-east of Calcutta; on the other side of the gi-eat
river Brahmapootra, in Assam. Amongst the Garrow and Cossyah liills, vhere there are wild gorges,
iuid uplands crowded with vast forests, overlooking the wide plains of the river-valley, there were
many wonderfully active Gibbons. About two feet in length, they were capable of swinging with
unerring certainty from branch to branch, many feet apart ; „-<5'~a»=^

and even the females performed these constant and natural ^ ' '^ .

movements while their young were hanging to them. ^^ ^

They were black in colour, with white eyebrows, or, rather,
a white band across the forehead. Wlien caught, they soon
became tamed, especially when young, and were docile
and aflectionate. One which was kept by Dr. Burrough
was two feet si.K inches in length, yet the fore-limb was
only five inches shorter than this, the length of the lian(
itself being six inches.

So great was the disjirojiortion <jf the legs and arms
that the first were, including the feet, only nineteen inche
long, and the fijigers 'touched the gi'ound readily when
was standing erect. This Hoolook was of a deep black
colour, and he had the usual siniiilc band of white across
the forehead, and black hands and feet. He was caui;lit in
the u.sual haunt of this siieoies, not on the uiiiier. but
on the lower hills, which do not reach a greater altitude

than 500 feet, and being well treated, he was easily tamed, and his habits were capable of being
well watched. He liked the fruit of the peepul-tree better than anytliing, and bananas ; but he took
to rice and milk, and enjoyed snapping up a sweet or two, and especially delighted in Spiders. Meat
lie cared little aljout, and pork and beef he detested, but he liked fish occasionally. After about a
month's captivity he took a great fancy to his mastei-. and woidd come to his call, and sit up to break-
fast. He liked to help himself to chicken and eg-;, .md at tiist was very liad in his manners, dipping
his fingers into the coffee and milk, and then sucking tliem. Attevwards he was taught to hold a cup
and to drink from it.

He would walk erect .slowly, first on one foot and then on the other, and would put his long arms
over his head to balance his body, as it swayed tii-.st on one side and tlieii ou the other as his pace
increased ; then he began to lam, and at last, grasping a bough, would swiui; hiiuself forwards first with
one hand and then with the other, getting over twenty to thirty paces w itli the greatest ease and
regularity. He was timid, very reluctant to oppose those who teased liiiu. and usually retreated at
once. His master used to brush his skin for him when he was out of s..its. and the sensation appears
to have been most pleasurable, and he evidently enjoyed the gentle friotinn \ ci y unich. Falling ill he
had a dose of calomel ami a warm liat-li, the latter remedy being much mure tn his taste than the other.

The skull in the Hcilook has li'ss Incadth across the orbits than in the Lar; and in that of a
young one the sutures or joinings oi tlie skull-liones are distinct, sliowing that the side-bones (parietal)
of the head unite with the front (IVontals). the temporal or eai-l'oue^. and with a part of a wing-shaped
bone which forms part of the base of the skull (sjihenoiil Ik me). Tlie angle of the jaw projects back-
wards, and it is slightly turned in ; moreover, the projections or cusps of the lower back teeth are
five in inimbei', and are prominent-looking and very sharjj, as if they could crush a beetle as well as
crack a nut.

THE WOO'i'EN APE, OR YUEJs.f

A number of Apes were fotmd ui company on a small island near Camboja, and at first sight they
appeared to be of difierent kinds, although they all had the long arms and the general appearance of
* Hylobatcs hoolookT f HijlohaUs pikutus.

80 NATURAL SIS TORT.

the " Long-armed Apes " {HijlobcUes). But a careful examiuatiou proved that they belonged to one
particular species, the individuals of which differ greatly in their colour during different parts of their
lives. The young were uniformly du-ty white in colour, and had no black spots on their chests or heads.
The females were white, with the fur of the ba<;k brownish-white, slightly waved, and there was a
large black spot on the crown and one on the chest. On the other hand the male was black, and the
back of the head, body, and legs greyish. The hands were white. This variation in colour at diflerent
ages and in different sexes in one kind should teach us that something more than mere outside distinc-
tions is requisite for deciding the value of what are called species. The dark cajt-like mass of hair
on the head gives the name to this Ape. Evidently the animal is a puzzle and a source of the

marvellous to the Chinese, for one of their gazetteers gives a mixture of correct information regarding
its natural history, and of what has been drawn frcrm a very vigorous imagination.

It is described in the following manner, as coming from the district of Hainan : — " Yuen — male
black, female white, like a Macaque, but larger, with the two fore-arms exceedingly long. Climbs to
tree-tops, and runs among them backwards and forwards with great agUity. If it falls to the ground it
remains there like a log ! Its delight is in scaling trees, as it cannot walk on the gi-ound. Those
desiring to rear it in confinement should keep it amongst trees, for the exhalations of the earth affect
it -with diarrhcea, causing death ; a sure remedy for this, however, may be found in a draught made of
the synip of the fried foo-tse " (seeds of Abrus precatorivs, the Indian liquorice).

In a work called Pun Yu liang c/ie, the various kinds of Yuens are mentioned which are known to
the author. "There are three kinds of Yuens — the Golden-silk Yuen, which is yellow ; t)>e Jade-faced
Yuen, which is black ; and the Jet-black Yuen, which has the face also black. The Golden-silk and
the Jade-face are both difficult to procure." " Hainan has also the Rock Yuen ; it is small, about the
size of one's fist. If allowed to drink water it grows in size. This is also called the Black \ uen. and

THE AGILE GIDDOX. 81

is difficult to obtain." « The word Yuen is given to tliem from their love of climbing and their wild
disposition."

In Central Hainan the magi.strate of the tlistrict was of opinion that the Yuen had the jxiwer of
drawing its long arm-bones into its body, and that when it drew in one it pushed out the other to
such an extraordinary length that he believed the two bones united in the body. He used the front
bones of the arms for chopsticks.

THE WOW-WOW.

A species which is called the Wow-wow, or Silvery Gibbon {Hijlohates leuciscus), is perhaps more
interesting to the anatomist than to the observer of the habits of animals; for nothing is known about

theii- method of living. Their skull shows a decided ridge or crest along the top, which branchea
well in front into two ridges going to the front over the orbit. Moreover, the chin of the lower
jaw is veiy deep, the angles slightly turned in, and the eye teeth are thin and sharp.

THE AGILE GIBBON.*

This animal is also interesting, from having a gi-eat twist inwards of the jaw behind, and two
curions ridge-like ci-ests on the head. Its name conveys the extreme agility of the animal, as observed
in confiaemeut.

Tliese Gibbons have many interesting points about them, and one of the most curious is that they
have no air or laryngeal pouches, and yet their general anatomy, especially of the muscles of the
throat, neck, and body, is the same as that of the Siamang, which has been noticed above to have a vast
pouch. The brain is small, especially behind, but why it is difficult to imagine, for the Spider
Monkey, which lives in the New World, and whose feats of agility resemble those of the Gibbons,
* Hylobates agilii.

NATUMAL BI1<T0mY.

has a very large back poition of the braiu, large eveu in proportion to that Oi man ; and tlie
importance of this difference is all the gi'eater when it is remembered that all the last investigations
into the actions of the nerves arising from the sides of the brain towards the back connect them with
motions of the hands and fore-limbs especially. But it is possible that the back of the brain in the
Siamang aj)pears to be smaller than it really is, because of the large size of the cerebellum. The skulls
of the Gibbons are vei-y man-like, and more so than those of the other Apes, and this is because of their
f ices and jaws being smaller in comparison with the brain case. If the young of all the great Ape.s

\^X3^^v

be examined, theii- skulls will appear much more human than those of the adults, because the brain and
face grow up to a certain point together and equally ; but with age the brain does not increase in size
proportionally with the face, which grows on, and finally pi-eponderates in size. But if the skulls of the
young Apes be compared one with the other, that of the Siamaaig will really not look as human as
that of the Gorilla or Chimpanzee.

The Gibbons have a very small apjsendage to the bliudgut, and they have hard bare pads or
CiUlosities on the seat, and these stractures connect them with the next group of Monkeys, which
cease to V)e man-shaped ; and indeed the Gibbons and Siamangs, although man-shaped (Anthropc-
morpha), occu])y neutial ground Ijetween the Orangs and the Cynomor]iha.

Formerly, in those ages when the Orang lived on the continent of India, the Gibbons roamed far
over the vast land surfaces of the period, and lived in Southern France. Portions of the skeleton of

COMPARlHOyS OF THE GREAT APES.

JAW OF THE GlliBOX.

in the C'liiiiipaiizee, Oraiig, and in the Siamang.
,liai:irtcristic — they ofler but a poor support to
111 piojiui'tion of the legs to the liody in man is
This disproportion is gi-eater in the Cliimpanzee and Orangs, in whicli the lower lindis

an Ape as large as a man, out which resembled the Hylobates, were found theie, and named Diijo-

)/it/iecus, in strata of Mid-Tertiary age.

In concluding this part of the subject, which relates especially to the man-shaped Apes, some

very obvious reflections occur. There is something very interesting as well as instructive and suggestive

in the study of the proportions of the limbs to each other and to the body in the larger Apes, of which

tlie Gordla is the highest in the scale, and in man. Tlie fingers in man hang down to below the

middle of the thigh ; in the Gorilla they attain the knee ; in the Chimpanzee they reach Ijelow

the knee ; in the Orang they touch the ankle ; in

the Siamang they reach the sole; and in some

Gibbons the whole palm may be applied to the

giound without the trunk being bent forward

l)eyond its natural position on the legs. It is also

found that in man the arm-bone exceeds in length

each of the bones of the fore-ann in a marked

mamier, and in the Gorilla and Chimpanzee it does

so but slightly; the bones are equal in the Orangs,

and very unequal in the Gibbons, those of the

fore-ai-m being the longest. When the length of

the arms down to the wi-ist is compared with that

of the body, omitting the legs, there is not much

ditierence between man and the Gorilla, but it inoriM

The lower limbs are short in the (iorilla, and this

the huge body — and the resemblance to the symnR

scanty indeed.

are pigmies.

Consider the hand in the same manner. Man's perfect hand, \NTites Owen, is one of his peculiar

l)hysical characters, and that perfection is mainly due to the differences of the first and the other four

fingers, and the ability of this firet to be opposed to them, as a perfect thumb. A partially opposabii

thumb, that is to say, one which can be brought over the palm, more or less, is ]n-esent in the hand of

the gieat Apes. It is large in the Gorilla, so far as Apes are concerned, and it reaches, when it and

the fino-ers are stretched out. to just a
litll.. l«'vni„l fl„. first j..iiit of the first
tiiiyvr, or r.itlici' (.f its tirst iii.ualile part.
But in the Cliimi'iinzec ami ( Irani; it
does not reach to the joint, and ;! is
longe.st and strongest in proportioji in
the Gibbons {II</lohates). In the Gorilla
and the Chimpanzee, the wrist-bones are
eight in ntnnber, but there are nine in
the Orangs and Gibbons.

The toe-thumb is about five-twelfths

of the length of the whole foot in the Gordla, and it is slightly longer in the Chimpanzee and

Hylobates but it is not more than a fourth of the length of the foot in Orangs.

The nails of all the fingei-s and toes of the great Apes are flattened, except in the Hylobates,

whose thumb and toe-thumb nails only are so ; the rest are more claw-like.

Finally, a,s i-egards the brain and nervous system. In the man-shaped Apes the brain is smaller as

compared with the nerves which proceed from it than in man ; and the brain proper is smaller relatively

to the cerebellum than in man. The convolutions, the fissures, and eminences of the brain are

generally less comjilex, and those of the two sides or hemispheres of the brain are more symmetrical

than in man. The .sides of the brain or the hemispheres are rounder and deeper in man, and the:

proportions of vheii- lobes to one another are difi'erent. Some convolutions and fissures present in man

ai-e less perfectly formed, but stdl exi.st in the Apes, and the cerebellum is not covered entu-ely in the
Hylobates, but it is in the other Anthroiiomor))ha.

THE iCILE

CHAPTER V.

THE DOG-SHAPED M0NKEY8*— 1. semnopitheous— 2.

General Characteristics of the Monkeys of the Old World— Distinguisheil from the Apes by Length of the Hinder Limbs,
and presence of Tails— Divided into those with and those without Cheek-pouches — Use of the Cheek-pouches— The
two Genera of Pouchless Monkeys— The Sacred Monkeys, or Semnopitheci— Derivation of the Name— First Dis-
covery—Ape Worship in India— General Description— Limited to Asia— The Simpai- Its Locality and Appearance —
The Budeng — Hunted for theh- Fur— Its Coloui- and Appearance— The Long-nosed Monkey- Reason of the Name
— Quaint Appearance of the Young— Anatomical Peculiarities— Then- First Appearance in Europe — Description of
the Nose— Peculiar Formation of the Stomach— Bezoars— The Hoonuman Monkey— The Sacred Monkey of the
Hindoos— Legends about it— The Douc Monkey- Its Appearance and Habitat— The Black-legged Douc—
Anatomical Peculiarities— The Crowned Monkey— The Ked Monkey— The Sumatra Monkey— The Whtte-
bearded Monkey— Found in Ceylon— Its Intelligence— The Great Wanderoo— Other Ceylonese Monkeys—
The Genus Colobus, or Thumbless Monkeys— Description of the Hand and Wrist — Different Vaaieties— Colobus
Verus — Colobus Guereza— Their Habitat and Peculiarities— Fossil Semnopitheci.

The Apes whicli have formed the subject of the previous chapters, and wliich, from their gi-eater or less
resemblance to man, have been called the Anthropomorpha, have long aims, short legs, and no tails.
The great length of the fore limb distinguishes them not only from man, but also from all the other
Quadiiimana, and so does the i-elative shortness of the hinder limbs. The length of limb is thus
sufficient to aiford data for classifying the Quadrumana of the Old World in two great groups,
of which the Anthropomorpha form the firat, and the rest of the Monkeys the second. In
these the fore limb is invariably the shortest, and the hinder one the longest ; so that there is exactly
the reverse condition of that observed in the great Apes. With regard to the tail question, it may
be stated that, whilst many species have very long tails, others have them of moderate length, and
a few have none.

The Monkeys of this second group, or the Cynomorpha, all of which live in the Old World,
have a thin division (septum) between the nostrils, whose openings look downwards, or downwards
and outwards. They are Catarhine Quadrumana (see page 3), and many have cheek-pouches, but
not all, whilst all have the peculiar pads, more or less brightly coloured, which are placed
where the animal sits, or on the swelling of the haunch-bone. All these Old Woi-ld Monkeys
have the same number of teeth as the Apes already described, and arranged in the same manner,
and most have a laryngeal or air pouch ; but there is gi'eat diversity in their size, shape, and
in the method of progi'ession of the body and shape of the head, and also in the construction
of the brain and internal organs. Moreover, , the airangement of the muscles and of the back-
bone differs.

The presence or absence of the cheek-pouches, the peculiarity in the shape of the teeth, the
shape of the body and limbs, and the method of moving along, are all matters of importance to the
zoologist, for by them he is enabled to an-ange these Monkeys in genera and species, so as to give the
naturalist the proper name of the kind vrhose habits he may be studying. Moreover, the comparative
anatomist, in examining the insides of these creatures, and explaining their peculiarities of internal
construction, is able to account for many habits and the presence of many stractm-es, as well as to
assist the zoologist. For, a classification, to be good for anything, must be more than skin deep, and
must depend upon the differences in those parts which are not readily changed by habits or peculiar
methods of life.

The IVfonkeys of the Old World, excluding the great Apes already descriljed, and including
alone those with long hind limbs, may be divided into those without cheek-pouches and those
which have them ; and those in the fii-st division form the subject of this chapter. Cheek-pouches
maj^ be seen crammed with nuts in most of the Monkeys at the Zoological Gardens, and the appear-
ance given to the face is as if the skin on each side of the lower part of it were distended. When
there are no nuts thus stowed away, the cheeks do not present a swollen or unusual appearance. The
Monkey does not force nute outside its jaws and between them and the cheeks so as to simply distend

* Cynomm'plia.

TEE POUCH LESS MONKEYS. 85

theui, but it presses its food into what look like some folds iu the cheek. These unfold, and form a
bag or pouch on each side of the face, and the animal can eat, scream, and scold with the pouches
fiill, and without theu- contents coming by chance into the mouth. The gjft of a cheek-pouch is
of great importance to a Monkey ; it is a stowaway for his food, which may ha\'e to be carried some
distance before it can be eaten. And it must be remembered, that not only ha-v ? the Monkeys very
indetinite notions of meiom et tuuni, but that they are surrounded by dangers, from many other

OF THE BLACK-CKESTEU MONKEY.

animals ; they are commimists, and their motto is la propriete c'est h vol ; and, on the other hand, the
great beasts of the earth, whose stealing is less thought of, because it is done with great violence,
openly, and on a large scale, put down the Monkeys whenever they have the chance. But Nature, ever
a considerate mother, whilst she is exceedingly economical, and does not allow any structures to be
unused or wasted without gi-adually abolishing them, often gives animals which are defective in some
things very important compensation.

The poucUess Monkeys are evidently at a disadvantage; but by this system of compensation they
have very peculiar stomachs, in wliich they can stow away quite as much food before more is absolutely
wanted as their pouched friends can. The nature of this stomach will be noticed further on ; and it is

86 NATURAL BISTORT.

only necessary to observe tliat it is not in existence in the cheek-pouched division at all. The
cheeks of the Monkeys with the peculiar stomach, on the other hand, are not pouched, but there Ls just
the vestige of a fold or two, which, although of no use, still remains as an evidence of theii- ancestry
- -for, doubtless, these are descended from those with pouches. The great Anthropomorphous Apes
have no cheek-pouches, neither have the American Monkeys ; and, for reasons which will be noticed in
treating of these last, they have not the complicated stomach of the Old World pouchless group.

The pouchless division of Monkeys with complicated stomachs, and which, of course, have long
hind limbs, comprehends two genera — the genus Semnopithecus, and the genus Colobus.

THE SACRED MONKEYS.

The Semnopitheci, or the Sacred Apes — from affjivis (sacred), and irierjKos (an Ape) — ^were probably
known to the Greeks who invaded India under Alexander the Great ; and Ctesias, a Gi-eek writer,
who was taken prisoner by Artaxerxes of Persia, at the battle of Cunaxa, some 400 yeai-s B.C., studied
them. He was kept for seventeen years at the court of that monarch, and made notes on most
subjects, and also on the natural history of Persia and India. On his return to Athens he gave the
world the results of his observation in a book, and in it he treats of two Apes, one of which was
smaller than the other, and had a very long tail. This was a Semnopithecus, for the genus is espe-
cially Asiatic ; but the ancients did not discriminate between the long-tailed Apes of Africa and those
of Asia, but called both Cercopithecus — from ic6>(coj (a tail), and iridnKos (Ai^e). At the present time
the word Cercopithecus is restricted to tlie kinds which live in Africa. These differ in their internal
construction from the Asiatic varieties.

Diu'ing the rise of the religion of Brahma, the contemplation of the Creator became singularly
mixed up with the worehip of the created, and many animals became sacred. Hence, when one of
those wandering restless spirits, Gasparo Balbi byname, started in 1570 from the town of Venice,
where he was a jeweller, to reach the Indies, and came to the end of his joui-ney, he saw many a long-
tailed Ape worshipped and petted by his customei-s. He wandered amidst many a danger — but the people
were honest then — and reached Alei)po. Then he went by caravan to Bagdad, and got to Old Babylon —
by the way, " a place perilous for robbers and lions." Reaching Bagdad, he embarked for Balsora, and
reivched that place after escaping whirlpools and hot and deadly winds. Thence he went to the cities
of St. Thomas, by the Seven Pagodas, in Soi.thern India. Leaving there, and much troubled by
tigers, he crossed the Ganges and got into Pegu on the Irawady. He admired the Pagodas, or as
they are there called, "the Varelles of the gods," and says that about them are found "tyed many Apes of
that kind which resemble Mountain Cats, which were called Monkeys ; they keep them very care-
fully, holding them to be creatures beloved of God, because they have their hands and feet like human
creatures, and therefore the woods are full of them, for they never take any excep c for their Varelles
and statues." This regard for the Long-tailed Monkey has histed, and probably is only now diminishing
under the influence of the rationalistic philosophy of the wicked Europeans, who will not see anything
holy in an Ape. Certain it is that the follies of Ape-worship were carried on to a wonderful extent,
and that these creatures have been preserved to the serious detriment of crops, comfort, and
temper.

The regard of the natives for them was, and probably is still, sincere, and their boldness — the
result of immunity from persecution — was discovered very early in the English occupation of India ; for
Tavernier tells a story of an English " President," who asked him to shoot some Monkeys, which were
amusingly audacious by the river side. He complied, and a female fell dead with her young clinging
to her. This so enraged the Monkeys that -sixty of them descended at once, and had it not been for
the serving-men, and the carriage being .shut up, they would have strangled the " President." They
followed the carriage for many miles. Then we are told about Indian ]5rinces spending fortunes on
the marriage-fea-sts of Apes ; and of cultivators of the soil being scared away and subjected to all
sorts of rapine by these holy creatures. All this goes to prove that generations of Hindoos have
believed in the sacred charactei- of the Monkey, and have placed him in their mythology.

So Fred. Cuvier, when he wanted a name, termed them Sacred Apes, or SemnopitJieci. They have
open called Slow Ajies, but this is quite a misnomer, for when awake, and not tired, they are as full of
fun, activity, and play, but not as fuU of malice, as the others.

THE NEGRO MONKEY. 87

Wallace, in his chaiTning book of travels in the great Islands of Sumatra and Borneo, thus noticed
how full of life they are : — " In Sumatra, Monkeys are very abundant, and at Lubo Raman they used
to frequent the trees which overhang the guard-house, and gave me a fine opportunity of observing their
gambols. Two species of Semnopithecus were most plentiful — Monkeys of a slender form, with very
long tails. Not being much shot at, they are rather bold, and remain quite unconcerned when natives
alone are present ; but when I came out to look at them, they would stare for a minute or two, and
then make off. They take tremendous leaps from the branches of one t)ee to those of another a little
lower. It is very amusing when one strong leader takes a bold jump, to s<3e the others following
with more or less trepidation ; and it often happens that one or tv/o of the last seem quite inial)le
to make up theii- minds to leap till the rest are disappearing, when, as if in desperation at being left
behind, they wouhTleap as far as they could, and often come crashing down into the underwood."

The Senmopitheci may be described as Monkeys with hind limbs long, and larger than the fore
limbs, with slender bodies, usually highest at the tail, and round heads, and with not very prominent
faces, and very long tails. They have callous pads on the haunch-bones, and in some there are slight
folds inside the cheeks, but no pouches. The hands have thumbs, and the last tooth of the lower jaw
(the third molar) has a prominent/ heel to it, or cusp, besides four others. They are of all riizes,
and the largest are bigger than a Pointer Dog ; liut they are all slightly made, and their long liodies,
thin as a rule, are larger in the stomach than in tlie chest. Theii' tails, which hang down and are
not curled up, distinguish them pretty readily.

The Monkey which shows the peculiarities of the genus Semuopithecus more than others is,
perhaps,

THE BLACK-CKESTED MONKEY, OR THE SIMPAI.*
It wa,'i noticed and de.scribed by Sir Stamford Eaffles as a native of Sumatra, where it is fi-equently
seen in the neighbourhood of Bencoolen. It has a long and slender body, very long hind-legs, and the
tail end is higher than the shoulders in walking. The fore-legs are short, and the tail is very long, and
exceeds thirty inches in length, and the head is small and wondeifully straight in the forehead and face.
Tlie colours of this Simpai are veiy different to those of the great Apes already mentioned. Here
variety of colour replaces the sameness of the tints of the lar'ge Anthropomorpha. First, there is a
long crest of black hair on the top of the head, which passes slightly round the face close. On the
cheeks there is a tuft of fawn-coloured hairs, which graduate into white. The forehead is of a liglit
fown-colour, and the face is naked, slightly ^vTinkled, and of a blue tint. The under parts of the
body are very white, and on the back and neck the colour is bright yellow and red. The palms and
soles are black, the thumbs are small, and the callosities ai-e large.

THE NEGEO MONKEY, t
This is, as the name implies, a black Monkey. It is intensely black, except underneath, and at
the root of the tail, where there is a grey tint. The paws are long, delicate, and silky, and bacome
slightly grey on the head and back with old age. Like most black things, it leads a troubled life,
being cluised and hunted, not, however, in this instance so much for amusement as for tlie pretty
black fur. They live in great troops, in the Javanese forests, and sometimes fifty or more individuals
associate together. They make nide nests in trees, and uie cxtirnieiy timid, making off with great
haste if they are disturbed. A long series of .a;enpr;ttions Ij is been chased and killed by the natives

of Java, and therefore the present Negro Monkeys are ex.- lin,i,'ly shy, and bolt from the face of man

at once. And yet, although thus timid and anxi.ms t.. i;et out of the way, they have the rejiu
tation of being dangerous, and really unwittingly they may be so. On the approach of men they
utter loud screams, and scamper off amongst the trees, helter-skelter. Now in doing this, they
break dead branches off, and sometimes a large fruit or nut comes tumbling down some score
or two of feet. These are supposed to be thrown by the Monkeys, but sucli is not the case.
Having this bad character, the " Negi-oes" are cudgelled with sticks, and killed in numbers very cruelly.

* Semnopithecus meMopkm. t Semnopithecus imurus.

yATURAL ,ms

Their pretty fur is much prized, and the chiefs of the country arrange the hunting parties, treating the
Monkeys really as beasts of the tield. The skins are prepared liy a simple process which the natives
have learned from Eui-opeans ; and thej' conduct it with great skill. It affords a fur of a jet-black
colom-, covered with long silky hau's, which is used by the natives and Europeans there in ornamenting
riding saddlery and in military decorations.

When young, they ai-e of a brown or reddish tint, and tliin grey tints appear preceding the
intense black ; they then eat buds and shoots and tender leaves, but in adult age they are fruit
consumers. When in capti\ ity they are sullen and morose, and they wUl remain sulky for many

months. This the natives know, and there-

-sfe^ ^"^S^-cht^ fore they never try to tame them, or to have

•j^^^^^*^-^ '-""^^'li^^^fcE them in their houses. In their shape they

t. ■<<'rr^n„ ^' \.t*: :-, ima^^^k. resemble the last Monkey described, and

then- hind limbs aa-e very long, their haimches
being high.

They are rather more than two feet long
in the body, and the neck appears short ; both,
shoulders and chest ai-e, short and lai-gely
made. The tail is as long as the body and
head, and is often slightly tufted at the end.
A mop of hair surrounds the face, and the
hairs are long and closely pressed, and quite
conceal the forehead. The nose is peculiar,
for the bones of it are ridged, as it were,
and the skin is drawn tight over the open
nostril (nares), so that there is no soft nose.
A very considerable space exists between the
no.strils and the mouth, and the lips are small
and thin.

THE LONG-NOSED MONKEY.*

Of all the remarkable oddities of Nature
amongst the many-shaped Monkeys, the Long-
nosed or Proboscis-carrier stands pre-eminent.
In fact, there is nothing in human or ape
nature like the face of one particular Long-
tailed Semnopithecus from Borneo. Monkeys
have flat noses as a rule, some have a ridge
aird a little fleshy mass in which the nostrils
end ; others, like the Baboon, have dog-like
noses, and the Americans have wide noses,
the nostrils opening well at the sides. In
man there is the Eoman nose, the pug, the
straight, the flat, the broken, the long with
a large end, and the short with a turn up,
b\it the Nasalis Monkey stands alone among.st the Primates with a nose of vast proportions, which
projects far in advance of the mouth, and whose nostrils open underneath. It gi'ows with age,
and commences as a small " turn up," which still is more fleshy and longer than the nose of any
Monkey. The newly-born Nose Monkey is a most extraordinary object, reminding the critical eye
of many youths of weak constitution and defective brains. Its hair is wonderfully parted down the
middle, and brashed by Dame Nature down the sides of the head and a little backwards ; the whiskei-s
take the latter direction, and the ears stand out just behind them. It has di-ooping eyelids, a longish

^ <^'iO

Semnopitkci

tiasalis.

TEE LONG-NOSED MOXKET. 69

upper lip, with just a little sign of coming hair, and then there is the funny nose, tiie upper part like a
boy's, but the end seems to have been pulleil out and turned up, so tliat the nostrils are quite at the
tip. The foce has a tinge of blue about it, and the animal, even when old enough to be sitting on a
tree, looks sad aiid melancholy.

They gi-ow to the size of a large Pointer Dog, and are powerful animal.s, assembling in troops, and
playing and associating probably with the Onmgs. Stufied specimens of the Proboscis Monkey are
usually simple caricatiu-es, and by no means good ones, for they do not give one-half of the curious
appearance of the face. In nature, and in drawings taken shortly after death, the first thing that
sti-ikes one is the ilat top to the head, and the i-ed hair there, starting from the top of the crown, and
radiating in all dii-ections, and coming as a very sharp line straight over the eyebrows, and cutting
the forehead very short. Then the prodigious nose, stuck out some inches in front of the mouth, is,

with the rest of the face, naked, and of a reddish-brown flesh-colour. The eyes are wide apart and
open, and are of a hazel colour. The whiskers cla-sp the face, as it were, and are bnished back, and
join the hail- of the neck, whUst the little beard sticks out like a goat's. The mouth is wide, and the
chin recedes. It is a long-bodied creature, and there is a great bend outwards in the back when it
squats on its haunches. There is a good-sized chest, there are long arms, still longer legs, and a great
tail. Tlie prevailing colour of the back and shouldei-s is the red or dark-red brown of the head hair,
whilst the rest of the body is of a lighter tint, the tail and limbs especially. The thumb of the hand
is small, and barely reaches as far as the first finger-joint, but the toe-thumb is large, widely set
from the foot, and the skin-fold comes far down it, as also does a web between the toes, the third of
which is the longest.

The skull of this Monkey greatly resembles that of the other Semuopitheci. The face part is
smaller in comparison with that of the great Apes, but then it is not much larger than the brain
case. There is a faint ridge at the side, and the usual one fi-om one ear to the other exists. The
front of the face on each side of the opening for the nose is i ather larger and more prominent than in

90

NATURAL HISTORY.

some otiier kinds, but there are no evidences of the existence of the great fleshy and giistly mass
which is stuck on iu front in life. Tins swelling of the front of the face in the skull slightly reminds
us ef a greater one which characterises the Dog-faced Baboons, and, moreover, the similarity is
increased by the fact that the upper eye (canine) tooth presses the tir.-it tooth behind the lower ej'e
tooth backwards. These little peculiarities are inherited gifts, for the Nasalis and the Baboon
probably came from a common ancestor. Perhaps the great fleshy uo.se of the Semnopithecus Nasalis
is a relic of the long face of the ancient Baboon. Shorten the bones of the Baboon's nose, and
leave the soft parts, and there would be left sometliing like the queer features of the Monkey now
mider consideration.

One must be struck with the long back-bone of this Monkey, its single backward bend, and the
long way the ribs seem from the liips ; making it like the Gibbons, and very unlike the other gi-eat
Apes, which have their last ribs close to their hips. The tail is very long, and starts well up the back,
that is to say, its origin at the end of the sacrum bone is some distance from the haunches, on which

the creature sits. These la.st are rounded so
as to afibrd comfortable rest, especially as
they are covered by the callosities or pads.
The feet are long from the metatarsal bones,
and the great toe-thumb is accompanied by a
long, strong, backward-projecting, and curved-
up heel-bone.

The Dyaks call this Monkey the Kaha,
tor thLs is the sound which they make when
in companies in the woods by the side of the
swamps and jungles. There they live a
restless life at sunrise and sunset, being
quieter in the heat of the day, and crying out
at each other. They have fine voices, thanks
to then- strength, and perhaps to the air
sac in then- neck, which niay_ render oral
sounds more resonant. They are active
creatures, and bound from tree to tree, clear-
ing from fifteen to twenty feet with ease.

Being very like extremely ugly hu-

\ui\o LciNP NOSED Mo\xE\ manity, the Dyaks consider them as de-

gi-aded men, and they give an excellent

reason for their human ancestors having left their habits and dwellings. They did not like to pay

taxes, so they took to tlie woods !

It is said that when the ambassadors of Tippoo Saib came to Paris to urge the French to take up
his cause against the British in India, they were immensely delighted with the Monkeys with the
great noses which were preserved and stuffed in the museum, acknowledging them as compatriots.
But as a matter of fact, specimens of this Monkey ne\-er had been and never could have been seen
by these men, for it does not inhabit the peninsula of India. But it is a fact that when some
specimens came over to Paris, preserved in spiii4, they excited a wonderful commotion amongst the
savans. Broderip was present, and saw one di-awn forth, " looking like one of those honible female
fiends sometimes pictured in oM woodcuts.

" Not uglier follow the nic;ht hag."

A celebrated French naturalist, who was present at the opening of the casket which contauicd
this zoological jewel, was in raptures, and as the bust emei-ged he uttered an exclamation significatory
of her paternity. We looked in vain for the young imps, which had j)robably escaped when theii- poor
barrelled-up mother fell. It must be startling to look round in the wilderness of Borneo and oehold
one of these horrible visages peering, Zamiel-like, ft-om l)eliind the trunk of some dark tree f The
impression left on the mind, however, Ls rather of the comical than of the terrible in its natiu-e after

STOMACH OF W^G-XOSED MONKEY. 91

seeing these creatures ; Imt one is obliged to mlmit tliut those who see a use in everj thiiig may he
[luzzleil to account for this supei-fluity of nose, for this greatest of all noses does not appear to be like
that of the Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, "all the better to smell with."

But some pliilosophy may be got out of this nose, and it tends to humiliate the pretensions of
those anatomists who can restore an animal if they can only get hold of a bone or two.

This nose is an anatomical excrescence : cut it ofl', and no bones are cut through ; dissect the skull,
and then no one could tell that there ever had been such a feature attached to it. The dry bones show
no .sign of what was during life, and the skull resembles those of the other Semnopitheci. So that animals
with the same shaped bones may have very different coverings, and no one could restore the nose of
this creature out of his inward consciousness any more than he could imagine, from the back-bones of
tJie animals, that camels and dromedaries have humps thereon.

The animal has a huge air sac, which appears to be single, and to enter the windpipe above the
larjTix cartilage, and between it and the bone of the tongue. It open-e into the membrane which
connects these structures (the thyi-oid membrane) on the left side, and the opening can be closed V)y the
contraction of the muscles which reach from the tongue-bone (os hyoides) to the larynx cartilage
(thyroid cartilage — the thyi-o-hyoid muscles).

But the most intei'esting part of the internal construction of Nasalis is the gi-eat stomach, which
does not consist of a simple bag, with an opening for the food to enter from the gullet and (esophagus
or food pipe, and with another at the opposite end to carry MSkJ^l^f^

the dige.sted food to the intestines, but is complex, there JPM^^^aSL^^K

being three bags united together. The first two of these ^^J p\\^K\ - ' ' ^

liags are for the storage and reception of food, and the ^^ f\id^'^'^'^^^^^^

other, which ends in the canal leading to the intestines, is J^S^^^mJm mM^^VI <'lu^i0^&
for its digestion. This compound stomach is peculiar to JM^^EJ^^^ mJSbB^^UB^^^jJ^^
the Semnopitheci and the Colobi amongst the Monkeys. It BB WtT^ W^Smn^^nf^^^^^^m

exists in the most perfect form in the animals which chew wL 'j^ ^^^^^yJ'^/-)''l^W

the cud or i-uminate, such as oxen. It is noticed also, more ^^^f ^^<«i^^^^^^Mp'^

or less, in the Cetacea, or Wliale tribe, in the Sloths, in the ^m ^[J^^

Cony, or Hyrax, in the fruit-eating Bats of the genus stom.\i.h ui- the lu.no-noseu muxkev.
Pteropr.s, and finally in some Kangaroo-like animals. It is

po.ssible that the Semnopitheci may bring back more food into the mouth and chew it again, or
the first two expansions of the stomach may be really simple receptacles and storehouses grown
in the place of the cheek-pouches ; or the condition may be a revei-sion, or going back, to the
condition of some remote ancestor.

The large intestine is also very bulged out here and there, and this and the large stomach occupy
much space in the cavity of the belly, compressing the bowels within smaller bounds than in the
larger Monkeys.

Bezoars are found in the sacs of the stomach of the different kinds of Semnopitheci, and were ai.d
may be still much prized. Tliey are potent charms and remedies against poisons, and are supposed to
possess extraordinary vii-tues. The name comes from the Persian, wi-ites the learned author of the
article " Bezoars," in the " Penny C'yclopsedia " — Ped-zahr, expelling poison, the expeller of poison.
" Ped " is relieving and curing, and " Zahr " is poison. Bezoai-s are sometimes found in various parts,
but chiefly in the stomachs of land animals. They are either natural or artificial, and as they are rare,
they are worth many times theii- weight in gold. Those which were most esteemed in Europe came
from the East, and were the earliest used. The most highly prized came from the stomachs of the
wild goat of Persia, and they were called by way of eminence. Lapis Bezoar Orientcdis, and all such
things which were supposed to be antidotes were called Bezoardic. They are still esteemed in the
East, but have long fallen uito disuse in Europe, the chemist and the naturalist ha^^ng abolished their
value by exposing their real nature. They are the round haid balls which are found in the stomachs
of many animals, and which consist of hair licked off and swallowed, and food of every clinging nature
cemented together by mucus. They get too large to pass out of the stomach, either by vomiting or by
going through the small canal into the intestine, and therefore become round by being rolled about,
and often very great. Very lai-ge ones are discovered in some horses which are found at work near flour

^i NATURAL HISTOET.

and bran mills. The Americans got theire from the Llama, and they consisted pi-incipally of phosphate
of lime. Perhaps tlie earliest of all physics was bezoardic, and it consisted of the heart and liver
of vipers, pounded up for the benefit of the invalid. Fortunately, bezoars disappeared from the list of
useful drugs yeai-s ago, with the crabs'-claws, oyster-shells, powdered centipedes, and other medical
delicacies with which our forefethers were drenched in good faith and secimduin artem.

THE HOONUMAN MONKEY.*

This IS the most sacred of the .sacred Monkeys of the Hindoos, and when full-grown, measures
four feet and a half in length, and the tail is considerably longer than the body. An ashy-grey tint
distinguishes the upper part of the body, and it is darkest on the tail, which is of equal thickness
throughout. Tlie rest of the bod}' is of a dingy yellow colour, or rusty brown, and the aims, hands,
and feet are dusky black. The long fiice is blackish ; and above the eyebrows is a line of long stiff
projecting black hairs. A greyish-white beard passes round the face, and extends upwards, and is

* Semnopithecus enteUus.

THE EXTELLUS. 93

thicker in fi'ont of the ears, which are long and prominent and hlack. Finallj', this ftice has a few
hail's by way of a beard beneath the cliin, whicli projects.

A long-legged, active creature is the Eutellus. It associates in great troops, and they keep up a
constant noise and quarrel. Tliose that abound — thanks to the belief in their semi-divinity by the
Hindoos — neai- towns and plantations are certainly more sharp, clever, and impudent than tlieir less
fortunate fellows. They watch and steal with impunity and ability, and are amusing when young, but
savage and disagi'eeable when old. The young differ much in shape from the old adults, and their
limbs seem ver)' disproportioned at firet. They have a staid look about them, and a tranquil eye, and
the forehead is broad and high, the muzzle only slightly prominent, and the brain-case large. But

with age this alters ; the tints of the body get darker, the body larger, the muzzle elongates, and the
forehead appears to contract, and to be no longer an object of human resemblance. The disposition
changed also, for the tame and amusing young learn a number of tricks and are full of fun ; but this
is succeeded by a look and behaviour of distmst and fierceness.

The Entellus Monkey is not found from Cape Comorin to the Himalayan Mountains, as is usually
asserted ; and Captain Hutton has shown that it is " entirely and absolutely i-estricted, within narrow
limits, to the hot tropical plains of the north-western Gangetio provinces, where, from the degree of
protection which its imputed ' odour of sanctity ' is so well calculated to cast around it, as well as from
the numbers in which it frequently occurs, it becomes a perfect nuisance in those parts of the country
where the superstitious veneration for it most strongly prevails. In many places where the natives,
from religious motives, are in the habit of feeding and protecting them, the roofs of the village huts are
at certain hours of the day literally crowded with them, and the depx-edations committed in grain
shops, gardens, and among neighboui-ing crops, are nio.st miscreanf^like." The Entellus has been
purposely introduced elsewhere, but is naturally confined to the right banks of the Ganges and
Hooghly. They will not cross water of then- own accord, and there appears to be a notion in the minds

94 NATURAL HISTORY.

of tlie Hindoos that if there are males on one side and females on the other bank of the river, and
plenty of boats between, the sexes will never mix, but that the males have great fights together. Tiiis
is, however, one of the many fictions of those races who rarely study Nature. Some of the.se Monkeys
were introduced to Kishunghur, in Lower Bengal, across the rivers, by devotees, and the oflspring of one
pair increased to such an extent as to become a perfect nuisance, so that in 1867 a large number of the
native community presented a petition, praying that measures might be taken by the municipality to
destroy some of the too numerous Monkeys that infested the station, causing fearful havoc among the
fruit and grain. An order was issued, and 500 were killed. " There must be many thousands," >vrote
a correspondent of the Delhi Gazette. This act was soon succeeded by another petition from
a different section of the native population for the cancelment of the order to kill what they called
their long deceased ancestors. The Entelhis is not found in Africa, nor amongst the Himalayas ;
neither does it migrate from the upper to the lower districts of Bengal at special seasons. The
Himalayan Semnopitheci are the Langoor and another — -the Semnojnt/iecus jnleatus and Semnopithecus
barhei.

It was 8tated formerly that the Entellus could be seen on Simla all the year through ; but when the
snow falls during the wintei' it seeks a warmer climate in the depths of the Khuds, returning again to
the heights as it melts away. They may be seen, however, on a fine sunshiny day, even with the
snow on the ground, leaping from tree to tree up and down a hill in Simla, which is at about an elevation
of 8,115 feet. All this is a mistake; and it is the Langoor, not the Hoonuman, or Entellus, which
does all this. It is the Langoor Monkey which Dr. Royle saw at an elevation of 9,000 feet during
the summer months, and which Captain Hutton observed when on Hatu mountain, close to Simla, at
an elevation of 10,650 feet, and at Simla diiring winter with snow four or five inches deep, and frost
at night.

Whether the Entellus is found in the Deccan, and to the south, appears to be matter of doubt
but probably the long-tailed Monkeys, seen in multitudes near houses or only in the forests, belong to .,
Semnopithecus closely allied in shape and ornamentation to it. One, the Se'mno2ntliems Johnii, rarely
leaves the forest lands, and is seen in Malabar.

Evidently the natives do not discriminate between the species and the varieties of it, as we may.
They consider all of them possibly to be endowed with the mind of an ancestor, and that it may be their
lot to have their soul placed within the body of some Monkey or other.

They attribute to the Hoonuman the stealing of the delicious fniit the mango, and its introduction
into Hindostan ; but the legend asserts that the hero Ape who did this, stole the fruit from the garden
of a giant, who lived in Ceylon, and that aftei-wards he resolved to set fire to Ceylon, and destroy his
enemies by a lighted tai-baiTel tied to his tail ; but he burnt his hands and feet black, and they
remain so to the present day. Unfortunately for the truth of this legend, the Entellus never
was in Ceylon.

The Entellus is occasionally to be seen in the Zoological Gardens of London, but it is a very
delicate creature. It likes quiet play and some solemn stillness, and therefore it is not kept with the
vivacious African Monkeys, but with the Long-tailed Amex-icans.

One of the most striking of the Semnopitheci is wonderfully like some of the Indians of the far
west of America in their war-paint, so far as the head is concerned. This is

THE CROWNED MONKEY.*

Its colour is brown, becoming very dark and almost black on the back, loins, and outsides of the
thighs, and around the fore-arms and lower leg. The muzzle is rather prominent, and there is a white
patch over the nose on the forehead. The crest of long hair sticks xiy, like that of a Cockatoo, and is
rather bi-ushed backwards, whilst a whisker, which is continuoiis with it, comes forward and
hides the cheeks.

All the propoi'tions of the limljs are those of the genus, and the tail, which hangs down, is long
and slender. It comes from Borneo.

'" SemnopitJiec

THE HUCC^.

THE KED SEjINOPITHECUS.*

This is an active little Monkey, and a great tree climber ; it greatly resembles the last in shape,
but it lias a shorter muzzle, and the whole body is a bright reddish-brown, the face being blue aufl
naked, the eyes hazel. A crest of hair sticks up on the top of the head, and the bulk of it points
backwards, wliilst the front comes over the forehead like thatch, and the whiskers are brashed
outwards. It is called Kalassi Lu Borneo.

This divei-sity of coloiu-ing, which must astonish every one who has .seen Temminck's beautiful
plates of the Semnopitheci, must be received cautiously as a proof of the dMerent colours meaning
different kinds. For in Semnopithecus chrysomeles the male is dark brown, and only lighter in tint
underneath, wliilst the female is light bi-own, with a splash or two of black on the front legs. They
both have blue faces. In this instance the female and the male might have been called by different
names. The same thing occurs in the Sumatran Monkey, in which the female is light brown and
tlie male is a most extraordinary -looking yellow. His liaii- seems brushed back most violently, the
blue face is very short and straight ; he has a reddish cliin, a white throat, inside of arms, and legs,
and belly, and under part of tail, but all the rest is black, with a shade of lighter tint behind the ears
and on the back.

All these are very cmious-looking wlien young, for then the head appears too big for the body, and
the stomach is always large ; moreover, the little Proboscis Monkey looks like a boy with his hair
parted down the front, and who has a blue face and a tail.

THE DOUC, OK A'AHIEGATEl) lIOXKEY.f

This Monkey is perhaps the most gaily clad of all this group, and in this departs in a most
marked manner from the duU sameness of the fur of the Apes already described in the former chapters.
Not only Ls the long hair very different in colour in several parts of the bo<ly, but the hairs themselves
are variegated, having bands of various tints upon them, differing thus from the whole-ci touied hau'S
of the gi-eat Apes.

The animal has the usual sliape of the Semnopitheci ; but the whiskers brushed back, as they
appear to be, make the naked and orange-coloured face look broad. These whiskers are long, and are
of glossy whiteness, and above they join the hair of the forehead, wliicli is black in front, gradually
becoming gi-izzled grey. This is the tint of the head, and of the back of the neck and back. The
tliighs, fingei-s, and toes are black, the legs and ankles are bright red, fore-arms, throat, and underneath
the legs, the buttocks, and the tail are pure wliite, .and the white throat is surrounded by a more or
less complete circle of bright red. They live in the woods of Cochin China, and have been met with
not far from the coast. They assemble in troops, but appear to be good-tempered and easily frightened,
and this appears to be all that is known of their nature. But they yielded to the researches of tlie
anatomist the same internal anangemeut of the cavities of the stomach wliich has been noticed in
describing the Long-nosed Monkey.

THE BLACK-LEGQED DOTJC.J

Tlie forests on the banks of the Me-kong, near Saigon in Coclmi China, are tenanted by a line
Douc wliich, instead of having the red legs of the tiiie Douc {Semnopithecus nemams), has them
of a bhxck colour from the root of the tail to the tips of the toes. Moreover, in this animal tlie fore
legs are greyish-bhwk, dotted with white, whUst those of the other Douc are whitish. Of course
these distinctions are not sufficient to sepai-ate these Doucs specifically, and they must be considered
races or local varieties, the black-footed one living more to the south than the other. If this be
correct, and it must be on the principle that a negro and a white man are only races of the genus
Homo, and that a black and a white rabbit are of the same kind, colour is a point of little
importance.

The Black-legged Douc has its face almost naked, and surmounted by a band of hairs on the
forehead. These stand out. and are directed forwards. In the other Douc these hairs, of a less black

* Semnopithecus rubicundus. f Semnopithecus nemceus. X Semnopithecus nigripej.

96 NATURAL BISTORT.

tint, are brushed, as it were, backwards. Now, an attempt has been made by Geoffroy St. Hilaii-e to
ari-ange the kinds of Semnopitheci by the dii-ection and peculiarities of their head-dresses, and if
this plan were carried out the true Douc would be in one section — that of those with the hair brushed
back— and the black-legged one, which is only a variety, and not a sepai-ate species, would have to be
placed in another. Hence, this plan is worthless.

This Douc has a very human face and a small head, a large chest, a thin abdomen, very Ions;
hind-legs and tail, and short fore-legs.

The skull of the Douc has large and open orbits, faint side crests, and faint crests passing
from the ear over the occiput. The face is small in relation to the brain-case, and the shape of the

1

iii

^

z:f^^

^BhE^

^^^^1

m\'

^iJl^

.^P^M

HpH

M'W'i

--'=" -— ^~

^^Kr ^^1

^^^ Sr

W '- >

, -^^ — -^

P^^^ ^1^1

K^ ^

-

^ —

f-1^-^

iL

^j^y^

f^

^

m*>'^'^^^v

^L

^^^■t

^

":--^

^^^tr

i^^**"^!

-^^

/^ .^— ^ '

•^^^^^

w 1

CROWNED MONKEY.

■whole differs gi-eatly from that of the Troglodytes in this respect. The lower jaw is angular
behind, and the portion (the ascending branch or ramus) which leads up to the joint is very
straight. The teeth in it are of the same number as those of the Gibbons ; but the last grinder is
long, and has a very distinct heel-like back, point, or cusp. The other four points, or cusps, are placed
two in front and two behind them, those in front are united by a cross ridge, then comes a hollow
across the tooth, and then the back pairs, which are united by a ridge, and then the heel follows. The
other crushing molar teeth have four cusps, in pairs, each pair having a common cross ridge, and the
pairs are separated by a furrow. The teeth are close together, and the first false molar is smaller than
the second. The upper jaw j)rojects a little, and the front jaw-bone (pre-maxillary) remains distinct.
Its crushing teeth ha\e four points, or cusps, but the outline of the teeth is not straight at the
sides, but doubly curved, so that the entrance of the curves is between the cusps, and it corresponds
to the furrow. All this gives a vei-y animal look to the teeth.

It must be remembered that these teeth are used more for cnishing soft vegetable mattei-s than
for cracking nuts, and things which can be stowed away in a cheek-pouch and devoured at leisure.
Hence the difference be+ween the teeth of these and of the Macaques.

CEYLON MONKEY Si.

THE CEYLON LOW-COUNTRY WANDEROO— THE WHITE-BEARDED MONKEY.*
" When observed in theii- native wilds," wi-ites Sir James Emerson Tennent, " a party of twenty
or thirty of these creatures are generally busily engaged in the search for benies and buds. They are
seldom tc be seen on the ground, and then only when they have descended to recover seeds or fruit that
have fiUen at the foot of theii- favourite trees. In theii- alarm, when disturbed, theii' leaps are pro-
digious, but generally speaking their progress is made not so much by leaping as by swinging from

branch to branch, using theii- powerful arms alternately, and when baffled by distance,
themselves obliquely so as to catch the lower boughs of an opposite tree, the momentum acquired by
their descent being sufficient to cause a rebound, that sends then again upwards, till they can grasp a
higher branch, and thus continue their headlong flight."

This Monkey is very active and intelligent, and is not very miscjiievous, and, indeed, is much
less so than the other Monkeys of Ceylon. In captivity it is remarkable for the gi-avity of its
behaviour, and for an air of melancholy in its expression and movements, which is completely in character

Sem napithecus Nestor.

98 NATURAL HISTOJtY.

with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. Its disposition is gentle and contidiiig ; it is in the
highest degree sensible of kindness, and eager for endearing attentions, uttering a low plaintive cry
when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spends
much of its time in cleaning its fur, and carefully divesting it of the least particle of dust.

~ The Nestor is about sixteen inches in length (the body and head), and the tail measures twenty
inclies. The j)revailing coloui' is a deep grey, with a slight tinge of brown, becoming paler on the
back of the neck and on the tail, where the previous tinge is more marked. The hands and lower pa.
of the limbs are nearly black. Its lips, chin, and whiskers are nearly pure white, the tips ot the
latter, which are brushed backwards, being grey. There is a stiff ridge of black hairs over the eyebrows,
and they are about an inch and a half in length. The moderate length of the hairs, the light colour
and the white of the lower sides of the face, are distinctive. It inhabits the southern and western
provinces of Ceylon, and is found at a higher elevation than even 1,300 feet.

THE IIAHA, THE GREAT WANDEKOO.*

This is a lai'ger Monkey than the last, and lives in the hills higher up the country of Ceylon than
the Nestor. It is wilder and more powerful than its lowland neighbour, and is rarely seen by
Europeans. It clings to the deep woods, and seldom approaches the few roads which have been made
through these solitudes. There is a good deal of the Bear in its general appearance, and Major Forbes,
travelling in Ceylon, noticed this Urst of all. He says': — " A species of very large Monkey, that
passed some distance before me, when resting on all-fours looked so like a Ceylon Bear that I took him
for one." Hence the name Ursinus.

Another very rare Monkey in Ceylon is, for some hidden cause, named Seiiiiwpltheciis Thersites.
Thersites was the most ugly and the most impudent talker of the Greeks before Troy, and probably this
Monkey is ugly and impudent in the exti-eme. It is deficient in the head-tuft, which adds to the beauty
of the genus ; but its temper is good, and it is gi-ateful. One which was caught was fond of being noticed
and petted, stretching out his linilis in succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his rib.?
might be reached by the finger, and closing his eyes during the operation, evincing his satisfaction by
grimaces absolutely ludicrous. He was fond of fresh vegetables, plantains, and fruit, and ate freely of
boiled rice, beans, and grain.

The last Ceylonese Monkey to be noticed is the Sciwiopitheais Priamxs.

It inhabits the northern and eastern provinces, and the wooded hills which occur in those portions
of the island. In appearance it differs both in size and in colour from the common Wanderoo
(S. Nestw), being larger and gieyer, and its habits are much less reserved. Where the population
is comparatively numerous, these Monkeys become so familiarised with the presence of man as to
oxliibit the utmost daring and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra
palm, and so effectually can they crowd and conceal themselves among the leaves that, on the slightest
danger, the whole party becomes invisible on the instant. The presence of a Dog, however, excites
such an irrepressible curiosity, that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray
themselves. They may be seen frequently congregated on the roof of a native hut ; and some years
ago the child of a European clergyman having been left on the gi-ound by the nv.rse, was .so teased
and bitten by them as to cause its death. The Ceylon people hold the singular belief that the
remains of a Monkey are never found in the forest — a belief which they have embodied in a proverb,
that " He who has seen a white crow, the nest of the piddybird, a straight cocoa-nut tree, or a dead
Monkey, is certain to live for ever." " This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from
India," writes Sir J. Emerson Tennent, from whose work the extract is taken, " where it is believed
that ])ersons dwelling on the spot where a Hoonuinan Monkey {Semnopithecus enteUus) has been
killed, will die, and that even its bones are unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid
will prosper. Hence, when a house is to be liuilt, one of the employments of wise men is to ascertain
by their science that none such are concealed ; and Buchanan observes that it is perhaps owing to the
fear of this ill-luck that no native will acknowledge having seen a dead Hoonuman."

Sir J. Eniei-son Tennent describes the method in which these Prianuis Monkeys attack a garden,

* Htmnopithecus ursinus.

TBUMJiLE!<S MOXKEYS ny

srhicli is quite attei- the tasliioii of modern liuinan military tactics. A gi-een sward separated the garden
of one of his friends from the jungle, and across this a single iVionkey would cautiously steal about
twenty paces, and halt to assure himself, by eye and ear, that all was safe. Presently a second would
venture out from the trees, pass in front of the tirst, and squat himself after making another recon-
naissance. A third and a fourtli would then stealthily approacli, always gainin^^ an advance beyond
the la.st vedette, and finally the whole body, having ascertained the absence of danger, advanced hastily
but noiselessly to the enclosure ; and having with infinite rapidity secured a sufficient supply of fruit,
the troop dispersed simultaneously, with a rush and an exulting scamper, conscious that caution was
no longer necessary. Possibly this Monkey becomes occasionally an albino, for white Monkeys having
the general shape of the Priamus are captured every now and then not far from Colombo ; and Spence
Hardy mentions, in his work on " Eastern Monachism," that on the occasion of his visit to the Great-
Temple of Dambool he encountered a troop of white Monkeys on the rock on which it is situated.

In the Semnopitheci and in the species of the next genus (Colobos) the face is long, the forehead
rounded, and there is a decided angle to the jaw, so that the facial angle is considerable.*

GENUS COLOBOS.t

All the Monkeys of the genus Semnopithecus which have been found by tiavellers and naturalists
live in Asia and its islands, and thus their geographical limit is precise. Now, there are some
Monkeys which resemble them in most points, and which ai-e only found in the forests of tropical
Africa; that is to say, in Abyssinia on the east, and fi-om Gambia to Angola on the west. They are
also found on the Island of Fernando Po. These have the thumbs of the hands extremely small, and
they are but mere useless projections. They are Semnopitheci without thumbs, and the Greek word
Ko\op6s (" docked or stunted") has been used to designate them.

The kinds of Monkeys included in the genus Colobos are not very numerous, and they are
interesting more on account of their beautiful skins, which form ornaments and articles of commerce
in Africa, and for those suggestions which must occur to the mind of every one who thinks a little
about natural history, regarding the cause of the absence of such an important structure as the thumb
in a group of animals, whose other characters are similar to those ui a genus possessing it. Very little
is known about their habits in a state of nature, and few have ever been brought alive to Europe.

The thumb is not seen in the least in one kind of Colobos, the true Colobos (Colobos verus) ; in
others it is like a little knob, but in none is it of any use In the ccirresponding member of other
Moi.keys there ai-e three bones, one placed before the other. The first, tlu' metacarpal, is the nearest
the N.-rist, and is jointed to the wrist-bone called trapezium, and in front it is in contact with the
second bone, or the first phalanx of the thumb. This is ended by the second phalanx, which beai-s the
nail. These are terras used by anatomists, and the word metacarpal means " the next in order of
rank to the wrist." These metacarpal bones intei-vene between the knuckles and the wrist, and are
long and parallel with each other, there being five in the hand. They are not usually very movable
oii the wrist, but that of the thumb is, and they have a joint at the further end which unites them
with the so-called internode or phalanx-bone, No, 1, The woi'd internode means between joints,
and the term phalanx is one of those unmeaning applications of Greek terms which abound in
anatomy. The phalanx was an order of liattle, and means rows placed in parallel order: the
internodes of the fingers, when in place, are one before the other and side t)y side, like the soldiers iu
the Greek order of battle. Each phalanx repi-esents a bone: there are two in the thumb, and three
in the other fingei'S. In the Colobos there is a joint on the wiist-bone for a thumb, but no thumb
exists, but there is just a little vestige of a bone, and it is probably the first phalanx, or internode, and
not the metacarpal.

The thumb is therefore " rudimentary " in the genus Colobos, and why 1 The animals are
tree-climbers and active jumpers, and can run very well on all-fours ; in fact, their metliod of life

* The Idnds of Monkeys included in this genus have a very wide geograpliical range. Mr. Wallace states that a
sjiecies has been seen at an altitude of ll.COO feet in the Himalayas ; and Semnointhecii.s roxcllana, which resembles a
young Semnopithecus nasaUs, occurs in Eastern Tibet (about lat. 30° N.) in the highest forests. Elsewhere, they extend
over tlie forest land of the Oriental region of natural history.

t Thumbless Monkeys.

100

NATURAL HISTORY.

and of motion is that of the Monkeys which have well-formed thumbs. The notion of a useless
organ is at first repulsive to our ideas of the benevolent scheme of Nature. Mr. Dar\vin writes,
" In reflecting on them every one must be struck with astonishment ; for the same reasoning power
which tells us plainly that most parts and organs are exquisitely adapted for certain pui-poses tells us
with equal plainness that these rudimentai-y or atrophied organs are imperfect or useless." Let us
take a well-known instance of such a sti-ucture : the Calf when born has cutting teeth in its upper jaw
hidden in the gum ; they are not in sockets, and even if they were, they would be of no use in
biting. The Ox has no cutting or incisor teeth in its upper jaw, as every one knows, and the tongue
touches a hard and moist gum there. The incisor teeth of the Calf are never cut, but they are gradually
absorbed in the gum with age. Now what is their meaning ? They are of no use in sucking, or in

anytliing which occurs in the early life of the animal : they are clearly useless and rudimentary or
atrophied structures. Take another example : the little Kiwi bii-d of New Zealand has no wings with
which to fly, yet the bones are there in a dwarfed and i-udimentary conditioii ; many insects have no
wings, or have them so reduced in size that they are of no use in flight, and .sometimes the males have
them in perfection, and the females have none. In explaining this subject two courses are open, first,
to beg the question, and to say that the design of the Creator wiia thus ; or to account for it on the
principle that the Creator acts by law, and that creatui-es become modified and altered by inherent
power, and by having to obey the force of siuTounding circumstances generation after generation.

In the iiLStance of the male and female insect just noticed, the male is active, and has to search for
his partner, and the female is a stay-at-home, and expects to be courted, and when mated to do nothing
more than lay eggs. Her wings would be of doubtful value. We may believe, then, that distise,
generation after generation, gradually weakened the wing, and finally Nature, ever economical in no<>
used organs, did not perpetuate it. Disuse may be therefoi-e considered as the principal cause of the
atrophy, rudimentary condition, and of the final deficiency of stnictures. But disuse will not
produce this in one generation, but in many, so it is necessary to look farther back into the ancestry of

THE COLOBl. 101

the creatures which have rudimentary organs. The four-legged ruminating or cud-chewing animals
have bones and feet of peculiar arrangeinent, and there is no dithculty in at once knowing
a ruminant by its bones. Now, in former ages, and before there was a trace of man on the globe,
thei-e were ruminants, as known by theii- bones found in strata or deposits, and they had incisor
teeth in their upper jaws when full gi-own, and not only when in the calf condition. The in-
ference to be drawn is, that the modern Oxen ai-e the descendants of those ancient forms with incisor
teeth, and that disuse, probably produced by the introduction of grass-feeding on a gi-and scale, instead
of leaf- and bud-nibbling, gradually diminished the strength and pei-manence of the front upper teeth,
and Unally only left the simple traces of them which we have mentioned. Disuse by ancestral forms,
by the forefathers, and the carrying down the weakened and atrophied state of the structiu-e or organs,

are the most important considerations in any attempt at the explanation of the .seeming paradox. In
endeavoui-ing to apply this style of reasoning to the Colobos gi-oup — the Semnopitheci without thumbs
— it must be asked, is there any evidence of the great antiquity of these Monkeys, and are there any
evidences of anything wi-ong about the thumbs of their Asiatic allies ?

It is remarkable, and bears strongly upon this point, that some of the fossil remains of animals
found in India, on the flanks of the Himalayan Mountains, have a closer resemblance to a large
Semnopithecus Monkey than to any other, and to one belonging to a kind much like the Entellus.
The bony remains were found in collections of shingle, clay, and sand of gi-eat depth, and which
included also the remains of the bones of Elephants, Giraffes, Hippopotamid», Crocodiles, and fresh-
water Tortoises, and other land and fresh-water creatures. The deposits had accumulated in lakes
and swamps in the plain near the distant flanks of a low range of hills, the ancient foundations of the
present great snowj' range, and then upheaval took place, which gave the very home of snow
(Hunalaya) its present vast altitude. The plains, lakes, and swamps were lifted up and tilted, and
their relics are now found resting at a considerable angle on the main chain, and covered and folded
over by the pressure exercised during the marvellous change in the physical geography of the district.
Semnopitheci lived in India, then, before the Himalayas were a great chain of mountains, and they
lived wth animals which were African !is well as Asiatic in their character. The vast age of the

i02 NATURAL HISTORY.

j^roujjs of Monkeys must be admitted, for tlie Himalayas are as old as the Alps, and as botli have
been worn down into their present condition of peak, pass, and valley since they were uplifted, their
age is incalculable by years. The former connection of Africa and Asia by means of intermediate
land, which Ls now the floor of the Indian Ocean, to the west of Hindostan, may be reasonably asserted
to have been severed at the same time when the mountains far away to the north-east received their
breadth and height. So that before these gi-eat tei-restrial changes occurred, Semnopitheci could have
either an Indian or an African home. Disuse of the fore-thumbs in branch-crawHng or swinging
may tlien have commenced before that geological age in which these things happened, and it may
have progressed very decidedly in Africa, and not so much in Asia. Hence the Semnopitheci
here have rather small thumbs, and the African groups, separated by the physico-geograpliical change,
and disusing generation after generation, have gradually lost the structure.

The Colobi resemble the Semnopitheci in the construction of their compound-looking stomach.

THE GUEREZA.*
There Ls something very un-monkey-like in the shape of this Abyssinian animal, for it has long white
hail-, resembling the edge of a cloak, along its sides, and a long tail -with a tuft to it. The natives
chase it, and are fond of having some of their long hairy skins to cover their shields with.
Assembling in little troops, the Guereza keeps well up in the tallest trees, in the neighbourhood of
running water. They feed on fruit, grain, and insects, and aie inoftensive and wHd. The fur is
certainly very prettily arranged, and the black and white truly oppose each other well. The colour of
the fur of the head and of the greater part of the body is black, but the forehead is white, so are the
sides of the face, the throat, and the sides of the neck. There is a mantle-like mop of long hairs
starting from the region near the ribs, and the lower part of the back, and covering the flanks in
a train behind. It is of a white colour, and exists in both sexes ; nevertheless, it is longest in the
females and tulults. The tail is white, hairy, and tufted.

Another of the Colobi has a veiy dignified look given to it by a large mass of hair wliich covere
its neck and shoulders like a little cloak. It has slim legs and a long tail. For some reason or other
the natives in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone call it the King of the Monkeys. The face and
limbs and body are black, and a gi-eat mass of hair starting from the forehead and brushed back from
the sides of the face and chin, the neck and shoiilders all round, falls down on all sides. This is of a
dusky yellow colour. The tail is white. It is called the Cloaked or Many-haired Colobos >{ColoUos
polycomos).

As if to contrast kinds of the genus Colobos, which have gi-eat general resemblances. Nature has
provided some \vith red-coloured fur, instead of bhick and white ; for instance, the Bay Monkey (Colobos
ferrui/ineus); and finally, one very interesting species which, like all those mentioned, except the
Guereza, comes from West Africa ; it has a short fur of an olive colour, with a grey tint beneath
and oil the limbs. It has no long hairs on the body, and its tail is long and thin. This Colobos
vnnis has not a vestige of a thumb. There are el(?veu species of this genus.

Besides the fossil Semnopithecus found in tlie Himalayas others have beeu disco\ered in Greece,
Wiirtemberg, and at Montpellier, and in strata of Mid-Tertiary and of Pliocene Age.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DOG-SHAPED JIONKEYS {,-o>,;h,H<-d). the o^E^o^s *

Thk Gl'ENOXS — Where they are Found -Eai-ly Notices of them— Kesemblance to the ColoW and Macaques — Distinct-ve
Peculiarity of the Group — Often seen in Menageries — Tiieir Terror of Snakes— Pecidiar Expression of the Face— Beauty
of their Skins— Minor Divisions of the Guenons— The Diana Moxkey— Origin of the Name— Anecdotes of their
Mischief— The Mosa Monkey— Description of one at Paris— The White-Noseu Monkey— Origin of the Name— The
Talapoin— Anatomical Peculiarities-THE Gkeen Monkey— Found in Senegal in abundance— The Red-Bellied
Monkey- The Red Monkey— Observed by Bruoe—THE JUnu.vbey- Singularity of its Appearance -Special Structural
Peculiarities.

There are vast numbers of Monkeys living in the African fore.sts which resemljle, to a cert-ain extent,
those described in the last chapter, but which have such important ditierences in their con.struction
that they ai-e separated from them, find collected in another genus. They are said only to range
in Abyssinia to the Zambesi and from the Gambia to the Congo, but probably all the equatorial
liarts of the Continent are frequented by them, and they extend ftir south. They are not found in
Madagascar, and, of course, they do not fiequent desert places or rocky treeless districts.

Being very numerous, and extremel}' impudent, as a nile, and full of grimace and mischief, they
soon attracted the attention of the ancients, and the beauty of the fur of some ma<:le them all the
more prized. Hence they were caught, figured, and sent as jn-esents to distant kingdoms. The
ancient Egyptians knew of one, wliich at the present time is found in Nubia, and which is often
brought to Europe, being called the Grivet. They engi-aved it in the catacombs of Ghizeh, whence the
figure was described by Denou, and Ehrenberg and De Blain\'ille have drawn it as represented mounted
on the long neck of a Camelopard. Many coloured drawings of Egyptian origin also represent a
Monkey on all-fours, with a tail curved over its back, and this is probably one of those about to be
considered.

They are still called Keb or Kej> in the East of Africa, and they are doubtless the Kn^oi of the
Greeks. Ai-istotle says for certain that the Cebus, as it was ti-anslated by the Latins, is an Ape with
a tail.

Modern naturalists, having become acquainted with many of these species closely resembling
each other in some important particulars, have an-anged them all under the term Cercopithecus from
k4pkos (a tail), and irieriKos (an ape). The grimaces and odd gestures of these Monkeys have given to
them the name of Guenons, and this term is now used accordingly.

At fii-st sight they resemble the Colobi, iiYasmuch as they have long bodies, long hind legs, and
long tails, but the fore limbs are short in the Guenons, and the tail, which is as long or longer than the
body, is stout and not slender. Moreover, they have well-made and exceedingly useful cheek-])ouches,
besides the callosities behind. The face of the Guenons is long, and rounded, and the eyes are
somewhat prominent. On examining the inside of one of these particularly African species
the stomach is found to be single, and not to resemble that of the genera last de.scribed, and
on looking at the lower jaw it will be found that the last crushing teeth on each side have only
four points, or cusps, and not five, as in Semnopitheci. The weai-ing of the fir.st premolar tooth next to
the lower dog tooth, and behind it, re.sembles somewhat that noticed before, and which will be describsd
in treating of the Inui, or Macaques, in the next ciiapter. The h:inds and feet are well grown, ai\d
the thumbs are long and useful.

So that the distinctive peculiarity, or what is called the diatjiwsis of the group, or geniLs Cerco-
^Hthecus is — Monkeys with long hind and short fore limbs, and with long tails, cheek-pouches, single
stomachs, and callosities, there being only four cusps on the la.st lower molar teeth.

INIany of the Guenons are often seen in menageries *and zoological gardens, or as the more oi
less miwilliug companions of organ-grinders ; and their trick of crowding evervthing into theii- mouth,

» Cercopithecus.

104

NATURAL mUTORl

and allowing it to distend the cheeks, is sure to be noticed. The quantity of nuts which can be stored
away is enough for a good meal ; and hence these Monkeys are not only good pui-\-eyors for themselves,
but great robSers of the riches of cultivators. In the wild state they assemble in troops in the forest,
for they are essentially tree dwellers, and make raids on all sides of their favourite home, moving with
such rapidity under the shadow of leaves and boughs that they are rarely seen by men. In then- own
little tract of forest they are very noisy and restless ; they chase away in a body all intniding Monkeys,
and whilst the more aged spend then- time in more or less restless movement, in occasional family jars.

DIANA MONKEY.

and in picking the insects from their young and from each other, the juvenile part of the troop are
full of play, mischief, and wanton aggression upon the quietude of theii- elders. A Snake may appear,
and there is a terrible noise made, and a general rush off out of danger, the little ones dinging to the
fur of the mother, and being can-ied off safely in spite of her bounds and jumps from tree to tree. Or
a Leopard may make a spring, and not always fruitlessly, and great is the surrounding howling and
grimacing at it. The hatred of Snakes is carried into their captivity ; and Mr. Darwin having read
Brehm's account of the instinctive fear which his Monkeys had of Serpents, and also of their great
curiosity regarding snake-like things and their doings, took a stuffed Snake to the Monkey-house of the
Zoological Gardens. The excitement which was produced, he writes, was one of the most curious
spectacles ever beheld. Three species of Cercopithecus were the most alarmed. They darted about
their cages, and uttered sharp cries of danger, which were understood by the other Monkeys. A few

DIBITS OF THE GDEXOXS.

young Monkeys ami an old Anubis Baboon <ilone took uo notice of tlie Snake. He then |)lacecl the
stuffed specimen on the ground in one of the larger compartments. After a time all the Monkey.s
collected round it in a large circle, and staring intently, presented a most ludicrous appearance. They
became extremely nervous, so that when a wooden ball with which they were familiar as a plaything
was accidentally moved in the straw under which it was partly hidden, they all instantly stai-ted away.
These monkeys behaved very differently when a fish, a mouse, and some other new objects were placed
in the cage ; for though at first frightened they soon approached, handled and examined them. He
then placed a living Snake in a paper bag, with the mouth closed loosely, in one of the larger
compartments. One of the Monkeys immediately approached, cautiously opened the bag a little,
l^eeped in, and instantly dashed away. Then he witnessed what Brehin has described, for Monkey
after Monkey with head raised high, and
turned on one side, could not resist taking
momentary peeps into the upright bag at the
<b-eadful creature lying at the bottom.

It would appear as if Monkeys had some
notion of zoological aflinities, for those kept by
Brehm exhiliited a strange though mistaken in-
stinctive di-ead of innocent Lizards and Frogs.

Bii-ds of prey attack them, and not
always with a succe.ssful result ; and there
is a story of a little Guenon being darted at
by an Eagle, who swooped down and struck
it, but it did not get off, for a rush was made
against the bii-d by several of the active
eldei-s, and they not only held it, but nearly
plucked off all its feathers, so that wlien it
got away it remembered for ever after the
treatment it received. The Guenons are
very choleric, and the expression of the face
and of the mouth, and the shrill sounds
which are emitted when they are angered,
would probably be accompanied by extremely

bad langaiage were they men ; but theii- rage, is soon over, and some nuitual tail-jiulling and biting are
the worst part of it. There is a curious defiant look about the eyes of some, with or without extreme
restlessness of them ; they seem to be the very embodiment of cunninfr and sharpness, and this look
is really very peculiar to the group. By way of additional force of expression, those which are very
fond of fighting with their teeth have the power of drawing back their eare like angry Dogs ; and this
is done by the action of a muscle which springs from the ear-bone behind the ear, and is attached to it
behind. There is just a rudiment of this muscle in man. Usually very good-tempered when young,
like all the Quadi-umana, they grow cross, savage, and uncertain in temper when old ; there are some
exceptions to this, but, on the other hand, so savage do some of them become, that breaking or
removing theii- great upper canine teeth appears to be the only way of making them behave at all
properly. The loss of these fine weapons of offence has a most humiliating effect on the most insolent
and petulant of them. Many are very pretty, and are as elaborately coloured as the Douc, that prince
of beautiful Semnopitheci ; and this leads to theii- destruction, for every now and then, besides the
native desire to have some fine Monkej' skins, European ladies desire Monkey mufi's, and many an
irascible chatterer out of the woods of Western Africa has its skin paraded by the fashion. Bright
red, green, fawn, yellow, and white colours are constantly mixed up with black shades, and every tint
of gi-ey is dotted here and there. The hair is longer in some parts than in others, especially about the
cheeks and chin ; one has a white spot on its nose, another has white moustaches, and a thii-d a white
band across the forehead. And these tints, and the disproportion of the long hairs, have served
to identify the different kinds.

The Guenons occasionally breed in menageries, and thus opportunities have been afforded of

FtCt 01 THE DIAM M()Nh.F\

106 KATURAi. EISTORi.'.

watching their treatment of, and methoil of educating, their little ones. One in Paris had three
baby Monkeys, one after the other, and succeeded in rearing one, the others dying. She constantly
carried it, holding it close to her, so that its little mouth was always close to the brea.st ; but aftei a
while, as it became stronger, it clung on tjy itself, holding on fast with its hands to the mother's fur, and
helped itself whenever it thought tit. Then the mother appeared to pay no especial attention to the
little one, and jumi^ed and rushed about as if it had not the little burden. The father was anything
Imt paternal, and l)oldly neglected the education of his child; in fact, he was quite indifferent to the
mother as well, and even behaved bratally by seeking to quarrel with her. Once or twice he
maltreated her, and pinched the baby, so he was locked up by himself

This careless treatment doubtless accounts for _ the rapid independence of the young of the
Guenons, who soon retaliate on theii- fathers and mothers for all the enjoyments they did not have at
their hands, by endless teasings and scoldings. But all Monkeys ai-e not thus unpaternal and
unnatural, and the Baboon is singularly affectionate. At the time that the Grivet — the above-
mentioned Guenon — was seen in one cage outraging all good feeling, two Chacma Baboons were in
another, and the difference in their behaviour was most edifying. In the one cage sat the solitary
mother and its offsprmg, the father having been removed for his bad temper and brutal conduct ; and
in the other were several male Baboons surrounding two Baboon mothers and their two little ones,
caressing the mothers with the most pronounced evidence of tenderness of feeling, taking them in
their arms and pressing them to their heai-ts, and embracing them in a manner quite human. They
squabbled about who was to have the pleasure of carrying the Baboon babies, and after having passed
them from one to the other, returned each one to its own mother.

As these Guenons walk on all-fours and but rarely take on the erect posture, which, moreovpr,
they cannot maintain, their muscles are not exactly the same as in the Troglodytes and Orangs, but
they resemble those of the SemnopithecL The Guenons, like the Macaques and Baboons — those great
runners on all-foui-s — have a special muscle to assist in pulling the shoulder-blade forward, and thus
to assist the forward motion of the body. Then, in order to drag the elbow backwards in moving
on all-fours, and to assist also in climbing, one of the lai^e miiscles of the back sends a slip to tin*
back of the elbow. Climbing is also assisted by an addition to the gluteal or buttock muscles, which
is called the scansorius or climbing muscle. And in the foot the front muscle of the leg has two
masses ; one sends a tendon which goes to the inner and front bone of the ankle, and the other
right under the foot to the inner side of the long bone (metatarsal), which supports the toe-thumb.

The result of its action is to turn in the foot with a view t<i holding on. Finally, the two long
muscles which flex or bend down the toe-thuhib and the other toes are not separate, but are connected
by their tendons. So that there is not great independence of the toe-thumb, but all the toes act more
or less sinuijtaneously very i-eadily. But the other muscles of it give it more mobility than in
man. Their muscular energy is immense, and theii- power of using the thumb is very considerable,
and they pick out each other's vermin with well-known eaie.

In separating the numerous kinds of Guenons into kinds or species, paying a good amount of attention
to their internal as well as external structures, that is to say, to their teeth and skull, as well as to
their form, it becomes evident that some large ones form a group which closely resemble the others,
but which still have more general likeness to the Monkeys which form the subject of the next
chapter — the Macaques. These have been placed in a separate genus, but the necessity for doing so
is not apparent, especially when the principles of the true nature of classification have been
thoroughly comprehended. So the so-called genus Cercocebus {Kepxos, tail ; Knffos, monkey) is
omitted, and the Monkeys included in it by some authors are to be considered as the kinds which link
on the Baboons and Macaques to the Guenons. Besides these, some Guenons are stronger and stouter
than others, their skins being green, or tinted more or less with that colour, and another is of a bright
red colour. So that several sets of the Guenons may be established for the sake of convenience —
1. The smaller kinds usually with prominent white markings. 2. One having a green skin and a black
nose, and only three points or cusps on its hind lower molars. 3. The larger kinds with decidedly
green tints, one being bright red. 4. And the group often called Cercocebus, which resemble tiie
others, but have a fifth cusp on the last lower grinder on each side.

Amongst the tirst kind the Diana Monkey is very well known, and visitors to the Monkey -house in

THE HI AX A MOXKEY. 107

the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park usually pay much attention to this most determined and
pretty romp.

THE DIANA MONKEY.*

This native of Western Africa inhabits the woods of the Guinea Coast, and of the banks of the
Congo, and it is found in the island of Fernando Po. It was known to European naturalists before the
year 1700, and it has always been prized for its pretty fur and gay temper.

The goddess Diana has been honoured by being associated with this Monkey on account of a
crescent-shaped white band of long hair stretching across the forehead (she being goddess of the crescent-
shaped moon). It is about eighteen inches long when full grown, and the tail is longer than the
body, and the fur is very pretty. The crescent of white hairs has dark edges, and the top of the head is
broad and dull grey, spotted with green ; the ears are dark and the face also ; and the beard and wliiskers
are white, and the first of these projects like a goat's. The broad and upper chest is white, and this
colour is continued under the arms, which at their termination are black-grey. The middle of the
back is a dai-k red-brown, and the belly is white with orange tints, and these colours are continued
down the inside of the thighs. Outside these and the flanks are ash-gi-ey and greenish. As another
Monkey from the same region has a white band across the forehead, the Diana has been confounded
\\-ith it, and hence very different descriptions of the colouring will be obtained by reading different
authore, and even F. C'uvier jumbled the Diana and this Diadem JNIonkey together. Very little is
known about them in theii- wild state, and in captivity they show very adverse dis])ositions ; some-
times they are gay and fiUl of fun, and at others morose and snappish. We once saw one of them in
its cage in the Zoological Gardens pull its mate, a small Sykes' Monkey, from the toji to the bottom
by a well-directed pull of the tail, and the proceeding reminded one of a very energetic mistress, whose
servants were inattentive, tugging at a bell-rope. The puller was chattering and grimacing at his
visitors all the time that the jnilled was hanging on to everything that came in its way during its
forced descent ; and when it came to the bottom it scrambled about and ru.shed up to its little house
again as if it were a frequent and un\villing exercise. The Diana also stole its companion's food, such
as a piece of apple, by putting her arms around its neck, and squeezing the morsel against its nose, so
that it was obliged to drop it.

Mrs. Bowditch, in describing her voyage home from Western Africa, gives an interesting account
of a Diana Monkey which was on board. " We made acquaintance," she says, " very suddenly, and,
to me, disagreeably, for I had not till then conquered the foolish aversion with which these animals
always inspired me. It was a dead calm, the wheel was lashed, and all, save myself, below — nothing
round us but sea and sky, and I had sheltered myself with a book in a corner protected from the
equatorial sun. Suddenly, and without noise, something leaped upon my shoulders, and the tail which
encircled my throat convinced me that Mr. Jack was my assailant. My first impulse was to beat him
off, in which case I should probably have received some injuiy ; but fortunately I sat perfectly still,
and twisting himself round he brought his face opposite to mine and stared at me. I endeavoured to
speak kindly to him, upon which he grinned and chattered, seated himself on my knees, and carefully
examined my hands. He then tried to pull off my rings, and was proceeding to a bite for this purpose
'■vhen I gave him some biscuit which happened to lie beside me, and making a bed for him with a
handkerchief he settled himself comfortably to sleep, and from that moment we were sworn allies.
The amusement afforded to me and others by Jack made him tolerated when his mischievous propen-
sities would otherwise have condemned him to perpetual confinement. He was often banished to an
empty hencoop, but as this made no imi)ression upon him I always tried to prevent it, which he knew
so well that when lie had done wrong he either hid himself or sought refuge near me. Much more
effect was produced by taking him within sight of the Panther, who always seemed most willing to
devour him. On these occasions I held him by the tail in front of the cage, but long before I reached
it, knowing where he was going, he pretended to be dead — his eyes were closed quite fast, and every
limb was as stiff as if there were no life in him. Wheji taken away he would open one eye a little xo
see whereabouts he might be, but if he caught a glimpse of the cage it was instantly closed, and he
became as stiff as before. He clambered into the hammocks, stole the men's knives, tools, handker-

* Cet'copitkecus Diana.

108 NATCKAL BISTUKY.

chiefs, arid even the nightcaps ofl' theii- heads, all of which went into the sea. Wlien biscuit was
toasting between the bars of tlie caboose, and the dried herbs boiling in the tin mugs, he would take
the former out and cany it away, and take out the latter and trail them along the planks ; if he burnt
his hands he desisted for a day or two ; and he often regaled the Parrots with the biscuit, biting it in
small ])ieces, and feeding them \dt\\ the utmost gi-avity. At other times he would knock theii- cages
over, lick up the water thus spilled, eat the lumps of sugar, and pull the birds' tails : and in this
manner he killed a beautiful gi-een Pigeon belonging to the steward, a specimen of which I never saw
in any collection. For this he was flogged and imprisoned three daj's ; and half an hour after he was
let out I met him scampering round the deck with two blue-faced Monkeys on his back, which he
often carried about in this manner. When he thought fit to ride, he would watch behind a cask on
the days the Pigs were let loose, dart on to their backs as they passed, dig liLs nails into them to keep
himself on, and the faster they ran and the more they squealed the happier he seemed to be. His
most important misdemeanours, however, were performed to the injury of his fellow Monkeys, of
whom he was very jealous. The smaller ones were very obsequious to him, and when he called them
by a peculiar noise, they came, hanging theii' heads and looking very submissive, and in one week
two were drowned out of sheer malice. I saw him throw the first overboard, and the poor little
tiling swam after us some time, but the ship was going too fast for even a rope to be effectually
thrown out in the hope he would cling to it. During one of the calms we so often met with,
the men had been painting the outside of the ship, and leaving then- pots and brushes on the deck,
went down to dinner. No one was above but myself, the helmsman, and Jack. The latter beckoned
and coaxed a black Monkey to him ; then seizing him by the neck, took a brushful of white paint, and
deliberately covered him with it in every directioiu The helmsman and I burst into a laugh, upon
which Jack, dropping his victim, flew up the rigging into the maintop, where he stood with his Jjlack
nose between the bars peeping at what was going on below. The little metamorphosed beast began
licking himself, but the steward being summoned, he washed him with turpentine, and no harm was
.sustained. Many attempts were made to catch the rogue aloft, but he eluded all, and when he was
driven down by hunger, he watched his opportunity and sprang from one of the ropes on to my lap,
where he knew he should be safe. I fed and interceded for him, so he escaped with only a scolding,
which he received with an ai^pearauee of shame which in him was rather ludicrous."

THE MONA MONKEY.*
The term Mona means tailed Apes or Monkeys, and it has been especially given to one
from Senegal, which has some resemblance to the Diana, and it is mentioned here with a vie'?"
of illustrating its mental peculiarities. They are more beautiful in colour and more elegant Li
form than the Diana, and they are sometimes more gentle, sagacious, and sharp than any other
kind. F. Cuvier describes one which was a gi-eat favourite in the collection at Paris. TJjwn his
arrival he was extremely young, and his gentleness and total want of malice and petulance gained him
the free range of the apartment. Age did not alter the excellence of his disposition ; and as he
increased in age and strength, his address and agility became imparalleled. Yet all his motions were
gentle, and his actions circumspect ; he was persevering in his wants and wishes, but never violent in
the attempt to enforce them. When after much solicitation his requests were refused, he would go off
in a gambol, and find entertainment in some new object. He had no idea of property, but took eveiy
thing that pleased him, even such articles as had previously caused him punishment, and he committed
his thefts ^-ith dexterity and silence. He would open locks wherein the key had been left, untie knots,
open the links of a chain, and search pockets with so much address that you did not feel his hand
there, although conscious of the f;vct that he was thieving. The examination of pockets was his
favourite occupation, doubtless from expecting to find food. He was not very affectionate, but when
tranquil, and not engaged, he received caresses with pleasure. When tempted to play he signified his
assent by many graceful motions ; he would throw himself into all sorts of gi'aceful attitudes, bite
gently, press himself against you, and give out a gentle cry. He never made gi-imaces, but, on the
contrary, his countenance was always calm, and frequently serious. He looked a perfect angel of a

* Cermpithecus Mona .

THE WEITE-XOSED MOXKEY. 109

Monkey in uis beautiful fur : his liaii- was of a brilliant golden grsen, the back and sides wsre rich
brown, variegated with black, the outer pai-t of the limbs and tail were slate-colourecl grey, while the
neck, chest, and underneath were pure shining white. He had ears and hands of a flesh-colour, and
there was a black band stretched across the forehead, surmounted by a crescent-shaped stripe of gi'ey.

Probably its French education may have had something to do with its politeness and gentleness,
for one of these pretty creatures which was kept in the Zoological Gardens was one of the most ill-

ED MDVKEI

conditioned savage beasts ever seen — quite a diabolical Monkey. This Monkey does not appear to
have the air sac in the neck which is common to the Guenons, as well as to the other Monkeys already
noticed.

THE WHITE-NOSED MONKEY.*
Tlie word "petaurista" is the Latin for "one that showeth tricks of activity, from a machine
suspended," according to old dictionaries, so this Monkey with a white nose has its abilities properly
designated. Some call it the Vaulting Monkey, but in the Zoological Gardens its wonderful agility is
shown by its scampering up the side, over the top, ajid down the opposite side of its cage in a kind of
continuous somersault. Coming down on all-fours with a bang, it does the same thing over and over

* Cer copdhecus pctauriaUu

no KATUSAL HISTORY.

.igain to attract attention, and it seems as if it were moving in tlie inside of a wlieel. Tlie dab of
white on the nose distinguishes it, and it comes from that paradise of Monkeys the Guinea Coast and
the adjoining districts.

'Die only one of the second group to be mentioned is

THE TALAPOIN.*
Tliis is a rather rare animal, and comes from the west coast of Africa, having been sent to
Europe fron) the Gaboon. It is a pretty little creature (probably the smalle.st of these Monkeys), and
is extremely gentle and intelligent. The skiu is green, and the lower part of the body and the under
part of the limbs are white. It has large ears, a black nose, and it has a kind of broad " brutus " on
the forehead.

There are some very interesting jioints about this little thing, which, in nearly all its construction,

is like the rest of the Cercopitheci, or Guenons,
but it has a large brain, a short muzzle, a
thick, long partition in its nose, and only
three points, or cusps, instead of four, on its
last lower hind grinders.

So far as is known, theie are no dif-
ferences between the habits of this little
Monkey and the others from the v/est coast
of Africa, and therefore its intelligence and
deficiencies are sufficiently incomprehensible ;
but they exhibit a fact of great importance,
of which a hint was given in tiie conclusion
of the description of the Mona Monkey. In
the Talapoin, the last lower grinder diifer.s
from that of all Monkeys by the absence of
an important part of its usual structui'e, and
in the Mona the great air sac, which is in
communication with the windpijje in most
other Monkeys, is absent. This fact may be
stated as follows : — That in animals closely
resembling others of their gi-oup or genus
material deficiencies in construction suddenly
appear. Coiresponding to these deficiencies are the absence of all or a great part of tail in genera the
majority of whose species have a tail, and the inference to be drawn is that, notwithstanding all the
members or species of a genus are related by a common ancestry, the descendants of a well-marked
stock may exiiibit peculiarities of .structure which are not produced by alterations in the habits or
surroundings of the animals.

Such ])eculiar structures often relate to a remote ancestor, and it is remarkable that in the ease of
this Talapoin they give it a very faint resemblance to the American Monkeys.

Some naturalists separate the Talapoin from the genus, and classify it in one of its own under the
title Myiopithecus.

The third group of the Guenons is represented by the well-known Monkey called

HEAD AND SHOULDERS

THE TALAPOIX.

THE GE^EN JIOXKEY.t

It has its classical name from two words which mean beauty and hair (itaAAos and ftpi'l-Tpi'xos), and it
nust not be confounded with the Callitricha of Bufibn, which is the same as the Grivet ilonkey
yhose figure was drawn by the Egyptians.

The Green Monkeys live in Senegal, and extend as far south as the River Niger, for it was on the

C'ercopithccus talapoin.

T Caxopithecui caUiirichus,

GORILLA. (See pp. 6-39.)
{rrom (he Living Specimen in tht Zoological Gardens, London.)

THE JiED MOXKEY. 11 1

l.orilers of tliat river that Adanson, a French naturalist, noticeil their coliecting in great troops. Tlie
little !Moiikeys were astonished at his appearance, and as the}' rushed off into the forest they broke off,
either purposely or by accident, little branches from the tops of the trees, whose falling i-elieved the
stillness of the woods. He indulged in some very cruel sport at their expense, for although they had
been so silent and noiseless in their gambols, he shot one or two without the others being frightened.
But when the greater part were more or less wounded, they began to get under cover from the shot,
some to swing behind large branches, some coming to the ground, and the majority jumping from the
top of one tree to another. Whilst this little scene [petite manege) was going on, this scientific brute
.still continued to fire on them, and finally he killed twenty-three in less than half an hour. This he
did in the space of about one hundred and thirty feet, and yet not one screamed, although they often
a.ssembled together, knitting their brows and grinding their teeth, as if they intended to attack him.
Broderip, in noticing this, writes, " I wish they had, with all my heart."

They have in common with the other Uuenons a fondness for particular parts of theii- forests, and
one band will prevent another from entering its favourite haunts ; and this regard for companionship
and localit}' is even seen when they are in captivity. Restless, ii'ritable, and irascible they are ever
at play, and fighting among themselves, but they will turn to expel a stranger.

It is said that this Monkey has obtained an American home, and that it was introduced with
slaves into the Island of St. Kitts. Many escaped into the woods, and have increased considerably in
numl)er, so as often to jnllage the plantations.

We introduce a kind here whose elegance of colour is great, jirinciijally to give a good notion of
the general aspects of the Guenons, when not on all-foure, ajid also of the furtive look in the eyes
of tamed kinds.

THE EED-BELLIED MONKEY.*

When living at the Zoological CTardens, in the Regent's Park, this pretty Monkey, with a red
chest and belly, and slim tail, was very timid, but it liked to be petted by the keeper, being somewhat
distrustful of its more romping companions. It would take food out of his hand, and seemed pleased,
and generally played with, his fingei-s, without attempting to bite. The canine teeth were very
moderately grown.

This Monkey inhabits western Africa, and is at once known Ity the red belly and chest, the white
beard and whiskers, and the black band across the forehead. It has, moreover, a yellow crown.

THE EEC OR PATAS lIOKKEY.f

The delicate red ground-colour of this Monkey readily distinguishes it from its more favoured
allie.s. One in the Zoological Gardens is worideifully human in the expression of its face and beautiful
sad-looking large eyes. Its pale lips, eyelids, and cheeks, and the broadish pale forehead, with a slightly
ridged no.se, add to its appearance of suffering. It has a moustache, a few hairs on its nose, and
whiskers, which are very cleanly kept in the proper whisker-line. The hair of the foi-ehead forms
a counter-curve, whose peak is just in the centre. Altogether it is a very pretty animal.

Bruce, the African traveller, when in Western Africa, took that trouble which is very rarely done by
distinguished ti-avellers in Africa, and observed Monkeys in a state of natiu-e — the Red Monkey in
particular. It is strange, consideiing the omnipresence of the Monkey element, that one may look
over volume after volume of African travels, and very rarely meet with a note or word about them :
but such is the case. So our obligation to Bruce is great. He says they descended in troops from the
tops of the trees to the extremities of the branches, earnestly noticing, and ajiparently much amused
by, the boats, as they passed along the river. They then began to take courage, and jielt the j>assengei-s
with pieces of wood, thus provoking a most unequal combat. When fired upon, they uttered the most
frightful cries, and although many fell, the survivors seemed by no means willing to relinquish the
contest ; on the contrary, they redoubled their efforts. Some flung stones at their adversaries, while
others collected something very nasty as a missile ; all, in short, displayed a determination of spirit
which must at all times render them formidable to opponents of weaker jjowers than themselves.

* Ceiropitkeciis crytkroyastcr. t Ccrcopithccus ruler.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The last group of the Guenons are often called the Mangabeys, from a mistaken notion that they
come from Madagascar. But there are no Monkeys in that great island, whose forests are peopled
by Lemurs instead.

^^TB-:^.

' 1

^V

[Sh

p ~ M *

/\xmMKK jm

'' ^l^^S^^mM

^^^^&

UEII-BELLIED MONKEY.

, the P/-oc(;etiirtf?s ofih.^ Zoo!'^<jicul Socictij

THE MANGABEY, OR AVHITE-EYELID MONKEY.*
The general colour of this Monkey is a i-eddish-ljrown, which becomes decidedly red on the top.of

the head. There is a white band between the eyes, which is continued to each side of the back of the

neck. A second kind has grey slaty-brown tints, without the white spot.

One thing strikes the observer at once, and that is the very affected way in which the Monkey

sits, with its eyelids half closed ; and as the upper ones are dead-white, they look almost like doll's

eyelids, and as if they did not belong to it.

They are extremely restless, and ai-e fond of placing themselves In curious attitudes, and so

full of antics are they that it has been erroneously imagined that thsy really have more joints and

Cercopiiheci;

THE MANGABEY. U3

muscles than the most agile of their allies. They are fond of carrying their tails reversed, so as to i«
on a line parallel with the top of the back, and theii- common expression of disgust is to show their
teeth by raising the upper lip. It is always droll, frolicsome, and good-natured. Sii- William Jardius

mentions a female in Mr. Wombwell's Menagerie that was most lively, and Broderip says : — " She
performed many of the attitudes of the most experienced harlequins, and was remarkably cleanly and
careful not to soil her pereon. When feeding, she seldom put her head to the food or dish, but lifted
and conveyed it to her mouth. She was very fond of bread, milk, and vegetables, and of carrots
especially." He gives a figure of hei- — no easy task, for
she was ne\er at rest for one moment, and her celerity
was increased when she perceived she was noticed.

The Mangabeys are all African, and are ])ecu-
liarised by having a fifth cusp, or point, to the last
crushing tooth on each side of the lower jaw, as in
Semnopithecus. Nov/, they have no other re.semblance
to Semnopithecus, and all their structural peculiarities
are those of the Guenons. They have, however, the web
between the fingers carried as far forward as the first
joint, and the hair comes close to the knuckles and the
beginning of the short thumb. In the foot the toe-thumb
is large, and, as usual, widely separate from the toes, the
second and third of which are united by a web, which

reaches almost to the last joint near the tips, and the third, fourth, and fifth are united by smaller webs.
Evidently the peculiar crushing teeth of the Mangabey are a relic of an ancestral character, and w3
must look in some lower tribes for a corresponding arrangement, and in this we are assisted by the
nature of the face, for the muzzle is rather projecting. In fact, they somewhat resemble the Macaques,
or Inui, which will be considered next.

It is extremely interesting to find in Africa, and in the same parts of it. Monkeys living in the
same forests, on the same kind of food, and exposed to the same climate and dangers, diftering so
5''

JV J T VllA L HJS TOR Y.

woiulerfully in Cheii- colour an 1 iiisi)Osition. The ditference has been caussd liy soraethin,!,' more tr
ad,i))tatio:i to ends. Aguin, it is curious to note the difl'erent arrangements of tlie dental structure
the grou]) amongst animals eating the same food and stowing it away in pouches.*

CHAPTER Yir.

THE DOG-SHAPED JI(.)XKEYS ,,„,//, ««r,7). the MACAQiKs.f

Their Description ami Anatomy, and its reference to thai of the Semnopitheci and Guenons - The Common Mac.vqce —
Its Character— Aiipropriateness of the Name— Occasionally an Albino— The Bound-Faced Mac.vque— Found in
China— Ideas of tlie Chinese about them— The Toqce, or Bonnet Monkey- The Bhcnder— Described by Cuvier
— Tlieir Thievinj Propensities— Hindoo Tales of their Sagacity -The Moor Monkey— Belanger's Monkey— The
Pig-Tailed JiACAyi'E— The Magot— One of the Commonest Monkeys— Described by Galen - E;uly Notices of—
Predatory Habits -Abundant at Gibraltar— Probably came OTor from Africa— Similarity to the Baboons— The
WanderoO— Account of one in the Zoological Society's Collection — Geograijhical range of the Maca.juts.

Tll3 next group of ^Monkeys differs mucli from the lively dwellers amongst the \v,»h1s and trees,
wliicli have been described, and the kinds contained in it are evidently suited for running ijiiiclily on all-
foiirs, and more on the gi-ound than amongst tin' liranrhis. They are not so much like tlir I'og in shape
as are the Baboons, which will be described next, but still they are, as it were, Ijetween these and the
Guenons in their habits and construction. They have longer muzzles than the Guenon.s, but not so long a.s
the Baboons, and the nostrils oi)en high up and obliquely. Their eyes are overshadowed by a prominent
brow-ridge, which gives an air of cnmiing not seen in the plajrfid Guenons, and also a look of fierceness and
of mistrust ; and, in fact, the old ones look anytliing but amiable. Their limbs are stout and comjiactly
made, and they display great strength and width in the shoulders. The hind limbs are, h.owever,
longer than the front ones, and the hands and feet are well made, the latter being long and having a
large heel. But what strikes the observer, when he sees drawings or stuffed specimens of the whole
group before him, is the difference in the length of the tail in different species. Some have long
tails, others have very small ones, and one in particular has not one at all. Those with tails used to
be placed in one genus, and those without them in another ; and the first were called Macaques
(Macacus), the others being InuiJ {Inuus). But the close agreement of the other psHts of the body,
notwithstanding the length or absence of the tail, coupled with the fact that it is not nsed in
climbing or in balancing, detei-mined naturalists to rely but little upon that jnembei- in this gi'oup,
•rtiid to join those with tails and without tails in one genus, called Macacus.

Those with long tails, the Macacus cynomolgus, for instance, cause the group to resemble the
Guenons ; or, in other words, link and ally the two genera, it being difficult in the case of this Monkey
to say to -which one it should belong. On the other hand, the Barbary Ape, which managed to
get to Gibraltar and live there in some numbers, and which has but the very stump of a tail, con-
nects the whole group, or genus, with the Baboons without tails. Then there is one with a fine
head of hair, and a long snout (Macacus Silenm), which lives in Malabar, and which has a longish
tufted tail ; and it links some Baboons with long tails to the group now being described.

The Macaques live in India, Tibet, North and South China, Japan, and southwards, and in
some of the great islands of the Archipelago, Formosa, in Africa, in Barbary, but not south of the
Atlas range, and in Europe, on the Rock of Gibraltar.

They all have cheek-pouches and callous pads, or callosities, on theu- seat, and thus resemble the

* In the Cercopitheci the skull has a la-ge brain-ease, and that part on which the brain and cerebellum rest is concave
cr pitted on the petrosal bone, and on each side of the crista galli in the fore part of the s-kull. In general there is a
larj-ngeal pouch. The first premol.ar is like that of the Semnopitheci. The other anatomical pcciiliarities of these and
of the Semnopitheci will be found in the desciiption of the Macaques and Baboons.

t Mdcaciis, or Inuns.

t -'V name of the Koman divinity Faunus.

■no: MACAQUES. 115

Guenons ; nioieover, mast of them have tliroat or hiryngeal sacs, which open mto the membrane
above the vocal organ and below the base of the tongue (in the thyroid membrane).

On examining theii- jaws it will be noticed that there is the same number of teeth as in the other
Monkeys already described, and that the xipjier eye or canine tooth on each sids is very strong and
long. Now, these teeth are not for killing or stopping livmg i)rey, although their possessors do not
hesitate to snap up a good-sized Beetle, a small Lizard, or even a Frog, but they make, with the first
false grinder of the lower jaw, a capital nut-opener. The canine, when the mouth is shut, fits just in
front of this tooth, wliich is usually called the first pre-molar, and which is pressed back and made to
.slant in the jaw by the constant pressure and movements of the canine. The back of the canine is
sharp, and comes in contact with the equally sharp edge of the slanted pre-molar below, so that when ii
nut comes between the two it is cut and crushed at the same time. The canine does not thus fit into a
diastema, or vacant space, but is of great use to the animal. This arrangement is interesting, becaiise it
produces a distortion of the front back teeth of the lower jaw for a definite and usefid purpose : it is
noticed in some of the Guenons, and is particularly seen in mouths of the great Baboons, which will be
noticed further on.

The other back teeth resemble somewhat those of the Guenons, but the last one of the lower jaw
hits five cusps, or prominences, on it.

All these Monkeys going very readily on all-fours have several interesting modifications of the
structures observed in the climbing Monkeys, but of course their general construction is the .same.
They have not, however, the pouched .stomachs of tlie Semnopithecus, and their nearc^st resemblance is
to the African Guenons.

Like all the Monkeys whicli are lower in the animal scale than the great man-shaped Apes,
the Macaq-ics liave narrow wrists, long fiug.n- boue.s, and a sliort and Ijackwar.lly-placeJ thumb.
There aie nine boues in the wrist. Ti)e hip- and haunch-bones are long, and the first are hollowed
out, and their direction refers to the method of progression on all-fours, and their genend appearance
is rather that noticed in the regular four-footed bea.st of prey, and they difier much in breadth
relatively to those of man.

The length of the tail depends upon the number of the tail-pieces, or vertebraa, and upon their
size. Li the Gibraltar Ape there are only three of these caudal vertebi-te, Imt in the Bhunder there
are fift:-en- and sometimes eighteen in the tail, which measures nine inches, w hilst in the Pig-tailed
Inuus there are seventeen. It appears that some of the long-tailed kinds lia\e no more vertebra;
than the others, but that the diminished length is due to their shortening. The long and middle-sized
taded kinds have chevron- or Y-shaped bones under the tail, and the nature of these has been
explained already.

Living upon a great variety of food, and using their jaws with rapidity, these Monkeys are
furnished with a curious modification of a muscle, which exists in man and tlie higher Apes. There
is in these a muscle on each side of the throat, which draws the chiii do^vn, or, in other words, helps
to open the mouth. It is called the two-bellied, or digastrieus nmscle, as it has two muscular masses —
one attached to the lower jaw, and the other to the lump of bone behind the ear — and tliey are united
by a thin tendon. This tendon is attached to the side of the bone at the base of the tongue, or
OS hyoides, and it passes through a loop of a muscle which passes from the ear-l)0u<' (»tijhii<l jirocess) to
the OS hyoides. The muscle acts as follows : — When the mouth is to be opened after swallowing, the
Ijase of the tongue-ljone is pulled down by a mtiscle which comes from the breast-bone to it, and then the
front bellv, or muscle of the digastrieus, pulls from the base of the tongue against the lower jaw and
drags it open. But when the muscle relaxes, and the jaw is .shut preparatory to swallowing, the
digastrieus begins to assist in this operation. In swallowing, the base of the tongue is drawn upwards
towards the roof of the mouth, and the back and front bellies of the muscle now under consideration
drag on their fixed tendon, and straighten, so as to assist iu this.

In the Macaques, this tendon is replaced by muscular bands, and greater vigour is given to the
muscle, so that the jaw is jwlled at more rapidly, and the tongue is elevated with energy.

As there is a greater power given in drawing up the tongue in the fii'st stage of swallowing, there
mu.st be something extra to pull it do^vn again in the second stage, for in this the back of the tliroat,
the millet, and the back of the tousrue are all brou"lit from above to a lower level. This is arranged

110 NATURAL HISTORY.

by a modification of a imiscle, which in man and the Cliimpanzee, for instance, stretches from
the toj) of the bhulebone, across the lower part of the neck, to the bone at the base of the tongiie
(tlie oino-hyoid muscle). It has also two bellies in man, or, in other words, the muscular fibres are
attached to the bladebone and to the hyoid bone, and there is an intermediate tendon ; moreover, this
passes tlu-ough a pulley, so that the obliquely-iilaced muscle in the lower part of the neck acts straight
upon the tongue, and pulls it down in a right line. In the Macaques, this muscle has no central
tendon, and the muscular fibres jiass all the distance from the bladebone to the os hyoides at tlie
base of the tongue. • '

In addition to these modifications where muscle replaces tendon, there are those of several other
muscles which act on the tongue, the larynx, and on the upper and lower parts of the windpipe, their

conjoined action being to approximate all these parts. These muscles, which are separate in man, are
united in one in the Macaques.

The head of these Monkeys, hanging as it does when they go on all-fours, requires extra supjiort,
and one of the muscles of the back, which from its square shape is called the rhomb-shaped muscle,
is especially attached to the occiput, and helps to hold the head up. Another assistant in the move-
ment on all-fours is a muscle which pulls the bladebone forwards when the animal is walking. It
springs from the outer processes of the upper bones of the neck (transverse process of the upper cervical
vertebra}), and is attached to the spine of the bladebone. This muscle is seen in the great beasts of
prey also, and in the Semnopitheci and Guenons. A similar " wild-beast " peculiarity exists in
the an-angement of the muscles of the hand ; the muscle which extends the little finger and opens it
is divided, and has greater connections with the fourth finger than in man. The long muscle which
extends the thumb, and the short one which draws it from the fingers, are not separate in the Macaques,
but the muscle has two tendons, and thus foreshadows the arrangement wliich in man and the higher
Apes gives such perfection of movement to the thumb.

TSE MACAQUES. 117

Tlie Macaques have their ears rather pointed at the tip, and not rounded, and the general shape
of their bodies is not lanky like that of the active long-legged Guenons and Semnopitheci. They are
less gracefully made, and the dog-like appearance, so palpable in the Baboon, is recognised in their
fore parts and head. Moreover, the colours are not usually pretty and variegated, as in many of the
kinds of the genera already described, but are dun and sad in tint. Their tail varies according to the
species in length, and a rough method of classification may be made which divides them into those
with long, tliose with moderate, and those with short and almost no tails.

The large Common Macaque (J/, cynomolyuis), and the Round-faced, or Fprmosan Monkeys
(M. cijclopis), and the Bonnet Monkey, represent the long-tailed kinds ; the Bhunder {M. rhesus),
has a tail of middle length ; and the short-tailed gi-oup about to be mentioned consists of tlie Moor,

the Pig-tailed, and the Belanger Monkey. The tail-less one includes the Magot. Finally, the Silenus
Ajie, usually miscalled Wanderoo, is so baboonish that, although it has a long tail, it cannot be placed
with the Common Macaque in the beginning of the chapter, but must come at the end, so as to
lead to the true Dog-headed Apes, or Baboons, which will be described further on.

If the remarks in page 106 about the fourth division of the Cercopitheci are now read carefull}^,
it mil be understood how these Monkeys, the Macaques and the Baboons, form a group of creatures
which is only i-eally separable into kinds or species, but that the genera are very artificial.

THE COiniON MACAQVE.*
The so-called Common Macaque, or Macacus cynomolyus, represents the long-tailed section of the
genus, and grows to be a powerful animal amongst the other small Monkeys, over a very wide e.xtent
of country. It lives in Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Batchian, in the islands from Lombok to

* Macacus cynomolyus.

niS NATVEAL HISTORY.

Timor, and iu the Philippines. It is a quiet aad tolerably ami-able Mo-ikey when young, but wiili
years, it becomes a wild, savage, and very brutal creature. Even iu menageries it is often nasty in its
habits, and savage. So bad a character has it, that when the proper name to give it came under the
criticism of Fred. Cuvier, he sought out those of all the wickedest and naughtiest men in Lempriere's
Classical Dictionary, and finally considering that Irus, who disturbed the domestic peace of the sublimely
virtuous, industrious, and persevering Penelope, was the worst of the worst, he fixed his name to that
of this Monkey. But Buftbn had, not from his bad qualities, or from any resemblance to the Monkey
in disposition, his name attached to it long before; so it was called Buffon's Monkey, as well a.i
the Hare-lipped, although one faUs to recognise this condition in its face. To comjtlicate mattei-s, an
English zoologist, who knew little of Penelope's feelings or trials, mistook the word Irus, and wrote it
Iris ! The word Cynomolgus may be translated " a pilfering or a lewd dog," so that it and Iru.s
are very appropriate.

The huge shoulders of the full-grown adult strike one, and its general clumsiness also. There is
a large body, and the limbs are short for it, although the tail is long. The fur is rather short, and is of
an olive-brov^^l, spotted with black on the head and body, but it is grey on the limbs, and blackish
on the taU. There is no " hare-lip" in this Monkey, but there is no hollow going from the nose to the
upper lip as in man, and only a raised line.

This Monkey is sometimes found perfectly white, with red eyes, or as an albino; its skin is
then of a pinkish colour, and the long tail looks very curious, as there Ls not much hair on it. A
male and female ot this kind are very interesting in the Zoological Gardens ; they dislike the glare of
day, and are very lively and full of fun and malice. The female has the whiskers and all the beauty
01 hair, and the male is a quieter animal, but a great grimace-maker. He tries to look fierce when
the sun is on his face, and looks most odd. He draws back his ears, so that they cling to the back
of his head, and wobbles his eyes about in a most laughable manner. The female does not like to be
disturbed in her nap after breakfast, and comes out to see what is the matter. If anything noisy
is going by, she scolds violently, and if she can catch hold of her driuking-tin, she will bang it about in
a very amusing manner. Sitting in her wooden house, she bangs the outside with the tin, and then
dropping it, rushes out and fixes her teeth on the wooden branches in the cage. The deficiency of
colouring matter in the iris of the eye allows so much light to enter that organ, that there is the same
scowling or shading eye look in them as there is in luniian albinos.

The second example of a long-tailed genus is

THE ROUND-FACED MACAQUE,* THE FORMOSAN MONKEY.

These are very interesting Monkeys, with a human-like expression, which sufler considerably at

the hands of the Chinese, for shoald one be captured, its tail is immediately cut off, the Chinese

having a fanciful idea that the tail of the Monkey is a caricature of the Tartar pendant into which

they twist their long back hair. They therefore cut ofl' the tail of every Macaque that comes into their

They live in Formosa about the declivities and caverns which overhang the sea, miles away
from any woods. It seems to be quite a rock-loving animal, seeking the shelter of the caves during
the gi-eater part of the day, and assembling in parties ui the twilight and feeding on berries, the tender
shoots of plants and grasshoppers, &c. In the summer it collects in bands during the night, and
commits depredations among the fields of sugar-cane and fruit-trees. They nurse their solitary young
ones up in the hills, and betray much uneasiness — no wonder — at the approach of man. They seem,
however, to possess abundance of self conceit.

The Chinese have some veiy curious notions about them, and about some other Monkeys wliioh
are either identical or are found with them. They say that in the Yaoukwang hills are animals
whose exterior appearance is like a Mehow wth human face and Hogs' bristles. During the summer
they dwell in caves. They are called Hwatso, theii- cry is like cut water (noise of a mill), and when
seen they are " ominous of a conscription " {i.e., of being forced to work). The Yew are like the
Mehow and of a deep black colour ; theii- tails are long like the others, but have no tuft.s. "When

* Macacus cydopis. '

THE llIirXliER. 1)9

they scent the dew ascending to form r;dn, they then suspeu'l themselves by means of their tails tc till
their nostrils with it, or else by both feet. The Gaou are said to iiiliabit the Lunseen hills, to be
.like an Ape with long arms, and to be good for killing. When their arms are cut thi-ough at the tluck
part, they can be n\ade into flutes rounder than reeds. They are of the Monkey tribe, having long
legs, and are good whistlers, and given to drag things about. The Yew are like the common Moukcy,
with green body and dark paws ; they have black whiskei"s and black paws. They are naturally very
fond of their whiskers, and doat ou their species, living and dying together ; on which account, if one
can be got at, a hundred will be killed. IMen shoot them with poisoned arrows ; the .shot animai'.s
conij)anions draw out the arrow in order to wound themselves and die with one another.

These round-faced Monkeys have, of course, callosities on the buttocks, and these at certain times
become gorged with blood, so as to swell out and become greatly distended, being horrible to look at.

They resemble the common Rhesus Monkey, about to be described, in many points, and indeed
the skulls present sn many things in common that no satisfactory distinction can be made ; but the
bones of the pelvis, which are niuoli curved, and the shorter limb-bones of the round-faced species, are
•distinctive.

The fur of this Monkey is thick and woolly, and is very slate-coloured. The tail is about a foot
in length, is hairy, and has a Ijlack line along the top. The head is round, the ears are small and
featheretl, and the face is flat. The forehead is naked and the cheeks are dark-whiskered, and there is
SI strong niflle-like beard.

THE BONNET MONKEY.*

This is a \cry connnon JFonkey in menageries and zoological gardens, and is always an object of
jittentidu, as it is amusing, very actiw, full of tricks and malice, and a great stower away of nuts in
its clieek-pouches. It is known among.st the other Macai|ui-s liy its cap of long hail- radiating from
tlie crown, on which it rests flat, but it is often parted duwu the midille. It has a long tail, rather a
long nuizzle, and prominent ridges over the eyes, and the fcjreliead is flat. Its fur is olive-grey, and
sometimes greenish or lirowu in tint, whilst the iinder surface is ashy-white. It has large and often
Hesh-coloured ears.

'J he young often liav(- tln'ir head of hair jiarted down the middle, and, as their face and forehead
5ire pale and not hairy, they have a very Ini.uan appearance.

Very good-tenijuTed whcu pleased, this Maca([ue enjoys a l)it of mischief, and if it can steal
anything fr^jui a visitor it is intensely delighted. But when food is otlcrcil and then not given, the
Bonnet }iIonkfy shows that it consi<lers itself wronged, and sroMs ami scn'.ims in a great rage. It
has much ciipacity for aceeiitiug and stowing away food, and ther;' ar<' oi'tm tieive ii^ihts if one intrudes
aipou the stoii- ol another. Very fond of hugging and nursing others, it is eiiualiy deli^hti-d in
.searching th- liodiis of its comi)anions for insect life ; but, although thus amiable, it resents uiikiudness
"Very deuideJl)' and at once.

Another coumion Macaque is called the Toque, but it only difi'ers from the Bonnet in the parting
of its hair.

THE BHUNDER, (_)R RHESU.S MONKEY.f

This is a Jlonkey with a medium-sized tail, which is wtll known to those Eiu'opeans who have
lived in out-of-the-way places in British India.

It is a strong-looking creature when fidl grown, and has powerful shoulders and limbs ; the tail is
about one-third of the length of the body, which (jften attains the length of from one foot and a-haif
to two feet. The prevailing coloiir of the hair is olive-green and brown ou the back, and the naketj
face is of a pale flesh-colour. There is no ruti' of hair around the neck, and the ears are vary visible,
and there is a singidar looseness or folding of the skin of the throat and belly. The callosities are
often very reil, and the insides of the legs also.

V. Cu\ ier oliser\cd the early days of one born in France, and noticed that immediately after birt.i
it clung fast to its mother's stomach, holding on \vith its fore hands stuck in her fur, and that it did
not quit tlie bretist, e\-en during its sleep, for fifteen days. In the first day of its existence it appeared
■to distinguish things, and to look at them carefully, and the mother was devoted to it, giving it the

<^ Macacvi roAJI-Miis: f Macacus rhesui.

120

NAiriiAL HISTOSY.

teiulerest attention of a constant and patient nurse. Not a movement or noise on its part escapea
her, and her maternal solicitude was quite astonishing. The weight of the little thing did not interfere
vdth her moving about, and all her exertions were managed with a view of not incommoding her young
charge. She never shook it, or stiiick it accidentally against the edges and corners of her house. At
the end of a fortnight the little one began to detach itself, and from the beginning of its moving by
itself it showed a gi-eat amount of vigour, power, and ability to run and jump, which human children
of a year or two might well envj-. It held on to the v/ires of its cage and crawled up and down at

c~^ v.-^

liHUNUEU AND UONNET MONkLV.

will, but the carefid mother never took her eyes ofl' it, and followed it wherever it went, and even held
out her hands to prevent it tumbling when it became too ventmesome. Indeed, she admonished the
little one by a gentle touch that it had been away long enough, and must come in. At other times it-
walked on all-foui-s over the straw, and often let itself ch-op down from the top of its cage on to the
soft bottom, so as to accustom itself to fall on all-fours ; then it would jump up the net-work and lay
hold aiid scramble with gi-eat precision. After a while, the mother began to teach the young one not
to be so troublesome to her, and to manage without her, but .still .she took care of it, following it if it
was doing anything out of the way and in danger. With strength the agility of the creature increased,
and its jumps and bounds were wonderful, and it never miscalculated its distance, or made a false step.
After six weeks a more substantial nourishment than milk was required, and then a very curicua

TBE BUCXDER. 121

spectacle was seen. This attentive motlier would not let the little one have a bit of all the nice things,
but drove it away and scolded it, although it was hungiy. The old one took possession of the fi-uit and
bread which were for both, and boxed the little one's ears if it came close and hid up the food.
She had hardly any more milk, and the young one was in daily want of food, but the old one did not
appear to act from cruelty or gluttony, but wished to train up the youth, like the young Cyrus, to feats
of daring and of skill. As hunger pressed, the young one became bold, and stole by art what he
could not get otherwise. If he was very adi-oit, all the better, and he wa.s commended by being
allowed to caiTy off hLs own. He used to get to the further end of the cage, and turning his back on
his mother would begin to gormandise. But even the maternal .solicitude was not wanting, for she

often used to go up to him and snatch a nice titbit out of- his jaws. Perhaps this was a mistaken
idea, for after a while a larger quantity of food was placed in the cage, and the little one had its
quantity without any stealing.

The Bhunders are sacred in some parts of India, and are left very much to themselves : so they
assemble in troops, and steal from among the natives in a very troublesome manner.

As they are very bold, their habits in the wild state are often observable, their .slyness and
thieving propensities being most amusing. They gather on the roofs of the low houses in the
bazaare, and look out for occasion to steal. One was observed on a roof ficmtin;;' a sweetmeat
shop, and feigning to bo asleep; but every now and then he looked wistfully ;ii the luscious
prizes below. It was, however, of no use, for sitting beside his stores was tlir s.llir. smoking his
pipe, and looking decidedly wide awake. This went on for half an hour, when the ]Monkey got up,
yawned, and stretched himself artfully, as if he had only just awoke. He began to play with his tail,
and even made believe he was tying knots in it, as if he were wholly intent on it ; but ever and anon
he gave a sharp, sly look over his shoulder at the sweetmeats, but only to see the seller still there

IJi KATURAL BISTORT.

bmoking away to his heart's content, and i-uminating concerning prospective customers and profits.
The Monkey still had patience, and amused himself with his fleas, and had a good and general scratch ;
and he was rewarded, for suddenly the confectioner arose from his seat, took liLs i>ij)e, and turned
towards the back door for a fresh supply of tobacco. Instantly the Bhunder was ou all-fours, and the
sweetmeats were before him and behind their owner. In another moment he had jumjied oft" the
roof, cleared the street, and was on the board which was crowded with sugar-plums. He of course
began to cram as many as possible into his cheek-pouches. But, alas for the spoiler, there were other
pilferers there in the shape of hornets ; his sudden descent frightened them, and they flew oft^, but
r .'turned on the instant, and to take vengeance. Before he could regain his roof they were all round
him, stinging here and stinging there with great ijeal and passion. His eflbrts at getting away from
them were frantic, and he scrambled over the rotten roof, displacing the tiles, which came down with a
crash ; and at last, when he jumped clear of the enraged insects, he came on to a sharp, th.orny bush,
from which he could not extricate himself. He had to spit all the nice things out of his pouches, and,
screaming with i)aiu — fur tlie thorns were more like fish-hooks than anything else — he sat a picture of
misery, barking hoarsely now and then. The fall of the tiles brought out a crowd of nati%'es, and they
were speedily joined by the confectioner, full of revenge. But the culprit was a Monkey, and, there-
fore, an object of veneration ; so a coui)le of Hindoos managed to i-escue him, and he limped ofl' as well
as he could to a neighbouring grove.

The Hindoos tell many tales of the sagacity ot this Monkey ; and there is one which may be
taken as a specimen, although it has been filtered through Mahomedan pages. A fakir had a Monkey
which he had brought up from birth. He loved it, and travelled here and there, taking mudi care of
it. In return the Monkey behaved like a watch-dog, and' was most faithful and watchful. It
amused the fakir by its endless tricks and mimicry. One day, the fakir j>laced his cai-pot in a square
before the palace of some great shah who had nothing to do, and who looked at tlir fakir .md the
Monkey with great delight. The fakir had made a pie; there were some pieces of birds' lli .s!i in it, antl
it was placed on some lighted charcoal to be cooked. The Monkey sat watching, and the fakir thought
he would like a stroll until dinner was ready, knowing that his faithful follower would look after the
cooking. But the shah saw more than the fakir ; for, after a while, the smell of the meat came strongly
into the Monkey's nostrils, and he began to fee! hungry. Soon he was very hungiy, and then he just
lifted up the edge of the crust, and could not refrain from taking a tiny bit — just a little leg. This was
so nice that he took a little more, and finally eat all. The crust was left on the grass, and then the
sinner suddenly remembered his master. The shah was in ecstasies, wondering what would come
next. After due consideration, the Jlonkey remembered that he usually sat on a very beautiful flesh-
coloured " callosity," and he had noticed that several Crows and other l)irds had been hovering about
whilst he consumed his master's dimier. He instantly feigned to be dead, and hiding his head, gave
the birds the benefit of the scarlet appearance. One came down instantly with a swoop ; but the
IMonkey was too quick, and the bird was seized and strangled in an instant. Eapidly plucking ofl' the
feathers, the Monkey jiulled it to pieces, and put it in the pie, and sat looking happy, contented, and
extremely \-ii-tuous. The shah was struck with this wonderful display of instinct, and the story goes
on to say that he promoted the fakir to an important post under government.

■There is a Macaque which, instead of ha\'ing the quiet bro\VTi and olive tints of the others, with
short tails, is of a dark oily black colour. It is called

THE MOOR MONKEY.*

It lives in Borneo, and is about eighteen inches in length. It has a flat nose, with nostrils
o;)eiiing well outwards, and the eyes are hazel, the pupils being very large. The length of the bones of
the tail is not enough to carry it beyond the callosities, which are of a roseate hue.

When young the skull is short, and there is no gi-eat projection over the eye ; but with age the
upper p.irt of the face becomes very square, and the eyebrow ridges grow. Now, this gloomy-looking
Monkey offers some points of interest, for there is another one, called the Booted Monkey {Macacvs
ocreatus), which cannot be distinguished from it when both are young. With age, however, the last-

* Macacus maurus.

TBE MAGOT. 123

nanind one becomes oily black, lias a longer tail, and the hair on the liead has a bushier appearance.
But can these distinctions be accepted as showing a difi'erence in the species ? Probably not ; and it
•will be for the student to consider that Monkeys may have races and varieties which really pertain
but to one species, and yet are separated by the natiu-alist.

There are other short-tailed species of the Macaques, of which one, called the Handsome Monkey
{Macacus speciostis), has a I'ed face. It is from Japan, and is educated by the showmen there to do
tricks like the Rhesus Monkey of India.

Another kind is interesting, because it gives a liiiit how a tail may be gradually lost from being
in the way.

BELANGER'S MONKEY.*

Tliis is found in C'ochi;i-Clraia, Singapore, Burmah, and up in the hills of Upper Bumiali, Cochin,
and Assam.

Its tail is more than a stump, yet is not lialf a middle-sized one, as it does not come lower
than the haunch-bones. The Monkey is much troubled with it. Sometimes it is stuck up erect,
but usually it is curled inwards, as if the animal were ashamed of it, and had done something
wrong. When this is the case, the end quarter of it is doubled up, and thus the space between the
liaunch-bones is filled, as it were. The animal then sits on its tail and on its callosit'es, which are on
the haunch-bones, and the consequence is that the suifacc^ of tlu- tail, thus compressed, becomes hard
and callous. Here, writes Dr. Anderson, the Indian zoologist, is an instance of a Monkey sitting
on its tail ; and the habit appears to be peculiar to the species. The tail is ^ery degenerated, so far as
its bones are concerned, and the curvature of it ajipears to be caused by the animal desiring to cur\e
it out of the way of pressure. Perhaps, according to Lord Monboddo, this is the first symptom of
the loss of tail. With regard to the other peculiarities of this species, it may be mentioned that it h^3
pretty eyes, and is exceedingly easily domesticated.

THE riG-TAILED MAC'AQUE.t-THE BRUH.
This i.s a short, thin-tailed kind, comi>s from Sumatra. IJ :)rue(), and the Malay Peninsula, and is
called by the natives the Bruh — climber of the jialms. It is s.iid to be used by the natives to collect
cocoa-nuts, and is domesticated by them, being often fiiund in their houses.

THE MAfJOT.+ THE EARBARY APE. THE TAIL-LESS APE.

This is a very celebrated kind, and it has made its mark in the history of science and of the world.
It was dissected by Galen ; it took part in the great siege of Gibi-altar, and is one of the most popular of
the companions of the organ-grinder. Moreover, as will be noticed further on, it is an animal which
may be classified with the Vynocephali, or true Baboons, to be described in the next chapter, ^vithout
doing much violence to science.

It is called Magot by the French, and it is the Pithecus of that great old jihysician, Galen, who,
when he could not learn anatomy by dissecting the human body, which was not allowed, investigated
that of the Tail-less Ape. Born at Pergamo, about the year a.d. 131, Galen studied literature and
then anatomy when young; and visiting Alexandria, was greatly delighted with being permitted to
examine a human skeleton there, and subsequently to dissect a robber, who had remained without burial.
Seeing that anatomy and physiology were the very foundations of medical pnxctice, and noticing tiie
resemblances of man and the Ape, he set to work and ^vrote largely on anatomy, but made the Ape hLs
model. He vas far before his age, and, therefore, abominable in the eyes of the antiquated practitioners ;
so his career as a physician in Rome was short. Nevertheless, his voluminous works la.sted longer
ihan hLs critics, and influenced the rise of medical science and the comfort and lives of mankind for
many centuries. His anatomy was wrong, because it was that of the Ape and not of man ; but, never-
theless, so strongly were the medical anatomists — who never dissected but only read — impressed with
thi correctness of his so-called human anatomy, that when Vesalius did dissect men and describe them^

* M-icaziis ItnauieKS. ■'( Macaciis nemestrinus. + Macaciis sylvaiv^s, or I:'uy.s ecaudatvA

124 XATUIiAZ BISTORT.

lie was pooli-poolied by tlie faculty as of no autliority whatever. Just as Oxford opposed tne learning
of Greek, so the fu-st physician of Hem-y IV. of France decided again.st human anatomy and Vesaliiis ;
but Greek and Vesalius triumphed after a while.

Nevertheless, humanity for many centuries was under a deep obligation to the Magot, inasmuch
• as surgery, as applied to man, was founded upon observations on the con.struction of the Ape.

Strabo knew that North Africa was peopled by the Tail -less Ape, or Pithecus; and he asserts
that Posidonius, on going from Cadiz to Italy by sea, stopped in Lybia (the present Barbary), and saw
large numbers of these Apes in the forests, which came down close to the water side.

The Magot is about the size of a middle-sized Dog, and measures from two to two and a half feet

PIO-TAILED MACAQVE.

in length. The upper parts of the body and outsides of the limbs are of a light yellowish-brown
colour, which is deeper on the head and round the cheeks ; the under parts are whitish ; and the face,
cars, and other naked and hairless parts are flesh-coloured. The bald face, rather pale in tint, is long
and wrinkled, and it is this which gives an old look to them, even when they are young. It is a
robust animal when full gi-own, and has then deeply-set eyes, which are rather close together, and a
projecting brow. The erect posture can be maintained for a short time, but it is not natural to it ;
on the contrary, it moves on all-fours quickly, jumps and climbs with great agility, scampering ovei-
broken ground or getting into the trees equally well. It squats on its haunches, and often sleeps
with the head hanging down over the chest. Always alert and full of mischief, they assemble in
troops, especially on the flanks of the Atlas range, place their .scouts on trees, like so many Crows,
and despoil the fruit plantations and gardens. In this they resemble the Baboons, whose marau(lin!>
expeditions will be noticed further on.

This is the Monkey which is tolerably common on the Rock of Giliialtar ; and they were there
before the sea wore away the land and formed the Strait. They are essentially Rock Apes, and like

TML MAGOT. 12.5

trees neai- rocks, and, therefore, tliey are not founil in desert tracts or in deep woods. Formerly
the Rock of Gibraltar was no doubt continuous with the range of hills far over the sea to the south,
and there the Magot plundered (or, nither, took what Nature let liim take ; for man had not then
come to disturb him) the fruit of Kabylia, Algiers, and Morocco. People have invented many methods
by which the Magots could come from Barbary on to the Rock of Gibraltar : some believe in a
subterranean passage, wliicli is said stUl to enable the occasional visits of African relations to their
European kindred ; and others, more practically inclined, believe that the Apes came over on board
.'iiiip by stealth. Certain it is that the strong cm-rent through the Straits prevents anything from
drifting from one side of them to the other. Some years since, some caves were opened and carefully
examined in the Rock of Giliraltar, and bones were found of kinds of Hysenas, of Rhinoceros, antl

of Elephants, all compai-able with those still living on the African Continent. Now, such animals
could not at the present time live on the Rock, but they might have done so when it was part of a
coimtiy extending right away to Africa. Their bones were washed into valleys amongst the hills,
and then they fell into deep fissures and became preserved ; and this could only have taken place when
there was much water in the neighbourhood ; and for there to be much water, the whole aspect of thi>
country would have to be changed — to be extended far and wide where the sea now is.

No Monkey bones were found ; but this is to be explained by noticing what occm-s in India.
There a dead Monkey is rarer than a dead Donkey in England — so rare, indeed, that the natives believe
that their- fellow Monkeys bury them ; but the fact is there are plenty of beasts of prey ready to
devour them, sick or dead, and therefore Monkey bones are vei-y seldom found.

It Ls probable, then, that the Magot, and many African and some European animals, lived in the
south of Spain when the Penin.sula was united to North Africa. It has lasted longer than its great
fellow-beasts, and still lingers there, but in greatly diminishing numbers.

Wliat they live upon on the Rock is rather a mysteiy, for there are no groves of fruit-trees or

NATVRAL UISTOKY.

i)lantation.s to be robbed, but only roots and bulbs to be dug up. Perhaps it is this spare diet wliich
restricts their minibers and caurses tliem to be veiy watchful. It is notorious that they are rai'ely
approached, but sometimes they are trapped, or seduced into mischief, which ends in eapti^dty. All
kinds of stories are told at Gibraltai-, and by most of those who have resided there, of the acts and
deeds of the Rock Monkeys. Once upon a time, a .strong party of these A])es, headed by an old male,
who had grown grey in audacity and mischief, were always stealing and ruining the belongings of a certain
regiment in garrison, and at last the aimoyaiice became .so gi'eat that it was determined to catch the
ringleader, if possible. The men caught him, and shaved his head and face, and then they let him go.
Away he scampered to hLs party, who had been watching for him at a distance, eager, no doubt, to
place himself at their heatl again and lead them to vengeance. He was received with a volley of sticks
and stones by Ms own troops, who treated him .so roughly that he had to fly for his life. In this
deplorable and degi-aded state, he was fain to sneak back to his old enemies, the — th regiment, and
presented himself at their quarters, so woe-begone and with such a niefid visage, " all shaven and shorn,"
that there was no resisting the appeal. Broderip says : " He was ad-
mitted, and remained with Ids new allies, whom he served ivith fidelity,
upon the principle that secures the faith of other allie.s — because lie
couldn't help it." It is said in one of the .stories of the great siege
that the Monkeys saved Gibraltar as the Geese saved Rome, for the
Spaniards attempted to surprise the place a few weeks before the regular
siege commenced ; but, fortunately for the British, the attacking i)arty
had to pass where a number of these Magots had collected. Both parties
were startled at the noise, but the British were put on their guard,
and the old fort was thoroughly ready for the enemj-. General Elliot,
idlei-wai-ds Lord Heathfield, never suffered the Apes to be molested
or taken ; but one had been made prisoner previously to the time of
his being made Governor of Gibraltar, and was kept chained in his
yard. Another Monkey, who had apparently fallen from a rock, had
been picked uj) by one of the General's aide.s-de-camp and conducted to
the same place. Nothing could be more striking than the meeting of the
pair. It was e\'idently the recognition of two old friends or relatives.
After contem])lating each other for a few seconds, they ru.shed into each other's amis, then pushed
each other a little back, a.s if to make sure of the recognition, and, after a second mutual examina-
tion, again clasped each other to their breasts.

The Magots, like all other Monkeys, are playful, affectionate, and gentle, when young, to those
whom they know, but they become cross and ^-icious with age, and are generally greatly brutalised by
their master.s — in fact, brought to the .same level.

The absence of a tail makes the Magot look veiy baboonish, and this apjiearance is not lost when the
animal is dis-sected, and the skull is examined. Tliis is much less animal-looking than that of any one of
the Baboons, for it has not so much face, and the front of it is not so disfigured with ridges and swellings.
But the forehead is " villainous low," and there are well-marked ridges over the orbits, the skull not
ri.sing behind them ; and, as a matter of com-.se, the brain case is flat, the brain itself being low in
height. The palate is narrow and long, the face is flat, and the chin recedes. There is a cajntal .set
of teeth, and the la.st gi-inders of the lower jaw (third molars) have theii- fifth cusp, or tubercle,
subdivided by two side-slits. In this, and in the tail, which is excessively nidimentary, and only
has three bones, or vertebrse, the Magot departs from the usual form of the Macaques as a genus. The
sutures of the face and skull — that Ls to say, the joinings between the bones — are soon obliterated in
this animal ; and it appears to have the nose (nasal) bones joined in one at an early age, thus
resembling the Baboon and the carnivorous animals.

So many tricks are taught these clever Magots, and with such ease, that one would expect to
find a fairly-developed bi-ain ; but an examination of one shows that it is hollowed beneath :;iid narrow
in front, whilst it is broad behind, and extending well back, and covering the cerebellum.

Their .special muscular structures resemble those of the other Inui, and even their stumj) of a tail
has the muscles which are common to those of all Monkey.s, but wliich in this instance are useless.

THE WAKDESOO.

127

It will be noticed in the engraving of the wrist-bones that one projects behind. This is the
pc£U.siiaped, or pisiform bone. It is small and at the side of the wrist in man, but here it acts like a
front heel bone. Tlie length of the three middle long bones of the jialm, or metacarpals, is nearly
equal • and this is an interesting point, a.s it prevents the third finger from being so much the longest,
■Mv\ gi^•es the hand more or less a foot-like appearance.

THE WANDEROO.*

Wanderoo is the English way of spelling and pronouncing the word by which the native inhabitants
of Ceylon call all Monkeys ; and it is certainly misapplied in this instance, for the animal is not
truly one of the Cingalese Monkeys, although it has been brought into the island. It lives in the
neighboui-ing part of the south of the peninsula of Hindostan, especially in the country bordering
the Malabar coast. It is a small animal,
l)robably never reaching two feet in
length, and the tail may be that of ten
or twelve inches ; but, fi-om the stories
v/hich have been told and invented,
one would conceive the Waiulei'oo to be
a giant in wickedness as v/ell as in i>hy-
sical power.

Tliey have slim bodies, which are
covered with deep black hair, and there
is a longish tail of the same colour,
ended by a little tuft. Theii- head
looks very large, because of a mane, or
rufi", and beard which surrounds the
face, sticking out in a wild kind of way.
This mass of long hair is either grey or
white in coloin-, and adds to the sly
look of the broad face, .soft dull eyes,
and rather long black muzzle.

A former dignitary of the Roman
Catholic Church, the Procurator-General
of the Barefooted Carmelites, Father
Vincent Maria, writes that there are
four kinds of Monkeys on the coast of

Malabar, and then proceeds to describe the Wanderoo. He says that this is perfectly black, is
clothed with glossy hair, and has a white beard round his head and chin, measimng rather more than a
palm in length. To him all the other Monkeys show such deep re.speet, that in his presence they
are submissive, and luimble themselves as if they were aware of his pre-eminence. The princes and
great lords esteem him highly, for that he is, above every other, gifted with gi-avity, capacity, and a
wise appearance. Easily is he taught to perform a variety of ceremonies and courtesies, and all these
in so serious and perfect a style as to make it a great wonder that they should so exactly be enacted
by an irrational animal. This excellent character does not appear to have been peculiar to all the
Wanderoos ; for some have been desciibed as savage and disgusting in the extreme, and as most
vicious and malignant in captivity. But it is probable that the gentleness of disposition which has
been so noticed by those who have kept them kindly was spoiled by teasing and maltreatment.

The showmen call this Monkey the "Child of the Sun;" and Broderip suggests that it is tlie
ruff, with the head peeping through, which gives a faint likeness to old Sol over a public-house door:
and that probably the dark colour of the animal impressed his exliibitors with the great heat he enjoyed
in his Indian home.

FACE 01 THE

" Maccucus silenvs.

NATURAL RlalURY.

Certainly tliey like the sun ; and we have often seen a pau- at the Zoological Gardens sunning
k-es after tlieir breakfast wth great deliglit. They sit on a bar, close to the wii-es of the cage,
and climb four or five feet up it, clinging close to their iron prison, just iii the range of a sunbeam.
They spread out their black hands, and enjoy the glare, becoming sleepy and disinclined to pay any
attention to nuts, cakes, and other temptations. They peer down, at you ^-ith their expressive eyes,
and give an occasional twLst to their tail, to pull it close to them, probably after a long experience
of the habits of the other Monkeys in the cage, who certairdy have not an overwhelming respect for
them. It is curious to see them climbing .slowly, and without the great exertion and bounds of some
of the Guenons, and to notice theii- marching, head and back downwards, whilst they crawl along the
under-side of the roof of theii- house, looking down every now and then in a cunning sort of manner.

Broderip used to watch one, when the Zoological Society's collection was in its infancy in Brutou

— z^.

Sti-eet, and a right merry fellow was he. " He would mn up his pole and throw himself over the
cross-bar, so as to swing backwards and forwards as he hung suspended by the chain which held the
leathern strap that girt his loins. The expression of his countenance was peculiarly innocent ; but he
was sly — very sly — and not to be approached with impunity by those who valued their head-gear. He
would sit demurely on his cross perch, pretending to look another way, or to examine a nut-shell for
some remnant of kernel, till a proper victim came -watliin his reach ; when down the pole he nished,
and up he was again in the twinkling of an eye, leavuag the bare-headed surprised one, minus his hat,
at least, which he had the satisfaction of seeing undergoing a variety of transfomiations, under the
plastic hands of the grinning monster, not at all calculated to improve a shape which the taste of a
Moore [the hat maker of the day], perhaps, had designed and executed. It was whispered — lioi-rescirnvs
referentes — that he once scalped a bishop, who ventm-ed too near, notwithstanding the caution given to
his lordship by another dignitary of the Chiu-ch, and that it was some time before he could be made to
give up, with much grinning and chattering, the well-powdered wig which he had profanely transferred
from that sacred poll to lus own. The lords spiritual of the present day, with one or two exceptions,
are .safe from .such sacrilege. Now it would be nearly as difficult to take a wig oif a bishop as it once
was to take the breeches off a Highlandman. But another Wanderoo, confined in the open part of the

TEE BABOONS. log

gardens in the Regent's Park, was of a different temperament. Tliero was a melanclioly aljoiit tliis
creatiu-e. He would climb liis pole, ascend to liis elevated house-top, and there sit for half an hour
together, gazing wistfully at tlie distant portion of the park — wliich present-ed, when viewed from liis
position, the appearance of a thick wood — every now and then looking down, as if he was contrastiiia
the smooth, sharp-pointed pole, to which they fettered liim, with the rugged, living ' columns of
the evergi-een palaces' of his fethers." The Wanderoo often loses some of his tail in capti-iity ; but it
should be, when full-grown, terminated by a tuft, which, in the imagination of some, has been con-
sidered quite lion-like. Ha%-iiig large cheek-pouches, tliis Monkey, very un-lion-like in disposition,
feeds rather rapidly, and stores away much for future occasion. In doing this it either carries the
food to the mouth with the hand or places its mouth to the object. It moves on all-foiu-s, and has
callosities ; and these, and the tail, give it a very baboon-like ajjpearance. Nothing is kiioMTii of their
habits in their wild state.

The geogi-aphical range of the Inixi, or Macaques, is very gi-eat, and some of the twenty-seven
species of which the genus is composed have veiy restricted wandering grounds, whilst others are
found over a -vride extent of country. As a gi-oup, they are found from North Afi-ica to China, and
species are met with at Gibraltar and Eastern Tibet, and within range of the everlasting snow. Thev
are found in the peninsulas of India, and in the great islands as fer south-west as Timor and in the
PhUippiueS; but not in Celebes or in New Guinea.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOG-t?HAPED JIOXKEYS [continued), the baboons.*

Early Accounts of the Baboon— Origin of the Name— Held as Sacred by the Egyinians— Used as tne Emblem of Thoth—
Brought into Europe In the Middle Ages— Their Literature— General Description of the Family — Structural
Peculiarities — Brain — Skull — Geogi-aphical Distribution — The Sacked Baboon— Found in great numbers in Abyssinia
— Formidable Antagonists — Size and Colour of the Male and Female — Anecdotes — Propensity for Spirituous Liquors
and Thiering — The Oelada Babhon— The Pig-Tailed Baboon — Usually called C'hacma — Description of it— Its
Ferocity in Capti%-ity— Le Vaillaut's Monkey— The Sphinx Baboon— Its Dexterity of Aim— The Anieis Baboon—
Its LocaUty and Food— Method of Kimning— The Comjion Baboon— Often Found in Captivity— Anecdotes— Ana-
tomical Peculiarities.

John Leo. an ancient traveller, who wrote about his perils and adventures in " his nine bookes," says,
regarding his experience of Africa, that "of Apes there are divers and sundry kinds, those wliich have
tayles being called in the African tongue Manne, and those which have none Babuini. They are found
in the woods of Mauritania, and upon the mountains of Bugia and Constantia. They live upon grasse,
and come and goe in gi'eat companies to feed in the cornfields ; and one of their companie, which
.standeth centinelle or keepeth watch and ward upon the borders, when he espyeth the husbandmen
comming he eryeth out, and giveth, as it were, an alarm to his fellows, who every one of them flee
immediately into the next woods, and betake themselves to the trees. The shee Apes carry their
whelpes upon theii- shoidders, and will leape ^vith them in that sort from one tree to another."

This author, although he probably mixed up other Monkeys with his Babuini, gives the key to the
derivation of the word baboon, which has been the subject of keen controversy amongst those who are
curious in such mattei-s. Papio is the common term applied to these animals by the writers of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centimes ; it is "dog latin" for Babbo, vrhich in modern language would be
rendered Papa, and Bchuino is the diminutive of Babho. Doubtle,ss these terms bear some important
and hidden reference to the opinions of the African races upon their relationship and comiection with
the clever Apes, and upon theii- appreciation of the paternal habits of the patriarchs of the gi-eat

• CynocephalKS,

130 SATVnAL SISTOHr.

coiniianies who not only stand '• centinelle,'' but instil gooJ discipline into tlie younger members of
the family.

But long before John Leo li\-ed, these Bnhnini had been noticed and critically observed liy Greek
and Roman naturalists, and had received, on account of their especial character — their dog- shaped
muzzle and head— the name Cynocephali, or Dog-headed Apes. The word comes from the Greek, and
was frequently applied to Dog-headed people as well as Apes, and it is very applicable, for the whole
aspect of the head, and especially of the prolonged snout, cut short at the end in the Ape, gi'eatly
resembles that of some Dogs. Earlier still, the ancient Egyptians engraved its figure in stone, made
metal images of it, di-ew it on papyrus, and even made mummies of their dead bodies. Hermopolis
was especially the city devoted to the worship of the Dog-headed, for in those early days such was
their gi-andeur in Egyjjtian eye.s, and such the folly of mankind. Symboli.sm was carried to an
excess, its foundations being as mysterious as meaningless, and it therefore came to pass that the Dog-
headed were mixed up with literature and astronomy.

That admirable investigator and popular exponent of the sculptures and hieroglyphics of the
ancient Egyptians, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, writes that " The Cynocephalus Ajie, which was particu-
larly sacred to Thoth, held a conspicuous place among the sacred animals of Egyjit, being worshipped
as the type of the god of letters, and of the moon, which was one of the characters of Tlioth. It
was even introduced into the sculptures as the god himself, with ' Thoth, Lord of Letters,' and other
legends inscribed over it ; and in a.stronomical subjects two Cynocejihali are frequently representetl
standing in a boat before the sun, in an attitude of prayer, as emblems of the moon. Their presence
in a similar boat with a Pig probably refers to them as types of the divinitj, in whose honour that
animal was sacrificed ; the moon and Bacchus, according to Herodotus, being the sole deities to whom
it was lawful to immolate Swine, and that only at the full moon. But the presence of Cynocephali
was not confined to Thoth or the moon. On two sides of the pedestals of the obelisks of Luxor foui-
Cynocephali stand in the same attitude, as if in adoration of the deity to whom those monuments
were dedicated ; a balustrade over the centre doorway of the temple of Amun at Medinet-Aboo is
ornamented with the figures of these animals ; and a row of them forms the cornice of the exterior of
the gi-eat temple dedicated to Ea at Aboomubel. Sometimes a Cynocephalus placed on a throne as a
god holds a sacred Ibis in its hand ; and in the judgment- scenes of the dead it frequently occurs
seated on the summit of the balance as the emblem of Thoth, who had an important office on
that occasion, and registered the account of the actions of the deceased. The place where this animal
was jiarticularly sacred was Hei-mopolis, the city of Thoth. Thebes and the other towns also treated it
with the respect due to the representative of the Egyptian Hermes, and in the necropolis of the
capital of Upper Egypt, a particular spot was set apart as the cemetery of the sacred Apes.
Mammies of the Cynocejihalus were put up in a sitting posture, which is usually that given to the
animals in the sculptures when representing the god Thoth ; and its head forms one of the covers of
the four sepulchral vases deposited in the tombs of the dead. It was then the type of the god Ilopi,
one of the four genii of Amenti, who was always figured with the head of a Cynocephalus. Many of
this species of Ape were tamed and kept by the Egyptians, and the paintings show that they were
even housed for useful purposes."

Elsewhere the same author informs us that "the Cynocephalus is synonymous with the hiero-
gly])hic of letters ; and we even find it holding the titles and fulfilling the office of Thoth, which
shows that it was not only the emblem, but also the representative of the deity." "Thoth m one of
his characters corresponded to the moon, and in the other to Mercury. In the former he was the
beneficent property of that luminary, the regulator and supervisor of time, who presided over the fate
of man and the events of his life ; in the latter the god of letters and the patron of learning, and its
way of communication between gods and men. It was through him that all mental gifts were
imparted to man. He was, in short, a deification of the abstract idea of the intellect, or a personifica-
tion of the intellect of the deity."

The judgment-scenes found in the tombs and on the papyri show that the good actions of the
deceased are placed in a row on one side of the balance, and the figrn-e or emblem of Truth on the
other. Anubis, the director of the weight, proceeds to ascertain the claims for admission into the
region of Amenti, and if on being weighed he is found wanting, he is i-ejected, and Osiris, the

STOSIES ABOUT BABOOSS.

judge of the dead, inclining liis sceptre in token of condemnation, pronounces judgment upon him,
and condemns his soul to return to earth, under the form of a Pig, or some other unclean animal.
Placed in a boat, it is removed under the charge of two Monkeys, who open out to it a new term of
life. The Monkeys drawn have tails, and are evidently Dog-headed.

Baboons were brought from Africa, and sold in all directions in Europe by the merchants of
the Middle Ages, and it was thought to be out of the fashion not to have an Ape in one's establish-
ment. They were dressed up, and sometimes admitted to feasts, and taught manly kinds of tricks
and good behaviour. Bi-oderip hunted up an

odd story, which refei-s to an Ape in the six- ^.,.=— -^ <cSi,->»^

teenth century, which did a vast deal of mis- 'lU. i- -- x

chief very unintentionally. In the play of ' ' ^*

Much Ado About Nothing, as readers of / 1

Shakspere will doubtless remember, Benedick i '

is said by the lively-spirited Beatrice to have V

stated that she got her wit out of the Hun-
dred Merry Tales — " And that I had my good
wit out of the 'Hundred Merry Tales.'"
What this book was could hardly be decided ;
some thought that it was Boccaccio's " De-
camerone," but they appear to have lieen
printed by John Restell, the title being, " A C.
Mery Talys." The wit is well enough in
these " tayles " to make Benedick wince under
Beatrice's imputation. One story is headed,
" Of the Weleheman that delyvered the letter
to the Ape." The fii-st lines are wanting, but
there is enough to make it appear that a
master sends his Welsh retainer with a letter
to the chief justice, in order to obtain a favour
for a criminal who had been in the Avriter's
service, with directions to the said Welshman
to return with an answer. " This Weleheman
came to the chefe justyce place, and at the
gate saw an Ape syttynge there in a cote
made for hym, as they use to apparell Apes
for disporte. This Weleheman dyd of his
cappe, and made cortsye to the Ape, and said,
' My master recommendeth him to the lord
your father, and sendyth him here a letter.'
This Ape toke this letter and opened it, and
lokyd upon the man, makynge many mockes
and noyes as the propertyes of Apes is to do.
ThLs Weleheman because he understood him cvNocErHALis. {EgijfUaniionuMcnu.)

not, came agayne to his master, accordynge

to his commandes, and told hym he delyvered the letter unto the lorde chief justice sonne,
who was at the gate in a fuwed cote. Anone hys master asked him what answer he brought. The
man sayd he gave him an answer, but it was French or Laten, for he understode hiin not. ' But syr,'
quate he, ' ye nede not to fere, for I saw in his countenance so muche that I warrant you he wyll do
your errand to my lorde his father.' This gentleman in truste thereof made not any further suite, far
lacke thereof his servaunt that had done the felonye within a month after was rayned at the king'3
benche and corte, and afterwards hanged." In the punishment for matricide the ciiminal was
placed in a case with an Ape, Cock, and Serpent, and either buried alive or drowned ; and the dislike
of the first two creatures was much enlarged upon in some ancient authors.

•VMAL HisTonr.

In the Merchant of Veiuct there is allusion made to the fanciful notion of Monkey — and
probably it was Ape — keeping. Shylock has lost his daughter, and Tubal comes to give him news of
her fast living, and of Antonio.

Titbttl. One of them showed me a ring, that he had of your daughter for a Monkey.

Shylock. Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal : it was my turquoise ; I had it of Leah, when I was a
bachelor : I would not have given it for a wilderness of Monkeys.

In a " New History of Ethiopia, being a full and accurate description of the Kingdom of

JVDGMEN-T-SCENE FKOM AN EGYPTI.IN- MOXr.MEXT.

Abyssinia, vulgarly" (writes Broderip), "though erroneously, called the Empire of Prester John, by
the learned Job Ludolphus " (1682), there is a gi'and engraving of Apes, with this superscription : —
" 1. Scrambling about the mountams.

2. Remoeving great huge stones to come at the wormes.

3. Sitting upon Ant-liills and devouring the little creatures.

i. Throwing sand or dust in the eyes of wild beastes that came to sett upon them."

Tlie following is illustrated bj' the above : — •

" Of Apes there are infinite flocks up and down in the moimtains thereabout, a thousand and
more together : there they leave no stone unturned. If they meet with one that two or three cannot
lift, they call for more, and all for the sake of the wormes that lye under: a sort of dyet which they
relish exceedingly. They are very greedy after Emmets ; so that having found an Emmet-hill, they
presently surround it, and laying their fore paws with the hollow downward upon the Ant-heap, as fast as
the Emmets creep into their trecherous palmes, they lick them off with great comfort into their- stomaclis ;
and there they will lye til there is not an Emmet left. They are also pernicious to fruit and apples,
and will destroy whole fields and gardens unless they be carefully looked after. For they are -^-ery
cunning, and will never venture in till the return of their spies, which they send always before, and
who, giving information that all things are safe, in they rush with their whole body, and make a quick
dispatch. Therefore they go very q\uet and silent to their prey, and if their young ones chance make

APPEARANCE OF THE BABOOSS. 13S

a noise, they chastise them with their fists, but if they find the coast clear, then every one has a
difierent noise to express his joy. Nor could there be any way to hinder them from further mul-
tiplying, but that they fall sometimes into the ruder hands of the wild beasts, which they have no
other way to avoid but by a timely flight, or ci-eeping into the clefts of the rocks. If they find no
safety in flight, they make a virtue of necessity, stand their ground, and filling their paws full of
dust or sand, fling it full in the eyes of their assailant, and take to their heels again."

It will be seen that there i.s much truth and a gi-eat deal of romance in this narrative.

The Baboons have had their name given by the Dutch to a plant. The " Bahianer," which

BABOONS t-pON AN ANT-HILL. (F/Olll Job il(doliiHlls,

botanists have turned into the genus Babiana, is a common group of plants which is found in South
Africa.

One kind, the Babiana sulpJmrea, greatly resembles in its flower the common Gladiolus of our
gardens, but it has round, stifi'-coated seeds. The sword-shaped leaves arise from an undergi-ound
Inilb-like root, wliich buds near its point so as to rise in the gi-ound to the surface, and the flowers are
very handsome. The plants flourish in the soil of the great plains of the Cape of Good Hope, where
they are exposed for two or three months to rain, but where aftei-wards and for the rest of the year
the earth becomes so di7 that hardly a vestige of vegetation remains. The Baboons, when they roamed
over these plains formerly, used to dig up the root and eat it voraciously.

The Baboons are more brute-like than the rest of the Monkeys in appearance, and therefore have
not that singular resemblance to man which many of the others possess either generally or in their
faces. Their dog-shaped head, a long muzzle, and a curious fulness on each side of the long nose,
cUstinguish them at once from any other Quadrumana. With one or two exceptions the nostrils are
quite at the end of the muzzle, and are separated by a narrow piece of gi'istle ; they rather project
beyond the nostril, and can be placed close to the gi-ound as the Baboon runs along to follow or track a

234 NATURAL HISTORY.

scent. Their eyes are close together, and are deeply set, tlieii- ears are moderately large, and iiieii*
neck is rather long, and as their common position is squatting on the liinder quarters like a Dog,
the long muzzle is kept straight out, or occasionally is hung down over the chest. They have a short
body, which seems compressed at the sides, and the shoulders are wide, the chest being capacious.
As they run very much like Dogs, the hind-quartei-s are strong, and the hinder limbs longer than the
front ones, and have a decided heel and strong muscles. They trot and caiiter, but rarely bound or jump
over the ground, and they scramble and climb up rocks with the aid of the power of prehension, which is
great even in the hinder extremities, the thumb being strong but short. When standing on all-fours,
the shoulders are high, and the body slopes slightly to the tail, which is stuck high up, and some have
short and others long tails.

They have the cheek-pouches, and the curious callosities on theii- stem, which sometimes are
very large and vividly coloured ; and their- hair is many-coloured, being long or short according to the
species. The tail is curved upwards close to its origin, and then it droops downwards when the Baboon is
quiet in mind and body ; but when excited, it sticks out and is flourished about with gi-eat vigour.
Sometimes ended with a tuft, in some kinds it is not, and in one or two of the great Dog-headed there is
no tail, or only a miserable rudiment of it. In spite of their brutal looks — for the faces of some are
swollen out, or rather the side of the nose, and coloured and ridged in a marvellously ugly manner —
they are very interesting, on account of their habits, cleverness, sociability amongst themselves, and
their courage. Usually very amiable and full of fun when young, they aflbrd much amusement when
kept well and treated -vvith kindness. They like to be petted, and will present theii- backs to be
scratched, and may be taught to beg for food, to hold things, and to play endless tricks. This "jolly "
disposition is seen amongst the wild youngsters, who are ever on the watch for an occurrence of
miscldef and practical joking, the sedate behaviour of their elders afi"ording opportunities for endless
mummeries and impudences. What can be more tempting to a young and light-hearted Cynocephalus
than to disturb the solemn thoughts of the patriiu-ch of tlie troop ? There sits the elder of eldei-s on his
, haunches, his tail outspread behind, the long nose slightly stuck up, and the fine long mane, lion-lLke,
encircling the throat and covering the shoulders. Perched upon a block of stone, higher than the rest,
he is an object of reverential awe to the elders of the band. But often enough some restless little
Ape, after squatting on a stone and mimicking the Nestor of the tribe, forgets himself, and after much
dodging here and there, and running to and fro, ventures to pull that sacred tail as only Monkeys pull.
All the rage of Thoth is, however, slumbering in that quiet old male. His cares and watchings have
triumphed over any gaiety he ever had. Making no allowances for the follies of youth, he pounces
OTthout wavering on the offender. Squeals, squeaks, and howls follow the cuffs, pinches, and bites, and
the little wretch makes off to the bosom of his mother, who snarls, gi'ins, and shows her teeth, using
language awful ui monkeydom, and mutterings not loud but deep. The mothers in the immediate
neighbourhood sympathise and proclaim their indignation with low grunts and much pantomime
suggestive of reprisals, but they all know better than to do anything of the sort, as they have
experienced the weight of the paternal arm themselves so often.

With age, any amiability of disposition is replaced by ferocity and gi-eedy lirutality, and is
particidarly increased in capti^•ity, as the temper is usually severely tried by the tricks and teasings
of the visitors.

The Cynocephali, although they are placed after the different genera already described in the
scheme of classification, have some very singular structural resemblances with the higher Apes and
with man, besides those which render them more like the quadrupeds, such as the flesh-eaters or
Carnivora. Several of these will be noticed in describing some of the kinds of Baboons ; but it may be
stated here that the bend in the back observed in the Chimpanzee and other Apes, which resembles
that of a very young child more than that of a man, does not exist in these Dog-headed Apes.
Their bones bend in and the upper part of the back bends out, as in man, so that there is a
more or less graceful double curve. TliLs is evident when any Baboon places himself up against
the wires of his cage to be scratched — a treat under all cii-cumstances. Moreover, the Baboon
has another human resemblance, which is also oKservable in the Orangs, but not in the Troglodytes.
In man, if a line be drawn down the spine and another drawn down the sacrum bone (that 'which
unites the haunch-bones together behind), they will not meet and form a straight line, but will cut

AXATOMY OF THE BABOOX. 135

eacla otlier, so as to produce a deLudeJ angle. This is slightly seen in the (Drangs, but it is very evident
indeed in the Baboons. On the contrary, there is no angle formed in the Gorilla and Chiniiianzee.
Again, in man, the sacrum bone is curved, the hollow of the bend looking forwards. This is the case
in the Baboon and also in the Siamang ; but the curvature is much less in the gi'eat Apes or
Troglodytes ; furthermore, this sacrum bone is relatively very broad in the Baboon.

Now, these are not simply anatomical curiosities, and they are really of some interest to the
j'oungest naturalist who cares to try and puzzle out what these things really mean. Either they
have a meaning or they have not. If they are freaks of Nature or the results of chance, then there is
nothing more to be said ; or if they are deeply connected with the method of life or the habits of the
creatures, they may be said to have been given for a purpose. But the notions about chance and
freaks belong to a bygone age, for Nature works neither by accident nor by impulses, but by law.
iSo there must be some meaning in these things, and the key to their comprehension is the gradual
change oT form and of structure which has been undergone in the long ages during which
one animal has become altered so as to depart greatly from the parent stock, and to assume what is
called a new specific shape — to become a new kind. And in the new kind there are relics of the old
form — pieces of bone here and there ; muscles, tendons, or useless teeth, and such things, which
are, as it were, part of the coat-of-arms to enable the genealogist to trace the history of the family.

In the Baboons there is a curious coirdition of the first bone of the neck (the atlas, or first
vertebra, on which the head rests). It is a massive ring of bone, do^\Ti the centre of which the gi-eat
nerve (spinal cord) of the spine passes, and it becomes stouter with age, and the central hole is all the
smaller-. It has a small spinous process, to which there is ,i muscular attachment, which tends to
keep up the heavy skull and long nose. A good shoit liark-lione, not over pliant, is necessary to
the Baboon, and a provision is made in order to produce this ; for the bodies of the vertebroe are
found to be larger and longer as they are further down the spine. This is what occurs in man
and in the Gibbons, but it is only slightly noticed in the higher Apes — the Troglodytes and Orangs.
The Baboon may be said to have sometimes only eighteen back and loin vertebrae, and twelve or
thirteen are rib-bearing, and the spines of these bones are strong and often e.xpanded or flattened at
their ends : moreover, the last spines project forwards and the others backwards. All this airangement
is especially ape-and animal-like, and refers to the strengthening of the muscles used in moving on
all-fours. There is of coui-se a tail to be considered, and in the shortest there are from five to eight
bones, or modified vertebra?, and whether short or long, the muscles of the tail are all to be met with
at its root.

Such clever animals ought to have well-formed brains, and yet not so elaborately constructed as
those of the Anthropomorpha, whose movements are more vai-ied, and who can walk erect for a longer
or shorter time. It is found that the In-aiii of the Baboon, although less complicated, or rather less
perfectly formed, than that of the Chimpanzee and Orang, is singularly like those of the Guenons
and Macaques in the surface markings and convolutions, and, in fact, the bi-ains of these animals agree
in all essential points. The principal convolutions and fissui-es which are noticed in the Troglodj'tes
exist, but the external pei-pendicular fissure is strongly marked, and all the little brain is covered by
the cerebrum, or brain proper.

There is no mistaking a Baboon's skull ; it is large for a Monkey, and the face part is always one-
half of the whole, the brain-case being cast in the shade, as it were, by the huge upper and lower jaws,
and their fine armament of teeth. In old males the length of face is much gi-eater than one-half,
and the front of the upper jaw is stuck out considerably. But in all there is a swelling of the upper
jaw-bone, just in front of the orbit and on each side of the nose-bones, which sometimes is va.st and
at othei-s turned into a ridge. It is this which is covered by the curious tints and colours in some.
The jaws seem pinched in, just above the upper grinding teeth, and then comes this swelling. Strong
teeth exist in the upper jaw, and the canine, or eye teeth, more than an inch in length, are long,
slender, curved, and sharp. The front or incisor teeth are large, the middle ones being the largest, and
tiie three giinders have sharp projections on them which are not readily worn. As the eyes are
close together, the orbits are only separated by the forehead (frontal) bone and the united nose-bones
(ua-sals). These cavities are, moreover, broad, and look a little outwards, and they open into the
strange swollen muzzle. The ridges over the orbits are great, and the opening for the nose is

136 NATVIiAL HISTORY.

triangular ; the forehead recedes, and is rounded, and the side-bones of tlie brain-case are bulged out.
Underneath, the skidl looks very long ; the hinder nostril openmg is small, and the palate is arched.
As the animal eats a variety of food, and tights often, his lower jaw is very strong. It is large and
wide beliind, and compressed in front. The chin is deep, and so is the side of the jaw close to it,
but further back it is less so ; and the joint process (condyle) is -wide and very flat usually. The
lower canines are not as large as the upper, and they fit into a space (diastema) in fiont of the great
canines of the upper jaw. The back teeth are remai-kaVjle for their size, the la.st in the lower jaw
ha\Tng five points, and the others four. The tooth (pre-molar) next to the canine is pushed backwards
and sharpened in a curious manner by the action of the gi-eat upper canine, which comes down in
front of it when the jaw is closed.

The Baboons are found widely dispersed about Africa, and those which have been best observed
live on the west coast, on the east in Abyssinia, and extending downwards to the neighbourhood of
the Cape of Good Hope. Frequenting mountains and woody
places, and rather avoiding forest land, they come within
range of the gi-eat Camivora of the plains and uplands, and
sufier in consequence, the Leopard especially making the
young its prey whenever it has an opportunity. They
extend into Arabia. A little black one, differing in its
kind from its African congeners, lives in the Island of
Celebes, in the Philippines, and in the Islet of Batchian,
close by. Some kinds differ but slightly from one another,
and those of one part of the a^rican continent appear to
resemble those of other portions in their several shapes and
habits, and yet to have different-coloured hair, hence much
confusion has arisen regarding the races of the species of
the genus. This has been increased by the fact that the
females differ much from the males, and hence more species
have been formed by naturalists than is correct. Probably
there are twelve species.

The possession of a good tail constitutes a very good
characteristic, and by the presence or comparative absence of this member the gi-oup or genus may be
divided into two.

In the division which possess a tail, which is never very long, often rather short, and sometimes
tufted and sometimes not, are the most numerous species, and such kinds as the Hamadryas, Gelada,
Sphinx, and Pig-tailed Baboons are well known. In the nearly tail-less division are the gi-eat Man-
drill, the DrUl, and the Black Baboon.

THE SACRED BABOON, THE THOTH OF THE EGYPTIAXS.*

During the march against Magdala and Theodore, in the Aby.ssinian campaign, this gi'eat Dog-
faced Baboon was freqiiently seen, and its habits were noticed Vjy Blanford, the naturalist to the
Expedition. Like most, if not all, of its fellow BaVjoons, this interesting creatui-e prefers sandy gi'ound
to the dense forest land. They very rarely are seen on trees, they avoid woods, and keep mainly in
the open country, preferring rocky precipices. This was the kind of country principally traversed by
the army, and hence the Baboons afforded some amusement during the hot marches, and they wero
met with everj'where from the jilains around Annesley Bay, where the disembarkation took place, to
the top of the Dalanta plateau, although most abundantly in the tropical and .sub-tropical portions of
the district. On rising one morning after a march of some sixteen miles from Annesley Bay,
Blanford saw a singular spectacle. A large troop of Baboons, at lea.st two hundred in number, were
hunting for any corn dropped upon the ground in the place where the horses had been picketed. They
were the first of the great Dog-faced Apes which had been seen, although they became familiar enough
afterwards. There was no mistaking them, for their likeness to the engravings of the Sacred Ape

* Cf/nocephal us hamadi'i/as.

CHIMPANZEE. (.S« m,. 49-5S.)
(Frow the LU'ing Specimen in the Zoological GanUiis, io)i(!oii.)

THE HAMADRYAS. 137

(Tiiotli) on Egyptian monuments was exact. Tlie uncouth-looking male is, indeed, a formidable
animal, .something between a Lion and a French Poodle in appearance, with long hair over his
shoulders and fore-parts. Their impudence was excessive, aiid the day before they had come into the
commissariat enclosure and commenced pilfering the grain.

Subsequently the Baboons were found up the country, at an elevation of 9,000 feet, and wherever
there were passes leading from the coast to the table-lands, there they abounded, and it was evident
that they kept close to the sides of the rocky ravines. The herds vary in number ; some camiot
include less than 250 to 300 Monkeys of all ages. The old males are always most conspicuous animals,
:ill the fore-part of their body being covered with long hair. They ttsually take the lead when the
troop is moving, some of them also lirin-iiiL? up the rear ; others placing themselves on high rocks or

bushes, and keeping a sharp look-out after enemies. A troop collected on a rocky crag presents a
most singular appearance. Sometimes large numbers were seen assembled round springs in the
evening near Senafe, where the want of water was great. On such occasions, every jutting rock and
every little stone more prominent than the rest was occupied by a patriarch of the herd, who sat with
the gravity and watchfulness befitting his grizzled hair, waiting patiently till the last of his human
rivals had slaked his thirst and that of his cattle. Around, the females were mainly occupied in
taking care of the young, the smaller Monkeys amusing themselves by gambolling around. Occasionally,
if a j'oung Monkey became too noisy, or interfered with the repose of one of his seniors, he " caught it ''
in most unmistakable style, and was dismissed with many cufl's, a wiser if not a better Monkey.

The Baboon feeds on wild fruits, berries, and seeds, and often on the buds of trees and on young
shoots. On the highlands, troops of them were frequently seen in the fields, engaged in searching
for a small tuber, the root of the edible Cyperus, which was also the resource of the half-starved men
and women in the counti y of the Tigr^.

These Baboons climb heavily and clumsily, but run, or rather gallop, well and steadily, without

133 yATVn^iL HISTORY.

Ijounding mo-vements, and hence their locomotion difl'ers much from that of many kinds of ilonkeys.
Doubtless they unite in such large troops in order to defend themselves against theii- enemies, and the
old males are combative and grave. From their size and great power of jaw they are most formidable
antagonists, and their boldness in resenting injury is said to be in proportion to their power. There
are many stories of their attacking men. During the time before the Aliyssinian Expedition sailed,
a well-known German and two companions were surrounded by a large herd, which barred theh' path,
and were so threatening that he was obliged to shoot one in self-defence. Even then, although they
fell back, they did not run away. On the other hand, there were no mstances known of these
Baboons attacking any other of the expeditionary force. Near the passes the Baboons-became very
wary, for they were often fired at.

The Hamadryas Baboons are not entirely vegetable feeders, although they usually live on fruits
and grain, or on buds and succulent stems ; yet it appears to be true that they like insects now and
then, and share them as delicacies. The old ones march about gravely, turning over stone after stone,
but if there is a large stone which one cannot turn over, as many as can stand round it turn it with a
will together, capsize it, and share the booty. The old males, who act as sentinels, are extremely
watchful, and cry out with a peculiar note when there is danger ; but this is only done when absolutely
requisite, for silence is msisted on during their expeditions. Thus, when they plunder a garden in
Abyssinia, they follow theii' leader without noise, and if an impudent young one makes a noise he
receives a slap from the others to teach him silence and obedience. But as soon as they are aware
that there is no danger, all show their joy by making as much noise as possible.

The Hamadryas grows to the size of a large Pointer Dog, and measures rather more than four feet
when standing erect, and about two feet and a half when sitting. The face is very long, naked, and
of a dii-ty flesh-colour, -vvith a ring of lighter tint round the eyes. The nostiils, as in the Dog, ai-e
separated by a slight furrow, and they open quite at the end of the snout, which projects slightly
beyond the lip. The head, neck, shoulders, and all the fore parts of the body as far as the loins are
covered with long shaggy hair ; that on the hij)s, thighs, and legs is short, and contrasted with the
former has the ai)pearance of having been clipped, so that the whole animal bears some resemblance
to a French Poodle. The hair of the back of the head and neck is upwards of a foot in length, and
forms a long mane which falls back over the shoulders, and at a distance looks something like a full
.short cloak. The whiskers are broad and directed downwards ,:.o as to conceal the ears ; their colour,
a-s well as that of the fore part of the body, head, and mane, is a mixture of light gi-ey and dusky
colour, each hair being marked with numerous delicate rings of the colours. The short hair of the
thighs and extremities is of a uniform colour of dusky brown, and a dai-k brown line passes down the
middle of the back. The feet are rusty brown, and the hands are jet black. The tail is about one-
lialf of the length of the body, and is carried drooping as ii^ other Baboons; it is tenninated by a tuft
of long brown hair.

The female equals the male in point of size, but has no mane, being uniformly covered ^vith short
hair of deep olive-brown slightly mixed with green. She has a bearish look, and it is evident that
the colours of both sexes are admirably adapted to hide them when crawling amongst rocks, or liiding
away in holes and under ledges of stone. All have a wild, grunting bark, almost approaching a roar ;
and they possess laryngeal pouches or air sacs, which pass amongst the muscles of the neck and reach
even into the armpits. The pouch communicates by one opening into the membrane above the larynx,
and between its cartilage and the so called hyoid bone at the base of the tongue, and they, therefore,
resemble those of the Semnopitheci.

Mansfield Parkyns gives some very interesting and explicit statements about the intelligence and
discipline of the Baboons. He says — " The Monkeys, especially the Cpiocephali, who are astonishingly
clever fellows, have their chiefs, whom they obey implicitly, and a regular system of tactics in war,
pillaging expeditions, robbing cornfields, &c. These Monkey forays are managed vdi\\ the utmost
regularity and precaution. A tribe coming down to feed from their village on the mountain (usually
a cleft in the face of some clifi") brings with it all its members, male and female, old and young.
Some — the elders of the tribe di.stinguishable by the quantity of mane which covers their shoulders,
like a Lion's — take the lepd, peering cautiously over each precipice before they descend, and climbing
to the top of every rock which may afford a better view of the road before them. Others have theii"

HABITS OF THE ISAIIOUXS. 139

posts as scouts on the flanks or rear, and all fulfil their duties with the utmost vigilance, calling out
at times, apparently to keep order among the motley pack, which forms the main body, or to give
notice of the appi'oach of any real oi- imagined dangei-. Their tones of voice on these occasions are so
distinctly i-aised, that a person much accustomed to watch their movements will at length fancy — and
perhaps with some truth — that he can miderstand their signals.

"The main body is composed of females, inexperienced males, and the young of the tribe. Those
of the females who have small children carry them on their back. Unlike the dignified march of the
leaders, the rabble go along in a most disoi'derly manner, trotting on and chattering without taking
the least heed of anything, apparently confiding in the vigilance of their scouts. Here a few of the
youth linger behind to pick the berries off some tree, but not for long, for the rear-guard coming up
forces them to regain their places. Then a matron pauses for a moment to suckle her oflspring, and
not to lose time dresses its hair whilst it is taking its meal. Another younger lady, probaV.ly excited
by jealousy, or by some sneering look or wnnl. pulls an ugly mouth at her neighbour, ami tlun, uttciiiig
a .shrill squeal highly expressive of rage, vindictively snatches at her rival's leg or tail whh ln-r hand,
and gives her, perhaps, a sharp bite in the hind-quartors. This provokes a retort, and a most iiiil:i(i\ like
quarrel ensues,'till a loud bark of command from one of the chiefs calls them to order. .V siii-le cry
of alarm makes them all halt and remain on the qui tire till another bark in a different t jiio n a^,sl^•(■:;
them, ajid they then proceed on their niarcli.

"Arrived at the cornfields, the senut^ take their position on the eminences all around, while the
remainder of the tribe collect pmv ision, with the utmost expedition, tilling their cheek-pouches as full
as they can hold, and then tiicking the seeds of corn under their annpits. Now, unless there be a
partition of the collected sjioil, litiw do the scouts feed i for I have watched them several times, and
never observed them qidt for a moment their post of'duty till it was time for the tribe to return, or
till some indication of danger induced them to take to flight. They show also the same sagacity in
searching for water, discovering at once the places where it is most readily found in the sand, and
then digging for it with their hands ji'.st as men would, relieving one another in the work, if the
(piantity of sand to be removed be considerable. Their dwellings are usually chosen in clefts of
rocks, and are alwaj'S placed so high that tliey ai-e inaccessible to most other animals, and sufliciently
sheltered from the rain. The Leopard is tleir Nv.ast ciiciuy, for IkJuu nearly as good a climber a;i
they, he sometimes attacks them, and th.-n tli.'iv is a tr.-ijieiid..us upr..a.)-. I remember one night,
when outlying on the frontier, being disturl;>ed in my sleep by the most awful noises I ever heard, at
least they appeared a-s such, exaggerated by my dreams. I started up thinking it was an attack of
negroes, but soon recognised the voices of my Baboon friends from the mountain above. On my return
home I related the fact to the natives, who told me that a Leopard was probably the eause of all this
panic. I am not aware how he succeeds amongst them. The people say that he sometimes manages
to steal a young one and make off, but that he seldom ventures to attack a fuJl-gi-own Ape. He-
would doubtless find sttch an one an awkward cu.stomer ; for the Ape's great strength a-id acti^•ity, and
the powerful canine teeth v.ith which he is furnished, would render him a formidable enemy, wer«
he, from desperation, forced to .stand and defend )iis life. It is most fortunate that their courage is
only sufliciently great to induce them to ,act on the defensive. This indeed they only do against a man
when driven to it by fear, otherwise they generally prefer prudence to valour. Had theii- eombativeness
lieen proportioned to their physical powers, coming as they do in hordes of two or three hundred, it
would have been impossible for the natives to go ottt of the village, excejrt in parties, armed, and
instead of little boys, regiments of armed men would be required to guard the cornfields."

A traveller, relating his experience \vith these Baboons, wi-ites as follows : —

" The first band I saw was just resting after their morning ramble. I had seen the tall forms of
the males from some distance, but had taken them for rocks, as these Apes resemble them when they
are still. I was firet nndeceived by a repeated cry, which sounded like a shrill cry of ' Kuck.' All
heads were turned our way, and only the young ones went on with their games. Probably the whole
herd would have stopped in this attitude had not we had two Dogs with us that we kept to keep off
hya-nas from the house. The.se answered the cries of the Apes, and we immediately noticed a com-
motion among tlie herd. They started off and disappeared. Mtich to our a.stonishment, at the next
ber-'l of the road, we saw the whole band in a long row clinging on to what seemed a perpendicular

NATURAL HISTOFI.

rock. Tliis was too much for us, and we determined to have a shot at them. TJnfortunately, tlie
rock was too liigh for a s\ire aim. Anyhow, we hoped to disturb them. The firet shot had a wonderful
effect. A tremendous barking and shrieking was the answer. Then the whole band moved on,
climbing over the rocks in a most astonishing manner, where it seemed almost impossible to find a
footing. We fired about six shots, though it was impossible to be sure of hitting. It was most
comical to see the whole band, at every shot, cling on to the rock as if they thought the earth would
jrive way under them. The next turn we foimd them no longer on high ground, but in a valley whei'e
they \^eie going thiough to get to the hills beyond Part of the band had crossed, but most
weie still behind Oui Dogs stopped \ minute, and then nished m among the herd. So soon as they
jot tilt II ill tilt till 111 lit s iislittl tiiiin tilt 1 k t nil I I tiicle round the Dogs, and opened their

mouths, beat the earth, and looked so fierce, that the Dogs retreated with all speed. Of course, we
encouraged them to return to the fight, and in the meanwhile the Apes had got aci-oss the valley. As
the Dogs returned to the attack there were only a few in the valley, and among them a young one of
about six months old. As it saw the Dogs it cried. out, and fled to the rocks, where our Dogs brought
it to bay, and we flattered oui-selves that we should catch it. Proudly and quietly, without troubling
jiimself about us, came an old male back from the other side, walked fearlessly between the Dogs,
climbed slowly up the rock, and took ofi" the young one in triumph."

Their regard for their mutual safety is even seen in captivity, for it has happened that when a
Baboon, who has been extremely savage, unbearable, and mischievous in his comportment, liad to be
chained to be punished, the others tried to protect him.

" Many kinds of Monkeys," wi-ites Mr. Darwin, '■ have a strong taste for tea, coffee, and
spirituous liquors ; they will also, as I have m.yself seen, smoke tobacco with pleasure." The wild
Paboons of North-eastern Africa are often caught in consequence of their naughty propensity and love
Di' a " drop." The natives fill some vessels with strong beer, and put thsm out in places where they

THE HAMADSYAH.

in

look particiilai-ly tempting to the thirsty. The Baboons, ever on the watch for something new' and to
nteal, fee the pitchers and pans, and of course just taste their contents. Feeling happy and enlivened,
after a while thej' try again, and finally drink long and deejtly, becoming in a short time decidedly
tipsy, and unable to ta'ce care of themselves. Drunk and incapable would be the accusation agamst
them by native police. Unfortunately for the tipplers their punishment is greater than the crime ;
and not only do they suffer all the miseries of headache, thirst, and bodily depression, but they lose
their liberty also, and not for a time only. The natives, knowing that after a few hours they may
«xpect to find the Baboons incapable of biting, fighting, or running away, go out and search for their
victims, and bring them home and place them in durance \-ile. The next morning they awake to a
stnse of their condition. They hold their aching heads with both hands, and look ^v•ith a most pitiable

Fi-om the Zonloijical Gavdens.)

expression. Brehm saw some of them in this plight, and gives a most amusing description of their
gi-imaces and laughable conduct. A little wine or beer was offered to some who had recovered from
their debauch, but they would have notliing to do with it at the time. They turned away with
disgust, but they relished the juice of some lemons which was given to them.

The Baboons, symbolical of learning, the observers of the moon in eclipse, and the compaiions
of the bacchanalian jug, once so esteemed, worshipped, and mummified by the ancient Egyptians,
have terribly fallen in social and religious reputation on the very spot of then- former glories. In
modern Egypt they may be seen in some houses where, at a fanciful kind of banquet, they have to sit
around the room holding torches. And right bad torch-bearers they are, for every now and then some
Baboon becomes aggressive, or some guest has a nice piece on his plate for which the Baboon longs,
and the consequences are a departure of the light from its perpendicular, a slight motion amongst
the row of curious candelabra, and oftentimes such disorder as can only be remedied by the timely
application of the discipline of the stick. Tliey are carried about to do tricks, and brutalised in
every waj'.

14i ^'ArVRAL HISTORY.

Mansfield Parkyns asserts that tlie cle\criiess of these Baboons ilepenJs in some measure upon
theii- power of reason, and not entirely on that iiLstinct with which all ariimals are endowed, and which
serves them only to procure the necessaries of life and to defend themselves against then- enemies. In
proof he relates an incident, of which he was an eye-witness, " At Khartum, the capital of the
provinces of Upper Nubia, I saw a man showing a large male and two females of this breed, who per-
formed several clever tricks at his command. I entered into conversation with him as to their sagacity,
the mode of teaching them, and various other topics relating to them. Speaking of his male Monkey,,
he said that he was the most dexterous thief imaginable, and that every time he was exhibited he

m rm^

stole dates and other provisions sufficient for his food for the day. In proof of this he begged me to
watch him for a few minutes. 1 did so, and presently the keeper led him to a spot where a date-seller
was sitting on the gi'ound with his basket beside him. Here his master put him through his evolutions,
and although I could perceive that the Monkey had an eye to the fruit, yet so completely did he dis-
guise his intentions, that no careless obsei-\-er would have noticed it. He did not at first apjiear to
care about approaching the basket, but gradually brought himself nearer and nearer, till at last he got
quite close to the owner. In the middle of one of his feats he suddenly started up from the ground on
■which he was lying stretched out like a corpse, and utterivig a ciy as if in pain or I'age, fixed his eyes
full on the face of the date-seller, and then, without moving the rest of his body, stole as many dates
as he could hold in one of his hind hands. The date man, being stared out of countenance, and his
attention diverted by this extraordinary movement, knew nothing about the theft till a bystander told
lam of it, and then lie joined heartily in the laugh that v,">s raised against him. The Monkey having

THE GELADAS. 143

very adroitly popped tlie fruit into his cheek-pouches, had moved oft' a few yards, v.-hen a boy in the
crowd round liini pulled hiiii sharply by the tail. C'onscieiice-strickeu, he fancied that it had been
done in revenge by the date-seller whom lie had robbed ; and so, passing close by the true ofl'ender and
behind the legs of two or three othei-s, he fell on the unfortunate fruiterer, and wo'.ild no doubt have
bitten him severely, but for the interference of his master, who came to the i-escue."

Although so clever, the Hamadryas is much moi'e deficient in brain than the higher Apes, the
Oi-ang for instance. It is not so much developed in fi'ont, and the whole mass is not so high, but still
it projects well over the little bi-ain, or cei-ebellum. The convolutions are simpler, and although all the
priucij)al marking? noticed even in man are present, still the smaller ones, and those which belong
to structures which add to the superficial extent of the organ, are wanting. The ventricles and the
posterior horn and its eminences are present, as is also that pai-ticularly monkey development, the
fissure, which is called the external perpendicular.

Evidently the compressed form of the skull, which seems as if it had been pressed far above over
the forehead, has much to do with the small bulk of the front of the brain, and this is also diminished
by the projection of the oi-bits into the brain-ca.se. The skull is certainly an ugly thing to look at,
and is only surpassed by that of the full-grown Mandrill in want of elegance, of outline, and smooth
configuration. The forehead and top of the skwll are broad and flat, and the whole brain-case appeai-s
to slope otf at the sides of the orbits, and then projects but little there, the broadest part of the skiill
being at the cheek-bone. The orbits are oblique, that is to say, they look forwaras iind outwards,
and they are tolerably widely open. There is a great roimdness and swelling of the upper jaw-bone
from the cheek-bone to the long nasal bones, and the front jaw-bone (the pre-maxillary) is short and
projecting. The shape of the skull resembles that of the Sphinx Baboon.

Their name, given to them by the naturalist, is as gi'eat a puzzle as are many others devoted to
animals, for what possible connection can there be between the Hamadryads, the nymjiiis whose birth,
life, and death were mysteriously u\iited with the corresponding epochs in the growth ot the oak-tree,
Mv\ a most un-nymphlike creature which likes rocks, holes, and dens, but who neither cares for oaks
nor acorns ]

THE GELADA BABOON.*

These Baboons are quite as clever as the great Dog-faced kind, which has l)een immortalised by the
ancient Egyptians, and every now and then troops of both come in contact and have great fights. The
Gelada Baboon, with its long tail tufted at the end, and black limbs, has ve>-y long J'air on its upper
parts of a pale brown colour. This covei'S the head where there is a dark line from the forehead back-
wards, and also the shouldei-s and rump. This Baboon, moreover, lias the nostrils opening high up in the
face, and not close to the end of the upper jaw, as in the Hamadiyas. Differing thws from the Hamadryas
Baboons, each troop soon knows its comrades. Occasionally, when the fields are ripe with gi-ain, the
Gelada-s, perched upon their mountain homes, see the glowing and varied colours of the vegetation, and
long for the luxiiries of the plains. They descend and sometimes rob the fivrmers with imininity, and
return after having committed a va.st amount of mischief. But it happens that the great Dog-faced troops
are out on the same errand, and the two sets of thieves si»edily disagree. A fight ensues, and the
Geladas roll down large stones, which the others try to avoid, and then they all rush together to close
quarters, making a great uproar, and fighting with great fury. Some of these gallant Geladas had the
audacity to stop a Serene Highness in his travels in Abyssinia, and very effectually, for some hours. A
Duke of Coburg-Gotha was in a caravan which had to traverse the pass of Meusa, in Abyssinia, an^l as
there were some cf the Baboons perched in numbers on the sides of the liigh rocky ravine, some of the
Europeans, who of course must try and kill something as often as possible, fired upon them. The
Baboons retaliated in a most military manner, by rolling down stones in such quantity and of such a
size that not only had the firing party to retire, but the passage of the caravan was stopped. They
positively closed the pass against all comers for some time.

Darwin tells a laughable anecdote of a Baboon, but does not mention the kind. He saw in the
Zoological Gardens a Baboon who always got in a furious rage when his keeper took out a letter or

* Cynoccphalvs ff^'ada.

Iti NATUMAL UlUTuhT.

liook and read it aloud to him ; and Lis rage was so violent that, as Mr. Darwin witnessed, on on©
occasion lie bit his own leg tUl the blood flowed.

THE PIG-TAILED BABOON, OR CHACMA.»

The Hottentots are familiar with one of the largest kinds of the Baboons, which reaches the size
of an English Mastiff, and has superior strength, and they call it the T'chackamma, which has been
reduced by Europeans to the " Chacma." The colonists of the Cape of Good Hope districts called it
the Black Ape, and then, from some fanciful resemblance of its tail to that of a Pig, the creature was
dignified with tho name porcarin.i.

The Chacmas are found in gi-eat troops, and they behave very much after the manner of the other
large Baboons, their strength rendering them a teiTor to the Dogs of the colonists. In ascending the
kloofs, or passes, in the mountains of South Afiica, which are frequently steep, narrow, and dangerous,
travellers often disturb great troops of these animals, which have been sunning themselves on the
rock.s. If not attacked they scamper up the sides of the mountains yelling and screaming. They resent
being fired upon by rolling down stones.

The Chacma has a line black tail, which is rathei- more than half the length of the body, and it
has a tuft of long black hair at its tip. It is carried like that of the other long-tailed Baboons, being
curved upwards at first, and then falling down straight. Nearly all the fur of the body is a uniform
dark brown, almost black, mixed throughout with a dark gi-een shade. It is long and shaggy, par-
ticularly on the neck and shoulders of the males. If a solitary haii- be pulled out, it will be found to
be very curiously ornamented. It has a root, like all hairs, springing from a little pimple under the
scarf-skin, and its colour is at first of a light grey colour. Then it is marked with wide ring.s
of colour, which are perfectly distinct, and they are alternately black and dark green, but sometime.s
they are intermixed with a few of a lighter or yellowish shade. The fiice and ears are naked, as
are also the palms and soles, and there are small whiskers, gi-ey in colour and brushed backwards.
Naked as are the face, eare, and hands, the skin is of a very aai-k violet-blue colour, with a pale
ring surrounding each eye. Strange to say, the upper eyelids are white.

In the adult the muzzle is very long in comparison with the skull, which is greatly flattened
and contracted ; but in the young, the size of the nose is not so apparent, and the head is rounder,
and the brain case is larger in propoi-tion. As age comes on, the brain is not increased in size cor-
respondingly with the face.

There is no doubt that the old Baboons have a very fine sense of smelling, their noses are large,
and the sentient surface Ls great ; moreover, this gift has been tested and used to the advantage of
many a wanderer, and settler in the districts where water Ls scarce at the surface, but plentiful here
and there, resting on rocks which are covered with sand or .soil. The Baboon can find out water when
even the Bushmen are quite at fault, and when other animals are dying of thii-st. When a manageable
Baboon is at hand, and people are in a dreary district searching for water, they lead him in the requu-ed
direction suffering from thirst, and give him his liberty. He moves over the ground quickly, smelling
here and there, or gallops with extended nostrils, now turnijig in one direction and now in another,
quartering out his ground like a Dog. Sooner or later he stops and begins to dig with his hands, and
then the people come up, and water is almost always found, and in quantity.

Although the young Chacmas are playful enough, and are full of nonsense and fun in captivit}',
they, like all their kindred Baboons, become surly, ferocious, and unsafe as they grow old and have
tli^ir bodies perfectly developed to the perfection of baboonism. That is to say, when the face, jaws,
and teeth become as large as they ever will be, and the body becomes as short and as muscular as
possible. They then scowl at the visitor, and grind and .show their great teeth at the slightest
provocation, grumbling and gi-owling also, and iii fact, to quote the words of a very precise naturalist.
" the fierceness and brutality of their character and manners correspond with the expression of their
2)hysiognomy." Nevertheless, they are amenable to soft influences. In spite of their savage and
\intamable disposition, they are influenced by that most potent of all attractions. They are, in the
language of the writer just quoted, "agitated by the passion of love or jealousy. In captivity they

* Ct/nocepkaliiS porcarius.

THE riG- TAILED BABOON. 145

are thrown into the greatest agitation at the appearance of young females " — not females of the
Baboon tribe, but those who, under all circumstances, are now called ladies. "It is a common
practice," continues the writer, " among itinerant showmen, to excite the natural jealousy of these
Baboons by caressing or offering to kiss the young females who resort to their exhibitions, and the
sight never ftiils to excite in these animals a degree of rage bordering on frenzy. On one occasion
a large Baboon of this species escaped from his place of confinement in the Jardin des Plantes at

Paris, and for from showing any disposition to return to his cage, severely wounded two or three of
his keepers who attempted to recapture him. After many ineffectual attempts to induce him to
return quietly, they at length hit upon a plan wliich was successful. There was a small grated window
at the back part of the den, at which one of the keepers appeared, in company with tlie daughter of
the superintendent, whom he appeared to kiss and caress within view of the animal. No sooner did
the Baboon witness this familiarity, than he flew into the cage with the greatest fury, and endea-
voured to unfasten the grating of the window which separated him from the object of his jealousy.
WhOst employed in this vain attempt, the keepers took the opportunity of fastening the door, and
securing him once more in his place of confinement. Nor is this a solitary instance of the influence
which women can exert over the [lassions of tliese savage animals. It is said that, generally un-

146 KATVEAL SI.STOHY.

tractable and incorrigible whilst under the management of men, it usually hai>peus that Baboons ni-e
most effectually tamed and led to even more than ordinary obedience in the hands of women, whose
attentions they often repay with gratitude and affection."

There is another side to the picture, however, and probably about as true. " Travellers sometimes
speak of the danger which women run who reside in the vicinity of the situation which these animals
inhabit, and affirm that the negres,ses on the coast of Guinea are occasionally kidnapped by the
Baboons ; we are even assured that certain of those women have lived among the Baboons for many
years, and that they were prevented from escaping by being shut np in caves in the mountains,
where, however, they were plentifully fed, and in other respects treated with great kindness ! It hi
to be observed, however," writes this author, " that these accoums rest upon authority which is by no
means unexceptionable ; credible and well-informod modern travellers do not relate them, and even
their older and more credulous predecessoi-s give them only from hearsay."

There is a curious connection between the growth of the hair on some parts of Monkeys
and their combative habits. Thus these Baboons have a long mane, and that of the male is,
of course, the longer; and these are perhaps the only Apes which seize each other by the nape
of the neck with their long canine teeth, the males being the lighters. The mane, then, is clearly
of advantage. On one occasion this propensity displayed itself on one of the higher animals who
was not thus jn-otected, in an attack by a Baboon on one of the keeper at the Zoological Gardens,
the keeper unfortunately having no clothes on the back of his neck to act as a mane. The
man was stoojang down, when the Baboon suddenly pounced on him, and bit him most severely
and dangerously in this exposed spot. During this savage and unexpected attack, the affectionate
impiilses of a little Monkey were of great use and service, for, seeing its keeper in danger, it bit the
brute, and screamed in such a manner as to distract its attention, and to allow the man to escape.

All the Chacmas, however, are not furiously jealous, or tighter.s, or kidnappere of women, for
many have excellent memories of kindnesses, and do not fail to expre.ss their gratitude. Thus Sir
Andrew Smith was recognised by a Baboon at the Cape of Good Hope, with much evidence of
.satisfaction, after he had been absent for nine months. The females are also often very tender and
affectionate. One of them, an old female, adopted a little Rhesus Monkey, and took all sorts of care
of it ; but when a young Drill and Mandrill were placed in the cage she seemed to perceive that those
Monkeys, though distinct species, were her nearer relations, for she at once rejected the Rhesus, and
adopted both of them. The young Rhesus was greatly discontented at being thus rejected, and it
would, like a naughty cliild, annoy and attack the young Drill and Mandrill wherever it could do so
safely; this conduct exciting gi-eat indignation in the old Baboon. Another female Baboon had so
capacious a heart that she not only adopted young Monkeys of other species, but .stole young Dogs
and Cats, which she continually carried about. Her kindness, however, did not go so fiir as to share
her food with her adopted offspring. An adopted kitten scratched this affectionate and selfish old
thing, who certainly had a fine intellect, for she was much astonished at being scratched, and imme-
diately examined the kitten's feet, and without more ado bit off the claws !

Le Vaillant in hi.j African travels was accompanied by a Monkey, which was jirobably one of these
Chacmas. It lived on very good terms with cocks and hens, thus disproving the antijiathy which tradi-
tion has handed down as existing between these very different creatures. He was aunised at the one,
and stole the eggs of the other. In fiict, he not only tasted the eggs of his own accord, but was made
to taste all sorts of fowls and nuts for the benefit of the travellers, who feared being poisoned. If this
creature, which was called "Kees," refused them, they were left untouched by those who had a very
sensible opinion of his instinct. Besides being taster he was watch-dog. " By his cries," writes the
traveller, " and ether expressions of fear, we were always informed of the approach of an enemy before
my Dogs could discover it. They were so accustomed to his voice, that they slept in perfect security,
and never went the rounds, on which account I was very angry, fearing that I should no longer find
that indispensable assistance which I had a riglit xo expect if any disorder or fatal accident should
deprive me of my faithful guardians. However, when he had once given the alarm, they all stopped
to watch the signal, and on the least motion of his eyes, or the shaking of his head, I have seen them
all rush forward, and run fiir away in the quarter to which they observed his looks directed. I often
oirried luni along with me in my ) nnting excursions, during which he would amuse himself climbing

LE VAILLAyrS MUXKEY.

\\\) the trees in order to search for game, of which lie was remarkably foiiJ. Sometimes he discovered
liouey ill the crevices of rocks, or in hollow trees, but when he found nothing, v/hen fatigue and
exercise had whetted his appetite, and when he began to be seriously oppressed with hunger, a scene
took place which appeared to me exceedingly comic. When he could not find game or honey, he
searched for roots, and ate thorn with relish, especially one of a particular species, which, unfortunately
for ine, I found excellent and very refreshing, and which I wanted gi-eatly to partake of But Kees
was very cunning. When he found any of this root, if I was not near him to claim my part, he made
great haste to devour it, having his eyes directed all the time towards me. By the distance I had to
go before I could approach liim he judged of the time that he had to eat it alone, and I indeed arrived
too late. Sometimes, however, when he was deceived in his calculation, and when I came upon him
sooner thiui he expected, he instantly endeavoured to conceal the morsels from me ; but by means of
;i blow well applied I compelled him to restore the theft ; and in my turn becoming master of the
envied prey, he was obliged to receive laws from the offended piuty.
Kees entertained no rancour or hatred, and I easily- made him compiv-
lieiid how detestable was that base selfishness of which he had set iin'
an example. To tear up these roots Kees employed an ingenious method,
wliicli aflbrded me much umusement. He laid hold of the tuft of leaves
with his teeth, and pressing his four paws firmly against the earth, an<l
drawing his head backwards, the root generally followed. When this
iiietlKjd did not succeed, he seized the tuft as before, as close to the earth
iis he could, then throwing his heels over his head, the root always
yielded to the jerk he gave it. In our marches, when he found himself
tired, he got upon the back of one of my Dogs, which had the complai-
.■sance to carry him for whole liouis together. One only, which was larger
;ind stronger than the rest, ought to have served him for this purpose ;
but the cunning animal well knew how to avoid this dnidgery.
The moment he perceived Kees on his shouldei-s, he remained motionless,
and suffered the cai-avan to jjass on, without ever stirring from the spot. ski ll d the chacma.

The timorous Kees still persisted ; but as soon as he began to lose sight

of us he was obliged to dismount, and both he and the Dog ran with all their might to ovei-take us.
For fear of being surprised, the Dog dexterously sufiered him to get before him, and watched him
with gi'eat attention. In short, he had acquii'ed an ascendency over my whole jjack, for wliich he
was perhaps indebted to the superiority of his instinct ; for among animals, as among men, address
often gets the better of strength. WhUe at his meals Kees could not endure guests ; if any of the
Dogs approached too near him at that time, he gave them a hearty blow, which these poltroons never
returned, but scampered away as fast as they could. It appeared to me extremely singular, and I
could not account for it, that next to the Serpent, the animal which he most dreaded was one of his
own .species ; whether it was that he was sensible that his being tamed had deprived him of gieat
part of his faculties, and that fear had got possession of his senses, or that he was jealous and dreaded
a rivalry in my friendship. Sometimes he heard othei-s of the same species making a noise in
the mountains ; and notwithstanding his terror, he thought proper, I know not for what reason,
to reply to them. When they heard his voice they approached ; but as soon as he perceived
any of them he fled with horrible cries ; and ninning between our legs, implored the protection
of everybody, while his limbs quivered through fear. We found it no easy matter to calm him ;
but he gi-adually resumed after some time hLs natural tranquillity. He was very much addicted
to thieving, a fault common to almost all domestic animals ; but in Kees it became a talent, the
ingenious efforts of which I admired, and notw-ithstanding all the correction bestowed on him
by my people who took the matter seriously, he was never amended. He knew jierfectly well
how to untie the ropes of a basket to take provisions from it; and, above all, milk, of which
he was remarkably fond; more than once he has made me go without any. I often beat him
pretty severely myself ; but when he escaped from me, he did not appear at my tent till towards
niglit." "Milk in liaskets !" why truly the term "ba.iket," as applied to a vessel for holding
milk, appears to require some explanation ; but it was realiy carried in baskets woA-en by the

148 NATURAL MISTOIiY.

Yonac(uas, of reeds so delicate and so close in texture that they might be employed in carrying water
or any liquid. The abstraction of the milk may be considered as a kind of set-otf against the appro-
priation of Kees's favourite root by his master. The pertinacious way in which Kees bestrode Le
Vaillant'.s Dogs will recall to the remembrance of some a Monkey that was, and perhaps still is, riding
about London in hat and feather, with garments to match, upon a great Dog, with the usual accom-
paniment of hand-organ and Pan's pipe. Upon these occasions the Monkey evidently feels proud
of his commanding position ; but ever and anon we have seen him suffer from one of those sad
reverses of fortune to which the greatest among us are subject. In the midst of the performance,
while the organ and pipe are playing, and the Monkey has it all his own way, and, elevated
with the grandeur that surrounds him, is looking in a supercilious manner at the admiring crowd,,
some good-natured but unlucky boy throws the Dog a bit of cake, in his zeal to pick up which the
latter lowers liLs head and shoulders so suddenly as infallibly to pitch his rider over his head. We
have thought more than once that there was a sly look about the Dog as he regarded the unseated
Monkey, utterly confounded by his downfall, and the accompanying shouts of laughter from tha
bystanders.

The Pig-tailed Baboon being very clever, very agile, and able to use his jaws admii-ably in.
digging, eating, and fighting, should have a good skull, and certainly that of an adult, although usefui
is extremely ugly. The brain-case is even for a Baboon small in comparison with the rest of the
skull, and it is hidden in front by the large prominences over the orbits ; it swells out behind,
and is marked by a side crest, which passes backwards to meet that of the other side from above
each ear. The orbits are separated by a straight (vertical) ridge of bone, wliich gives a curious
look to the f>ice, and makes the eyes look straight to the fi-ont along the swollen nose. The
openings for the nosti-ils in the skull (anterior nares) are large and rather oval, and the upper jaw
is as it were nipped in above the gi-inders, and then swollen out above. The long nose bonas
(nasals) are sepai-ated by a slight depression ft-om the gi-eat ridges of the upper jaw. The huge upper
canine teeth are most extraoi-dinary. They are slim, slightly curved, long (1| inch), and sharp at the
tip ; when examined they are almost rapier-ishaped or triangular in outline, the front of the triangle is
grooved, and the back is a sharp cutting edge. The gi-oove is for the top of the lower canine which
works into it, and the sharp edge behind cuts upon the tooth in the lower jaw behind the lower
canine (the first pre-molar), pushing it backwards and displacing it. These fangs are very terrible to-
look at, and yet it appears that their principal work is done with the back edge of the upper one
grinding and cutting on the curiously-started tooth of the lower jaw. They are capital holders, root-
cutters, and nut-crackeis.

THE 8PHINX BABOON.*

There is nothing much more amusing than to see a young Sphinx Baboon just a little irritated
by some one who knows him. They are fine large creatures even when young, and have then an
amiable expression of countenance, which they lose with the cares of old age. Greatly resembling the
young of the Chacma, they have much the same disposition for play, and can be made a little
jealous and tierce. Their colour differs, for their black face is encircled by a dark hair with a decided
gi-eeni.sh tint, which is very universal, and upon this they appear to be arranged as different in kind.
One in the Zoological Gardens was very active, running on all-fours well, and climbing up the
wires of his cage to look at his neighbours. He would come to tlie side, and on being asked whether
ho would have a scratch, turned round' and placed his back at the disposal of the scratcher, whose
operations he much enjoyed ; moreover, lie put out his hands and feet for examination, and was very
tpiiet. But he had a trick which was not only curious but instructive, as it explained how these
Baljoons can tlirow stones, and with good aim. Somebody who knew him came to see him with a.
lady and offei-ed him a greengage, and when he was about to take it, pretended to give it to her.
This excited the indignation of the Sphinx, who trotted off to the further end of his cage and seized
a tin pot, which sometimes contained food or water. Taking it in both hands he ran towards the
lady and threw it forcibly, and in a good line, at her. He followed his pot, and as it came back by

* Ciinoeephalus sphinx.

THE ANUBIS BABOOX. 149

rebounding from the wires Le escaped it hy straddling his legs. Then he came to the siflc and scolded
much, and looked much put out. He soon forgave the injury, and submitted to hr.ving his back
scratched with pleasure. Then the greengage was oflered again, and before he could take it the fruit
was presented to a Baboon in the next compajtment. This led to the -same result — a rusii oft" to the
end of the cage, a rummage for the pot, and a very good throw with both the hands. At length,
when he had the fruit given to him he was perfectly content. His looks at the lady were certainly
cross and angry enough. Evidently there is a good power of aiming, and as the object is thrown
as the Baboon i.s moving it receives a considerable impetus.

The Sphinx Baboon, or C'ynocepludus sphinx, inhabits Guinea, and is commonly seen in mena-
geries, and stufted in museums. As old age comes on its character alters as well as its aspect of
countenance ; it ceases to be familiar and becomes morose and ferocious. The skull of the Sphinx
Baboon resembles, to a certain degree, that of the Hamailryas Baboon, but the orbits are decidedly
oblique. There is the same tilling up of the upper jaw-bones, and the cheek-bones do not project
very much.

THE ANUBIS BABOON.*

These Baboons live a very peculiar life in the neighbourhood of Angola, a Portuguese settlement
on the western coast of Africa. Instead of delighting in the <lense woods and glide;, of the
tropical country close by, where fruit, nuts, and roots evist in
vast abundance, and wiiere water is most jilentifu!, they pielei
to inhabit a hilly district which is much cut up in all diiocti iis
by deep dry gullies, and grand rocky ravines. Tlir ioiiiifi\ i
badly supplied with vegetation, and water is very scarce. 1 licit
are a few prickly shrubs, a few roots of grass, and certain kind-,
of thick cluli-stemmed dwarf shrubs all bearing a few lea\ es,
only during the few months of the year in which rain falls
During the rest of the year nothing is seen but bare rock and
scoi'ched leafless firewood. At distances far apart, watei onl>
exists in deep dry gullies under the sand. In the neighbouihood
of the rivers on that part of the coast vegetation is most lu\u
riant, but the Monkeys jirefer the arid country, living princip ilh
on the root and stem of one of the most extraordinary phnt'^ -iull ci thl ^mis-s b.vboox.

in the world — the Welwitschia.

The dog-like jaws of these Apes are very useful iu gnawing the exposed roots of these plants,
and they manage to nibble them just as a Sheep does a turnip. When thiisty they seek for water,
and in company with Zebras and other animals excavate or scrape holes in the sand until it is found
over the hard sub-rock.

They are very wary, and usually assemble in troops of fifteen or more, and when they move
ibout they send forward one or two who act as scouts, and give signals to the main body about
what is going on in front. Some time since a man opened a well at some copper-mines on the hills,
and he soon found that the Baboons knew what he had done, for they came down to drink in bodies
of thirty or forty.

They run very fast and on all-fours in a kind of sideway gallop, and the little ones ride on
the backs of their dams, holding veiy tight and safely. It appears that there is some discipline going
on amongst them when they are in bodies, for if a scout should happen not to signal danger or
whatever is interesting to the whole band, the rest set upon him, and give him a good thrashing.

Some similar or perhaps the same kind of Baboon lives a more pleasant life than these in another
district in the neighbourhood of Angola. There are some most extraordinary rocks which are
situated some two hundred or more miles in the interior, and were mentioned more than two
centuries ago in tlie books of missionaries and other travellers as gi-eat wonders of nature. Th.-sy are
the Black Rocks of Piingo Andongo. These rocks, rising on the outskii-ts of a district celebrated for

• Ci/Hocephalus anubis.

150 y-iTij:.tL insronT.

its inarvoilous fertility aud ricliuess of vegetation, as-e arid-looking on the toj), aiid dark, jMrtly from the
natnral tint of the stone which is composetl of gneiss. They encircle a valley, and extend over about
ten square mile,s, being rugged, or in the form of gigjuitic pillars. Sloping away from the vaJley
i-egion with its grwat forests, they present precipitous sides towards it, and are broken up by i-avines.

At first sight the stone of the precipices apj)eai-s to be sterile or poor in vegetation, but the
nearer the maii^iu of the liigh laud is approiiched the more luxurijiut it becomes, the more flowery the
open field.?, and the more numerous the cryst;\l brooks. Cvdtivation goes on here, and gi-ain is ciuufiUly
sown, maize especially. In other jwrts of the valley a dense daik-gi^en primeval foi^est reaches close
to the precipitous and partly sterile walls of i-ock. The up}>er part of the pi-ecipices and rocks is,
however, biU-e of any sluub or tree-like veget^ition, and looks arid enough during the greater part of
the year. Now all this is of great imiwrtauee to the Baboon. He lives on the top of the rocks ui
hollows and under ledges of stone, and safely placed there iu inaccessible places, he surveys the fertile
scene below him, and selects the choicest of the fields for the supply of his food. Probably there
would be no such oasis in the country were it not for a very curious plant which really gives the
name to the " Black Rocks," and which clothes tlie hills during the wet season. And if there were
no fertile valley the Baboon would certainly not be found in this district As the wet season
progresses, the hills look blacker and blacker, then- ruggeilness disappeai-s, tvnd even the steiile faces of
the jirecipices grow dsu-k, and the vegetation of the valley apjteai-s to crowd up theii- slope. All this
ultei-atiou is produce<l by the vigorous and indeetl enormous growth of a singular plant called
Scj-touemx It i-staius much moisture -within its fcuigles, and long after the i-ains have ceased to be
felt and to influence the vegetation of the valley, the aiiility of the district is antagonised or put off
for a while by this interesting proi>erty. The Scytonem.i selects the bare rocks for its favourite
loc;ility, :vnd tJiese surround the valley with its teeming vegetation as with a great sponge, whose
moisture prolongs the weeks of plant life and of active growth, and adds to a wonderful fertility.
With plenty of running water, abundivnce of food, and a very safe slielter, the Baboons have
great cause to thank the Scvtonema. They flourisli amongst the idcks, and are a terrible scoiu-ge to
the inhabitiints of the valley. Their cunning and boldness arc remarkable, and are increased by theii-
numl)ei-s. Aft.er surveying the gix)\rth of the choicest fields of Indian corn they assemble in great
troops and destioy entire plantations iu a single night

THE COMMON' BABOOX.*

Tliere is a Baboon which is much more commonly seen in mcnsigeries on the Continent than any
other, and which is kept by the Arabian and Egyptian jugglers ; yet it is by no mesins satisfactorily
m.ade out whether it is a particular species or only the young or even adult form of some one of those
jilready described It has a name, however, which ought to leave the identity of the creature in no
doubt — it is the Common Baboon, or Ci/nocejihalits jmpio. If it really comes from all the jtlaces
whence it is &ud to be derived it lives over a vast district, and is to be found on the west or Guinea
("oast inland, iu Abyssiniix, and on the Nile further north. Sir John Kirk found them iu
Zambesia iu Eastern Equatorial Africa, and was told tliat tiie natives held them as sacred, and
preserved them, calling them '• Nyam " and '■ Mangiinja." But probably the specimens from Guinea
ai« those of the Sphinx Baboon, those from Abyssinia ai-e the females of the Hamadry;xs or of
Geladiis, and pos-sibly there may be some in this district which i-eally are time Papio Baboons.

They are very common in the half wild and tame condition; and as they often have to take care
of themselves in th; midst of a very restless and half-starving set of men, their senses beconte
shai-pejied, and their intelligence l)?comes exalted in a most curious manner. But nothing is known
cf them iu the wild state.

They ai-e large animals, and their hair is of a unifoi-m yellowish-brown colour, slightly shaded
with siuidy or light red tints. The whiskers are of a light lawa colour, and the ftice, eai-s, and hands
:i!-e naked and black : the upper eyelids are white and naked, and the tail is about one-half the length

UABITS OF TUE tOMiloy BaBOOX. 151

• >f the body, Ijut it lias no tiift. They have no mane, and the muzzle is not so prolonged as in the
Haniiulryas and C'hacma Baboons ; ne%ertheless, the cheeks are rather swollen, and in thLs there is
a faint resemblance to the Mandrill, but they are not coloure.l, and the muzzle Ls thin beyond them,
and its it wei-e truncated. The ears are visible, and are black ^d hairless, but are somewhat
]X)inted. All the underneath of the Vjody and the under part of the limbs are covered with hairs of a
brown colour. Some are of a greenish hue, and the hairs are not of one colour.

Buffon had on? that was full grown, and it was as savage as well could be. It exhibited all
the ferocity of di.sj»osition and intractability of nature common to the rest of its kind when full grown.
'■ It was not," Siiys he, " altogether hideous, and yet it excited horror. It appeared to be continually
in a state of savage fei-ocity, grinding its teeth, i»eri>etually restless, agitated by unprovoked furj". It
was obliged to be shut up in an ii-on cage, of which it shook the bai-s so powerfully with its hands as
to inspire the s[)ectators with apprehension. It was a stout-built animal; whose nervous limbs and
compressed fonn indicated great force and agility ; and although the length and thickness of its
shagg}- coat made it apjtear to be much larger than it was in reality, it was nevertheless so strong and
ac-tive that it might have readily resisted the attacks of several unai-med men."

But although thus ferocious in old age, they are amusing, tractable, teachable, and even affec-
tionate when young ; they know and like their ma.ster, are orderly when with him, can be taught all
soils of ti-icks, and they even like the young of other animals as pets. There are of course all sorts
of stories told about them, some of which are true, for they were told by reliable naturalLst-s fiom the
results of their own experience, but the majority have too much of the wonderful in them, and are
clearly the results of Eastern imagination.s. A di.stinguished naturalist and traveller took much
pains with some Baboons, and learned much of their habits and curious trick.*, and his first jMipil
was amusing enough. Of course Baboons differ like higher animals in their temjter and lightness
of disposition ; .some are grumpy and stupid, and others are as friendly and fix)Iicsome as a genially-
disposed Dog. One of these last came into his hand>J, and was, for a Baboon, quite amiable-looking,
full of vivacity, and jxissessed of a vast amount of animal .spii-its and talent for the mischievous. He
had a place set apart for him near one of the gates of the establishment in Egypt, where he acted as
a sort of watch-dog. This duty he performed to perfection, and no one dared to attempt to enter
without his leave. To those whom- he knew he was polite, but to all others he was quite the reverse.
Walking backwards and fonvards in great ire when disturbetl by anybody unknown to him, he
finally stood stiffly on three of liis legs, and hammered away at the floor with the knuckles of the
other, just as a man raps a table when in a pet. His eyes glared, and he gave tongue in a fierce
growling bark.

Sometimes he would put on a most enticing look, and seem most kindly disposed, seeking
a.s it were the friendly notice Of people ; then out woidd come his hand for something nice to be
given him, and if refiised all his good looks departed, and he behaved more like a de\-il than a
watch-dog, rushing at his enemy, and endeavoiu-ing to bite and scratch. He was on good terms
with all the animals of the neighbourhood, but took a great dislike to some Ostriches which wandered
.ibout, and often came close to him, not apparently that they were neces-sarily nnbelovtd by Ajies, but
because they did him some very e\-il services most unintenrionally. He liked to get on a wall under
a quantity of sti-aw. which protected him from the sun, and there he dozed away. Xow the Ostrich
has a very bad hiibit of trying to swallow or peck at everything ; nothing comes amiss so that it
can be swallowed : ami they one and all are constantly poking here and poking there for most curious
titbits. This was the ca.se with the Ostriches in the Baboon's neighbourhood, and it now and then
happened that as they were on the search for a novelty they noticed his fine stout tail hanging from
the top of the wall. Of course the first Ostrich winch was near gave it 2 gojd peck with his strong
Ijeak, and doubtless a good pull also. This was a most uncalled-for liberty, and not only woke up
the sleeiier, and hurt him, but also offended his dignity. He awoke fiul of rage, and l-efore the
Ostrich could give a second jK-ck at the gristly morsel the furious Balxwn noshed from undei- the
straw, seized his enemy by the neck, and cuffed his he;id most soimdly. He hated Ostriches ever after.
• ue Siime Baboon w-is taken on boaid a boat w-ith the travellers, and exhibited a great fear of the
water. After a while he got a little rxcustomed to it, and gradually was tempted to touch it. He
useil to feo the whole length of his coid, which kfjt Mm ^.^fc and sound, and, clinging on, wocli

152 NATURAL MIS TOUT.

■jvist let one of his feet touch the glisteuin.i,' surface, and ili-ag through the water. This tiick he
used to do when he was thirsty, for he sucked the water from oti' Jiis foot.

He was very fend of young animals, and took upon himself the occupation of nurse, whether the
mothers liked it, or the little ones cared for it or not. Thus, on once going through the streets of a
town seated on the baggage-wagon, the Baboon was tied fast by a good long cord, which gave him
much liberty. He saw by the side of the road a Dog with a litter of puppies, and immediately darted
off, caught up one of them, and was returning before the mother had recovered from the shock
produced by his audacity. She rushed after him as he retreated with the little puppy clasped to his
bosom with one of his arms, and so vigorously did she pursue that the Baboon was placed in difficulty,
and had to exercise all his resources to get out of her way with his charge. The wagon was on the

vims KAHOON.

move, and the rope was at its fullest length, when he suddeidy took hold of it with tlie spare hand,
and running himself clear, and alighting on his hind legs, met the attack of the furious Dog most
bravely. So stoutly did he persist, that the natives rather took his part, and he retained the little
Dog. Afterwards his master took it from him, and restored it, to his gi-eat disgust ; and, indeed, he
R-as exti-emely offended, and was sulky and out of temper for long afterwards. Doubtless, if some
intelligent men, who were accustomed to treat animals properly, would undertake the education of
Baboons, they would be successful to a considerable degree ; and thei-e is no reason why they should
not oe as useful to man as the Dog. B\it they are teased and worried into a premature and senile
savageness when in captivity.

One of the plans of teaching a Baboon to like his master is to keep him constantly in the house
where he is ; the master feeds him, and is kind and never teasing to him, giving him, however,
friendly scratches on the back, and having romps with him. Then, when he will answer to some name
or call, and has become familiarised with all around, some one comes in with a whip and begins to

SKULL OF TBE COJfMOX I'.ABOOX. 153

talk loiully, and to order tlie Buboou out of the place. The creature is frigliteued, and is rather
disposed to resist ; wliereupon the master makes his appearance, and pretends to take his part by
opposing the intruder with violent gestures and threats, and making much of the poor brute. This
has usually an excellent effect, and jiroduces satisftictory results, the Baboon clinging henceforth to his
friend. They are taught to help their masters in conjuring and juggling, and do some tricks well.

The skull of this Baboon has a face occupying about half of it, and the bi-ain case is much
contracted behind and at the sides of the brows, and is flattened behind and above, so that the
top of the head and eyes look pressed down. There is a ridge at the back of the skidl extending
from each ear-bone to a little knot at the back part of the occiput. All the back of the head
is marked by the impression of the muscles of the back and neck, and the space for the jaw
muscles is large on the side. Underneath, the skull is very long, there is the usual small space
for the opening of the nostrils into the throat, and the palate is long and arched. In a specimen
in the British Museum there is a little hook of bone on one of the small bones at the base of the
skull (internal pterygoid bone), which is seen also in man, and it is for a tendon of a muscle to pass

!34 NATURAL JIlSfOHY.

around, tlie use of tli? muscle being to render tlie soft palate tense. Why this should be so
well grown in this Baboon, whose voice is no better than others, is certainly strange. The face
is made broad near the eyes by the projecting cheek-bones, and the orbits are broad, not widely
open, and they are separated, as in some of the other Baboons, by a part of the forehead bone (frontal),
and the upper j)art of the no.se bones (nasals). The nostril opening is very triangular, and on either
side is the broad smaller surface of the upper jaw-bone. The front bone of the upper jaw is very
projecting. One is struck with the huge chin of the lower jaw, and how slanting and comj)arative!y
small are the jowl ends of it. Evidently from the great breadth of the back of the lower jaw,
and its roughness for muscular attachments, it is a very strong one, the narrow part in front which
holds the teeth being well moved up and down, and side to side, in biting and masticating.

Their hands are rather short, the fingers are black, and the third and fourth are of the same
length ; they are strong and hold well, the thumb, however, being of no vei-y great assistance.

CHAPTER IX.

THE DOCt-SHArED MONKEYS {eonclmUd). the n.uiooNa.

The Second Diiision of tlie Baboons— The M.vndkill — Easily Distinguished from the rest— Peculiar Aiipearance and Colour
of the Face—The Cheek-ridges —Noticed by the Ancients- Brutality of its Disposition -" Jerry" at the Sui-rey
(iardens— Their Wild State— Anafomical Peculiarities -The Back-bone and Liver— The Drill— Distinguished from
the Mandrill— Probable Antiejuity of these Baboons— Theories of their Kelationshiii to other Animals— The Black
B^VBOON-Its Locality and Description— Prob.ibly a Forest Ape -General Summary of the Dog-shaped Quadiumana
and Classification of the Group.

THE MANDRILL.*

This large Baboon is the principal one with a very short stump of a tail, and may be dis-
tinguished from all others, with and without long tails, by the enormous swellings of its cheeks on
t-ach side of its nose, and their odd colouring. In general shape it resembles the rest of the genus,
but perhaps its head and chest may be more bulky, and its limbs shorter and stouter than the
others, when it has attained its full growth. A full-grown male mea,sures five feet when standing
upright, and the colour of the hair is a light olive-brown above and silvery-grey beneath, and
the chin is decorated with a small pointed yellow beard. It has a " brutus " in the form of a
great tuft of hair on the top of the head, Nature having brushed up the hair ofi' the temples and
forehead ui)wards, in a ])eak-shaped ridge on the crown, giving a triangular appearance to the whole.
The ears are naked and pointed near theii- tips, and their colour is bluish-black. The muzzle
and the lips are -large, and as it were swollen and projecting, and the former is not only long,
but is surrounded above with an elevated rim or border, and cut short or truncated like that of
a Hog. But the most extraordinary features of this ugliest of faces are the projections on each side
of the nose. «These are foi-med by swellings of the cheek-bones along the base of the gi-eat canine
teeth, and the skin covering them is ribbed, and has ridges which are alternately light blue, scarlet,
and deep purple in colour, contrasting strangely with the other tints of the hail-. To add to the
strange look, the eyes are deeply sunken, and their colour, a deep hazel, contrasts with a streak of
vermilion, which reaches down each side of the no.se to the lip, and extends upwai-ds in the
neighbourliood of the brows, which are large and " beetled." A forehead would clearly be out of place
in such a brute, and therefore it recedes rapidly above the eves, and is lost in the great tuft
cf hair.

TIi3 canine teeth are immenap, ami wlien the animal is enraged they and the others

* Cimoaphaius mj,-mc:i.

THE MANDIilLL. 155

8,i*e shown, tlieir oeaiitiful wliite colour conti-asting with the strange medley of tints Kroun<l
them. On the body the hair is very bristly, but the hands and feet are naked, and as if to
add to the many peenliaritie.s of the Mandrill, they are small in relation to the vigorous looking
limbs and short chest.

So curiously decoi- ted a brute living just outside the civilisation of the Egyptians, Greeks,
and Romans, was sure to attract notice, especially as they were brought into Europe by the
African merchants. Aristotle appears to have been struck with the hog-like look of the head,
and he called it by the name of Hog-Ape (Cfwsropit/iecus), and all writers, from the earliest to the
latest, have contributed opinions founded on very doubtful facts, to the detriment of its character.
All the iniquities, abominations, and scandals that have been coupled with the Gorilla, Chimpanzee,
and Orang-utan, are linked on fourfold to the character of the ill-favoured Mandrill, and this is
decided to be quite correct by the natives of the Gold Coast and the inland regions, where it lives a
most <lreaded and independent life.

There is no doubt that the Mandrill is extremely brutal in its adult age, and that the males are
fei-ocious and disgusting, there being no particular choice as regards ugliness and oddity of decoration
between their foces and sterns, whose callosities are vast. But the young are not so, and probably
the quieter tints of the female ai-e associated with a gentler disposition. Both the young and
the females have shorter muzzles than the adult males, and they have neither the great cheek-
swellings nor the colouring of the face ; in fact, it is only when the great eye teeth are being cut
by the males, as evidences of its age and powers, that the irregular decoration begins to be
noticed.

The question of the colouring and ornamentation of Monkeys wUl again Ije noticed in the summary
at the clo.se of the description of the Quadrumana, and it is therefore only now necessary to remark
that the most grotesque-looking and ferocious Mandrill is especially beautiful in the eyes of his partner,
who, with humble colour.s and softened looks, admires her fractious spouse. His colours glow with
love and flame under the influence of passion, and probably no more curiois-looking piece of living
polychrome was ever seen than "Jerry," at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, when he got in a rage after
drinking gin and water. "Jerry " was old and had gained all his ornaments, but had lost his levity, fur,'
and amiability. Broderip writes of him : " He liked the good things of Mandrill life, but would not put
up with its troubles. He was a glutton, and ferocious in the extreme. ]\Iost kindly he woidd receive
your nuts, and at the same time, if possible, would scratch or pinch your fingers, and then snarl and grunt
in senseless anger. Ho wimlil sit iu a littli' ann-cliair, and would wrap himself up in a blanket, knowing
what was coming, the lirilie Ixin^ litln r a cup of tea, which he took, as people used to say, 'quite like
any Christian,' or, what v/as much nicer in his eyes, a glass of weak grog and a pipe. If he was disturbed
in his enjoj'ment he was not pleasant, and if a shower of nuts came in upon his feast, especially if it
occurred after the gin and water, he came out in his true colours. Cramming the nuts into his mouth,
and stowing them away rapidly in his cheek -pouches, thus giving an unusual size to his jaws, he
would howl and march about, snarling and grunting. His little eyes glared, his nose and cheeks
became swollen, and their colovn-s most vivid. His hair stood out, and he walked as it were on the
very tips of his fingers and toes, presenting every now and then vermilion lieliind, which a
distinguished French anatomist has said was not without elegance."

He was under the control of the keeper, who had, however, to take care that he Wiis not bitten
unawares, for " Jeiry " was deceitful and treacherous in the extreme. It is said that he once dined in
the presence of royalty, and that he was one of the many higher animal.s who were invited to dine by
George the Fourth at Windsor when his Majesty required novel amusements and unusual excitement.
Doiditless he behaved himself, and contributed as much, and probably more, than any guest, to the
royal enjoyment, and he appears to have enjoyed his hashed venison himself There was no mistake
about his enjoying his pipe, for he smoked as slowly and sedately as the gravest of his visitors at tho
Zoological Gardens.

Had " Jerry " been let alone, and had he remained in Africa at liberty, doubtless he would have
in time headed his troops as patriarch a!nd watchman, and would have led them in many an expedition
Jgainst the fields of corn and the plantations of fruit-trees. For the Mandrills, in a state of nature,
behave much like the other Baboons. They are, however, very fond of insects, lai-ge and small,

156 KATVRAL SISTORY.

inoffensive and venomous, anil they lift up stone after stone in their search for them, enjoying Scorpions as
much as anything else. Probably they can throw a stone, and this, coupled with their a.spect, their
assembling in troops to defy the farmers and watchers, and their attacking Dogs without mercy, has
given them the bad character in the eyes of the negro race which they appear to have had from time
immemorial. It is said that they annoy the Elephants so much that they wj U not remain in the same
district ; but it is doubtful whether the great proboscidean could flourish where the Mandrill cares most
to live, for he is neither a forest nor a plain Ape, but, like the rest of the Baboons, travels far and wide
from his rocky home. They associate in bands like the other Cynocephali, and behave as they do when
plundering ; but it appears to be true that the Mandrills are often found in small numbers, and that
then they devote themselves to hunting for insects rather than to predatory excui-sions. Very little is

known about their habits in tlie wild state in Africa, and it is evident that they are avoided rather than
watched by the Blacks.

Although, from the scantiness of reliable information regarding their habits when living at liberty,
the Mandrill is of no great interest to the ordinary naturalist, still, the comparative anatomist, having
had the advantage of dissecting both tame and wild specimens, considers this Monkey, which is
ordinarily placed last in the scheme of the classification of the Old World kinds, of very great interest.
For, placed low douni in the Monkey scale, and remote from the man-like Apes, it approaches the
flesh-eating animals, or Camivora, in many points of its construction, and, if not exactly, still approxi-
mately, and in their general character.

The back -bone, for instance, although its curves recall those of man, is eminently that of the
brute, that is to say, it greatly resembles that of many kinds of quadrupeds. The pieces, or vertebrse.
of the back (dorsal) have, of course, spines, but they do not slope backwards ; on the contrary, those
of the last three are directed forward ; and the loin, or lumbar vertebrce, are six or seven in number,

AXATOMY OF THE MANDRILL.

1)7

nuJ there is an arrangement liy which tlieii- general strength is increased, by a forking of the joint
bearing processes wliich unite them together liy tlie formation of a bony structure. These peculiarities
oonnect the Mandrill, whose common position is on all-fours, with the inferior quadrupeds, for they
exist in them. Then there is no true sacrum bone, but two or three back pieces (sacral vertebra?),
form a short conical sacrum — one attached separately to the hip-bone on either side. This is like
the arrangement in the €!arnivora. The hip-bones are long, narrow, and deeply excavated behind, or
rather externally ; the front of the bony girdle of the loins (the pelvis) is long ; and the bones (the
ischial) on which the Mandrill sits are very broad and semicircular. Now, these three apparently
simple matters of anatomical detaU are not only of interest to those who recognise the analogies of the
same parts in different animals, for they relate to means, to ends, and commend themselves to tbi

tJ e Zoolojital Garden

consideration of ordinary observei-s. Tlie shape of the hip-bone on each side, so unlike that of m:\u
and the man-like Apes, perhaps the Gibbons excepted, depends upon the relation of the muscles which
move the hind-quarters and their bones, and the lioUov,- in the hip is well filled up by those which pass
backwards to the thigh. The position of those muscles assists the motion of running on all-foui-s and
of springing. The length of the girdle (the front of the pelvis or pubic bones) relates to the dimensions
of the digestive and reproductive organs. The large size of the haunch-bones, or rather of their ends,
is due to their being covered by the gi-eat pad-like hard parts, or callosities, on which the creature sits
\ ery constantly. Instead of having the soft muscles so familiar to the human anatomist well and largely
<levelcped there, it has this mass of fat cellular tissue and coloured skin attached to a curved bone,
the whole being a most comfortable seat, and very frequently used by this restless Monkey. The bones
of the tail are few in number, for it is short, but the muscles which wag the organ in Monkeys, in
which it is of some size, are still present at its root. There is a capacious chest in the Mandrill, but
its bones, or rather the ribs which partly form it, are, as it were, pressed in at the sides, so that it i.i
not round like that of the higher Apes, but rather long and flat at the sides, and thus resembles the

1J8

yjTrn.iL iiisturi

chcs': of the Semuopitlieci on tlie one luind, and that of tlie lower four-footed animals on tlie other.
It has good lungs and a strong heart, and the intestines, stomach, and ii\er do not occupy as nnicli
upace relatively as in the genera of Monkeys already described.

There is a singidar approach in the conformation of the fore hand to the paw of the Carnivora,
and a great departure, so far as resemblance is concerned, from that of man in tlie Mandrill. It is
produced by the relative length of the bones which unite those of the wrist to those of the fingers^
for these so-called metacarpal bones, four in number, leaving out that of the thumb, are of the same
length, and not unequal, as in the higher Apes and in man. Therefore, the piiddle finger of the
Mandrill is not longer than the others, and hence the peculiarity of the Land as a whole. This is
noticed in some Macaques to a certain extent.

There is one anatomical peculiarity of the body which may also be noticed, as it relates to the
movements of the animals, and their trotting and galloping on all-fours. The pieces of the back -bone
in the neck have processes which project outwards (transverse processes), and in the Mandrill they
have a triangular shape, and a ridge exists upon them, which is the representative of a vei-y distinct
piece of bone in most of the other Mammalia. Now, this structure appears to have to do with the
attachment of a muscle which is also present in the Macaques, and which reaches from these transverse
l)rocesses to the .spine of the blade-bone (scapula), and its duty is probably to draw this bone forward,
and to assist the fore limb in progression.*

- Most of the peculiar muscular arrangements of the Cynomorpha previously described are repeated
in the Mancb-ill ; but it has some which are of much interest.
Thus, the great chest muscle (pectoralis major), which reaches
in the higher Apes from the front of the chest to the u])per
arm-bone, is very large in the Mandrill, and is divided into
three portions, and the great air sac of the neck projects
between them. There are also muscular fibres connected with
the back, which assist the animal in pulling back its ui)p('r
arm, and they give force not only to blows, scratchings, and
tearings, but also velocity to the movements of the wholf;
limb in moving along the ground. Strangely enough, there
is a curious resemblance between the muscles of the thumb
of the Mandrill and of the Orang-utan, two of them Ijeing
united together, so as to give the thumb iseven instead of
eight ; the tendons of these muscles (the long adductor and
the short extensor) remain, however, sepai-ate. This is a part
of the anatomy which recalls the corresponding structures
in the Carnivora, and indicates the restricted amount of
movement in the thumb of the lower Apes and Monkeys.
Having a good digestion, the Mandrill has a tolerably large liver, but it is separated into several
obes, or pieces, which are more in number than those of the other genera ; but as it is partly
insectivorous in its diet, there is no necessity for a very full-sized large intestine, and this is not
furnished with the appendix noticed in the man-shaped Apes.

Finally, as regards the skull, it may be said, that that of a large adult Mandrill is the strongest
created ; so huge are the jaws, face, teeth, and crest-ridges, that one wonders where its brain can be
ptit in life. The true brain-case is indeed small, and is encroached upon inside by the back of the
orbits, whence the eye looks out under the " beetle-brows."

The forehead bone is triangular-looking, and there is no ascending of the forehead, the bone being,
as it were, crushed flat, so as to make a triangular space with the brows in front. Ridges exist on the
sides of this space, and pass backwards to the occiput, where they meet side crests from the ear-bones.
The occiput is stuck up in a singular manner, and the surface of the bone is strongly marked by the
muscles which draw the head backwards. Of course the singular part of the skull is the huge ribbed
prominence of the upper jaw-bone on the side of the nose, and tlie great upper canine teeth.

N'DKILL.

The Aci

i-f.rachel km. It does not exist in tlie Chimnimzees.

lUE BLACK BABOCK ,,59

THE PRILL.'-

Very littie is known about the liabits of another Baboon which is found on the coast of Gv.inea, an;,
whu'h is Ciilleil the Drill. But it has been described, drawn, and stuffed frequently, and has been
called Wood Baboon, the Cinereous Baboon, and the Yellow Baboon. The natives evidently con-
found it with the young Mandrill; and as it is good-tempered when young they capture specimens
for European menageries, where they are commonly to be seen. It ajjpears to be a modified JMandrill,
like it in temper, and in its disagreeable adult cmalities ; it has not, however, the grand coloration
of the face, although the prominences of the cheek-bones are jjresent.

The Di'ill is smaller than the Mandrill, and has a short stumpy tail, occasionally two inches in length,
covered with bristly hair, and ending in a brush. The colour of the hair is greener than that of the
Mandrill, and underneath it is whiter and more silvery, whilst there is much light-brown hair on the
upper pai'ts of the liujlis. It has whiskers, which are brushed back, and a small orange-coloured beard ;
moreover, the general tint oi the skin beneath tlic liai)- is dark-blue, and the dinginess is relieved by
acailet callosities.

Tlie Baboons of Africa certainly lead very exccptinnal IIm's inr ^NLiniceys. They are the Apes of
the rock and plain, and they would lie out of jilacr, oa account of tlicir method of moving and theii'
j;eneral habits, in the dense ti'opical forests and swampy jungle. Their structure and general confor-
ination are "especially suited for their mode of life, and their courage, numbers, and instincts avail
them against their common enemies — enemies which the contented dwellers in the woods, such as
the Troglodytes, have not. Probably the Baboons are of vast iaiti(juity. for the age of the Afi-ican
hills is great, even geologically speaking. The tree disappears and the woods die away sooner or later,
whilst the rock merely ci'umbles. Certainly the life of the Gorilla and other great Apes is inti-
mately associated and connected with the life of the great trees and the duration of the vast woods
of Equatorial Africa. Destroy them, and the daj's of the Troglodytes would be at an end. But the
rocks and hills are not so transient as the woods, and the Baboon will exist long after the higher Apes
are extinct. Did he exist before them, and is he the link between them and a still less monkey-like
animal ! These are questions whose import has not escaped the active mind of one of the most
eminent of anatomists, for (Jratiolct lirlicves in the descent of the Gorilla from the Baboon, and of
course that the last precedrd the lirst in liiin'.

The possibility of the descent of the Cynocephali from a flesh-eater only rests upon the resemblance
of some of the structures of the Mandrill, for instance, to those of some of the Carnivora. The dog-
like appearance of the Baboon of course depends upon its long snout and jaws, but these ai-e very
ilifFerent in their anatomy and construction from those of the Dog. The Cynocephali (Baboons) are
the lowest of the Old World Monkeys, but their next-of-kin in the downward classification are not now
existing. They are more remote from the Lemurs, which come next below as Quadrumana, than they
are from the great Apes.

Hence the Baboon stands very much by himself He may ha^■e possibly very distant relationship
with some long-lost forms — creatures which lived geological ages since, and in which the ferocity of the
Carnivora was combined with some of the structures of the Monkey ; or — and this is the more probable
— he may have once lived as a denizen of the forest, and the .symbol of Thoth may really have merited
the name of Hamadryas. The forest may have succumbed to changes in the physical geography, and
the survivors of the slow extinction of the trees had to lead different lives and assume other habits.
The Cercopitheci (the Guenons) may have been the old forest Monkeys, and the Macaques, those half
Baboons, may be theii- modified descendants in a line which led to the true Baboon. If this be true,
the dog-like characters of the Cynocephali were given by nature during their progressive alterations,
from the condition of Tree Monkeys.

THE BLACK BABOOX.f
There is a small Baboon which is very interesting to the student of the distribution of animals
over the surface of the globe and to geologists. It is jet-black in colour, there being hardly a trace of
dark-brown in its long hair, and hence it has been called the Black Baboon, or Cynocephaltis niger.
*" Cynucephalus leaccphceios. + Cimocephalus niger.

160 KATVRAL BISTORT.

These animals are found in considerable numbers in the great island of Celebes, situated in the
sea between Australia and the mainland of Asia, and they have been introduced by man into the
Philippine Islands and Batchian. They are, therefore, extra-African, but they are true short-tailed
Baboons, nevertheless.

The Black Baboon, when full gi-own, is about two feet in length, and the tail measures about an
inch. Its face and neck are not covered, but all the rest of the body, the head, and the limbs, have a
long black fur, and the hair of the top of the head iiins up into a tall long half-curl. The face is long
and very melancholy-looking, and the cheeks are smaller, but coloured black on either side of the nose.
But the nose does not extend, like that of a Dog, quite to the end of the muzzle, for the creature has a
decided upper lip, and the division or septum of the nostrils is long and rather broad, so that these
openings look downwards and outwards. The seat has a scarlet tint, and the tail is a mere knob.

Nothing is known about the wild habits of the Black Baboon, but it appears to be a wood Ape,
and it certainly has not the impudence or the bold aggravating courage of the African Baboon in con-
finement. Tliey are frequently brought over to Europe, and may be watched in most zoological
gardens. They are capital elimliers, but they like to remain a great deal on the ground, sitting upright
on their haunches in a very sedate manner. Associating very well with other Monkeys, they appear
rather affectionate in disposition than otherwise, and may be seen looking very quiet and stately
whilst some more agile companion rubs his face and lips against theirs, apparently to their grati-
fication. The distinction between the Black Baboon and the African kinds is slight, and they all belong
to the same genus,* and therefore must have had a common parent in remote times. But the
black one lives far away in the Asiatic islands, surrounded by animals different from those which live
in Africa, many of which, nevertheless, have a curious Afiican look about them. Now, the geologist
a.sserts that there are proofs of the former connection by land of the mainland of Asia, Hindostan, and

Some zoologists m.ike a new genus (Cimopithecus) of the Black Asiatic Baboons. 'We demur.

AXTIQUITY OF THE BABOON. ICl

Africa. The facts upon which this assertion is made will be stated in several consecutive chapters
of this work, and indeed particular allusions to them from time to time will be inevitable. It is
only necessary to mention here that the separation of the two great masses of land occurred about
the time of the elevation of the Himalayas as a mountain chain, and they are about as old as the Alps
of Europe. Hence the Baboons, found as they are in the separated districts, existed as a united genus
ln^fore those vast changes. If the Black Baboon is a forest dweller — and there appears to be good reason

JILACK BABOON'.

to believe that this is the case — there is something more than simple conjecture in the suggestion that
the whole of the Baboons once lived in foi-est lands.

Tlie Cynomorpha, or Dog-shaped Quadrumana, include the genera Semnopithecus, Colobos,
Macacus, and Cynocephalus, and their di.stincticns and some of theii- anatomical peculiarities have
been noticed, and they may be summarised as follows : — As a gi-ou]), the Cynomorpha are more
fitted for running on all-for.rs than fcr any other method of progression, and their construction
relates to that of .such ranning animals as the Cats as well as to that of the Monkey's. Thus the
arm-bone (humerus) Ls unlike that of the man-shaped Apes ; it_ is bent so as to be slightly convex
forwards, and the top where the round joint is — the head of the bone — looks upwards and back-

y !Tri:Ai. iiisrcKT.

wards., and not upwards and inwards as it does in tlie Gordla. The forearm bones,- longer thaii-
tiie arm-bone, are modiiied, and tlie most movaWe of tliem (tlu; radius) is so much jointed to
the arm-bone tluit the power of moving the lower part of the forearm upwards and downwards
(of pronation and suj>ination) is much diminished. Tliere is the extra bone in the wrist, making
ninr, and one of the bones sticks out behmd (pisiform), so as to form a kind of heel to the hand.
The thumb is complete except in tlie Colobi, but it is short in proportion to the other fingers ;
and in some the tiiird and fourth fingers are equal in length, thus departing from the Ape, whose
thiid finger is always longest, resembling rather that of boasts of prey. The blade-bone differs much
from that of t'.ie Anthropomorpha, being longer and narrower, and the portion above its spine,
instead of being large, as it is in svK-li ponderous climbers, is small. All these arrangements relate to

'/)/?S-rN'f^GiQNr

vELETOX OF T

:cIoj,.i;d;'lo/,

vl P:t,jsloloilll.).

the miming on all-fours, the palms of the hands being applied to the gi-ound. Moreover, in order that
the hand should thus resemble a foot in its duties, some of its muscles simulate those of the foot and
fore-leg. Thus a muscle which extends the metacarpal bone of the thumb (the bone between the
ivrist and the thumb under "the ball"), and keeps the thumb flat on the gi-oimd in running, and
tends to pull it up, has a slip which is attached to the bone of the wi-ist, called trapezium, and which
is at the wrist end of the metacarpal bone. It extends the wrist as well as the thumb. Now this is
an arrangement seen in the foot, where a muscle extends the great toe's metacarpal bone and the ankle
bones also. In order to cany out this extension of the fingers, so as to prevent do^v^lward bending (or
flexing), they have a comi)lete double set of extensor muscles.

All the Cynomorpha have the lifting muscle of the blade-bone ; and the muscle which i)idls the
elbow back and assists in climbing, both in the Gorilla and its fellows, is present (the slip from the
back to the elbow, Dorso-epitrochlearis).

The nature of the spine and back-bone pi'ocesses has l)een noticed in the Mandrill, Ijut it is
necessary to state that the hip- and haunch-bones are not closed Ln behind by a distinct sacrurn, as is
the case in the Anthroi)omorpha. The arrangement in the Cynomorpha closely resembles that of the
great beasts of prey, but the haunch-Viones are turned out slightly so as to form a seat. There i.s
considerable variation m the number of the bones in the back and tail. With regard to tlie hinder

CLASSIFICATIOX OF THE CATAnitlllXI. 163

liniLs, the thigh-bone has a round ligament at its joint with the pelvis, and the shaft bends forwards,
tind when the animal is at rest on all-fours the thigh projects forwards and downwards, thus indicatmg
the almost permanent position of this great bone in most rumiers on all-fours, the Elephant being
X remarkable exception. The heel-bone is flat from side to side, and the toe-thumb, which reaches
about luilf way up the first joint of the next toe, has considerable powers of motion, and can be
struck out from the foot or be pulled in. The climbing muscle exists (page 106), as does also the
peculiar stretching muscle of the little toe (abductor of the metacarpal bone). A transversus petlis,
already noticed, exists. As the fore-limb assists greatly in locomotion, and much climbing is done by
it, the " calf " is not mucli requii-ed for the hind limbs ; and one of the muscles of it (the soleu.s) has a
compiu-atively small surface of origin — from the fibida alone. The gi'eat muscle of the back of the
thigh, wliich assists in the perfect erect posture and in the running also in man, is incomplete in the
C'ynomorpha. Its fibres reach from the haunch- bone to the small bone of the fore-leg in these last, but
in man they arise also all down the back of the thigh, and enable the knee-joint to be kept straight.
All these Monkeys have a mus61e on the sole of the foot called the plantaris, but it is not seen in
animals lower in the scale than the Quadrumana ; moreover, all the other muscles of the sole are more
isolated than in man, and consecpiently they produce more distinct and separate movements of the toes,
and especially in the toe-thumb. The tail, so variable in its development, consists of numerous bones,
which are modified " back-bones," or vertebrie, and in some there are little bones which are under
these, and arranged in a rude V-shape, theii- office being to protect the blood-vessels which are enclosed
by them. The muscles and nerves of this tail are sjiecial, and contribute to its different movements. The
huge canine teeth and the cutting first premolars have been noticed, and it only remains to observe that
the Cynomorpha have a first set of teeth (milk teeth) which fall out gradually, and are replaced by the
jiermanent ones. The milk teeth consist of four incisors above and below, two pre-molare above and
(jelow, and iouv true niohtre above and below, making twenty teeth in all. All these animals, except
the first two genera, have simple stomachs, but the liver has several fissures in it in the Baboons
(as it has in the Gorilla), and but few in the Asiatic species (as in the Orangs) — facts of no small
significance, for it is very probable that the Gorilla is one of the Baboon line, as the Orang is one of
the genealogical tree of a Semnopithecus. Tlie brain exhibits all the convolutions seen in the Anthro-
pomorpha, but the very monkeyish external perpendicular one is well marked. The little brain is
not uncovered by the brain proper, which is shortest in the Sacred Apes and longest in the Baboons.

The description of the Cj-nocephali ends that of the Monkeys of the Old World— The Catarrhini
— and the whole of the gi-oup may be classified as follows : —

Class. — Mammalia.
Order. — Primates.
Family. — Catarrhini.
Suh-Famihj.-i ^- Anthropomorpha.
( 2. Cynomorpha.

1. Anthropomorpha.

Genus — Troglodytes. Example— The Gorilla and Chimpanzee.
., Simla. ,, The Orang-utan.

,, Hylobates. :, The Gibbons.*

2. Cynomorpha.

Genus — Semnopithecus. Example — The Entellus JMonkey.
„ Colobos.t „ The Guereza.

„ Cercopithecus. ,, The Guenons and Mangabeys.i

;. Macacus. ., The Magot.

., Cynocephalus. ., The Baboons. §

The Si.imaiig is included in this genus.
V This spelling is preferable to " Colcbus."

; Some zoologists separate the Talapoin Monkey, and place it in a genus by itself ; and the Mangabeys are soirietimes
included in a genus Cercocebus.

§ The Gelada is included by some in a genus Theropithecus, from its nostrils opening high up ; and the Black Baboon Lj
placed in a genus Cynopithecus . These are ill inadvisable complications.

CHAPTER X.

THE JtONKEY.S OF THE NEW WOKED.*

THE CEBID.E— THE howlers— the woolly monkeys— the spideu monkeys— the sajovs.

Tlie Monkeys of the New World- Hov. Distinguished from those of the Old— Their Division into Families — The First Family,
The Cebid^, with PrehensiU' Tails— The Howleks — Appropriateness of their Name — Where Found — General De-
scription— The Yellow-Tailed Hiiwler— Anatomical Peculiarities and Appearance of the Face — Other Members of
the Family— The Black Howler— Its Locality— The Woolly SIonkeys— The Caparuo and Barrkjudo — First
noticed by Humbolilt— Peculiiirities of the Skeleton— The Spider Monkeys— Seen by Humboldt in the Brazilian
Forests— Remarkable Power of the T;ul— Flexibility of the Limbs— Conformation of the Brain— Other Species— The
CoAiTA— Curious Stories of them in Captivity— The Chameck— The Black Spider Monkey— Its Geographical
Range — Its Position in Sleep — The Variegated Spider Monkey— The Sajol's — The Caiarara— Observed by Bates
on the Amazon— Other Varieties— The Brown Sajoi— The Capuchin Sajoc— Described by Brehm— Their
Remarkable Dexterity and Cleverness— Diseases of Monkeys.

Not one of the numerous kinds of Monkeys which have been noticed in the former chapters has ever
been found in the New Workl — ^that is to say, on the American continent. The converse is also true,
for not one of those wliich are about to be noticed, and which inhabit the tropical parts of South
and Central America, has been seen in any other part of the world.

The two gi-ouj)S are not only distinct as regards tlicii- geograjiliicul distribution, but they are also
different in many very impoi-tant jioiuts of their const niotinu and haljits. It is evident that, although
it may be said that the resemblances between the Baboons, Macaques, and Troglod5rtes, for instance,
indicate some kind of relationship, and suggest a community of origin, there is nothing of the sort to be
traced between any Old and New World Monkeys. They seem to have started from different .sources.

All the Monkeys of the New World have the partition between the nostrils broad, and it separates
them widely : they open as it were sideways, and the whole of the lower part of the nose is flat. This
peculiarity has given the name to the group, as has been ex])lained in the first chapter, and it
is accompanied by some others. Thus, with one exception, the luimerous genera of the New World
Monkeys have the hinder limbs the longest, and they are wont to go on all-fours, the erect jjosture
being only occasionally adopted by the Spider Monkeys. Their thumbs differ less from the other
fingers than do those of the Old World Monkeys, and the toe-thumb is large and movable ; no cheek-
pouches or callosities are seen in any of them, and only a few have air sacs. It is usual to say that
the American Monkeys are known l>y their prehensile tails, but this is only tiiie in part, for whOst
some have this member wonderfully developed and useful, others have it incapable of holding on,
whilst a few have barely a tail at all. The teeth are more numerous than in the Ajies and Monkeys
of the Old World, in one set of New World genera ; and they are of the same number in another.
In the firsst instance, there are thirty-six teeth instead of the thirty -two so frequently noticed hitherto,
and in the last the thirty-two are differently arranged to those possessed by the Old World kinds.
For example, in the prehensile-tailed Howlers, there are thirty-six teeth, or one extra tooth in each
jaw and on both sides, over and above the usual thirty-two ; and this tooth is a false molar, or one of
those between the true gi-inders and the canine teeth. There are thus three false molai-s instead
of two, as in the Old World kinds, on each side in both jaws.

In the Marmosets, which have only thirty-two teeth, there are only two back grinders in each
jaw oix each side instead of three, as in the Old World Monkeys, but there are three pre-molars in
each jaw on each side. All these distinctions are useful in the classification of these American
Monkeys, and therefore they have been divided into two families, one having thirty-six and the other
thirty-two teeth, and the first family has again been subdivided into the genera with prehensile tails
and those without tliem. The first to be described are the Cebidce, and this family contains — first,
the genera with thirty-si.v teeth and with prehensile tails; second, the genera without prehensile
tails and the same number of teeth.

* Phityn-hini.

T^^:^^f%iiS:£^-

LP Ol nOAVLEHS

y-lTURAL EISTUK]

THE HOWLERS.*

Although articulate speech is denied to the Monkey world, many have very extraordinary voices,
the capacity for lualcing a noise being great in them. Thus, the Gorilla has a tremeutlous voice, and
the Gibbons are especially noisy, one of them having been noticed (page 77) to be alile to emit sometlung
like a series of miisical notes. But they are all silent in comparison with the noisiest of all Monkeys —
tlie South American Howlers. The females of this gi-oup can make a moderate amount of disturbance,
l)ut the males surpass every animal in their prolonged and sustained yelling. Their bowlings,
commencing often suddenly at the close of day or in the middle of the night, amongst the strange
stillness of the great virgin forests, appal the traveller on his first ^ isit. " Nothing," says Waterton,
speaking of the Red Howler, " can sound more dreadful than its nocnnnul In >« lings. While lying in
your hammock in those gloomy and immeasurable wilds you hear bun howling at intervals from
eleven o'clock at night till daybreak. You would suppose that half the wild beasts of the forest were
collecting for the *ork of carnage. Now it is the tremendous roar of the Jaguar as he si)rings on his
prey ; now it changes to his deep-toned growltngs as he is pressed on all sides by superior force ; and
now you hear his last dymg moan beneath a mortal wound." Humboldt and Bonpland landed at
Cumana, and travelled towards the celebrated cavern of Guacharo, and they saw and heard the
Howlers often ; and on getting into a cold district their hoi-rible din became wor.se, and was heard at a
distance of two miles. This was near the convent of Caripe, which is more than 4,000 toises (a toise
being rather more than our English fathom) above the sea, and where the nights are cold. The
animal clearly has earned its appellation of the Howler, and might properly have been called Stentor,
as was proposed by a distinguished French zoologist. Stentor was a Greek, whose voice was louder
than that of fifty men. But Illiger, probably familiar with the wi-itings of the learned Apuleius —
that student of Carthage and Athens who married a rich Eoman widow, and was therefore accused
of witchcraft, and who wrote the " Golden Ass," a book singularly applicable to modern society —
called the Howler after the word Mycetias, an earthquake with a hollow bellowing noise. The word
is from nHte (to moan). An old wi'iter (Margrave) wrote in his Natural History of Brazil, in 1G48, that
all the Howlers assembled in the morning and evening in the woods, and that one takes his jJace on a
tree high up, and motions to his companions to sit down and li.sten, and then, after having seen them
all seated, commences his discourse, pitched at so high a key that at a distance one would imagine that
all the congi-egation were joining in. But this is not the case ; only one orator is allowed to speak at
a time, and all the rest wait politely, but not very patiently. When he has had enough liowling he
motions to the whole, who burst out into a fine chorus for some time. Then, by order, they all cease,
and the first recommences, and after having been listened to with due attention the whole depart.
What the noise must be sometimes, if they all join in, may be gleaned from the fact that Humbold';
saw the trees crammed with them, and believed that more than 2,000 may be found in a square
league.

It really does occur that when there is an assemblage of these Monkeys — for instance, of the Mycetes
Caraya — when the weather is warm and open, they make the forests resound in the morning and evening
with their overwhelming voices. Tlie males begin the dreadful concei-t, in which the females, with
their less powerful voices, .sometimes join, and which is often continued for several hours. It does
not appear that any especial cause induces them to begin their noise, and probably they do it because
it pleases them, as the birds do in their prolonged songs. Mr. Dai-win suggests very forcibly that
the females are pleased or attracted by it, liking (as in higher animals) the loudest and most
intolerable of the noise-makere best. Hence one Howler is, of course, always trying to outdo the
others. But it is tnie that some Howlers live in pairs and indulge in theii- vocation all the same.
Wallace, however, states that the females do not join in the noise, and that the howling is made before
bad weather, and in the evening.

These Howlers are the largest of the Monkeys of the New World, some being nearly three feet
in length, without counting the long prehensile tail ; they have movable thumbs on their hands, a
hairless space underneath the tip of the wonderful tail, and the howling apparatus in the throat.

* Mi/cjhs.

TRE YELLOW-TAILED HOWLER. 167

They have rather t;ill heads, with beard and large low(>r jaws, wliicli, with a thickness about tlie
throat, give the appearance of an unusual swelling being there, the cause of which will be noticed
further on. Some have long and others short fur, but generally there is much of it about the head
(where it is brushed forwards) anil neck. Black and red are favourite colours, and the young of both
sexes differ often in their tints from the adults, and so do the males from the female.». One kind in
pai-ticular is decidedly coloured.

THE YELLOW-TAILED HOWLER.*

The last half of the tail of this species is of a brilliant golden-fawn colour, and this tint is on
the upper parts of the body nearly up to the shouldera ; the rest of the tail is light maroon, and what
remains of the body is dark maroon, there being a violet tint in the limbs.

Besides its colours this kind presents some points of interest. They live in companies, and when
they pass from one tree to another they all play at follow-my-leader exactly. They watch the move-
ments of those which precede them, jump in the same marner, and at the same place, and even place
their feet and hands on the same spots on the boughs. They an- found in ("oluiiiliia and New Granada,
and in Brazil on the confines of Paraguay.

The limbs of all the Mycetes are long, and whilst there is a good toe-thumb to the foot, the very
be,st of the hand-thumbs is not equal to those of the Monkeys of the Old World. The nails on the
lingers and toes are compressed from side to side, as it were, and begin to look like claws.

Ogilby, an admirable observe)-, noticed years ago that two Howlers did not use tlieir hands so as
to take things between the tlnimb and forefinger, and he ascertained that this thumb was so much on
a line with the other fingers that it was not opposable in the ordinary sense of the word, and that it
was more like an extra finger than a thumb. This, he noticed, was not the case with the Howlei-s
alone, but that it peculiarised the Monkeys of the New World. The examination of their
.skeletons shows that the bones of the thumb are on the same
jilane or level as the fingers, and the whole is brought close to
the fingers, as our great toe is to the other toes. Nevertheless,
this thumb can move to and from the fingers.

But if the fore-hand so greatly resembles a paw, compensation
is made to the animal by the gift of the prehensile tail, which is
very muscular, and the under sui-f;ice is without hair near the
end, so that the sensitive sui'firoe can touch and feel objects. They
can feel, therefore, around them, and also above them, as they
move along and lay hold of branches and hanging creepers without
looking for them. The delicate sense of feeling depends on the
•lervous supply ; and the power of clasping and holding on upon
the bending or fle.xor muscles. A bony framework supports all
these structures, and r.ins from the last bone of the sacrum to
the tip, and consists of many separate vertebral bones placed in a
long series. The first few bones which join on to the sacrum,
and form the root of the tail, resemble the back-bone pieces,

or vertebrfe, to a certain extent. Each has a body, and also processes for jointing with the
one before and behind, and a spine also. Besides these, there are two curious projections on
tlie lower pai-t of each body, which are called chevi-on bones, and are V-shaped, and their use is to
allow the blood-vessels and nerves to pass along between them without being pressed upon. Towards
the end of the tail the vertebrse become long and stout, and are united behind and in front, forming a
broad bone, and without the joints, and the chevron bones are reduced to little rounded pieces of bone.
Everything tends in this tail to ready, rapid, and forcible motion, and indeed so perfect an organ ia
it that when one of these Howlers is shot it always hangs to the tree by its tail, even if quite dead,
and does not fall down until some hours aftej-wards, when the strong flexor muscles have relaxed.

IIOXES OF THE TAIL OF

' Myceles clinjsun

168 NATURAL muTOST.

ITierefore, writes a recent author, if fresh food is required, it is best to kill a Lagothrix (see page 171)
in the Peruvian valleys, as hung meat soon becomes tainted. The Golden Howler, nevertheless,
furnishes the principal animal food to the inhabitants of the banks of some of the rivers entering the
Peruvian Amazon. They keep to the low lands and shores of the ri\ers. and are found moving from
jilace to place in pairs.

The head of this and all other Howlei-s has a large black face, and a high receding forehead ; the chiii
recedes much, and there is a gi-eat jowl produced by the large bones of the lower jaw. There is a
curious swelling at the back of the orbit ; and the part of that cavity for the eye which joins the cheek-
bone has a round hole in it, as if it had been ma<le by a gimlet. It has two nose or nasal bones, which

..ClION OF HEAD AND OF

(From the Cydoptedia of j

remain separa-te, and the forehead (frontal) bone goes so far back that it joins the side (parietal) bones
of the skull in a V-shaped suture, or union, and there is not much back to the brain-case, which is de-
pressed in shape, on the whole. They are vegetarians, and yet have vei-y decided canine teeth, those
of the upper jaw being large, and they project downwards much lower than the other teeth ; and the
large lower jaw has evidently quite as much to do with the howling apparatus as with the teeth, for it
opens out behind to admit of the gi'eat bone of the tongue moving
readily within its boundaries.

This Howler, like all the others, has good lungs, and a wind-
l»ipe ending, as usual, in the larynx and its thyroid cartilage (see
page 22), as in other Monkeys. The bone at the base of the
tongue (the hyoid) is attached to thi.'S cartilage, an usual, by a
membrane, and instead of being a flat curved bone with two pro-
jections on each side, called horns, is swollen out into a bag shape,
^g. » ^ _^ the horns being very small. The bone in other animals is at

"S -- i ^~ *^ the base of the tongue, and this is the case in the present in-
' X S' ^01 stance, although it is so large, the inside of the hollow being able to

^^ ^ . - - " ^i contain four cubic inches of water. Now, the air from the upjier

^r^ " ^ = ^0 part of the windpipe can get into tMs cavity, as there is an

°'' - """* opening between it and the upper part of the larynx. Hence

the same noise is produced as if tlie animal howled into a ve-

UHll.N OF IIIE HOWLEK. SOUaUt shcll.

In order to strengthen the voice, the cartilage of the larynx
itself is large and strong, and the so-called ventricles of it are enlarged into air sacs, and they unite in
front of the "Adam's apple." Besides these there are other sacs connected with the gullet. So that
the whole of the front and sides of the neck below and between the sides of the lower jaw are

AXATOMY OF THE HOTTLER.

complicated by air s;u;s and resounding cliambers. The breast-bone of tlie Howler differs in certLiiu
respects from that of all other Monkeys, for its upper bone (maiuibrium) is halved, aiid each half
supports the end of the collar-bone and first rib. Possibly the resulting space may have something
to do with the air sacs.

The possessor of these curious appendages, whatever Howler it may be, for all the species of the
genus have them, is active enough in his woods, but still is a sad-looking animal, much given to crawling
listle.ssly from branch to bi-anc1). ;iiul liccoming melancholy In captivity. They have a surly disposition,
are never to be niailr [ii'ts uf, .inil an' savage; while at the same time they show none of the lively
play which makes the Spider Monkiys and little Sapajous so very amusing. Possibly their howling
exhausts much of their nervous energj-, and certainly their brains are peculiar. The back, or occipital

YELLOW-TAILED HOWLER A:

part of the lirain, does not cover the cei-ebellum, or little brain, which is large in proportion to the
rest. The brain is small in comparison with those of the other American Monkeys, due al'owaace
being made for the greater size of the Howler; and its surface markings or convolutions are few and
simple.

There is much less brain-matter packed up in folds, or convolutions, than in most Monkeys, and
s(jme of the most important are wanting (the angular and external perpendicular), aiid it has a •
shrunken and contracted look. Everything shows a low condition lof intelligence and mental power.
The absence of so much brain-matter behind, so unusual amongst the Monkeys, has suggested to
those who believe in phrenology that the bump of philo-progenitiveness was absolutely . deficient
in this species. But in spite of this, we find that the Howlers are kind to each other, and bring up
their solitary little ones, teaching and feeding them with just. the same amount of aflection that
all the other New World kinds display. So the love of offspring is not deficient ; nevertheless, it
may be assumed that the sameness of habits and the siiyht recpiirements of their lives render a
more elaborate brain unnecessai'v.

170 NATURAL HISTORY.

Fiiuilly tliis and all the Howlers liave the stomach a little disposed to be arranged as more than
one single sac, and in this there is just the hint of the condition in the Semnopitheci of the Old
World.

THE BLACK HOWLKR.*
These Monkeys are called the Monos by the natives of Guatemala, and certainly deserve some
other name than Howlers. Howling is a moderr,^3 noise in comparison with the loud, widely-heard
yell which they can produce. The effect of these noises when pi-oduced by four or five animals trying
theii- voices one against the other in the quiet forest is most remarkable and unpleasant. Salvin thus
writes: — "The wonderful cry whence Mycetes gets its trivial iiiiiiie of Howling Monkey is certainly

tJif Zoolofju

most striking, and I have sometimes endeavoured to ascertain how far this ci-y may be heard. It has
taken me an hour or more to thread the forest undergrowth from the time the cry firet struck my ear
to where, guided by the cry above, I stood under the tree where the animals were. It would certainly
not be over-estimating the distance to say two miles. When the sound came over the Lake of Yzaba)
unliindered by trees, a league would be more like the distance at which the Monos' cry could be heard."
The Monos are abundant throughout the forests of the eastern part of G\iatemala, but are
unknown in the forest-clad regions which stretch toward the Pacific Ocean. They ai-e particularly
plentiful in the unbroken forest country which occupies the northern part of Vera Paz, for seldom an
liour passes without the weird outcry falling on the ear of the traveller even when at the height of
6,000 feet. At this height in a cold and damp region, where the forest trees are of the largest growth,
these Howlei-s congiegate in the upper branches of the highest trees. Living in small companies of
five or six, they crawl sluggishly along the l^oughs when distuibed. It was from such a locality that

Mycetes villusus.

THE WOOLLY MONKEYS. 171

those specimens of this species were found which are now in the British Museum. The iuiiiaals aflom
a (lark and not very nice meat, which is readily eaten by the Indians. The young as well as the
females are of the same dense black colour as the old males, but the hair is shorter and not so gloss}-.
All have the hair of the front part of the head long and soft, and inclined forward over the forehead
nearly to the eyes. There are ten species of Howlers, and they are found in the forests co\'eriiig the
country from East Guatemala to Paraguay.

THE WOOLLY MONKEYS.*

Humboldt, in one of his geographical excursions amongst the great streams which feed the
Orinoco, went far up towards their sources. Going once into an Indian cabin in those remote regions
he saw a large Monkey, of a kind which he had never seen before. He named it, after the words of
the natives, " The Caparro," and from its having a peculiar furiy skin which reminded him of the
familiar hare-skin of home, he termed it Lagotriche, from kayis (a hare), and flpi|, rptxis (hau-, or fur),
and thus arose the genvis about to be described.

Humboldt's new Monkey had a prehensile tail which was longer than the body, and underneath,
close to the tip, there was a naked and sensitive spot of some length. It had a round and large head,
a naked black face, but no beard. There were, however, smellers or long haii's around the mouth. It
had long limbs and a shoitish body, whose fur was long and .sable-grey in colour. A good temper and
a quiet disposition appeared to characterise this Monkey, and the natives said it was found in troops,
and that it often stood upon its huul legs.

They have thumbs, as well shaped as those of any American Monkey, on the fore hands, as well
as on the hinder extremities. They were deficient, however, in the howling apparatus, and therefore
they differ from the Mycetes, and as their thumbs were noticed to be large, they differ from the next
gi'oup of Monkeys, or the Spider Monkeys.

A careful examination of the skeleton shows that the outside differences ai-e accompanied by insida
ones, especially in the skeleton.

Thus, there are fourteen rib-bearing back-bones, or vei-tebrw, and this increase of number over the
ordinary thirteen is interesting, because it makes the animal approach those lower than the Primates ;
then it has four loin vertebrw, and three are in the sacrum bone. There is a curious growth of the
second vertebra of the neck or the axis, for its spine is trifid, and has three projections for the
attachment of muscles. Finally, the long tail is very elaborate in its bony part, and seven of its
bones near the root have so great a resemblance to the back-bones higher up in the body, that they
have a canal like that which in the others protects the spinal marrow, which, however, does not reach
further down than the lower loins. Then five of them have good strong spines, and all have the
chevron or V-shaped bones underneath well grown.

This tail is quite as useful to the Lagothrix as it is to the Howlers an<l to the Spider Monkey.*
about to be considered, and they feel with, and swing and hold by it, to perfection.

The Caparro is about two feet two inches in length without the tail, and has been subsequently
to its description by Humboldt called Lagothrix Httmboldtii, or Humboldt's Lagothrix.

THE BARRIGUDO.t
Bates says of this Monkey, that it is, with the rest of those found in the district of the Upper
Amazon, arboreal and diurnal in its habits, and that it lives in troops, travelling from tree to tree,
the mothers with the children on their backs ; leading, in fact, a life similar to that of some Indians,
and like them occasionally plundering the plantations which lie near their line of march. The
Barrigudo is the " big -bellied Monkey" of the Portuguese colonists, and they are very bulky
animals. They have the head clothed with gi-ey, and they live with the CapaiTO mentioned
above, in the same forests, and lead the same kind of life. One measured twenty-six inches in
length, and the tail six, and it was the largest Monkey he saw in America, with the exception of a

* Lagothrix. t Lagothrix ;licaceu3.

,172 SJTCJLIL HISTORY.

Black Howler, wlio was twenty-eight inches in length. The skin of the face of a Barrigudo is black
and wrinkled, the forehead is low, and the eyebrows project ; and, in short, the features resemble in
a striking manner those of an old negro. It is not an active animal in the forests, and lives
exclusively on fruits, but is much persecuted by the Indians on account of the excellence of its
ilesh as food. From information given to Mr. Bates he calculated that one troop of these Indians
numbei-ing about 200, destroyed 1,200 Monkeys a year for food. Consequently they are diminishing
h\ numbers, and are not found on the Lower Amazon at all. Its manners in ca]>tivity are grave, and
its temper is mild and confiding. OwLng to these traits the Barrigudo is much sought after as a pet ;
but it is not hardy, and seldom survives a journey down the river.

There are five species of the Woolly Monkeys, and they are found in the valley of the Upper
Amazon and along the slo2>es of the Andes to Venezuela and Bolivia (Wallace).

THE SPIDER MONKEYS— THE THUMBLESS MONKEYS OF AMERICA.*

Many early travellers recorded that during their wanderings by the sides of the rivers of the
northern part of South America, and in the Isthmus of Panama, small troops of dark-coloured
Monkeys could be seen rushing along amongst the trees, swinging under the branches, and feeding
upon berries. Sometimes they would stop on. the lower branches of the trees and look at the
intruders ; but usually they scampered off, swinging with their front limbs and clasping with the
hinder, having their stout and long tail ready for emergencies. Their length of limb, slender bodies,
long hair, and their long tail, by which they suspend themselves, and their extremely varialjle move-
ments, soon gave them the name of Spider Monkeys amongst those interested in their habits, although,
of course, the natives had sonie names of their own for them.

Humboldt saw them in the great virgin forests of Brazil, hanging in curious clusters, clasiting
each other by means of their limbs and tails, and all being sus))ended by the tail of one strong fellow.
He was, as everybody nnist Ije, greatly imjiressed with their clever u.se of their tails, for he observed
them l)ciiig used .-is a tiftli hh'iiiImt, ai'.d with all the dnxtprity of hands. The natives will have it
iliat tluT lisli witli thfii- lails, l.iit tliis is .,t' (■(.iii-si' uiitiui-, and they do not carry anything to their
mouths witli tlic'iu. They aiv w.nidcrful swiiiger.s and chuspers, and tliey are exipiisitely sensitive at
the tip and for .some iim]i<-s iindci iicatli it, and they are stout where they join the body, exceedingly
muscular, and in some lauds iIm iv are Ion,;;- hairs on them, especially near the cud.

These Monkeys have small heails, long necks, and exceedingly long arms and legs ; some are
covered with a soft fur, and in others it is harsh, and the hairs are long and rigid ; and all ha\e the
thumbs of the hands either absent or just visible as slight projections. The feet are long and have
well-shaped toe-thumi)S. Their head is round, and the muzzle only projects slightly, so that
there Ls something human in their ajipearance, especially when their large eyes are open ; and the
hair in some kinds is brushed forwards on the cheeks and brows so as to resemble whiskers and
front hair. There is something in their shape, without the tail, which reminds one of the Gibbons,
tho.se long-armed Apes of the East, and the fore-hands resemble those of the Colobi of Africa (page
100) ; but the Spider Monkeys have not the power of jumping possessed by these, and their hind legs,
useful as they are when amidst the great trailing orchids and the climbers of the American
tropics, are feeble members when on the ground. Then the Monkey walks on the outside edge of the
feet, and on the inside edge of the hand, with its tail feeling here and there for anything to catch
hold of. Often they are very sedate and slow in their movements, like the Semnopitheci of India,
and they indulge in a series of climbings from bough to bough, swinging from one to the other, and
holding on now and then and assisting in the movement with the taU. They are as gentle in their
manners as those just mentioned, and are full of play with each other.

Their teeth x-esemble those of the Howlers, but the eye teeth, or canines, are smaller, and the
crushing teeth, or molars, are rounder.

From the defective thumbs, all these Monkeys as a gi-oup or genus have been termed "imperfect-
handed," and therefore two Greek words which convey these terms dreAiis (imperfect), and x«^p (tlie
hand), have been conjoined in the word Atelochirus, of which Ateles is used as an abbreviation.

JKOUr OF SPIDKll MONKEYS

THE f< FILER Mu.\A'J:

But on exaniiuiiig the hands carefully, ami noticing tlic deep j)arts as well as the outside, it was
found that they could be ranged into two sub-gi'oups. In one there is no external appearance of
a tliumb, and in the other there is a stunted projection, but in both the member is not quite
deficient so fa- as its bones are concerned. In the fii'st group the metacarpal bone (the bone which
is in man covered by the ball of the thumb, and which extends from the wrist to the first joint)
is just seen, but it does not project ; and in the second groxip there is one phalanx or thumb-bone on
the metacarpal, and this sticks out and is covered with skin so as to resemble a hard ])imple. In one
kind this little thumb has no nail, and in another there is one on it.

It is curious that some of the woolly-haired kinds of Ateles should have no thumbs and others
their nidimenis ; and that this should be the case in the long and harsh-haired kinds also. There
are many kinds of Ateles, and there is conseqitently some ditficulty in recognising them as S])ecies,
and many attempts have been made to classify them, so that they might be readily distinguished.
Those witli short and thick thumbs have been called Brachyteles,
and those without them Ateles ; those with woolly fur have been
termed Eriodes, but all are now included in the genus Ateles

Everybody is interested in seeing the curious spraw lini,'
.swinging of the Ateles in the Zoological Gai-dens, ;xnd also m
noticing the curious way in which some can place their hand
right over the head neai-ly on to the opjiosite shoulder, and brush
the hair with it forwards, and especially because both kinds of
movement refer to the gi-eat length of the fore-limbs. On the
contrary, although they can maintain the erect posture foi .i
short time, they seem feeble about the hind limbs, which aie
shorter than the other's. Their heel-bones are evidently short, so
that leaping is never well done.

They are fruit and vegetable eaters, and enjoy eggs, and a
nut occasionally, but they have no cheek-pouches. They ha\ e,
however, an air-pouch, or sac, in front of the throat, but none
of the noise-making gifts of the Howlers, and this sac enters

the windpipe difierently to those of the Monkeys of the Old World, .-md this is very curious. It
opens into the windpipe below the cartilage which forms the " Adam's apple " in man, and not above
and between it and the tongue. Below this cartilage, wliicli is called the thyroid cartilage, there is
another attached to it by which it joins on to the rings of the windpipe. The opening is between
this lower cartilage, the cricoid,* and the top i-ing of the windpipe.

Their stomach is single, and the large intestine, as they are vegetarians, is large, ajid its termi-
nation the " csecum " also, b\it it has no little worm-like appendage as in the Gibbon.s. No especial
points have been noted in the muscular system, except the very curious fact that, although the bones
of the thumb are so rudimentary, the muscles are all there except the one which piincipally
bends it forward.

As the activity of the Spider Monkey is marvellous, as they swing on and catch hold of boughs^
with gi-eat skill and energy, and as they display much intelligence, their brains ouglit to be well
developed. Doubtless there is a gi-eat deal of movement in these long-limbed creatures which takea
place like the walking of man, i.e., without direct thought, for we move our leg muscles, and all those
which assist them in the act of walking, without a constant direction of the will. Just as man's
walking is thus said to be done automatically, so much of the swinging and progi-ession of the Ateles
is produced without direct exertion of the will. But it is evident that the Spider Monkey judges
his distance, and veiy often considers whether such and such a bough will bear his weight, and uses
exactly sufficient mu.scular exertion for what he requires.

Moreover, there is a graceful coordination or mutual action of the muscles of the limbs, body, and
tail to a common end in most of its movements which is evidently done l>y will. The movements of
the tail are perfectly wonderful, and, indeed, so perfectly does it hold on, altliough the animal camiot

!AIX or THE SPIDER MONKEY.

NATURAL EISTOIC)

JAW OF THE

iiii extraordiuary i

The cerebellii

spo what this long sleinler organ is doing, that most children think there is an eye at the end of it.
Directly the Spider Monkey rises on its liiiid legs, up goes the tail straight behind its back, and curves
.1 little at the tip downwards : the delicate hairs stick out and feel the slightest touch or passage of
air ; and the least touch induces the last few joints to clasp hold. The animal will walk along and
catch hold of things with its tail at every other step or so, and will change its hold in exact propor-
tion to its rate of progression. All these movements necessitate clasj)ing, unclasping, twisting, and
a regidar succession of efl'orts, and are not likely to be carried out except by an animal with a well-
developed nervous system. Hence it has been a matter
of some interest to compare the brain of Ateles with those
of other Monkeys, and even with that of man.

Even in this Monkey, which is low in the scale on
account of its having badly-developed thumbs, the struc-
tures of the brain greatly resemble those of the Monkeys
of the Old World. The nerves are large in proportion to
the substance of the brain, and the brain proper is narrow
in front and hollowed out beneath, where it rests on the
orbits. But these proofs of a low kind of intelligence and
of great muscular power are accompanied by structures
which mimic or sketch out those of the human brain in
, or little brain, is lai-ge, as it is the organ which has much to
do with regulating and co-ordinating the movements of the muscles, but it is quite covered by the back
part, or posterior lobes, of the brain. Inside the brain the cavities called the ~

ventricles may be seen, and they are made on the human plan, for the cavity ou
each side (lateral ventricle) has a front part, a back part, and a deep one, and on
its lower surface, or floor, certain roiuidings, which are called by odd names, such
as the hippocampus minor and the hippocampus major. Those are visible in the
brain of Ateles as they arc in man. Now, it is very remarkable, allowing for
the difference in the size of the brain of most other Monkeys and of man, that
the Spider Monkey should have larger posterior lobes to its brain than they ha\e.
Moreover, this unusual size produces a greater length of the back jjart (or hoiii,
or cornu) of the lateral ventricle in Ateles. The difference, however, between the
l>acking of the nervous substance of the brain in man and in the Spider Monkey
is vast, for in this last there are few convolutions, but the principal are happily
said by Huxley to sketch out the position of the most important in the human
lirain. The projection of the back part of the brain of the Spider Monkeys over
the cerebellum is at least one-tenth of an inch. Hence there is much nervous
matter in the back part of the brain, and this compensates for the narrowing and
diminution of nervous matter in the front. Are the nei-ves, then, which give the
Spider Monkey its wonderful power of activity and complicated movement, situated
in the back part of the head ? At present physiologists have not satisfiictorily
.shown what are the offices of these back or occipital lobes of the brain; the rounded hand of the

floor of the cavity in the brain, which goes by the absurd name of hippocampus, sncEii monkey.
because it is curved like a " sea horse," and which is well seen in Ateles, has much to do with the
sensation of touch, and the nervous matter at the sides of the brain appears to be connected with
the nerves of the muscles of the limbs. The Ateles lead a life of very gre:it sameness in their forests,
and their perceptions and intelligence are never gi-eatly stimulated, hence the fore part of the brain
is small.

THE COAITA.*

This is the Monkey of which an extraordinary story is told by Acosta. It belonged to the
Governor of Carthagena, and was i-egularly sent to the tavern for wine. They who sent him put an

THE COAITA. 175

empty pot in one hand, and the money into the other, whereupon he went " spidering," as Broderip
terms it, to tlie tavern, where they could by no means get his money from him till they had filled his
pot with wine. As the ganymede of the Governor came back with his charge, certain idle children
would occasionally meet him in the street, and cast stones at him, whereupon he would put down his
pot, and cast stones at them, till he had assured his way ; then would he return to carry home the
pot. And what is more, although he was a good bibber of wine, yet would lie never touch it till leave
was given to him. It is about as true as the account of the habits of the genus given by a distinguished
French author. He says that they live in gi-eater or smaller troops m the forests ; their food consist;:
of insects, and they also eat little fishes, mollusks (shellfish), and other animal substances. When they
are a little way from the coast they sometimes come down to the beach by the sea-side and collect
such things as oysters, and they get at the inside by breaking the shells between stones. Most of the
species live far away from such luxuries, and one and all are vegetarians, as a rule, and eat an insect
or suck an egg or two as the exception.

The Coaita, or Quata, is large for an Ateles, and is covered with long, coarse hair, of a glossy
black colour, the under part at the groin being without any. The hair of the head is directed forwards,
and conceals the ears, which have no lobe, and the face is of a reddish flesh-colour. It is an intelligent
animal, and shows much curiosity when anything new is seen in its vicinity. All the agUity of the
genus is to be witnessed in its climbing and swinging from tree to tree ; and it has no thumbs. They
live in Surinam and in the Brazils. Bates, when living on the Lower Amazon, saw much of this
Monkey, or Coaita, as he properly terms it. He describes it as a large black Monkey, covered with
coarse hair, and having the prominent parts of the face of a tawniy, flesh-coloured hue. Moreover, he ■
found that the natives esteemed its flesh very much, and the military commandant of the place used to
send out a hunter every week to shoot one for his table. " One day," writes this author, " I went out
on a Coaita hunt, borrowing a negi'O slave of a friend to show me the way. On the road I was much
amused by the conversation of my companion. He was a tall, handsome negro, about forty yeai-s of
age, with a staid, courteous demeanour, and a deliberate manner of speaking. He told me he was
a native of Congo, and the son of a great chief, or king. He narrated the events of a gi-eat battle
between his father's and some other tribe, in which he was taken prisonei', and sold to the Portuguese
slave-dealei-s. When in the deepest part of a i-avino we heart' a lustling sound in the trees overhead,
and Manuel soon pointed out a Coaita to me. There was something human-like in its appearance, as
the lean, dark, shaggy creature moved deliberately amongst the branches, at a great height. I fired,
luit only, unfortunately, wounded it in the belly. It fell with a crash headlong about twenty or thirty
feet, and then caught a branch with its tail, and remained suspended in mid air. Before I could reload
it recovered itself, and scrambled nimbly to the topmost branches, out of the reach of a fowling-piece,
and we could perceive the poor thing apparently probing the wound with its fingers." He states that
" Coaitas are more frequently kept in a tame state than any other Monkey. The Indians are fond of
them as pets, and the women often suckle them when young at their breasts ! They become attached
to their masters, and will sometimes follow them to a considerable distance, I once saw a i-idiculously
tame Coaita. It was an old female, and had accompanied its owner — a trader on the river — on all his
voyages. By way of giving me a specimen of its intelligence and feeling, its master set to and rated
it soundly, calling it scamp, heathen, thief, and so forth, all through the vocabulary of Portuguese
\ituperation. The poor Monkey, seated on the gi-ound, seemed to be in sore trouble at this display of
angei-. It began by looking earnestly at him, then it whined, and lastly rocked its body to and fro
with emotion, crying piteously, and passing its long, gaunt arms continually over its forehead, for this
was its habit when excited, and the front of the head was worn quite bald in consequence. At
last her master altered his tone — ' It's all a lie, my old woman, you're an angel, a flower, a good, affec-
tionate old creature,' and so forth. Immediately the poor Monkey ceased its wailing, and soon aftet-
came over to where the man sat." The disposition of the Coaita is mild in the extreme. It has none
of the painful restless vivacity of the Cebus, and no trace of the surly, untamable temper of the
Howlers. Bates says it is an arrant thief, and that it shows considerable cunning in pilfering small
articles of clothing, which it conceals in its sleeping-place. The natives of the Upper Amazon procure
the Coaita when full grown by shooting it with the blow-pipe and poisoned dai-ts, and restoring life by
letting a little salt (the antidote to the poison with which the dart« are tipped) in its mouth. The

176 NATUSAL HISTORY.

animals thus caught become tame forthwitli. Two females were once kept at the Jardin des Plantes,
iu Paris, and Geoffroy St. Hilaire says they rarely quitted each other, remaining most part of the
time in close embrace, folding their tails round each other's bodies ; they took their meals together,
and never squabbled over their favourite fniit.

The same traveller when once very hard up for food was obliged to kill a white-whiskered Coaita,
and cook it. He writes : — " I thought the meat the best flavoured I had ever tasted. It resembled
beef, but had a richer and sweeter ta.ste. We smoke-dried the joints, and the last one was an arm-
with the clenched fist. Tliis I used with great frugality, hanging it between meals on a nail in the
cabin, and nothing but the hardest necessity could have di-iven me to an act so closely resembling
cannibalism."

THE CHAJIECK, OR TSCHAKMECK.*

An old author. Von Sack, in his voyage to Guinea, gives the following account of the manners of
this Si)ider Monkey : — '' It is of a very docile disposition, and capable of being quite domesticated.
I have seen a pair of them at a gentleman's house at Paramaribo, which were left quite at liberty.
When the female negroes were employed at their needlework, they used to come and sit amongst them
and play with jjieces of paper, and afterwards go and gambol amongst the trees, but never went over
to the neighbouring gai-dens. They well knew the hour of dinner of their master, when they would
come to the gallery, look in at the windows, though without attempting to enter into the room, being
aware that this was a liberty which was not allowed them ; they therefore patiently waited for then-
dinner outside."

Tlie Latin name of this species refers to its having hardly five fingers. It has four and a short
stump of a thumb, visible and useless, but consisting of two bones, the usiial muscles, and the skin

Atelcs suh-pcntadacti/Ju3,

TEE BLACK SPIDER MOXEEY.

covering. It is larr;ei- tJian the Ckiaita, and is black, and covered
The tail is consideralilv longer than the bod v.

.'ith long hail', but the fa«e is brown.

THE BLACK SPIDER MONKEY.

This Spider Monkey is more interesting for its geogi-aphical range and favourite localities than for
anything else. It lives in Central America, north of Panama, and is common in the neighbourhood of
the volcano called Orizaba, in the state of Vera Cruz. It lives in companies in the deep barrancas, up
to an elevation of two thousand feet abo^e
the sea, and in the State of Oaxacti it roams
in the forests up the country to a height of
four thousand feet, being the same elevation
to which the Tapir often reaches in it->
roaming. It is a black Ateles, with veiy
long hail", which sjjreads out in all dii-ec
tions, but there is gre_y-white on the inside
of the limbs, and underneath. It has no
thumbs on the hands.

The position which the Ateles take in
resting is often very curious. The greit
Apes of the Old World can lie on then
backs like a man, and the Monkeys with
callosities sit on them, and, drawing up the
knees, let the head fall on to them, or on to
the breast, bringing the arms forward when
they sleep. But the want of callosities,
and of the peculiar flatness of back winch
chai-acterises the Anthropomorpha, prevents
the American Monkeys from adopting
either of these positions. Many lie on then
sides, and others huddle up in parties, but
the Ateles often lie across two or three rope
like horizontal stems, with the face looking
downwards, a tuni being taken by the tid
lound the support to insure safety. The
length of the back has something to do with
this, and of course with their extraordinai \
agility. The dorsal region of the back-bone,
or that which bears ribs, is as long in com
parison with the other (neck and loin)
regions ii-s in any Monkey ; indeed, the
inaximum of length is attained. There aie \m k

tither tlm-teen or fourteen back-bone pieces

(vertebra?), which have ribs attached to them The lo\\ei ^el•teblie aie foui oi fi\e m numbei and
the tail is at its maximum of length in relation to that of the body, its pieces (caudal vertebra)
Ijeing very complicated near its root. There, eight pieces (vertebrae) are so like those of the back
that they have spin«s, cross processes, of course without ribs, jointing processes, and a similar nervous
canal to those which are higher up in the body. The spinal marrow does not go down it, however.
Underneath them are the V-shaped or chevron bones. The end bones are short and thick.

THE YARIEC4ATED SPIDER MONKEY. *
Tliese Monkeys appear to go in small parties, passing through the forests at a rapid pace, feeding
on different kinds of berries. The berries which Mr. Bartlett found in their stomachs resembled a

178 AATUMAL UlliTUMY.

ry with a large stone inside. Owing to their gi-eat length of limb and tail, and to their
muscular vigour, these Spider Monkeys ti-avel far and wide. They are found on both sides of the
Peruvian Amazon (or Marafion), and on both sides of the Huallaga. They are also common on
the Rio Tigri, and range along the lower spurs of the Andes, across Ecuador and Columbia,,
over the head waters of the Rio Napa, Rio Japui-a, and Rio Negro, where it was first discovered.
They have also been found in Venezuela. Bartlett endeavoured tc hunt them on the Rio Tigri,
a small tributary that runs into the Amazon about four miles above the town of Nanta, on the
north-western shores of the Peruvian Amazon, but was prevented by the fever and ague of the climate,
and the feai\s of the Indians. Going into the mountains up the Maranon River, he heai'd from
the Indians of the presence of a long-armed Ape — called in their language Maciosuppeh — at the
distance of three days' journey. He engaged three Indians, started by way of a forest footpath
that had been opened by a Catholic priest, to the town of Moyahamba, as part of his penitence. He
writes : — " At the end of three days I reached the highest point of the mountains ; here we came
across a number of the Monkeys in question — about eight or nine. I shot the male that is now in the
British Museum, and my Indians brought down another with a poison-dart. Having obtained two of
them I was satisfied that I had found a new species. While, however, I was busily engaged preparing
the first specimen, my Indians had quietly placed the other on the fire; and, to my gi-eat horror and
disgust, they had singed the hair ofi", and tliiLs spoiled the specimen. Of course I wa.s obliged to keep,
the peace, for they had not tasted meat for some days, and the Monkey proved a very dainty dish."

THE HOODED SPIDER MONKEY.*

Probably one of the most extraordinary-looking creatures in the world is Ateles cucuUatus (Gray).
This very spidery-looking Monkey has a very curious head of hair, which looks as if it sadly required
catting, for it comes over the forehead, and forms a regular hood, which expands over the eyebrows.
Everywhere the fur is long and flaccid, and of a blackish silvery-grey colour. The face is reddish, the
cheeks and lower jaw being nearly bare of haii- ; the skin, however, is of a black shade. The skin
around the orbits and upon the nose is bare, and of a brownish flesh-colour. The body is about
fourteen inches, and the tail twenty-seven inches in length. The tail is stout near the body, and
becomes very slim towards the end, tlie greater part of it, especially the under surface, being extremely
hairy. The length of the hind feet, the long scraggy limbs, the spare, long body, and its great agility,
give the Monkey a most extraordinary appearance. Probably it comes from the northern coa.st of
Cohimbia.

There are many species of Ateles, and they range on the Pacific side of Guatemala, on the west
side of the Andes, and in the forests watered by the great rivers.

THE SAJOrS, OR CAPUCHINS, t
If attention lias been paid to these descriptions of the groups of American Monkeys already-
dealt with, it will have been evident that they can readily be distinguished one from another. Thus,
the Lagothrix has a round head without a beard, a prehensile tail, with the hail- ofi" it underneath,
not far from the tip, and its thumbs are large ; the Spider Monkeys, or Ateles, have small heads, the
same kind of tail, and their thumbs are either defective or wanting altogether ; and the Mycetes, or
Howlers, have high heads and beards, thumbs, the same kind of tail, and the howling apparatus in
jjerfection. Now, the next (and last) genus of jjrehensiletailed Monkeys difiers from all these in not
liaving the naked spot on the under side of the tail, in having a thicker tail, and a gentle whistling
voice. These are the little " masters of the woods," according to Azara, and should be called " Cai"
(the " C" is soft), which has been altered to Sajou by the extraordinary talent which the French have
of confounding spelling and sounds in other languages. Bufl'on divides the Monkeys noticed above
into the Sapajous and the Sagoiiis, the larger kinds belonging to the first, and those about to be noticed
to the last. He modified, he says, the words Cayonason and Cayoni, their C being pronounced as S,

* Attles aiCKUatus. f Cebus.

TUK GENUS CEBVS. 179.

But Azara sa\-s that the real woids are Caigonazoa and Cai, they being j)ronounced as -written, and
the first means Great Cai, and the last t'ai, or Cay, simply Monkey. Sajous is a derivation from
Cagoni, and animals jaroperly included by it constitute the genus Cebus, but to add to the confusion,
!Mr. Wallace calls them " Sapajous."

They are the small, active, red-faced, round-headed, long-tailed American Monkeys, which curl the
end of the tail downwards, and yet use it to hold on hj. They are smaller and more delicate than

lEGATED SPIDER MOXKEVi

■xeiiwji of Uw Zoological Socieiij )

those already described ; their teeth are smaller, and they have not large canines like the Mycetes.
Vrolik, in noticing the gentle expression of their face, says their movements are graceful and gay, and
their " mannei-s a mixture of sweetness, cleverness, agility, and lubricity ! "

There Ls abundant proof to be obtained of their agility and intelligence, and, unfortunately for
them, theii- gifts are valuable in the eyes of Monkey-trainers, and many a little pug, dressed up as a
Highlander or soldier, who does tricks in the streets for the benefit of his master, once liad a gay life
of " lubricity " in the virgin forests of the Amazon.

Bates, in his interesting work, " The Naturalist on the Amazon,'-' refers especially to the following
species —

KA TUBAL UISIUR V.

THE L'AIArXeA.

Tbis(aocordiug to this author and admii-able observer) is the light-brown Caiardra, and it is pretty
generally distributed over the forests of the level country. He saw it frequently on the borders of
the Uppei' Am u ii ^^h( i it w i> d u i treat to watch a flock leaping amongst the trees, for it is
the most wond> it il i I im i i i il liii f the whole tribe. The tron])s consist of thirty or more

individuals, which travel in single file. When the foremost of the flock reaches the outermost branch of
an unusually lofty tree, he springs forth into the air without a moment's hesitation, and alights on the
dome of yielding foliage belonging to the neighbouring tree — may be, fifty feet beneath — all the re.st
following the example. They gras}) in falling with hands and tail, right themselves in a moment, and
then away they go along branch and bough to the next tree. It owes its native name to the dispi-opor-
tionate size of the head to the body. It is very often kept as a pet in the houses of the natives, and
Mr. Bates kept one for a year, and he thus writes about it : — " It accompanied me in my voyages, and
became very familiar, coming to me always on wet nights to sliare my blanket." It is a most restless

THE CAPUCHIN MONKEYS

creature, but is not jilayful like most of tlie American Monkeys, the restlessness of its disposition
seeming to arise from great nervous irritability and discontent. Its actions are those of a wayward
child. It does not seem to be happy even when it has enough of its favourite food — bananas ; but
flill leave its own meal to snatch the moreels out of the hands of its companions. It differs in these
morbid traits from its nearest kindred, for another Cebus found in the same parts of the forest — the
Prego Monkey — is a much quieter and better-tempered animal. It is full of tricks, but they are
fjenerally of a playful character.

The Caiarara keeps the house in a perpetual uproar where it is kept. When alarmed or
liungi-y, or excited by envy, it screams piteously, and it is always making some noise or other,
often screwing up its mouth, and uttering a succession of loud notes resembling a whLstle. Mr.
Bates's little pet used to run after him, supporting himself for some distance on his hind legs, ^vithout,
however, having been taught to do so. The end of this friendship came at last, and in a tragical
manner. " He offended me greatly one day by killmg. in one of his jealous fits, another and much
choicer pet — the Nocturnal Owl-like
Monkey (Nijctipithecus trhwjatus).
.Some one had given this a fruit
which the other coveted, so the two
-ot to quarreling. Tlie Nycti-
j lithecus fought only with its paws
clawing out, and hissing like i Cit
The other soon obtained the mastei v,
and before I could interfere finished
its rival by cracking its skull \\ ith
his teeth. I then got rid of hmi

Broderip writes about one is
follows : — " JIumboldt saw \t Mi\
])ures one of these Monkejs iidm^
a Pig. He used to bide his time
and every morning caught one
which he compelled to perfoim the
part of the horse. Seated on pig-
back did he majestically ride about

the whole day, clinging to his bristly steed as firmly as ever the Old JNIan of the Sea clung to Sindbad,
not even giving poor piggy a respite at meal times, but continually bestriding him all the time he
was feeding in the savannah that surrounded the Indian huts. A missionary had another of these
riders, but the missionary's Monkey laid a strong hold on a comfortable Cat which had been brought
up with him, carried him well, and bore all his tricks ^vith patience and good humour."

The skull is long, and uniformly round in these animals, and the face is not \-ery prominent.
Tliere are two nasal bones, and the inter-maxillary bone is distinct ; moreover, the chin is rounded and
receiling. With all its powers of teasing, fun, and its intelligence, one would anticipate that the brain
would be far superior in its form to the Spider and other Monkeys with prehensile tails ; and tliis is the
oase, for the convolutions on the outside are almost equal in their number and relative size to those
of the Monkeys of the Old World.

There are eighteen kinds of these Capuchins, ancl the attempt has been made to classifv' them by
the direction of the hair of the head and its colour, but in doing this sufficient allowance has not
been made for the influence of sex, age, and the bodily ligour, so that gi-eat confusion still exists
in their classification.

THE BROWN CAPUCHIX. *
In this species the hairs of the head are brushed back, but it appeai-s that xvith age some haii-s
are erected at the sides of the head above the ears into two horns, so as to give it the name of the
Homed Monkey.

• Ctbus (atueUus.

mw^'t

t the Zooloijical Gc

yATURJL UISTUEY.

THE WEEPER CAPUCHIN, OR CAI.

This is known by the bhick top to its head, and it is small, and brown in colour elsewhere, the
face and throat being greyish-yellow.

Brehm gives the following notes about their habits : — " Tliis Monkey is common from Baliia to
Colombia, and it chooses wooded country where there is no underwood. The greater part of its life is
spent on trees, and it only leaves them to drink, or to visit a field of maize. In the day he wanders
from tree to tree, looking for food ; in the night sleeps on the branches of some tree. Generally one
sees him in small families of six or ten, of whom the most part are females. It is difficidt to observe
the animal, because he is so timid and shy. Rengger asserts that he is seldom to be seen. Once he
noticed a pleasant whistling noise, and he saw an old male looking timidly around on the highest tree-
tops, and then approach. About twelve or thirteen othei-s followed him, of both sexes, and thi-ee
females carried a little one partly on the back, partly under one arm. Suddenly one of these animals saw
an orange-tree with ripe fruit, gave a cry, and sprang up the tree. In a few seconds the whole company
were assembled there, and were engaged in picking and eating the ripe fruit. Some began imme-
diately to eat, others sprang, loaded with a couple of fniit, to a neighbom-Lng tree, whose stronger
branches provided them with a table. They sat themselves down on a branch, encircled it with their
tails, then took an orange between their hind legs, and tried with these to loosen the peel at the top
with their fingers. If they did not succeed immediately, they flung the fruit, gnimbling and snarling,
several times against a tree, by which the rind was broken. Not one tried to peel the orange with
their teeth, probably because they were aware of its bitter taste. As soon, however, as a small opening
was made, they quickly pulled a piece off, eagerly licked up the juice, not only what was on the fruit,
but also what was on theii- hands and amis, and then ate the pulp. The tree was soon bare, and then
the stronger ones tried to rob the weaker, both making the most peculiar grimaces, gnashed with their
teeth, tore each other's haii-s, and pulled each other roughly about. Others carefully searclied the dead
branches, lifted up the dry bai-k, and ate the insects lying underneath. When they were satisfied, they
laid themselves along a branch, in the same manner as the Howlers, to sleep. The young ones, how-
ever, began to play, and thereby showed themselves to be very agile. They swung themselves by their
tails, or climbed up them as if by a rope. The mothei-s had great trouble with their young, who wished
for the luscious fruit. At fii-st they gently pushed then- young aside, but afterwards showed their
impatience by grunting ; then they seized the disobedient child by the head, and tlu-ew it roughly on its
back. As soon, however, as they were satisfied, they gently drew the young ones forward, and laid
them at their breasts. The mother's love shows itself by the great care with which every old one
handles her young, through laying them on the breast, by watching them, by searching their fur, and
by the attacks on others who come near. The motions of the young one were neither light nor
graceful, but awkward and ungainly. Another time Rengger came upon a family who were about to
make an attack upon a maize-field. They climbed softly down from a tree, looked carefully around,
broke two or three heads of fruit off, and returned as quickly as possible to the wood, there to devour
their booty. As Eengger showed himself the whole troop fled, with shrill cries, through the tree-tops.
Every one, however, took at least a head of fruit away with him. Rengger now shot one of these, and
saw a female fall with her young one through the branches. He thought he should be able to catch
her soon, but, though dying, she caught herself by her tail, and kept him waiting for quite a quarter of
an hour. The young one had not left its mothei-, but rather clung fa.ster to her, though showing signs
of fear. After .she was dead, and it was taken away, the little thing called in plaintive tones to its
mother, and crejit near to her as soon as it was let loose. After some houi-s, however, the coldness of
the body seemed to frighten the young one, and it willingly stayed in its captor's breast pocket. Our
informant says that in the family of the Cai, the number of females exceeds the number of males. In
January the female gives birth to a young one, and keeps it at her breast for the fir.st week, but later
on canies it on her back. The mother never leaves her young, not even when' .she is wounded.
Rengger, how ever, observed that a female, whose arm had been broken by a bullet, tore her young one

• Cehiis capuchi i«s.

THE irEEPER CAPUCHIX. ISS

from her breast, and set it on a branch ; but this most likely was to shield the young one from danger
rather than to relieve herself of its weight.

" The young Cai is, often caught, and tamed. When older they cannot beai- restraint ; they become
mopish, refuse their food, never grow tame, and die in a few weeks. The young one, on the other
hand, soon forgets its freedom, becomes attached to peo])le, and partakes, as do many other Monkeys,
of then- food and drink. They walk on their hind legs for tlu-ee or four stejis, but they are trained to
walk upright by tying the hands behind the back. At first they fall frequently, and must therefore be
held by a cord from beliind. When sleeping they curl themselves up, and cover the face with the
arms and tail. They sleep in the night, and when it is very hot, in the middle of the day. At other
times they are in constant motion.

" Among the senses of the animal the sense of feeling is the most acute. It is short-sighted, and
cannot see at all by night. It does not hear well, for it can be easily surprised. It holds everything
that has smell to its nose, and it is often deluded by the smell into tasting what its taste tells it
is not fit to eat. The sense of feeling makes up in some measure for the others. It shows itself
chiefly in the front hands, less in the hinder, and not at all in the tail. Through practice and teaching
this faculty can be gi-eatly cultivated.

" Rengger's Cai knew his master in the darkest night, as soon as he had felt his usual clothing.
The cry of the Cai changes according to its emotions. One generally hears a whistling sound, which
.seems to proceed from weariness. If he demands anything he gi-oans ; wonder or embarrassment he
shows by a half whistling tone ; when angiy he cries in a deep, rough tone — ' Hu ! hu ! ' When in
fear he shrieks ; when pleased he chuckles. By these cries the leader of a troop shares hLs feelings
with the others. These they show also, not only by noises and motions, but also by a kind of laughing
and crying. The former is the drawing back of the corners of the mouth ; but he utters no sound.
When crying his eyes fill with tears, which however, never flow down his cheeks. The Cai is very
sensitive to cold and damp, and must be kept from them if he is wanted to keep well. This is easy, as
he gladly rolls himself up in a blanket. They live about fifteen years.

" The intelligence of the Cai is worthy of notice. He learns in the first few days of his captivity to
know his master and his keepers, and looks to them for food, warmth, protection, and help ; trusts them
fully, is pleased when his keeper plays with him, lets himself be teased by him, and after not having seen
him for some time shows the greatest pleasure on his reappearance. He also soon forgets his freedom,
and becomes almost wholly a domestic animal. An old male which Rengger had got loose once from
his cord, and ran away into the wood, but returned again in two or three days, sought out his keeper,
and allowed himself to be tied up. Those who are not badly treated show great fidelity, especially to
the blacks, whom they like always better than the whites. The Cai is not only fond of men, but also
of animals, and it is no uncommon thing in Paraguay to bring him up with a young Dog, who serves
as a horse for him.

"The animal is very sensible, and does not give in to the will of man. One can keep him from
doing anything, but cannot force him to do it. On the contrary, he tries to make others bond to
his will, and also men, sometimes by caresses, sometimes by threats. Weaker animals must follow his
will. This does great harm to his learning. He will only leai-n those things which he can make use of,
such as opening boxes, looking tlu-ough his master's pockets, &c. As he gi-ows older he gains expe-
rience, and knows how to use it. If one gives him an egg for the first time, he breaks it so clumsily
that he loses half the contents, but the second time he only breaks the top, and lets no more be lost.
He is not often taken in t-svice by anybody. He soon leams to know the expression of the face, and
the tone of the voice.

" The Cai is also very prone to stealing eatables. If caught in the act he cries out with fear before
he is touched, but if he is not caught then he pretends to be perfectly imiocent, and looks as if nothing
hiul happened. Small articles he hides, when disturbed, in his mouth, and eats them at his leis\ire.
His eovetousness is great. Wliat he once gets is not .so easily taken away, at the most, by his master,
when he likes him very much. His eovetousness is made use of to capture him. The niggei-s clean out
a pumpkin through a .small hole, and then slip pieces of sugai-, etc., inside. They see tliis, and thrust
their arm in, and while so engaged will rather be caught than relinquish theii- spoU. Besides these
qualities, they show curiosity and destructiveuess to a great extent.

NA TUEAL HIS TOK Y.

" They are fond of teasing, and iniU the tails of Dogs and Cats, snatch the feathers out of Hens
and Ducks, and even tease Horses which are tied up close to them ; they also pull their bridles, and
are all the more pleased the more worried or frightened the animal becomes.

" Only the Indians make \ise of the skin, and therefore hunt the Cai down with bow and arrow.
The wliites prize him most highly in captivity."

Some of these little Monkeys really appear to reason, and are very clever. Rengger states that
when he first gave eggs to his Monkeys they smashed them, and tlais lost much of their contents ;
afterwards they gently hit one end against some hard body, and picked off the bits of shell with their
tingers. After cutting them.selves only once with a sharp tool they would not touch it again, or would
iiandle it with the greatest care. Lumps of sugar were often gi\en them wrapped up in paper, and

rEEl-EK C.tPl

Rengger sometimes put a live wasp in the paper, so that in hastily unfolding it they got stung. After
this had happened once they always first held the packet to their ears, to detect any movement vtdthin.

This breaking of the egg in a jiroper manner is as interesting as two well-known facts, one of
which may be observed by anybody in the habits of American and other Monkeys. Sometimes a
little Monkey has a nut given him, and he is not strong enough to crack it. He will look up into your
face with a meaning glimmer of his eyes, and hand you the nut again. Crack it for him, and he
receives it as a matter of course. Formerly one of the large Monkeys in the Zoological Gardens had
weak teeth, and he used to break open the nuts with a stone, and Mr. Darwin was assured by the
keejjers that this animal, after using the .stone, hid it in the straw, and would not let any other Monkey
touch it.

Rengger taught one to open palm-nuts by breaking them with a stone, and .so satisfied was it with
its performance, that it soon began to experiment on other kinds of nuts, and then it began upon boxes.
It also crushed off with blows of a stone the soft rind of a fruit that had a disagreeable tiavoiu-, in
■ nW- to get at the lusciovis food withiji.

yoX-rniiUEXs] IE-TAILED MONKEYS. 185

Some interesting ol)serviitioiis wore inailc by Rengger in Paraguay on tlie diseases of thes";
Monkeys in their natural state. One kind of (,'ehus was found liable to what we call " colds," or,
medically speaking, catan-li.' It had all the usual symptoms ; was uncomfortable evidently for a
whUe, had a stuffiness in the head, and then its nose ran like that of a child. If the colds occurred
over and over iigain the same result took place as happens in man, for symptoms of consumption came
on, and death ensued. Moreover, these same Monkeys suffered from apoplexy, inflammation of the
bowels, and even from cataract in the eye. Even the tiny ones sufl'ered like human babies in cutting
their second set — or rather in shedding their milk, or first set — of teeth. They became feverish, anci
often died -with the symptoms of fever on them.

The Kame author saw a Capuchin Monkey taking gi'eat and aflectionate care of its infant. The
flies were teasing it, and the mother drove them away as sedulously a.s possible. When in its native
woods the Cebiis Azarse utters at least six distinct sounds when it is excited, and these seem to produce
corresponding feelings in the Monkeys which are listening.

The Capuchins range from Costa Rica to Paraguay.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CEBID.'E {concluded)— tht. saviUKEL monkeys — doukoucoulis — s.\Kis.

General Description of the Second Division of Cebidse— Without Prehensile Tails — The Squibrel Monkeys— Described by
Buffon and Humboldt— Peculiarities of the Species— Anecdotes by Le Vaillant— A Tragic End— THE Widow Monkey
Origin of the Name -The ONAPro— Its Nocturnal Habits and Peculiar Cry— The Douroucoulis ob Owl Monkeys
-General Description of the family— Peculiar Formation of the Arm-lione The Three-Striped Owl Monkey—
Described by Humboldt and Bates— The Red-Footed DouROUCori.r- The Sak is— Remarkable Resemblance in the
Face to Man— Structural Peculiarities— The Couxio— The Parai.'aci'— Tjie .AIuxk -Description of the Brain— Other
Varieties of the Sakis— Anecdotes of them— The Black-Headed Sakis— General Description.

None of the remaining groups or genera of these Monkeys of the New World have tails by which
thsy can hang on with, or by the aid of which they can swing or cling when frilling. Some kinds may
curl the tail around a bough, or use it in their rapid side movements, after the manner of other animals,
but it is never truly prehensile.

This deficiency in the prehensile capacity of the tail is, of course, accompanied by an absence of
the elaborate tail structures, and the end bones especially are no longer flattened, so as to grasp easily,
but are round.

There are other signs of their having a less elaborate conformation than the prehensile-tailed ;
thus, the front teeth project, or are prominent obliquely in all but one genus, and the feet and hands
resemble those of quadrupeds more tliaii ever. In fact, having descended the scale of Monkeys
nearly to the bottom, resemblances with the next grovips of animals are becoming more and more
apparent. Just as the Monkeys of the Old World — the Baboons — resemble the carnivorous animals
in many points, so these non-prehensUe-tailed Monkeys of the New World have many likenesses with
the Lemuroida, and with insect-eating animals, and the smaller they are the gi-eater is the resemblance.
Thei-e are two divisions of the Monkeys without prehensile tails. In one, the species have the same
number of teeth as Mycetes and Ateles ; and in the other they have only thirty-two teeth.

In the fii-st division are the Squirrel Monkeys, the SakLs, and the Douroucoulis, forming respec-
tively the genera Callithi-ix, Pithecia, and Nyctipithecus ; and in the second there are the Marmosets
und Tamaiins, of the genera Hapale and Midas. The second division is distinctly separated from the
Dtlicr by some comparative anatomists, and forms the gi-oup of " Arctopitheci," or Bear Monkeys.

GENUS CALLITHRIX*— THE SAIMARIS.
( 'allitlii-ix means lovely hail-, from koA\os and 9^i'|, and merely refers to the pretty fur of these-
Monkeys, and gives no insight into their peculiarities, and is a mere name. It includes the Squii-rel
Monkeys, which are distinguished by having good-sized canine teeth, and by the first crushing tooth

• This genus is sometimes divided into two—Callithrix and Chrimthnip

186 NATURAL HISTORY.

Ijeino- conical in nliai)e, and liaviug an extra tubercle on its base ; ou the other hand, there are other
kinds in it wliich liave short canine teeth, such as the Widow Monkey.

All have the peculiarities of the non prehansile-tailed group, but theii- fiont teeth do not
project forwards. The tail is round and slender.

THE SQUIRREL MONKEY.*

Buflbn was a great admirer of this long-tailed, very human-headed little Monkey, and i-emarked
that they will always be admired more than any other of theii- American brethren, on account of their
littleness, the gentleness of their movements, their brilliant colour, their large and striking eyes, and
their little round faces. He noticed that although the tail was long it was not stout and muscular, as
is the case in those which are prehensile ; and he observed that they were fond of curling it around
objects, and even around their own or their mate's bodies. Their grey olive body -fur contrasts with
their bri"ht red arms and legs, whilst the muzzle is blackish, and these colours, on an active little
creature whose body is about ten inches long, and whose tail is not quite fourteen, look very pretty.

Humboldt often had the opportunity of watching the Sainiaris, and was much impressed with theii-
affectionate disposition, and says that they readily wept if they were spoken to in a sad manner.
When they are spoken to for some time they will listen with gi-eat attention, and then will place their
little hands to the .speaker's lips. The attempt suggests the great trouble to catch the words as they
come out of the mouth. They knew objects when they saw them in pictures, and even when
they were not coloured, and when they represented their usual food, such as fruit and insects, they
endeavoured to catch hold of them. They entertained a great desire to catch Spiders, and caught them
with great skill, either with theii- hands or mouths.

They feel any sudden change in the temperature of theii' native woods very soon, and when there
is a fall of some degrees in the thermometer, they collect in little troops, and huddle together for the
sake of their mutual warmth. There is a vast deal of squabbling and fighting to see who shall get in
the middle, and not be left out in the cold, and great is the whistling and squeaking. Unfortunately
for the noisy creatures, the Indian hunters take advantage of their assembling in this manner, for when
they hear the cries they shoot their arrows in the direction of the Monkeys, and often hit the chilly little
gi-oup. It is said that when young they have a slight smell of musk.

The Squii-rel Monkeys have a small face, and the brain-case behind it is moderately arched above,
iind sticks out behind very decidedly. This Ls because the heiwl is jjlaced on the spine differently to
the Monkeys already described. In them the opening in the under part of the skull, for the passage
of the spinal cord (the foramen magnum) is far back, but in the Squirrel Monkeys it is much further
forward ; so far forward, indeed, that there is enough room for brain matter behind it to allow the
V)ack part of the brain to be relatively larger than in man. Huxley remarks that in this Monkey the
cerebral hemispheres (that is to say, the whole of the " brain proper ") project beyond the cerebellum
to a greater relative extent than in any other Mammal nearly by one-lifth of their total length. But
the fore part of the brain is small, and there are very few convolutions. On referring to the
description of the. Howlers, this gi-eat difference will be appreciated. Gei-vais, with a laudable
desii-e to account for the gi-eat development of the back part of the head, insists on the great love the
young show their mother, not leaving her even when she is dead. The orbits of this Monkey are
large, and are close together ; they are not perfectly separated by bone, for a membrane shuts one off
from the other ; and the cheek-bone has not the round hole in it which is observed in the Spiders and
Howlers. As a whole, the head is very human-like, especially when it is young ; but the forehead-
bone is triangular, and i)rojects iqiwards and backwards between the side bones of the head, and the
chin is round and prominent. The forehead is narrow, and the muzzle is more protruding, however,
than in man.t

Le Vaillant, in his introduction to his fir.st voyage, gives the following curious instance of the exhi-
bition of their instinct of clinging to their mother under extraordinary circumstances : — When living in

* CaHithrix sciurea.

"I" It appears, to be a long-backeil little thing, and this is not because it has more rib-bearing back-bones than the
Monkeys of the Old Worlii ; on the contrary, they usually number only eleven. As regards tlie skeleton, the hips appear to
be weakly joined on to the spine and to each other by one bone, instead of there being a long and strong sacram to unita
them. The breast-bone has only four pieces between the ujjper one (or the manubrium), and the cartilage at the lower end.

TUji OyAlTO. 187

Dutch Guiana, at Paramaribo, where he was born, and where he had ah'eady, though very young, formed
a collection of insects, the future traveller and his party in one of their- excursions had killed a female
Monkey. " As she earned on her back a young one, which had not been wounded, we took them both
along with us, and when we returned to the plantation, my Ape had noc quitted the shoidders of its
mother. It clung so closely to them, that I was obliged to have the assistance of a negro to dLsengage
them ; but scarcely was it separated from her, when, like a bu-d, it darted upon a wooden block that
stood near, covered with my father's peruke, which it embraced with its foui- paws, nor could it be
compelled to quit its position. Deceived by its instinct, it still imagined itself to be on the back of its
mother, and under her protection. It seemed perfectly at ease on the peruke. I resolved to suffer it
to remam, and to feed it there with Goat's mUk. It continued in its error for thi-ee weeks, but after
that jieriod, emancijiatmg itself from its own authority, it quitted the fostering penike, and by its
amusing tricks became the friend and fiivourite of the whole family ;" though it is difficult to suppress a
smile at the idea of a Monkey clinging to a full-bottom on a wig-block', and fancying it its mamma. The
story, -as it begins mouriifuUy with the slaughter of the poor mother, ends tragically for her unhappy
offspring. It died a terrible death — the result, indeed, of its own mischie\ous voracity, but in agonies
frightful to think of. " I had, however," continues Le Vaillant, " without suspecting it, introduced
the wolf among my flock. One morning, on entering my chamber, the door of which I had been so
impnident as to leave open, I beheld my unworthy pupil making a hearty breakfast on my noble
collection. In the lirst trau.sports of my passion I resolved to strangle it in my arms ; but rage and
fury soon gave place to pity, when I perceived that its voraciousness had exposed it to the most cruel
punishment. On eating the Beetles it had swallowed some of the pins on which they wsre fixed, and
though it made a thousand eflbrts to throw them up, all its exertions were in vain. The tortui-e which
it suffered soon made me forget the deva.station it had occasioned. I only thought of aflbrding it relief ;
but neither my tears, nor all the art of my father's slaves, whom I had called from all quarters with
loud cries, were able to preserve its life."

THE WIDOW MONKEY.*

The Monkeys in the second division of this genus have the canine teeth not so long as in the
other, and the two middle upper incisors are broad. It contaijis the Widow Monkey.

This rare and pretty little animal has been compared, and not unaptly, to a diminutive black Dog
with a wliite face. Its whole colour, in fact, is of a uniform sluning blackness, with the exception of the
face, neck, and arms, which are didl white, the former being surrounded with a narrow band of pure
white. This remarkable disposition of colour has obtained for it, from the Creoles, the fanciful name
of Widow Monkey, the whiteness of the face, neck, and aims being compared to the veil, handkerchief,
and gloves worn in its native country by widows. It is described a.s particularly gentle and timid,
except when a small bii-d — its natural food — is placed in its sight ; it then becomes animated and
«ager, dai-ts at it like a Eat, and devours it in an iiistant ; at other times it will remain motionless for
hours, attentively watching whatever is going on. It seems, however, to have a particular avei-sion to
its hands being touched, since they are immediately withdrawn, and hid under its belly. It evinces a
gi-eat dread of other Monkeys, but not those of its o'mi species. Of its native hi.story we are entirely
ignorant. The usual length of the body is not more than one foot. The head is i-ound, the muzzle
short, and the general expression of its physiognomy is agi-eeable. The colours we have already
noticed. Tlie nose is short and flat, and the ears are almost naked. The hands are nearly white on
the outside, but black within, and the hinder hands, or more properly feet, are entirely black ; the tail
is also black, and a little longer than the body. Very probably this pretty Monkey is only a variety
of Callithrix amictus, which has a blackish-brown fur, with the under half of its tlu-oat white, and
the hands are of a dull yellow or whitish colour.

THE ONArro.t
This Monkey belongs to the same division of the genus as the Widow Monkey, and it is
interesting because its habits are nocturnal. It fe:'ds and roams by night instead of by day. Doubtless

« CalUthrix lugens. t CulUthrix discolor.

NATURAL Hisrour.

ecorded of this species from its first discovery. They live
remarkable for the agile and graceful way in which they jum{>

many otlier kinds do so, but it has been

in Para, and in the Brazils, and

from tree to tree, the females can-ying the little ones on their backs, and moving with the vivacity and

restlessness of birds. Resting during the day, they roll themselves up like balls, and utter plaintive,

deep-seated, weary cries, which have given them the name of Ventriloquist Monkeys. At night they

are all life and movement, and then they search for insects and eggs, and enjoy themselves. Theii-
colour is a reddish-grey, and spotted on the upper parts of the body, and beneath and on the limbs
the tint is of a vivid maroon. The tail is gi-ey, tipped with white. There are fourteen species of the
genus, and they range to the southern limits of the gi-eat forests.

GENUS NYCTIPITHECTTS— THE DOUROUCOULIS— THE OWL MONKEYS.

Tlie name given to tliese Monkeys conveys their habit of sleeping by day, waking up in the
evening, and leading a very restless life during the greater part of the night They are small animals,

THE OWL MONKEY. 189

with, a large i-ound head, short face, and very large eyes ; their fur is kept close; they have a tail of some
length, but it can oiily curl arouud objects without holding on. The body is short, and greatly resemblino-
that of the Squii-rel Monkey in some points. They are distinguished as follows : — The two middle
upper front teeth (incisors) are broad, and the lower ones project in. a slanting direction ; the canines
ai-e moderately long. The ears are partly hidden amongst the hair of the head, and the eyes are lai-ge.
There is a curious condition of the upper arm-bone (humerus) of these Monkeys, which they have in
common with the different kinds of Cebus, the Squii-rel Monkeys, and the little Ouistitis about to be
mentioned. It is, moreover, seen in the Carnivora, or the flesh-eating animals. The lower part of the
bone, where it is jointed to the two bones of the fore-arm, at the elbow, has one of its projections there
(the inner condyle) perforated by a hole. This gives passage to the main artery of the limb and
the main nerve, and the use of it appears to be to prevent the contracting muscles of the arm pressing
upon these inijwrtant strur-turps. Tliey resemble some of the lower animals, especially one of the
Lemui-oida, of tlie ncnus Sti-ii >iis. in the length of the loin back-
bones; and, indeed, relatively this lumbar region is longer in them
than in any other Monkey. The rib-bearing back-bones are more
numerous than in other Monkeys, and there are either fourteen or
fifteen of them, and, moi-eover, their spines are much, prolonged
forwards, as in carnivorous quadruped.s.

THE THEEE-STRIPED OWI. .MdXKF.Y.*

This is another of the interesting (.Ljeets tiist made known to
us by the researches of M. Humboldt, wlio described it as one
of the most remarkable Monkeys of Houth America. According
to the account of this well-known traveller, its habits are com- aum-hone or owl monkey.

pletely nocturnal, as it wanders about only during tlir iiinlit. and

retires into hollow trees, or rather recesses, tn >.\fi-y away the day. In cai)tivity it generally
composes itself to rest at nine in the morning, and continues in that state until seven in
the evenmg; if, diu-ing this period, it is awakened, it becomes melancholy, listless, and stupid,
and seems to have much difficulty in opening its large, owl-like eyes. M. Humboldt's
figure represents the animal dormant. No sooner, however, does the setting sun brmg the return
of twUight, which to him is his " opening day," than our little Monkey becomes all life and
impetuosity. He then commences his hunt (if unconfined) after small birds, insects, and probably
fruits, since he shows no objection to the latter aliment when in captivity. This carnivorous
disposition may probably accotnit for the extreme difficulty with which this species is tamed. An
individual in the possession of the traveller, and which he kejit for nearly five months, could not be
reconciled to captivity. It slept during the day, liidinj; itself in the darkest recess it could find. It
seldom played with its master, but showed ])artiiular elc\( iness in capturing flies, and, if irritated,
it hissed and struck with its paw like a Cat, the throat being at the same time inflated. Its voice,
for so small an animal, is extremely powerful ; at times it is described as faintly resembling the
howl of the American Tiger, or Jaguar ; and at others to be a kind of mew, accompanied by
a disagreeable guttural sound. The hair is gi-ey, mixed with white, and glossed with a silvery
lustre. The centre of the back is marked by a brown line, and on the head and forehead are three
others, diverging, and of a black colour. The chest, belly, and under surface of the limbs are yellowish-
orange. The face resembles that of a Cat, and is covered with blackish haii'S. The eyes are very-
large, and the ridges of a bright yellow. The tail is bushy, and half as long again as the body, which
measures nine inches and a half.

Mr. Bates is quoted in the following passages with reference to this and other kinds of Nyctij*-
theci, and their resemblances ; —

" An interesting genus of Monkeys, found near Ega, are the Nyctipitheci, or Night Apes, called
Ei-4 by the Indians. Of these I found two species, closely related to each other, but nevertheless quite

• Nyctipithecus trnirgatus.

NATURAL EISTOEY.

tlLstinct. as both inhabit the same forests, namely, those of the higher and drier lands, without mingling
with each other, or intercrossing. They sleep all day long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on
insects and eat fruits only in the night. They are of small size, the body being about a foot long, and
the taU fourteen inches, and are thickly clothed with grey and brown fur, similar in substance to that
of the Rabbit. Their physiognomy reminds one of an Owl, or Tiger-Cat. The face is round, and
encircled by a ruff of whitish fur , the muzzle is not at all prominent. The mouth and chin are small,
the ears are very short, scarcely appearing above the hair of the head. The eyes are very large, and
yellowish in colour, imparting the staring expression of nocturnal animals of prey. The forehead is
wliitish, and decorated with three black stripes, which in one of the species (Xijctipithecus triviryatiis)

^1^' ^^^'

<r^^

t..^^Jl

^

"

Wm

^^

1

[^^^3

^^^

ilEn-FOOTED DOUKOrCOlLI. (Fr

0/ fhe Zoological Society.)

continue to the crown, and in the other {N. felinus) meet on the top of the forehead. N. trivirgafui
was first described by Humboldt, who discovered it on the banks of the Cassiquiare, near the head
waters of the Rio Negro. One cannot help being stnick by this curious modification of the American
type of Monkeys, for the Owl-faced Night Apes have evidently sprung from the same stock as the rest
of the Cebidse, as they do not differ much in all essential points from the Wliaiapurais {Callithrix), and
the Sia-miiis (Chrysothrix). They have nails of the ordinary form on all their fingei-s, and semi-
jopposable thumbs ; but the molar teeth, contrary to what is usual in the Cebidae, are .studded with
sharp points, showng that their food is principally insects. I kept a pet animal of the JV. trivirgatus
for many months, a young one being given rae by an Indian companion, as a present from my newly-
baptised godson. These Monkeys, although sleeping by day, are aroused by the least noise, so that
■when a person passes by a tree on which a number of them are concealed, he is startled by the sudden
apparition of a group of little striped faces crowding a hole in the tiiink. It was in this way that my
companion discovered the colony from which the one given to me was taken. I was obliged to keep my
pet chained up ; it therefore never became thoroughly familiar. I once saw, however, an individual of

THE SAKIS. 191

tlie other species [X. feUntis), wliicli was most amusingly tame. It was as lively ami nimlde a.s the
Cebi, but not so miscliievous, and far more contidLng in its disposition, delighting to be caressed by all
persons who came into the house ; but its owner, the municipal judge of Ega (Dr. Carlos Mariani), had
treated it for many weeks with the greatest kindness, allowing it to sleep with him at night in his
hammock, and to nestle in his bosom half the day as he lay reading. It was a great favourite with
every one, from the cleanliness of its habits and the prettLness of its features and ways. My own pet
wiTs kept in a box, in which was placed a broad-mouthed glass jar. Into this it would dive, head
foremost, when any one entered the room, ttirning round inside, and thrusting forth its inquisitive face
an instant afterwards to stare at the intruder. It was very active at night, venting at frequent
intervals a hoarse cry, like the suppressed barking of a Dog, and scampering about the room,- to the
length of its tether, after Cockroaches and Spiders. In climbing between the box and the wall, it
straddled the space, resting its hands on the palms and tips of the outstretched fingers, ^vith the
knuckles bent at an acute angle, and thus mounted to the toji with the greatest facility. Although
seeming to prefer insect.s, it ate all kinds of fruit, but would not touch raw or cooked meat, and was
very seldom thirsty. I was told by persons who had kept these Monkeys loose about the house, that
they cleared the chamber of Bats, as well as insect vermin. When approached gently, my Ei-a
allowed itself to be caressed, but when handled roughly it always took alarm, biting severely,
striking out with its little hands, and making a hissing noise like a Cat. As already related,
iny pet was killed by a jealous Caiarara Monkey, which was kept in the house at the same time."

THE RED-FOOTED DOUROUCOrLI.*

This night-loving Monkey has short hair, and a cylindrical tail, and looks like one of the Lemur.s.
It has iiifous hands and feet, the ear-conchas are large and prominent, and almost hairless. It
inhabits Nicaragua.

Another sjieciest is quite nocturnal in its habits, coming out after dark only in search of food in
the Peruvian valleys.

THE SAKIS.:
Humboldt was m.ich impressed with the resemblance of some of these Monkeys in the foce to man.
One of them, the Capuchin of the Orinoco, is certainly strangely human in its appearance. The eyea
liave, according to Broderip, a mingled expression of melancholy and fierceness. There is a long,
thick beard, and as this conceals the retreating chin, the face and forehead are much upon a line.
Strong, active, and fierce, he is tamed with the greatest difficulty, and when angered he raises
liiniself on his hinder extremities, grinds his teeth in his -wrath, and leaps around his antagonLst
with threatening gestures. " If any malicious person wishes to see this Homunculus," writes that
entertaining author, " in a most devouring rage, let him wet the Capuchin's beard, and he will find
that such an act is an unforgivable sin." It is so anxious not to wet this fine ornament to its face,
that instead of putting the mouth to the stream when it desires to drink, it lifts the water in the
hollow of its hand, inclines its head on its shoulder, and, carrying the draught to its mouth, drinks
slowly, and with deliberation. This Saki is called Pifhecia ckeirojwtes (the Hand-drinking Monkey).
Its length, inchiding the bushy tail, is about two feet nine inches. It is of a brownish-red colour,
and the hair of the forehead is directed forwards. The body hair is long, and the beard, which
arises below the ears, is brown, inclining to black, and it covei-s the up])er part of the breast. The
Ijack is red, the eyes are sunken, and the nails are, with the exception of those of the thuudis, more
like claws. They are very solitary, and often are found without their mates.

This Saki has, in common with many others, certain structural peculiarities which group them all
in the genus Pithecia. For instance, the incisor or front teeth are rather prominent obliquely, and
the lower are long. The canine teeth are long, thick, and cone-shaped. The crushing, or molar
teeth, are small. The tail is very hairy, and the ears are large. The ribs are broader relatively
in this genus than in any other of the Monkeys.

• Nyctipithecm rufipes. + Nyctipithecm osei-in. t PUliecm.

192 NATURAL ZlLSrUIiV.

As lias alieady been noticed, tlie tail differs in length in different members or species of this genus,
and consequently it has been divided into a long-tailed and a short-tijiled set. The Monkey just
mentioned belongs to the long-tailed series, as does also the following : — -

THE COUXIO*
This Saki has a beard under its ehin, and the fur is generally of a brown-black in the male, and
brown in the female. It has a fine fiery tad, and a very human asjiect. The name is by no means
satisfactory, especially as by a curious mLstake the young ones have been called " Israelites."

THE PARAUACU— THE HAIRY SAKI.f
Bates gives the following description of this Monkey, whose habits he .studied on the Upjier
Amazon, at Ega : — " One of the Ega Monkeys is called the Parauacu, and is a timid, inofi'ensive
creature, with a long bear-like coat of har.sli speckled-grey hair. The long fur hangs over the head,
half concealing the pleasing, diminutive face, and clothes also the tail to the tij), which member is well
developed, being eighteen inches in length, or longer than the body. The Parauticu is a very delicate
animal, rarely living many weeks in captivity ; but any one who succeeds in keeping it alive for a
month or two gains by it a most affectionate pet. One of the specimens
of Fit/tecia albicans — which is only a variety of this species — now in the
British Museum was, when living, the property of a young Frenchman, a
neighbour of mine at Ega. It became so tame in the course of a few
weeks that it followed him about the streets like a Dog. INIy friend was
a tailor, and the little pet used to spend the gi'eater part of the day seated
on his shoulder, whilst he was at work on his board. It showed, never-
tlselass, great dislike to strangers, and was not on good terms with any
other member of my friend's household than himself. I saw no Monkey
that showed so strong a personal attachment as this gentle, timid, silent
little creature. The eager and passionate Cebi seem to take the lead of
all the South American Monkeys in intelligence and docility, and the
Coaita has jierhaps the most gentle and impressible disposition; but the
Parauacu, although a dull, cheerless animal, excels all in this quality of
(FromtbeProfoffiinjsn/thcZooioju-n! Capability of attachment to man. It is not wanting, however, in intelli-
''°'^'*'''' gence as well as moral goodness, i)roof of which was furnished one day

by an act of our little pet. My neighbour had quitted his house in the
morning without taking the Parauacvi with him, <ind the little creature having missed its friend, and
concluded, as it seemed, that he would be sure to come to me, both being in the habit of paying me
a visit daily together, came straight to my dwelling, taking a short cut over gardens, trees, and thickets,
instead of going the roundabout way of the street. It had never done this liefore, and we knew the
route it had taken only from a neighbour having watched it.-i movements. On arriving at my house
and not finding its mastei-, it climbed to the top of my table, and sat with an air of quiet resignation
waiting for him. Shortly afterwards my friend entered, and the gladdened pet then jumped to its
usual perch — on his shoulder."

THE MONK.t
ith a view of e.xplaii

the general characteristics of the bra

This Monkey i.s introduced here
of the gi-oup.

The brain of one of these Monkeys weighed 460 grai
but emaciated body. The general form is a regular arch,
proper. Its general form is like that of some of the Cebi, and is less pointed than that of the Old
World Apes in front, and less elongated and depressed than those of the lowest Monkeys of the
New World, such as the marmosets and Tamarins, for instance.

, or the one-eighteenth part of an entire
d the cerebellum is covered by the brain

Pithccia Satanas.

t Pithecia hii-SKla.

I PiUu'CH

TUE MOXK MONKEY. !93

On the outer surftice of the brain there are few hut deeply-cut and characteristic furrows. The
fissure of Sylvius slopes backwards and upwards, but not very far back, and ends abruptly. On the
front lobe there is a deej)ly-marked fissure, running crossways, backwards, and outwards, and tent
in the middle. Separated from this by a wide inteiwal is the fissure of Rolando. The external
perpendicular fissure so common in the Old World Monkeys is just visible. On the inner surface the
sulci are present in a simple form, and the calcarine sulcus is well curved, and prolonged and bifurcated.
This is a better organised brain than that of the Howler, and is not unlike that of the Spider Monkey.

The second series of the Sakis, or those
are called Brachyures. from this peculiarity.

ith only a short tail, or a stump of three inches in length,

THE SCARLET-FACED, 01; WHITE-SKINNED SAKI. THE UAKARI, AND THE BALD-HEADED
BRACHYIJRE, OR SAKL*

These are the names of a rare Monkey, which Bates described as follows : — " Early one sinmy
morning, in the j-ear 1855, I saw in the streets of Ega a number of Indians, carrying on their shouldei-s
down to the port, to be embarked on the Upper Amazon steamer, a large cage, made of strong lianas,
some twelve feet in length and five in height, containmg a dozen Monkeys of the most gi-otesque
appearance. Their bodies (about eighteen inches in height, exclusive of limbs) were clothed from neck
to tail with very long, straight, and shining whitish hair. Their lieads were nearly bald, owing to the
very short cropof thin grey hains, and their faces glowed with the most vivid scarlet hue. As a finish
to their .striking physiognomy, they had bushy whiskers of a sandy colour, meeting under the chin, and

■ Brachyu

104 NATURAL HISTORY. -

reddish-yellow eyes. They sat gi-avely and silently iiV a group, and altogether presented a strange
spectacle. These red-faced Apes belonged to a species called by the Indians Vikarof, which is peculiar
to the Ega district, and they had been obtained with great difficulty in the forests which cover the low-
lands, near the principal mouth of the Japura, about thirty miles from Ega. It was the first time I
had seen this most curious of all the South American Monkeys. I afterwards made a journey ta
the district inhabited by it, but did not then succeed in obtaining specimens; before leaving the country,
however, I acquired two individuals, one of which lived in my house for several weeks.

" The Scarlet-faced Monkey lives in forests which are inundated during a great part of the yeau

o/Oii Zooiiji il SocUtij.)

It is never known to de.scend to the ground ; tlie shortness of its tail is theiefore no sigi\ of terrestrial
habits, as it is in the Macaques and Baboons of the Old World. It differs a little from the typical
Cebidce in its teeth, the incisors being oblique, and in the upper jaw converging, so as to leave a gap
between the outermost and the canine teeth. Like the rest of its family, it differs from the Monkeys
of the Old World, and from man, in having an additional gi-inding tooth (pre-molar) on each side of both
jaws, making the c6mi)lete set thirty-six, instead of thirty-two, in number. This Uakari {Brachi/unis
calviis), also called the White Uakari, from its skin, seems to be found in no other part of America than
the district just mentioned, namely, the banks of the Japura, near its principal mouth ; and even there
it is colifined, as far as I could learn, to the western side of the river. It lives in small troops amongst
the crowns of the lofty trees, living on fruits of various kinds. Hunter's say it is pretty nimble in its
motions, but is not much given to leaping, preferring to run up and down the larger boughs in travelling
from tree to tree. The mother, as in other species of the Monkey oi-der, cai-ries her young on her back.
Individuals are obtained alive by shooting them with the blow - pipe, and arrows tipped with diluted
Urari poison. They run a considerable distance after being pierced, and it requires an experienced
hunter to track them. He is considered the most expert wlio can keep pace with a wounded one, and

THE BSACEYURE MOXKEl'. 193

catch it in his arms when it falls exhausted. A pinch of salt (the antidote to the poison) is then put
in its mouth, and the creature revives. The species is rare, even to the limited district wliich it
inhabits. Senikor Chrysostomo sent six of his most skilful Indians, who were absent three weeks before
they obtamed the twelve specimens already noticed. When an independent hunter obtains one, a very
high price (thirty or forty milreis — £3 7s. to £i 13.s.) is asked, these Monkeys being in great demand
for presents to persons of iniluence down the river. Adult Uakaries caught in the way just described
very rarely become tame. They are peevish and sulky, resisting all attempts to coax them, and biting
any one who ventiu-es within reach. They have no particular cry, even when in their native woods.
In captivity they ai'e quite silent. In the couree of a few days, or weeks, if not very carefully attended
to, they fall into a listless condition, refuse food, and die. Many of them succumb to a disease which,
I supposed from the symptoms, to be inflammation of the chest or lungs. The one which I kept as a
])et died of this disorder after I had had it about three weeks. It lost its appetite in a very few days,
although kept in an aiiy verandah. Its coat, which was originally long, smooth, and glossy, became
dingy and ragged, like that of the specimens seen in museums ; and the bright scarlet colour of its face
changed to a duller hue. This colour, in health, is spread over the features up to the roots of the hail- on
the foreheaxl and temples, and down to the neck, including the flabby cheeks, which hang down below
the jaws. The animal in this condition looks, at a short distance, as though some one had laid a thick
coat of red paint on its countenance. The death of my pet was slow ; during the last twenty-four hours
it lay prostrate, breathing quickly, its chest strongly heaving. The colour of its face grew gradually
jialer, but was still red when it expii-ed. As the hue did not quite disappear until two or three hours
after the animal was quite dead, I judged that it was not exclusively due to the blood, but partly to a
jiigment beneath the skin, wliich would probably retain its colour a short time after the circulation had
csassd. After seeing much of the morose disposition of the Uakari, I was not a little surprised one day
Kt a friend's house to find an extremely lively and familiar individual of this species. It ran from an
inner chamber straight towards me after I had sat down on a chair, climbed my legs, and nestled in my
li\p, turning round and looking up -witL the usual Monkey's gi-in after it had made itself comfortable.
It was a young animal, wlucli had been taken when its mother was shot with a poisoned arrow. Its
teeth weye incomplete, and the face was pale and mottled, the glowing scarlet hue not supervening in
these animals before mature age ; it had also a few long black haii;s on the eyebrows and lips. The
frisky little fellow had been reared in the house amongst the children, and allowed to run about freely,
and took its meals with the rest of the household. There are few animals which the Brazilians of these
villages have not succeeded in taming. I have even seen yonng Jaguars running loose about a house,
and treated as pets. The animals that I had rarely became familiar, however long they might remain
in my possession, a circumstance due, no doubt, to their being kept always tied up. The Uakari is one
of the many species of animals which are classified by the Brazilians as 'mortal,' or of delicate consti-
tution, in contradistinction to those which are ' duro,' or hardy. A large proportion of the specimens
sent from Ega die before arriving at Para, and scarcely one in a dozen succeeds in reaching Eio Janeiro
alive. It appears, nevertheless, that an individual has once been brought in a living state to England,
for Dr. Gray relates that one was exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society in 1849. Tlie
difficulty it has of accommodating itself to changed conditions probably has some connection with the
very limited range or confined sphere of life of the species in its natural state, its native home being an
area of swampy woods, not more than about sixtj' square miles in extent, although no permanent barrier
exists to check its dispersal, except towards the south, over a much wider space. When I descended
the river in 1859 we had with us a tame adult Uakari, which was allowed to ramble about the vessel,
a large schooner. When we reached the mouth of the Rio Negro we had to wait four days, whilst the
( !wstom-house officials at Barra, ten miles distant, made out the passports for our crew, and during this
time the schooner lay close to the shore, with its bowsprit secured to the trees on the bank. Well, one
morning Scarlet-face was missing, having made his escape into the forest. Two men were sent in search
of him, but returned, after several hours' absence, without having caught sight of the nmaway. We
gave up the Monkey for lost, until the following day, when he re-appeared on the skirts of the forest,
and marched quietly down the bowsprit to his usual place on deck. He had evidently found the forests
of the Rio Negi-o very different from those of the delta lands of the Japura, and preferred captivity
to freedom in a place that was so uncongenial to him."

A'ATUIiAL HISTORY.

■IHE BLACK-HEADED SAKI.'
This, like the last, must be enumerated among the more remarkable Monkeys of the New World,
from all of which it is to be immediately distinguished by the extreme shortness of the tail, a structure
which would seem to make it the representative of the Baboons of the Old Continent. It is, in fact,
the only one hitherto discovered in America whose tail does not exceed three inches in length. It is
altogether a small species, that described by Humboldt measuring little more than one foot live inches
from the hea,d to the feet. In its adult state, however, it is described as reaching the length of another
foot. Its disposition is inactive, phlegmatic, but very docile. It eats with avidity all sorts of fruits-
sweet or sour. Tliese it will seize by stretching out both hands at once, bending the back and body at

VHITE-HEADED

the same time in a forward altitude. The physiognomy has a much more human expression than
that of the generality of Monkeys, particulai-ly in the fa<;e, which is naked and black. Its profile
is not much unlike the Ethiopian. The head is oval, but flattened on the sides. On the eyelids,
mouth, and chin there are a few stiff hairs, but the chin has no beai'd. The ears are large, and
like those of the human subject, are naked. Tlie fur is long, shining, and of a uniform yellowish-
brown colour over the whole of the body. The fingers are much lengthened, the nails rather flat ;
and the tail, notwithstanding its shortness, is thick, and almost naked towards its extremity.
Broderip comjiares its face to one of the old withered negroes, who, by great resjiectability of
conduct, have gained their freedom. Another variety is the White-headed Saki,t of which we give
an illustration.

Pitliicia melanocephala.

t Pilhccia Uucocephala

MOX MARMOSETS.

CHAPTER XIT.

THE IIARMOSETS AND TAMAraXS.e

riie Dentition of tlie Genus Hapale, or the Marmosets, or Ouistitis— The Face— The Paw-like Hands ami Feet— Their
flaws— Tlie Skull and Brain, and the Nature of the Diet— The Common Marmoset— Its Habits— The Cloaked
Marmoset— The Gexi's Midas--The TAMARINS-Their Dentition— The Negro Tamarin— Its Habits— Midas
Argentatum— Deville's Midas— The Silky Tamarin— Notes on the Ai-ctopithecini in general.

The second division of the Monkeys of the New World is characterised by there being thirty-i-wo
teeth, and the tail is not prehensile. It is generally termed that of the Mai-mosets, or in scientific
language, the Arctopithecini, a woi'd which means Bear-Monkey. There are two genera in this
division : the fii'st is that of the Marmosets proper, or genus Hapale ; and the second is that of tlie
Tainarins, or gemis Midas.

THE MARMOSETS, OR OUISTITIS. t

In this genus the thirty-two teeth are so an-anged that instead of there being three back teeth, or

tnie molars, on the side of each jaw, they have only two. But there are three false molars placed in

fi-ont of tliese two crushing molars, and this has a direct relation to the insectivorous diet of the

arimal. The outer edge of these folse molars has one sharp jjoint, admiraUy adapted to pierce a

t ffapcde.

NATURAL HISTORY.

hard-coated Beetle, or to smash up a gi-ub. The incisor, or front teeth, differ in the two genera.
They are long (esjiecially the lower ones), narrow, and are curved outwards, and they stick out forwards
from the jaw in the genus Hapale. Those of the Tamarius are short and broad, the lower ones being
stuck out and close together. The lower canine teeth of the Hapale, or Ouistitis, are very small, and
those of the other genus are larger.

The face of the Mannoset is short, and the broad division between the nostrils, wliich open widely
apart and outwards, is very evident. Very remarkable are the feet, for in these Monkeys the toe-thumb
is not widely separated from the other digits, but is close to and parallel with them, so that they
resemble the human foot more than the human hand. The insectivorous and carnivorous jM-opensities of
these little creatures are shown in the form of their nails, which are claws. They are curved, compressed
from side to side, and sharp, except that of the great toe, which is broad. In the hand the thumb is not
capable of being separated widely from the other fingers, and it has a sharp claw on it, so the resem-
blance to a true hand is small, and the likeness to a " paw" is gi-eat ; and to conclude this part of the
subject, the soles are much longer than the toes. Hence, -with paws and long feet with claws, these
little creatures, which have been termed Hapale — from lma.>M (soft, gentle) — are not unlike Bears in
their extremities, and have been called Bear-Monkeys, or Arctopkhecini. The intelligence of these

Monkeys is certainly not very great, hence the ex-
amination of their brain is sure to be interesting, for
one would expect that it could not be like that of
the intelligent Cebus, or even that of the Spider
Monkey. The mouth appears to be large, and it
really has a wide gape.

Fu-st, then, the skull is remarkable for the rela-
tive size of the bram-case, and the back part projects
far behind. The outside of the skull is smooth and
rounded, and the brow-ridges are very slight, the-
orbits being large. Inside, and accommodating itself
to this long head, is a very long brain, whose
back part projects past the cerebellum. But this is
not all the unusual part of it, for instead of there
being convolutions, or jiackings-iu of the surface of the brain, it is almo.st smooth, the great fissures
being alone marked. Here, then, is the lowest form of brain yet noticed in the Quadi-umana, and it
approaches to the form seen in the lower animals. What the great back part of the brain-case means
is hardly yet known, but if it refers to the affections it will render the story told by Broderip all the
more valuable. He says that a lady kept two of these Marmosets, and that she was impressed with
their greatt afiection for each other. " They had no family, but they were very happy, and were all in
all to each other. One of them unfortunately died. The other seemed to be unwilling to believe the
change that had taken place, and continued to caress the body, until it became absolutely necessary to
remove it. Everything was done to console the widow that its fond and distressed mistress could think
of, but as soon as its mate was taken away the poor widowed creature pressed its little hands to its eyes,
refused to be comforted, and remained pining in that attitude till death relieved it of its sufferings."

The teeth and claws indicate a carnivorous or insectivorous diet in these Monkeys, and the brain
does not deny it, and many ane;dotes may be told of their love of something alive. Every one may see
the Marmosets at the Zoological Gardens making usually very successful dashes at flies with their
fingei-s, and enjoying their tiny prey; and there is little doubt that the following story is tree: — One
of them, which was kept by the " Sage Femme " of the Royal Family about a hundred years smce, took
a gi-eat fancy to fish, and made a da.sh at a Goldfish he saw swimming round and round in its globe.
He caught it, and ate it, so the lady observing his fondness for something lively gave him an Eel, and
as the little Monkey was not more than eight or nine inches in length without his -tail, this lively gift
frightened him at "first by twisting round his body and neck ; but he soon killed it, and enjoyed the
treat.

HAND-BONE.S OF MAUMOSET.
FOOT-BOXES

THE MARMOSETS.

THE COMMON MARMOSET.^

These little, gentle, pretty creatures, usually so readily tamed, are made great pets of, and attract
much attention m all collections of animals, and one kind has been often brought from the tropical
woods of the Brazils and kept in England, so that its habits during captivity have been watched from
birth until death in adult age. Many years since F. Cuvier had some of the common Marmosets
born whilst under his care, and he watched them and their parents well. The young ones
had their eyes open on coming into the world, and their skins were covered with very smooth hau- of a
deep grey colour, but which was scarcely perceptible on the tail. They in.stantly crept into their
mother's nice warm fur, and clung on with their little hands and feet, and they attracted the intense
admiration and curiosity of the father and mother, who were in the same cage. There were three little
ones, and the mother indeed did not know what to do with them. Broderip suggests that what followed
^^as because the lady Ouistiti had no experienced female friend to direct her in her first confinement.
At any rate, the mother seized the first by the head, and proceeded to bite this important part of the
body off, and, luckily for the other two, whilst she was thus finishing ofl' her offspring, they managed to
get to her breasts, and to begin to suck. From that moment she bestowed upon them the natural
attention of a parent, and became all affection. The father was even more aflectionate than the mother,
and assisted most assiduously in the nursing department. The favourite position of the young ones
was upon the back and bosom of the mother, and when she was tired of nursing she would come up to
her mate with a shrill cry, which Broderip writes said as plainly as any one could speak, " Here, do
take the children ! " He immediately stretched forth his hands, and placed the little ones on liis back,
or under his body, where they held on whilst he carried them about, and amused them. At last they
used to get hungry, and whined for their mother, who took them, and after having nui-sed them
returned them to their " papa." In fact, the father did all the hard work, and the mother merely fed
them. In this instance this domestic happiness was cut short, for the mother was weakly, no wet-nin-se
was to be had, and the little ones sank and died. In their native state they lead an arboreal life, and
assemble in groups of six or seven, climbing up the tallest trees, and jumping from bough to bough,
showing the greatest activity, like and greater than that of Squirrels. So rapidly do they move from
branch to branch, and from tree to tree, that the eye fails to follow them readily. They are recognised at
once by their long tuft of whitish hair-, which sticks out from the side of the head, and almost hides the
ears. The size of the whole animal is about that of a small Squirrel, and the tail is very long, bushy,
and prettily marked with alternate rings of ash-colour and of black fur. The head is small, the eyes are
gentle-looking, and the nose is flat, the face being black. The fur of the body is darkish brown, with
different shades of colour for each hair, which is dusky at its root, reddish in the middle, and g:'ey at
the tip. There are very different stories told regarding their intelligence and affection. Some
natiu-alists assert that they are incapable of affection towards man, even to the hand that feeds them,
Swainson says " it mistrusts all, and treats as indifferently those whom one would think it well knew
and those who are strangers ; neither does it show much intelligence, although it is attentive, and
suspicious of everything that is passing. When under the influence of fear it strives to conceal itself,
uttering a short but piercing cry ; at other times it hisses." The name Ouistiti has been given to this
Monkey, and the Portuguese of the Amazon districts called it the Sanglain, whilst Europeans term
it a Marmoset.

THE CLOAKED MAEMOSET.f

Tlie word " humerale " is to be translated a part of the harness on the shoulders, or a gi-aduate's
cloak, according to an old Latin dictionary, and thus far a fit name has been given to a little Monkey
thus noticed by Mr. Bates in his work on the Amazons : —

" I saw in the woods on one occasion a small flock of Monkeys. They belonged to a very pretty
and rare species, a kind of Marmoset, I think the Hapah humeralifer described by Geoffrey St.
Hilaire. I did not succeed in obtaining a specimen, but saw a living example afterwards in the
possession of a shopkeeper, at Santarem. It seems to occur nowhere else except in the dry woods

* HapaJe Jacdms. t Uap'^-Je humeralifer.

2G0 NJTl-HAL lUSTOKY.

bordering tlie eampos in the interior parts of Brazil. Tlie colours of its fur are beautifully varied ; the
fore part of the body is white, with the hands grey ; the hind part black, with the rump and underside
deadish-tawny ; the tail is banded with grey and black. Its face is partly naked, and flesh-coloured,
and the ears are fringed -with long hams. The specimen was not more than eight inches in length,
exclusive of the taU. Altogether I thought it the prettiest species of its family I had yet seen. One
would mistake it at fii'st sight for a kitten, from its small size, varied colours, and the softness of its fur.
It was a most timid creature, screaming and biting when any one attempted to handle it. It became
familiar, however, with the peojile of the hoiise a few days after it came into their possession. When
liungiy or uneasy it uttered a weak, querulous cry, a sluill note, which was sometimes prolonged so
as to resemble the stridulation of a Grasshopper."

THE TAJIAKIXS.*
The Tamarins have the upper front teeth placed close together ; and the lower, which ai'3 broad
r.ud truncated, project forwards. The lover canines are longer and larger than in the Marmosets.
Living in the forests of the Isthmus of Panama, Peru, and of the BrazUs, they sometimes collect
in troops. They are very restless, active, and probably indulge in a very mixed diet of fruit, eggs,
insects, and small birds. The smaller they are the more violent are they in their gesticulations
and rage. They appear, when annoyed, bristling iip their hair in a very fierce manner. They are,
however, easily tamed, and are made great pets of by the natives.

THE NEGRO TAMARIN.t
Bates gives some interesting details regarding the little Midas, or Tamariii Monkeys, which he saw
during his long residence on the Amazons. He writes : —

" They are small in size, and more like Squirrels than true Monkeys in their manner of climbing.
The nails, except those of the hind thumbs, are long and claw-shaped, like those of Sqiiii-rels, and the
thumbs of the fore extremities, or hands, are not opposable to the other fingers. I do not mean to
convey that they have a near relationshij) to Squirrels, which belong to the Rodents, an inferior order
of Mammals ; their resemblance to those animals is merely a superficial one. The body is long and
slender, clothed with soft hair, and the tail, which is nearly twice the length of the trunk, is not
prehensile. The hind limbs are much larger in volume than the anterior pair. The Midas ursulus is
never seen in large flocks ; three or four is the greatest number observed together. It seems to be less
afraid of the neighbourhood of man than any other Monkey. I sometimes saw it in the woods which
border the suburban streets, and once I espied two' individuals iia a thicket behind the English Consul's
house at Nazareth. Its mode of progression along the main boughs of the lofty trees is like that of the
Squirrels ; it does not ascend to the slender branches, or take wonderful flying leaps like those
Monkej's w-hose prehensile tails and flexible hands fit them for such headlong travelling. It confines
' itself to tlie larger boughs and trunks of trees, the long nails being of great assistance to the creatui-e,
enabling it to cling securely to the bark, and it is often seen passing rapidly round the perjjendiciilar
cylindrical ti-unks. It is a quick, restless, timid little creature, and has a gj-eat share of curiosity, for
when a person passes by under the trees along which a flock is running, they always stop for a few
moments to have a stare at the intruder. In Para, the Ursulus is often seen in a tame state in the
houses of the inhabitants. When full grown it is about nine inches long, independently of the tail,
which measures fifteen inches. The fur is thick, and black in colour, with the exception of a reddish-
brown streak down the middle of the back. When first taken, or when kept tied up, it is very timid
and ii-ritable. It will not allow itself to be approached, but keeps retreating backwards in a querulous
humour, uttering a twittering, complaining noise, its dark, watchful eyes, expressive of distrust,
observant of evei-y movement which takes place near it. When treated kindly, however, as it generally
is in the houses of the natives, it becomes very tame and fixmiliar. I once saw one as playful as a
kitten, running about the house after the negi-o children, who fondled it to theii- heai-ts' content. It
acted somewhat difierently towards strangers, and seemed not to like them to sit on the hammock which
T.-as slung in the room, leajiing up, trying to bite, and otherwise amioymg them. It is generally fed on

* Midas, '\ Midns ursuhis.

THE TAMARIXS.. 2ri

sweet fruits, such as tlie banana, but it is also fond of insects, especially soft-bodied Sjnders and
Grasslioppers, which it will snap up with eagerness when within reach. The expression of countenance
in tliese small Monkeys is intelligent and pleasing. This is partly owing to the open facial angle which
is given as one of 60° ; but the quick movements of the head, and the way they have of iiielining it on
one side when their curiosity is excited, contribute very much to give them a knowing expression.
Anatomists who have dissected species of Midas tell; us that the brain is of a very low type, from
tliere being few convolutions, the surface being as smooth as that of a Squirrel's. I should conclude,
at once, that this character is an unsafe guide in judging on the mental qualities of these animals. In
mobility of expression of countenance, intelligence, and general manners, these small Moniceys resemble

r>K\ ille'o mid is (From the Proceedmss 0/ (he Zoological Socii

tte higher Apes for more than they do any rodent animal with which I am acquainted. On the
Upper Amazon I once saw a tame indi^'idual of the Midas honhtns, a species fir.st described by
Humboldt, which was still more phi^-ful and intelligent than tin- ..u.' just d.'sriibi-d. This rare and
beautiful little Monkey is only seven inches in length, ex('lusi\r uC thr tuil. U is named leonhms on
siccoiint of the long brown mane which depends from tlir mik. and which gives it very much the
appearance of a diminutive Lion. In the house wIhtc it v,as kciit it was familiar with every one; its
gi-eatest pleasure seemed to be to climb aljout the IjDilics of diircicnt persons who entered. The firf.t
time I went in it ran across the room straightway to the chair on which I sat down, and climbed up to
my shoulder. Amved there it tm'ned roimd and looked into my face, showing its little teeth, and
chattering, as though it would say, ' Well, and how do j'ou do ] ' It showetl more ^.flection towartls its
master than towards strangers, and would climb up to his head a dozen times in tlie course of an hour,
making a great show every time of searching there for certain animalcuhe. Isidore Oeoffroy St. Hilaiie
relates of a species of this genus, that it distinguished between different objects depicted on an engraving.
M. Audouin showed it the portraits of a Cat and a Wasp. At these it became much terrified ; whereas,

2U2 AATl'kAL Hl.-iTOIiY.

at the sight of a figure of a Grasshopper or Beetle, it precipitated itself on the picture, as if to seize tli©
objects there represented."

MIDAS ARGENTATUM.
Bates is the authority for the following short notice of this pretty Monkey :— " The little
Tamarin is one of the rarest of the American Monkeys. I have not heard of its being found
anywhere except near Cameta. I once saw three individuals together nmning along a branch in a
cacao grove near Cameta. They looked like white kittens. In theii- motions they resembled precisely
the Midas ursulus already described. I saw afterwards a pet animal of this species, and heard that
there were many so kept, and that they were esteemed as choice treasures. The one I saw was full-
gi'own, but it measured only seven inches in length of body. It was covered with long white silky
hairs, the tail was blackish, and the flesh nearly naked and flesh-coloured. It was a most timid and,
sensitive little thing. The woman who owned it can-ied it constantly in her bosom, and no money
would induce her to part with her pet. She called it ' Mico.' It fed from her mouth, and allowed her to
fondle it freely, but the nervous little creature would not permit strangers to touch it. If any one
attempted to do so it shrank back, the whole body trembling with fear, and its teeth chattered, whilst
it uttered its tremulous frightened tones. The expression of its features was like that of its more robust
brother, the ursulus : the eyes, which were black, were full of curiosity and mistrust, and it alway.s.
kept them fixed on the pei-son who attempted to advance towards it."

DEVILLE'S MIDAS.*
This pretty Monkey is plentiful everywhere on the Peruvian Amazons, but is extremely delicate
in constitution. It will not bear the least cold, and it is kept with gi-eat diificulty. The Indian women,
make gi-eat pets of them, and put them into the long hair on their heads. They are thus kept warm,
and are not without interesting occupation. Having become tame they frequently hop out of their odd
home and feed, or having captured a Spider or two, scamper back and hide under the luxuriant crop of
their owners, who are generally unwilling to part with them.

THE SILKY TAMARIN.t
Tlxis is one of the prettiest of the Tamarins, and has long silky fur and soft yellow haii-. This is
arranged like a mane around the neck and face, near to which its tint is redder than usual, and, to make
a contrast, the face itself, and also the hands and feet, are dai-k purple.
The beauty of the hair is very striking, and when the sun shines upon it-
there is a great display of colour, and a rich gloss over all. Like all
the Tamarins, it has a tail about the same length as the body, which is
not prehensDe, but it is in this instance tufted at the end. The habits,
are pretty evident when the sharp, claw-like nails are examined. They
are admirably adapted for seizing and killing small birds and insects, as.
well as for assisting the hands to hold fruit.

In the Brazilian forests they a.ssemble in small parties, and, like the
SKULL OF M.iHMosET. j,(.]jgj. Mamioscts, bound from tree to tree, and keep up a gi-eat chattering-

and whistling, and they ciy out with alarm, and soon disper.se on the
appearance of man within their usual haunts. This fondness for being high up in the woods is carried
into their captivity, where they prefer having theii- little nest up at the top of the cage. In descending-
from this favourite spot they usually climb down backwards, the tail hanging down. They do not
try to stand erect, and, indeed, the position is not natural to them.

They like to be caressed and fondled, but they give no such return, and they know those who are
kind to them. They dislike strangers usually, and hiss at them. They are very delicate in Europe, as
they require a constant high temperature. Cu\'ier states that these Monkeys have an air sae in the
thioat, resembling in situation that of the Spider Monkey (Ateles paniscus).

The Arctopithecini, as a group, have a smooth and rounded skull, large orbits, small brow-ridges, and
a large brain-case. The skull is large behind, and the opening for the spinal cord (foramen magnum) is at

* Midas Devillii, f Midas rosalia.

THE MOXKEYS OF THE NEW WORLD. 203

the junction of the huid thiril with the two fore tJiirds of the leii^h of the bruin. They have mime-
rous vertebrce in their back-bone, and those in the back and loins number usually nineteen. It is
stated by Cuvier that there is an air sac in the neck of the Midas ursulus, which communicates with
the organ of voice through a space between two of its cartilages. It appears that the hands and
feet of the Marmosets have thumbs and toe-thumbs so slightly separable from the fingers and toes that
tlie resemblance to " feet " is decided. This is inci eased by the fact that the thumbs have claws on
them, and the toe-thumb is the only digit with a flat nail, all the rest having claw-like ones. The thumb
is really not opposable, but nevertheless the muscles ai-e there to give it movement ; the opponens
muscle of the thumb is doubtfully present, but the adductors, abductor, and long and short flexors are
all there. There is much union of the deeper muscles of the fingers, indicating less independence of
movement. In the foot the toe-thumb has no .special abductor, and the transversus pedis is absent.

CHAPTER XIII.

GENEEAL REMARKS ON THE QXJADRITiMANA.

The Classification of the Monkeys of the New 'WorM— The Geographical Distribution of the Genera— The Fossil Monkeys of
the New and Old World and their Alliances— The former old Fauna of Europe, Asia, and Africa— The Resemblance of
Quadnimana to other Animals and JIan.

With regard to the Monkeys of the New World, they are to be grouped and clas.sified as follows : —
The Howlers must be placed by themselves, then the Spider Monkeys ; the Lagothrix and the
Sajous form a very distinct group ; and thus the prehensile-tailed series is complete. Then come the
non-prehensile tailed. The Sakis form one group, and the Squin-el Monkeys, and the Night, or Owl
Monkeys (the Douroucoulis), make a second. The Arctopithecini are another family, and consist of
the Marmosets and Tamarins.

Tamilij. Unb-Famihi. Gciiiis. Example.

/ Mycetes .... Howler.

Platvrhini, or Cebid* . Prehensile-tailed . ) f "'^^ '. • ■ ■ ■ Spider Monkey.

i Lagothrix .... I.iarngudo.

'Cchus Cai.

/ Pithecia, including Braehyurus Saki.

Kon-prehcnsile-tailed \ Callithri.x .... Squirrel Monkey.

' Nyctipithecus . . . Douroucouli.

Arctopithecini Hapale .... Marnwsets.

Midas ..... Tamarins.

Tlie American Monkeys present some remarkable instances of the localisation and dispersion
of species; allied kinds of different species, but Avith the same habits, occupying neighboiu-ing
districts, or being rather remote. And it is noticed that the great rivers form barriers between the
homes of different kinds, which, however, mingle at the river source, and in the country not rendered
impassable to them by broad streams. Thus Wallace noticed that the Howler (Mycetes Beelzebub)
is apparently confined to the Lower Amazon, in the vicinity of Para, and a black species to the Upper
Amazon, the Red Ursine Howler having the Rio Negro and the Upper Amazon as its forest ground.

One Spider Monkey is found only in the Guiana district north of the Amazons, and another, the
Ateles ater, inhabits West Brazil, but the species of the genus range, as a whole, over the forest
regions from the south of Mexico to 30"^ south latitude, and even on the west of the Andes.

The Lagothrix Monkeys, with their fine, furry coats, are found in the Ecuador district of the

204 XATVSAL BISTOItY.

Amazons, but ;ire unknown in Guiana and Eastern Brazil, and the species of tlie sliort-tailed Sakis are
restricted to special districts ; thus the Couxio is from Guiana, and does not pass the Eio Negro on
the west, or the Amazon on the south. The white - skinned one is found on the Rio Negro, and the
B. riibicumlus on the Upper Amazon, another species being found on tlie lower part of the same river.
So it is with the other Sakis with long tails. The genus is found widely dispersed, but the species are
restricted in their roaming. One is found, according to Wallace, on the north bank of the Upper
Amazon, and another, with a red beard, only to the south-west of the Eio Negro. The genus Cebus
has a very wide range in South America, so has the Squirrel Monkey gi-oup, for they are found on
both banks of the Amazon and Rio Negro ; but the white-collared species is found only on the Upper
Eio Negro, and another on the Upper Amazon.

The same author noticed the range of the Dourouconlis in the Amazon districts ; one {X. tririr-
gatus) is found in Ecuador, and the Cat-like kind on the Upper Amazon. Equally restricted to limited
districts were three kinds of Marmosets.

Fossil remains of Monkeys have been found in the New World in the Brazils, which belong to
the existing genera Cebus, Callithrix, aud Hapale. The fossil Cebus is at least four feet in height, and
the Callithrix was of a very large kind. The fossil Ouistitis are large and small. The geological age
of the Brazilian fossils is probably about that of the last European deposits. Now, the remarkable
part of this interesting story is, that in the olden time there was the same division of the Monkeys
into those of the Old and of the New World. The Catai-hini were then, as now, restricted to
Europe, Asia, and doubtless to Africa ; and the Platyrhini were only found in America, and more-
over the resemblance of the old forms to the new is remarkable, the large size of the fossils
being in keeping with what is known about the large dimensions of most of the old forms of life.
Eiitimeyer's discovery in Switzerland of a fossil with bones like those of the Howler (Mycetes), and
yet like a Lemur in structure, and of vtist antiquity, carries us back to a time when a different
distribution of animals prevailed. Then there were American-looking and Madagascar-looking things
in Europe, and associated with them were Opossums and other creatures foreign enough to it at the
present time. Nevertheless, this fact gives the hint of the oi-igin of the American Monkeys from
the Lemurs. Lately the fossil remains of a Lemnr-like animal liave been found in North America.
In concluding this short notice of the extinct Monkeys, it must be lemembered that in the days when
theai were those agreeable northern climates which made Greenland a land of flowers, Indian Monkeys
li^ed in the den.se woods of Greece, Central Europe, and Soiithern France.

Mr. Darwin, who has collected a vast array of facts relatmg to the resemblance of the Monkeys to
other beings, writes very much as folfows : —

" The resemblance of Monkeys to man is greatly caused by the relative position of the features of
the face. The eyes are arched over ; they are separated by a long nose, the end of which in some is
very human. The mouth is not carried back, but occupies the same general position as in man, and
the forehead, so often wrinkled, is usually prominent, and like that of a child. Tlie likeness is increased
by the fact that anger, sorrow, pleasure, and satisfaction are displayed by the Monkey by nearly similar
movements of the muscles and skin, chiefly above the eyebrows, and round the mouth. Some
few expressions," writes Mr. Darwin, " are, indeed, almost the same, as in the weeping of certain
kmds of Monkeys, and in the laughing noise made by othei-s, during •which the comers of the
mouth are drawn backwards, and the eyelids wi-inkled. In man the nose is much more promi-
nent than in most Monkeys ; but," writes the same author, " we may trace the commencement
of an aquiline curvature in the nose of the Hoolock Gibbon, and this in the great-nosed Monkey is
carried to a ridiculous extreme." All this is disappointing to those who pride themselves on " the
family nose," especially if it is a Eoman. Agam, the faces of many Monkeys are furnished with beards,
whiskers, and moustaches. The hair gi-ows to a great length in some species of Semnopithecus, and in
the Bonnet Monkey {Macacui radiatus) it radiates from a point on the crown, with a parting down the
middle. This is a human fashion ; moreover, in this Monkey the front hair ends rather abniptly, and
a downy and almost smooth-looking forehead is showai. They hawe eyebrows in some instances. Mr.
Darwin, in cai-rying out his investigations into the resemblances between men and Monkeys, said
be is, ag; indeed, have been all anatomists, very interested regarding the hair of the limbs of those he
places in comparison. " It is well known," he writes, " that the haii-on our arms tends to converge from

GEXEKAL OBSERrjTIOXS OX THE QCASRCU-IXJ.

above and below to a point at the elbow. This carious arrangement, so unlike that In most of the lower
Manimal.s, is common to the Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Orang, some species of Hylobates, and even to some
American Monkeys. It i.s not invariable in the same genus, for in Hjlohates ar/ilis the hair on the fore-
arm is directed downwai-ds. or towards the wrist, in the ordinary manner, and in Hylobates lar, it is
nearly erect, with omy a slight forward inclination. It can," he adds, "hardly be doubted that with
most Maunnals the thickness of the hair and its direction- on the back are adapted to throw off rain,
and even tlie transverse hairs of the Dog's leg may serve for this end when he is curled up asleep."

Mr. Wallace remarks that the convergence of the hair towards the elbow on the arms of the Orang
serves to throw oif the rain when, as is the custom of thLs animal, the ai-ms are bent, with the hands
clasped round a branch, or over its own head. But the previously-mentioned naturalist ajrtly remarks

HEAD OF THE BLACK HOWLER. (From the Froaeiings of the ZoolO'jkal Socklij.)

that the attitude may not determine the direction of the hair; and that, on the contrary, the direction
of the hair may determine the attitude. Of course the darkness of the negi-o makes any likeness, real
or imaginary, with the Monkey, all the greater, and really the resemblance of the American Monkey — •
whose name (Satanas) indicates his ill looks — with its jet-black skin, white rolling eyeballs, and liaii-
pai-ted at the top of its head, to a young negro, is laughable enough.

Any one who visits the Zoological Gardens soon becomes aware that there is a great variety of
expression in the eyes and muscles of the face of Monkeys, and infinitely gi-eater in amount than in
any other aiiimals, and in some points infinitely less than in man. Mr. Darwin has collected facts, and
given the result of his own observations upon the different methods of expression produced by the facial
and other muscles, and the following is from his work on the " Expression of the Emotions ": —

" It is not possible to distinguish in Monkeys, at least, without more expei-ience tlian I have had,

the expression of pleasure or joy from that of aflection. Young Chimpanzees make a kind of barking

noise when pleased by the return of any one to whom they are attached. When this noise — which the

keepers call a laugh — is uttered, the lips are protruded ; but so they are under various other emotiona

8*

2f,6 NATURAL BISTORT.

Nevei-tlieless. I couki perceive that when they were jileased, the fonu of the lip.s 'liftered a little from
that assumed when they were angei-ed. If a young Chimisanzee be tickled, and the armpits are
particularly sensitive to tickling — as in the case of our children — a more decided chuckling or laughing
sound is uttered, though the laughter is sometimes noiseless. The corners of the mouth are then dra^vn.
backwards, and this sometimes causes the lower eyelids to be slightly wrinkled. But this wrinkling,
which is so characteristic of om- own laughter, is more plainly seen in soine other Monkeys. The teeth
in the upper jaw in the Chimpanzee are not exposed when they utter their laughing noise, in which
respect they differ from us ; but theii' eyes sparkle and grow brighter, as Mr. W. L. Martin, who has
particularly attended to their expression, states.

"Young Orangs when tickled likewise grin and make a chuckling sound, and Mr. Martin says
that their eyes grow brighter. As soon as their laughter ceases, an expre.ssion may be detected
passing over their faces, which, as Mr. Wallace remarked, may be called a smile. I have also noticed
something of the same kind with the Cliimpanzee. Dr. Duchenne — and I cannot quote a better
authority — informs me that he kept a very tame Monkey in his house for a year, and when he gave it
during meal times some choice delicacy, he observed that the corners of its mouth were slightly raised ;
thus an expression of satisfaction, partaking of the nature of an incipient smile, and resembling that
often seen on the face of man, could be plainly perceived in this animal.

" The Cebus azarce, when rejoiced at again seeing a beloved pereon, utters a peculiar twittering
sound. It also expresses agreeable sensations by drawing back the corners of its mouth, without
producing any sound. Rengger calls this movement laughter, but it would be more appropriately called
a smile. Tlie form of the mouth is different when either pain or terror is expressed, and shrill shrieks
are uttered. Another sj^ecies of Cebus in the Zoological Gardens when pleased makes a reiterated shrill
note, and likewise draws back the corners of its mouth, apjiarently through the contraction of the same
muscles as with us. So does the Barbary Ape {Inmts ecaudatiis) to an extraordinary degree ; and I
observed in this Monkey that the skin of the lower eyelids then became much wrinkled. At the same
time it i-apidly moved its lower jaw or lips in a spasmodic manner, the teeth baing exposed ; but the
noise produced was hardly more distinct than that which we sometimes call silent laughter. Two of the
keepers affirmed that this slight sound was the, animal's laugliter, and when I expressed some doubt ou
this head (being at the' time quite inexperienced), they made it attack, or rather threaten, abated
Entellus Monkey living in the same compai-tment. Instantly the whole expression of the face of the
Inuus changed ; the mouth was opened much more widely, the canine teeth were more fully exposed,
and a hoarse barking noise was uttered.

" The Anubis Baboon was first insulted, and i)ut into a furious rage, as was easily done by his
keeper, who then made friends with him, and shook hands. As the reconciliation was effected the
Baboon rapidly moved his jaws and lips up and down, and looked pleased. Two or three species of
Macacus, and the Cytiocephalus nlyer, draw back their ears, and utter a .slight jabbering noise when they
are pleased by being caressed "With the Cynocephalus the comers of the mouth are at the same time
drawn backwards and upwards, so that the teeth are exposed ; hence this expression would never be
recognised by a stranger as one of pleasure. The crest of long hairs on the forehead is depressed, and
apparently the whole skin of the head drawn backwai'ds Tlie eyebrows are thus raised a little, and
the eyes assume a stai-ing appearance. The lower eyelids also become slightly winkled, but this
wrinkling is not conspicuous, owing to the permanent transverse i\irrows on the face. With Monkeys
the expression of slight pain, or of any painful emotion, such as grief, vexation, jealousy, &c., is not
easily distinguished from that of moderate anger, and these states of mind readily and quickly pass into
each other. Grief, however, with some species, is certainly exhibited by weeping. A woman who sold
a Monkey to the Zoological Society, believed to have come from Borneo {Marricns nuim-us), said
that it often cried, and Mr. Bartlett, a-s well as the keeper, Mr. Sutton, has repeatedly seen it,
when gi-ieved, or even when much pitied, weeping so copiously, that the tears rolled down its
cheeks. There is, however, sometliing strange about this case, for two specimens subsequently
kept in the Gardens, and believed to be the same species, have never been seen to weep, though they
were carefully observed by the keeper and myself when much distressed and loudly screaming.
Rengger states that the eyes of the Cehus azarm fill with tears, but not sufficiently to overflow, when
it is prevented getting some much-desired object, or is much frightened. Hum>>ol(lt also asserts that

THE UABirS AXD EMOTIONS OF MOXKEl'S. 207-

the eyes of the CaUithrix sciitreus instautl)' fill with tears when it is ' seized with fear,' but when this
pretty little Monkey in the Zoological Gardens was teased so as to cry out loudly, this did not occur.
I do not, however, wish to throw the least doubt on the accuracy of Humboldt's statement.

" The appearance of dejection iii young Orangs and Chimpanzees when out of health is as plain
and almost as pathetic as in the case of our childi-en. Theii- state of mind and body is shown by their
listless movements, fallen countenances, dull eyes, and changed complexion.

" This emotion is often exhibited by many kinds of Monkeys, and is expressed, as Mr. Martin
remarks, in many different ways. Some .species, when ii-ritated, pout the lips, gaze with a fixed and
savage glare on theii- foe, and make repeated short starts as if about to spring forward, uttering at the
same time inward guttui-al sounds. Many display their anger by suddenly advancing, making abrupt
starts, at the same time opening the mouth, and pursing up the lips so as to conceal the teeth, while
the eyes are daringly fixed on the enemy as if in savage defiance. Some again, and principally the
long-tailed Monkeys, or Guenons, display their teeth, and accompany theii- malicious gi'ins with a sharp,
abrupt, reiterated cry. Mr. Sutton confirms the statement that some species uncover theii- teeth when
enraged, whilst others conceal them by the protrusion of their lips, and some kinds draw back their
eai-s. The Gijnocephalus niger, lately referred to, acts in this manner, at the same time depressing the
crest of hah- on its forehead, and showing its teeth, so that the movements of the features from anger
are nearly the same as those from pleasure ; and the two expressions can be distinguished" only by those
familiar with the animal.

" Baboons often show their passion, and threaten their enemies in a veiy odd manner, namel}'', by
opening their mouths widely, as in the act of yawning. Mr. Bartlett has often seen two Baboons, wlieu
first placed in the same compartment, sitting opposite to each other, and thus alternately opening their
mouths ; and this action seems frequently to end in a real yawn. Mr. Bartlett believes that both
animals wished to show to each other that they are provided with a formidable set of teeth, as is
undoubtedly the case. As I could hardly credit the reality of this yawning gesture, Mr. Bartlett
insulted an old Baboon, and put him into a violent passion, and he almost immediately thus acted.
Some species of Macacus and of Cercopithecus behave in the same manner. Baboons likewise show
their anger — as was observed by Erehm with those which he kept alive in Abyssinia — in another
manner, namely, by striking the ground with one hand, like an angry man striking the table with his
fist. I have seen this movement with the Baboons in the Zoological Gardens, but sometimes the action
seems rather to represent the searching for a«tone or other objects in theii' beds of straw. - Mr. Sutton has
often observed the face of the Rhesus Monkey, when much enraged, growing red. As he was mentioning
this to me another Monkey attacked a Rhesus, and I saw its face redden as plainly as that of a man in
a violent passion. In the course of a few minutes after the battle the face of this Monkey recovered its
natural tint ; at the same time that the fiice reddened, the naked posterior part of the body, which is
always red, seemed to grow still redder, but T cannot positively assert that this was the case. When
the Mandrill is any way excited the brilliantly-coloured naked parts of the skin are .said to become still •
more vividly coloured.

" With several species of Baboons the ridge of the forehead projects much over the eyes, and is
studded with a few long hairs representing our eyebrows. These animals are always looking about
them, and in order to look upwards they raise their eyebrows. They have thus, as it would appear,
acquired the habit of frequently moving their eyebrows. However this may be, many kinds of
Monkeys, especially the Baboons, whsn angered or in any way excited, rapidly and incessantly move
their eyebrows up and down, as well as the hairy skin of their foi-eheads. As we associate in the case
of man raising and lowering of the eyebrows with definite states of the mind, the almost incessant move-
ment of the eyebrows by Monkeys gives them a senseless expression. I once observed a man who had
a trick of continually raising his eyebrows with any con-esponding emotion, and this gave to him a
foolish appeai-ance ; so it is with some persons who keep the corners of their mouths a little drawn
backwards and upwards, as if by an incipient smUe, though at the time they are not amused or
pleased.

" A young Orang, made jealous by her keeper attending to another Monkey, slightly uncovered
her teeth," and uttering a pee^•ish noise, like ' tish-shist,' turned her back on him. Both Orangs and
Chimimnzees when a little more angered protrude their lips gi-eatly, and make a harsh barking noisft

208 NATURAL MISTORT.

A young female Cliimpanzee in a violent passion presented a cuiious resemblance to a child in the same
state. She screamed loudly, with -vvidely-open mouth, the lips being retracted so that the teeth were
fully exposed. She threw her arms wildly about, sometimes clasping them over her head. She rolled
on the gi'ound, sometimes on her back, sometimes on her belly, and liit everything within reach. A
young Gibbon in a passion has been described as behaving in almost exactly the same manner. The lips
of young Orangs and Chimpanzees are protruded sometimes to a wonderful degree under various cii'cum-
stances. They act thus not only when slightly angered, sulky, or disapjjointed, but when alarmed at
anything — in one instance at the sight of a Turtle — and likewise when pleased. But neither the degree
of protrusion nor the shape of the mouth is exactly the same, as I believe, in aU cases ; and the sounds
which ai-e then uttered are different.

■■ Frowning, which is one of the most important of all the expressions in man, is due to the
contraction of the corrugations by which the eyebrows are covered and brought together, so that vertical
furrows are formed on the forehead. Both the Orang and Chimpanzee are said to possess tliis muscle,
but it seems rarely brought into action, at least in a consjjicuous manner. I made my hands into a sort
of cage, and placing some tempting fruit within, allowed both a young Orang and Chimpanzee to try
then- utmost to get it out ; but, although they grew rather cross, they showed not a trace of a frown,
nor was there any frown when they were enraged. Twice I took two Chimpanzees from their rather
dark room suddenly into bright sunshine, wliich would certainly have caused us to frown. They blinked
and winked their eyes, but only once did I see a very slight frown. On another occasion I tickled the
nose of a Chimpanzee with a straw, and, as it crumpled up its face, slight vertical furrows ajipeared
between the eyebrows. I have never seen a frown on the forehead of the Oraaig.

" A fresh- water Turtle was placed, at my request, in the same compartment in the Zoological
Gardens with many Monkeys, and they showed unbounded astonishment, as well as some fear. This
was displayed by their- remaining motionless, staring intently with widely-opened eyes, their eyebrows
being often moved up and down. Their faces seemed somewhat lengthened. They occasionally raised
themselves on their liind legs to get a better view. They often retreated a few feet, and then, tm-niiio
their lieads over one shoulder, again stared intently. It was cui-ious to observe how much less afraid they
were of the Turtle than of a living Snake, which I had formerly placed in their compartment, for in the
course of a few minutes some of tlie Monkeys ventured to ajiproach and touch the Tui-tle. On the other
hand some of the larger Baboons were greatly ten-ified, and grinned as if on the point of screaming
out. When I showed a little dressed-up doll to the black Baboon, it stood motionless, stared intently
with widely-opened eyes, and advanced its ears a little forwards ; but when the Turtle was placed in its
compartment, this Monkey also moved its lips in an odd, rapid, jabbering manner, which the keeper
declared was meant to conciliate or please the Turtle. I was never able clearly to perceive that the
eyebrows of astonished Monkeys were kept permanently raised, though they wore frequently moved up
and down. Attention, whicli precedes astonishment, is expressed by man by a slight raising of the
eyebrows, and Dr. Duchemie informs me that when he gave to the Monkey formerly mentioned some
quite new article of food, it elevated its eyebrows a little, thus assuming an appearance of close
attention. It then took the food in its fingers, and with lowered or rectilinear eyebrows scratched,
smelt, and examined it, an expression of reflection being thus exhibited. Sometimes it would throw
back its head a little, and again with suddenly-raised eyebrows re-examine, and finally taste, the food.

" In no case did any Monkey keep its mouth open when it was astonished. Mr. Sutton observeil
for me a young Orang and Chimpanzee during a considerable length of time ; and, however uuich they
were astonished, or whilst listening intently to some strange sound, they did not keep then- mouths
open. Tliis fact is surprising, as with mankind hardly any expression is more general than a widely-
open mouth, under the sense of astonishment. As far as I have been able to observe. Monkeys breathe
more freely thi-ough their nostrils than men do, and this may account for their not opening their mouths
when they are astonished, for, as can be discovered with care, man apparently acts in this manner
when startled, at fii'st for the sake of quickly drawing a full inspiration, and afterwards for the sake of
breathing as quietly as possible.

" Terror is expressed by many kinds of Monkeys by the utterance of slu'ill screams, the lips being
drawn back so that the teeth are exposed. The hair boeomos erect, especially when some anger is
likewise felt. Mi-. Sutton has distinctly seen the face of the Rhesus Monkey grow pale from fear.

HABITS OF MONKEYS. oqj

Monkeys also tremble from fear, and sometimes tliey toiil their excretions. I Iiave seen one wliieli
when caught, almost fainted from an excess of terror."

Rengger, who studied the American Monkeys carefully, say.s that they evidently nnd(-r.stand each
others' gestures, and this is plain enough to all who spend a little time in a large collection of them.
They have their likes and dislikes, and submit to be teased and bullied by some favourite, although of
a different species ; the contrary, however, is the usual occurrence, and they resent familiarities very
readily. Perhaps the most amusing instance of this fondness is given by Mr. Darwin, who had it from
the Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens. Two Chimpanzees, rather older animals than those
usually brought to England, were introduced to each other for the first time : — " They sat opposite,

touching each other with theii- much-protruding lips, and the one put his hand on the shoulder of the
other. They then mutually folded each other in theii- arms. Afterwards they stood up, each with oiie
arm on the shoulder of the other, lifted up their heads, opened theii- mouths, and yelled with delight."

Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens, states that the faculty of attention wliich is necessary for
imitation, obedience, and teaching, is a very variable one amongst the same species of Monkeys, and
told Mr. Darwin the following anecdote ; — " A man who trains Monkeys to act used to purchase
common kinds from the Zoological Society at the cost of five pounds for each, but he offered to give
double that price if he might keep three or four of them for a few days, in order to select one. When
asked how he could jmssibly so soon leani whether a pai-ticular Monkey would turn out a good actor,
he answered that it all depended on their power of attention. If, when he was talking and explaining
anything to a Monkey, its attention was easily distracted, as by a fly on the wall, or other trifling object,
the case was hopeless. If ho tried punishment to make an inattentive Monkey act, it turned sulky.
On the other hand, a Monkey which QarefuUy attended to him could always be trained."

Very little is known about the family habits of the Monkey, and whether they have one, two, or

210 NATURAL HISTOItY.

many wives ; but iii some instances, where the colour of the male and his ornamentation differs from
that of the female, it has been possible to trace their habits. Thus, the Gorilla is undoubtedly a
polygamist, and the males and females differ. So it is with the Baboons, which live in troops or herds
containing twice as many adult females as males. Amongst the South American Monkeys the Howler
iMycetes caraya) usually lives with two or three wives, and is distinguished from them by his voice,
colour, and beard ; and the Capuchin, which also differs from the female, is probably polygamous. The good
example of having one wife set by some Monkeys is utterly lost upon some Eastern potentates. Thus,
Sir- Jolm Lubbock states, that an intelligent Kandyan chief— of course a polygamist — was perfectly
scandalised at the utter barbarism of living with only one wife, and never parting until sepamted by
death. " It was," he said, "just like the Wanderoo Monkey." P. Martin Duncan.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE LEMITxOIDA.

THE GESEUA. INDKIS AND LEPILEMVK lIArALE.UUR,

The Xame of the Genus Lenuu- popularly given to the Group— Lemuroida the Correct Name— Their Distinctive Characters
-Their Hands and Feet^Ankle-bones— Tail— ifcte Jl/)>a5i/c— Nostrils-Colour of the Eye-Ears-Teeth-Brain-
Eesemblance to Monkeys-Their LocaUty -Lemur at Liberty-Its Playfulness- Division of the Lemurs-Beauties
of Madagascar— Gen i;s Indrts— Described by Grandidier- Their Locality— Colour— Fingers— Teeth— The Diadem
INDRIS— Speciniens at the British Museum— Little known about it- The Woolly Lemur -Described by Sonnerat-
The Short-Tailed Indris- Distinguished by its TaU-Its SkuU-GENUS LEPILEMUB-Their Teeth-Tail-THB
"Weasel Lemur— The Grey Lemdr— Specimens obtained by Pollen— Their Cry.

The forests of Madagascar, of Western and Eastern Africa, and of some of the Asiatic Islands, are the
homes of several kinds of animals which are not unlike the Monkeys in some respects, but which difl'er
from them in their habits of life, and, to a certain extent, in their anatomy. Most of them are in the
habit of hiding up all the day, and of moving with gi'eat vivacity at dusk and during the night time.
Their gliding, noiseless motion amidst the dense foliage of the tropical woods during the dark houi-s,
and their restless activity in searching for then- food during the short twilight, were considered to
resemble the fitful appai-itions of sprites, spectres, and hobgoblins, and hence Linnwus gave them the
name of Lemur.s, taking the term from the Latm (lemures), "ghosts." The name has been adopted
popularly, so as to include all the kinds which, with some structural resemblance to the Monkeys, are
for the most part nocturnal in their habits, and it really appears to represent the notions which the
excessively timid and superstitious natives of the Eastern Islands have of the malevolent influence of
some of these active and very small creatures, whose large eyes glare and shine in the dark woods as
they rush to and fro before the extreme darkness of the night commences. Tlie use of the name has
been productive of some confusion, for it was especially given to one genus or gi-oup of kinds which is
restricted to the Island of Madagascar. Tlie genus Lemur, with a species of which most visitors to the
Zoological Gardens are famDiar — the Ring-tailed Lemur — by no means contains all the animals now
under comsideration, and they have been arranged under other gi-oups, or genera, and have different
names ; yet they are all popularly called Lemurs.

Hence, to avoid this confusion, it is usual to call the genus just mentioned genus Lemur, and
all the others "Lemur-like animals," and the Greek word crSos (like) being added the tei-m Lemuroida
is formed. In scientific language, then, the creatures popularly called Lemurs are tenned Leninroida.
Either expression may be used, but if the familiar one is employed, it is necessai-y to remember that
the word means other animals besides those of the genus Lemur.

The Lemurs, using the popular temi va. its wide significance, can be distinguished from the
Monkeys and all other animals at a glance. Very few travellers have the opportimity of observing

^.

\

-c U

ANUBIS EABOON. (.Sw j,,.. 149-150.)
(From the Living .S;i«-iuicil in the Zoological Grmkas, London.)

THE LEMUROIDA. 211

them when wild, and enjoying their liberty in their native woods, but every -visitor to the Zoological
Gardens in the Regent's Park may have the chance of comparing some of them with other animals.
This comparison may be made readily at certain times, but not always, for only a few Lemiu-s care to
show themselves in bi'oad daylight, and the r^st come out of their little nests in the evening. They are
known by haiay " hands" at the end of the arms and legs, large funy tails, slim funy bodies, long ears,
great staring eyes, and a muzzle like that of a small Fox. At night-time, when the Baboons, Macaques,
Guenons, and American Monkeys are at rest and asleej), the Lemurs are awake, and rushing and
jumping here and there in theii- limited space ; but during the day-time, when the Monkey world is
most giddy, with one or two exceptions the others are quiet, and if poked out into daylight look dazed
and stupid, and are only too glad to get into darkness again. The exceptions to these habits
are not numerous. The Night-loving Monkey of South America comes out to look about at the
same time as its neighbour, the Night-lo^'iTlg Lemur : and the Common, or Ring-tailed Lemur, is
always ready to receive food, or to be noticed in broad daylight, as it goes to bed with monkeydom in
general.

The other animals mtli which the Lemuroida may be confounded are such as Squirrels, Weasels,
Eats, Cats, and small Kangaroos. Some Lemuroida have a slight resemblance, in general shape, to some
of these, and their habit of going about hopping on the hind legs tends to the general likeness ; more-
over, in some there are front teeth greatly resembling those of the gnawing, or Rodent animals, and in
all the back teeth are somewhat like those of insect-eating animals, or Insectivora. But a little care
will show that all these animals are sufficiently distinct so as not to be classified with the Lemuroids
in the same group of the animal kingdom. The fact that the Lemuroids have large thumb-like great
toes, which enable the foot to be used as a hand, is quite sufficient to distinguish them from- animals
with paws, and all those mentioned above.

A curious mistake was made by confoumling a Lenmr with tlip Sloth (which is never found
out of South America, where also there are no Lemurs) in the diary of a corrfspoudent to one of tlie
most important newspapers in the world, and which was read with iniiversal interest, and certainly
with great amusement, during the Ashantee War. He wi'ote : —

" Sloths (!) of the two-toed variety abound in every part of the country. At night we always heard
them, and much discussion did they cause. The cry is somewhat like the Nubian Hyena, and I think
no evidence appeared besides this decei\-ing sound to prove the existence of Hyenas on the Gold Coast.
It is only a monosyllable, Jui, repeated in scale, at longer and longer intervals as it imnnits the gamut.
Amongst the last octaves, tlie creature si-euis lumud to bm-st. One listene.l lor tlie linal notes with
ridiculous anxiety, lying awake in tlie still darkness. I)o, re, mi, fa. >«il I'assed oil' easily ; but the la
demanded evident exertion, the d exertion greater still, and so on at lengthening intervals, till one
reached the octaves, which really seemed to split the beast's throat in utterance. I once heard a Sloth
compass six octaves, but he generally fijids his ultimatum at the third. The native stoiy goes that the
animal makes only a pitiful moaning when on, the ground, but no sooner is lie arrived on the tree-
top than he utters this piercing ciy ; and therefore, as Mr. Bonnat telil me. the Ashantees, a quick-
witted people, call certain chiefs of theirs cocofhoo, or Sloth, because whilst they were small men they
sang small, but they crow very loud from the ' stools ' to which the king thus raised them. . . .
I believe Mr. Winwood Reade shot a tine Sloth at Mansu. Tlie only specimens I myself saw were
two young ones, both captured by cutting down the tree on which they sat. They had pretty grey fiu-s,
and the same anxious wi-etched look common to their family. Those who still credit the old belief
about Sloths — if there be any — would have been much cUsconoerted to observe the activity these
creatures showed in running up and Aovn\ the pole to wliich they were tied, walking head downwards,
of course ! "

The Lemuroida a-s a group have some general characters in common. Fii-stly, they are all Quad-
rumanous, and the hinder thumbs are in most very large, strong, opposable to the other digits, and
capable of much movement. Furnished also with well-made thumbs on the hands, they have a great
power of gi'asp, and of clasping boughs and large creeping plants during their active climbing and
jumping. Then there are special structures on the tips of the fingers ; these are flattening of the tips
into disc-or button-shaped pads, on the upper surface of which is the nail. The skin of these rounded
tips covers a cushion of fiit, and is well supplied with sensitive nerves, and hence they are not only

212

NATURAL HISTORY.

cushions, but extremely fine points of touch. Theii- use is evidently connected with the extremely
agile boundings, from branch to branch, during the hours when there is little or no light. The sense
■of feeling, then, replaces that of sight to a great extent, and the supply of nerves is sufficient to excite
the muscles of the fingers and hands, toes and feet, to hold on at the least touch ; while the cushions
of fat prevent the extremities from being jarred. These curious tips give a very clumsy appearance
to the digits, even when they are extremely .small. There is a true claw on the second digit (toe) of
the foot, and nails on the other fingers and toes iii some Lemuroids, but there are diflerent arrange-

LEMUKOIDS AT HOME IN

ments of the claws in others. It is noticed when several kinds of them are examined, that there
is a great difierence in then- digits as regards their size and length, and the foui-th is the longest instead
•of the third, as in man : but sometimes the index, or first finger, not counting the thumb, is much
reduced in size, and in two forms it is very defective, and only a little knob remams to .show its posi-
tion; but this apparent defoi-mity has something to do with their method of life. The thumbs are
well foi-med, and so are the third, fourth, and fifth digits, the index being as just mentioned, and the
result is to divide the hands, as it were, into two opposing portions, giving a gi-asp like that of the
climbing birds — the Pari'ot, for instance. These kinds of Lemuroida creep slowly towards their prey,
and clasp the branches fii-mly before they jump on the insect they desii'e to catch. Besides these pecu-
liarities of the hands and feet, which, moreover, are supplied in every joint with tendons and muscles
of great motive power, the fore-arm is capable of turning the wi-ist forwards or backwards, or, as it

PECULIARITIES OF THE LEMUROIDA. 213

is called, rotating, and also of bending. Again, the upper arm is loosely but firmly attached to the

shoulders and neck, so as to admit of great range of motion, so what with the bending and rotation of

the fore-arm, and the mobility and cushioned state of the fingers, these creatures possess a wonderful

;ipparatus, suited for extreme action and safe holding on. The abUity to rest on the hind legs and jump

J ike a Kangaroo (see page 5), which is peculiar to some kinds, depends also upon peculiar structures.

The ankle-bones are very long in these, so long, indeed, as to make the foot resemble that of a Frog when

jimiping more than that of any other animal. The long ankle-bone acts as part of a lever, and enables

the muscles of the back of the leg to act on the foot so as to project the creature high in the air, or

for many feet from one bough to another, or along the giound Theie is nothing like this in the

Monkeys. Now, the woolly fur of the Lemuroids, and then cjlmdiical woolly tails, at first sight

appear to be encumbrances to an active animal which lives m the tiopics, but they aie all extremely

chilly creatures, and love heat; moreover, it is possible that seveie falls ma% lie itndeitd less injui'ious

by the deadening influence of a soft fur. The tail is a

wonderful apparatus in some kinds, and barely exists in

■others, being, however, never prehensile even when

longest and strongest. Probably it is used as a kind of

adjuster of movements in rapid exercise, and certainly

it is a great comfort to many, for several kinds like to

curl it over their backs, or round their necks, like a

sable boa, whilst they are asleep, or basking in the sun.

In one kind it is supplied with a marvellous set of

tendons, and, indeed, to such an extent of complexity,

that it would appear that Nature had lavished mechanical

a])pliances to every joint without any very definite use.

It is remarkable that in those Lemuroida which have no

tail, or barely a trace, there is a curious arrangement "^ ^"

of the blood-vessels. The limbs in these kinds are not he.d of indr.s (propithecis)jerravxii to show

. . . LEMiKOiu vosTRILb {Aflet Graniidwr .)

supplied with main arteries, and veins with long branches,

but the blood-vessels form a closely-packed set of tubes of very small size. This network, in the
language of science, is called a rete mirahile, " a wonderful network," for such it is. Curiously enough
this arrangement of the blood-vessels is found in soma totally different animals, whose movements are
very slow and cautious, such as the Sloths, for instance. Equally slow are the movements of some
of the kinds of Lemuroida which possess this interesting structure. It has been suggested that this
novel division and subdivision of the blood-vessels tends to produce slo\v^less of movement, and it
may be said in a general way that the active Lemuroida and active animals of other orders do not
have a rete mirabile.

Some Lemuroids have short, and others have long muzzles, and there is great variety in the shape
of the head. Evidently those with long noses have a very fine sense of smelling, and the whole of the
members of the sub-order have a peculiar twist in the outside nostril, which distinguishes them from
the Monkeys of both the Old and the New World. This twist was thought to be of great importance
in classifying the Lemuroida in the animal scale, and they are often at the present day termed " Strep-
sirhini," from the Greek words which mean curved nostril. Some scent out insects and grubs under
the bark of trees, and all use this sense in searching for food by night. There are some long hairs about
the upper lip and cheeks like those of a Cat, and these " smellers " are doubtless extremely sensitive to
touch, and although they do not assist the sense of smelling, they help the animals in avoiding danger
in their movements through the dark underwood.

The colour of the iris (the membrane around the pupil of the eyes) is very beautiful in most,
and as the eye is large and staring, it is well .seen. Sometimes the pupU is round, but in some kinds it
is a slit, as it is in the domestic Cat, for instance, and this shape has much to do with their nocturnal
liabits. The iris moves in two directions, and makes the pupil either larger or smaller ; and the impor-
tance of this gift is, that whilst a small pupil admits only a very slight quantity of light into the body
of the eye, a large one allows a great amount to enter ; hence, at eventide the pupil dilates, or, in other
words, the iris acts so as to enlarge it, and all the light possible enters, but in sunlight the pupil contracts,

NATURAL BISTORT.

EYE OF LEMUROID,
SHOWING CONTRAC-
TION AND DILATA-
TION OF PUPIL.
(Original, after Muric:)

even to a iMint, the iris moving so as to shut out the superfluous and injurious illumination. The

nocturnal kinds require a very dilatable pupil, for they move often in comparative darkness, and when

the least ray of light is of benefit to them. Besides this structure, there is another which has to
do with husbanding, and making the most of faint light. If the eyes of a
Lemur are examined a little carefully, they will be found to glare with a very
metallic lustre in certain lights, just as those of a Dog and Cat. It appears
that in certain animals, and in the Lemuroids, there is a peculiar layer within
the eye which looks coloured; but really it is only very finely marked by
fibres, which decompose the common white light into its primitive colours, in
the same manner as the extremely delicate markings invisible to the naked
i^^K^'I'l eye on mother-of-pearl produce the well-known beautifully ii'idescent tints.

^P JMV This layer is behind the sensitive layer of the eye, and it acts as a concave

■" -^ reflector, collecting the slightest glimmers, and making them of use. The

membrane is called the tapetum. It has been noticed that there is a difference
in the expression of the eyes of the Lemuroids and Monkeys, and certainly these
last have the advantage of sho-wing their- impudence, malice, and fear in their
beautiful organs of sight.

The ears of some Lemuroida are small, but in the majority not only
are they large, but they possess singular powers of movement, and in some can
be folded up. The sense of hearing is undoubtedly acute in the nocturnal
kinds, and their capacious ears are of immense importance to them, for they
have to discover their prey by their sense of smell and sight, and also to be on
the alert against theii- natural enemies.
There is a singular want of sameness in the teeth of the Lemuroida, and several kinds, which

apparently lead the same sort of lives, and eat the same food, have diflerent an-angements of the

cutting and grinding teeth. Sometimes the front teeth fall out when the second set is cut, and are not

replaced, and in the Aye- Aye they act as perfect chisels. As a rule, in all kinds, the lower front teeth

project horizontally forwards from the jaw, and somewhat resemble

in their dii-ection those of the Marmosets, but the upper ones are

straight. As the Lemuroida live easily and perform movements of

very much the same character year after year, their brains are not

much called upon. They are not as tractable or as intelligent as

Monkeys, and although their muscles a«t with vigour and ease, still

they are not required to perform the actions which are regulated by

the superior intelligence of the Apes. Hence it is not to be expected

that the brain of the Lemuroida will be as well developed as that of

the Ape or Monkey. It is, in reality, not so bulky, and not so

convoluted. The brain is low in height, longer than broad, and

does not cover the cerebellum. Finally, the young Lemuroida are

nourished within their parent through a placenta, which is diffuse,

and more or less disc-shaped, and therefore unlike that of the animals

already described, and of man.

They have a peculiarity about the under part of the tongue,

namely, beneath its tip there is a fringe of scaly flesh, the free ends of

which, when the mouth is shut, fit in between the front teeth. Its use

is unknown, but some have said that it is to keejj the back of the teeth and the spaces between them clean
It is their general shape, and the possession of what may be called a toe-thumb, \\ hich makes the

Lemuroids resemble Monkeys, but the likeness is not \nih those of the Old World, but with the fun-y

Marmosets, with long canine and projecting front teeth, of the New World. But although there are

these points of resemblance, the intelligence of the Monkey is for in advance of that of the Lemur, and

this can be well estimated when their eyes are compared. In the Monkey the eye is very movalile, full

of varying expression, and often has the a.spect of supreme cunning and mischief; but this is never the

case in the others, whose fixed, staring eyes have no speculation in them.

LPPEE SIEFICE SPUN
I EMIR CiTT\
(0 J ( a/( iir )

THE LEMUROIDS.

215

Differing as tliey do from the world of Monkeys, the Lemuroida still resemble them as a whole,
more than they do any other animals, and therefore they are associated with them in the scheme of
classification. They belong, therefore, with the Monkeys, and man, to the Priiiudes, and as
they present important diiFerences from the Monkeys, they are classified in a separate sub-oi"der of
the Primates. This sub-order is called the Lemuroida, a term
which has already been explained. Some zoologists, impressed
with their gi-eat resemblance to the Apes, have called them the
Half Apes, and others, looking upon them as the forerumiers of
the Monkeys, term them ProSimia.

The Lemuroida live in very out-of-the-way places, and the
majority are in Madagascar, which is an island very little ^-isited
by Europeans, and where some naturalists have studied them
and theii- habits under gi-eat difficulties. The skins of captured
specimens have been stuffed, and a few living kinds have found
then- way to England ; hence there are some fine groups of
stuffed Lemuroida in the British Museum, and some living
species in the Zoological Gardens. Marvellous storie.s, of
course, abound amongst the natives regarding their tricks and
habits, and the sober tiiith has been very difficult to distinguish

from error, especially as the night is the scene of their gaiety. Nevertheless, during the last few years
much knowledge has come to hand about these interesting creatures, and it has been rendered all the
more important by the laboui-s of the comparative anatomists, who have dissected many kinds of
them, and described their results.

There is no doubt that at fii-st sight they are iminteresting. Many sleep most of the day, as a
rule, and they cannot be got out of their snug little dens in the Zoological Gardens during visiting
hours except by force, and then they look dazed and stupid. But a careful observation opens out much
that is extremely interesting in theii- habits, and shows how remarkably their limbs and bodies are
adapted for a singular and nocturnal life. Take an example : — Some Lemuroida, which live Ln Caffraria
and South-eastern Africa, ai-e called " Galagos " by the natives, and the name has been adopted by
zoologists. One of these is of an luiiform dark brown colour, and the tail is long, cylindrical,
and woolly, the ears being large, roimded, and black, and it is called the Black, or Garnett's
Galago. There is nothing to be made of its habits durmg the day, but if any one is affected with
sleeple.ssness, and desires a domestic jiet that would enliven the dreary midnight hours, then
forthwith let him purchase a specimen, if possible a pair of them. They will rest quietly
enough and contented in theii- berths diu-ing the day, but only let them have freedom in the
chamber for a while at night, with a Cat or Dog for companion, and, presto ! the dull hours will
be meny. The following is Mr. Bartlett's (Sujjerintendent of the Zoological Gardens) experience
in a letter adcb-essed to one of us: — "The other night I took an opportunity of letting one of these
interesting creatm-es — Garnett's Galago — have his liberty in my room, and I assure you I was
well repaid by his performance. Judge my utter astonishment to see him on the floor, jumping about
■upright like a Kangaroo, only with much gi-eater speed and intelligence. The little one sprang
from the gi-ound on to the legs of tables, aims of chaii-s, and indeed on to any piece of furniture in
the room ; in fact, he was more like a sprite than the best pantomimist I ever saw. What sur-
prised me most was his entire want of fear of Dogs and Cats. These he boldly met and jumped on at
once, and in the most playful manner hugged and tumbled about with them, rolling over and over,
hanging on their taOs, licking them on the head and face. I must add, however, that now and again
he gave them a sharp bite, and then bounded off, full of fun at the noise they made in consequence
of the sly nip he had inflicted. Tliis active trickery he never appeared to tu-e of; and I was myself
so pleased on vvitnessing the droll antics of the creature that the night passed and it was near daybreak
before I put a stop to his frolics by catching and consigning him to his cage. In bounding about on
the level gi-ound, his jumps, on the hind-legs only, are very astonishing, at least several feet at a spring,
and with a rapidity that requii-es the utmost attention to follow. From the back of a chaii- he sprang,
with the greatest ease, on to the table, four feet distance. He was delighted with a little wooden ball,

NATURAL mSTUMY.

which he rolled about and played with for a considerable time, carrying it in one hand while ho
hopped and skipped about in high glee. He eats fruits, sweetmeats, bread, and any kind of animal
substance, killing everything he can pounce upon and overpower. This strong and active little bnite
thus eats his prey at once, as I had proof in an unfortunate Sparrow which he unmercifully devoured
head first."

Another pair of these Galagos, since kept in the Society's Gai-dens, at dusk and nightfall behave
quite as actively. Most unwillingly are they poked out of their comfortable sleeping-box during the
day, or even when becoming dark, until they hear the keeper sounding all visitors out, and quietness
reigns. Immediately, then, they are full of life, and utter an extraordinai-ily loud and prolonged ka-
ka-ing yell, a sort of fou-de-joie. From even till morn there follow unceasing motion and occasional
ejaLnilation, until, on the appearance of the keeper, they I'etire to rest.

The number of the Lemuroida is considerable, and they have been grouped in at least twelve
genera, and these, again, have been arranged in families. These will be classified by-and-by. It is
extremely difficult in many instances to distinguish one kind or species from another, in consequence of
the great sameness of shape, and the fact that the same individual has a diSerent coloured coat at
various times of his life, and that the males and females of the same kind are often differently coloured.

It will be seen, on reading the description of the Monkeys in the fii-st chapters, that they can be-
arranged not only by their pecidiar structures into grand groups, but by the particular parts of the
world they inhabit. Hence they have been divided into those of the Old and of the New World.
Now, sometliing of the same kind may be done for the Leniuroida, but not quite as perfectly. There
are six genera of them living in Madagascar, three in Africa, and three in the great Asiatic Islands
and Hindostan. But although some of those of one locality are very distinct from those of others, it
is not always so, and one Madagascar and gne African group present close resemblances, and, curiously
enough, two West African genera are classed close to two whose kinds live in Ceylon, Hindostan, and
the island of Borneo.

THE EOilE OF TUE LEMVROIDA. 217

No Lemuroid has ever been found in the New Workl, or in Australia. It will then be convenient,
in order to avoid too much anatomical description, to separate at first the Lemui's geographically, and
the fii-st to be noticed are those of Madagascar.

As yet very little is known about the natural beauties of the great island of Madagascar,
Very few books have been written about it, and nearly all of them are devoted to descriptions of the
manners, custom.s, and religions of the dilferent tribes. In fact, missionaiy work and political
enterprise rendered the publication of such works necessary, and, with rare exceptions, the beauties of
Nature, and the interesting fauna and flora, were treated with neglect.* Moreover, the jealousy of the
governing powers prevented many of those travellers, who were competent to observe Nature and to
appreciate her beauties, from exploring large tracts of the island. Descriptions, then, of the character-
istic sceneiy, and of the habits of most of the animals of Madaga'scar, are exceedingly scarce ; and,
indeed, those which do exist cannot all be believed, for one geographer, whose work teems with lively
anecdotes, and with illustrations of forest and upland, is stated by a later writer never to have left
the eastern coast.

It appears, however, that the scenery of the gi-eat island is very varied. There is a long line of
sea-coast, which is fertOe in some places, but very sterile and unprofitable in the south especially.
This coast-line limits the forest land, which forms a belt around the higher mountains of the central
part of the country, and the hill or comparatively treeless district is broken and very romantic.
Those who hunt the Lemuroida know that it is useless to seek for certain kinds everywhere;
and, indeed, their exjierience proves that each of the different districts of the island has a peculiar little
assemblage of these " Half Apes " amongst its trees. The silence amongst the woods, where the
luxuriance of vegetation is extraordinary, is most remarkable. It is so different from the noise and
motion within tropical forests in other parts of the world, and it is only at the end of the day, when
the short twilight approaches its close, that the quiet solemnity of the scene is broken by the cries and
agile movements of the various Lemuroida. The quietude is produced by the absence of the whole of
the Monkey tribes from Madagascar, for they are the gi-eat noise-makers of the forests of other tropical
countiies, and by the indisposition of most of the Lemuroids to .move by daylight. They hide
themselves in nests of leaves or amongst the densest foliage, and some seek the tops of the highest
trees for safety. They seem to know that the hunter will seek them by day if possiljle. But as the
dusk approaches, the quiet, solemn-looking creatures begin to move, jump, swing, and run along the
branches with a wonderful dexterity and rapidity. They i-arely come to the ground, and when they
do so, their gait is clumsy, but up in the trees their motions are graceful and noiseless. They cry out
to each other, and appear to take a delight in disturbing the echoes of the night, and after eating their
fill they become quieter towards dawn, when they retii-e to their hiding-places looking dazed and half-
blinded by the light. Some of the kinds called Imlris, now about to be discril"'!, illuKtrate these
remarks very well ; thus one species is only found in little patches of forest hind. i|uitt' in the extreme
south of the island, where the country is sandy and poor, whilst a second is fountl in the north-east of
the island amongst the luxuriant woodland. Some keep to the districts where the bamboos abound,
much to the disgust of the hunter, for the covert is thick, and the leaves very destructive to clothing.
Probably it is the difficulty in trapping and shooting some kinds, and their night-life, which gives them
a superior intelligence in the eyes of the natives, who hold some which are very man-like, having no
tail, or only just a stump, in great veneration.

GENUS INDEIS.

The distinguished traveller of Madagascar, M. Grandidier, found it very difficult to obtain much
information about these Lemuroids, the name of which is the same as a native expression of sui-prise,
such as " Ijook, there it is ! " He imdertook a very perilous journey by sea and land to the south of the
island, and there he found the favourite woods of some, and also in the south-west. He arrived in a coaster,
in Jime, 1866, off Fort Dauphin in the south-east of the island, and being blo^ra out to sea, gained

» All exception must be made in favour of the " Histoire Pliysiciue, Natiu-elle et PoUtique de Madagascar," of M. Alfred
Grandidier.

218 NATUMAL EISTOSY.

the southernmost cape, St. Marie, off a most inhospitable and arid shore. A long row of sand dunes,
without a trace of vegetation, bounded, in the background, a low coast-line of rocks, wliich extended
far into the shallow sea, being constantly hidden by furious waves. Not a trace of man or of
dwellings could be seen. The sand dunes slope towards the sea at a high angle, and are at least 150
yards high. Their tops are flat, and continue backwards into the country for some distance. They
are composed of broken shells, and are covered here and there by a stunted spiny vegetation. It was
on the slopes of these dunes that Grandidier found portions of the eggs of the extinct colossal bird
.iEpyornis. Beyond the dunes is a vast plain without even small hills, and covered with a scanty
vegetation of groups of deformed trees ; but in the remote distance hills are seen, and then there are
numerous forests.

Some species of Indris live in these stunted forests of deformed trees, in bands of ten or twelve, and
never come to the ground except when pressed by hunger. When seen under such circumstances, they
stand up on theii- hind feet, their tail hanging behind them, and they advance by little hop-like
motions, resembling those of a child that jumps with its feet tied together.

They are nearly white in colour, and are called Sifac by the natives (page 212), and are looked
upon with veneration, for they are not very unlike veiy small men in general shape, especially when they
stand erect. In common with all the Indris, they are slim, tall, long-legged animals, with very strong
feet, with a large and well-formed thumb-like opposable great toe. The head is very fun-y, and the ears,
tufted with hair, are almost, but not quite, hidden, whilst the muzzle, moderate in length, projects
between the staring eyes. They have a longish neck, and the body seems to be compressed at the sides.
All the fur is soft, and stands out, and that of the tail makes it like a Fox's brush, but is more slim
and cylindrical.

But there is a curious arrangement of the fingers, for the index finger of the hand (that is to say,
the first finger, not counting the thumb) is shorter than the fifth, so that then- " fore finger " is a little
finger. The toe-thumb is placed widely from the toes, and rather backwardly, and the toes are united
together by a kind of fold or web of the skin wliich reaches up to the first joint; moreover, the first
toe (not including the toe-thumb) has a curved claw on it. They are not good walkers, any more than
the Apes, although, like them, they assume the erect position, and it is only on very rare occasions, and
when it is necessary to cross a tract of land to get to trees with more fruit upon them, that they attempt
to put the foot to the ground. It is not theii- natural position, and they seem to be quite out of their
element. When they come to the ground they rest on the outer edges of the feet, and soon drop on
their hands, on the corresponding parts of which they support themselves. So walking is performed
with difficulty, and not with gi-ace, and in this they may be compared with the Orangs ; but in the
Indris the arms are always shorter than the legs. In the trees and branches, which are their favoiu'ite
haunts, they climb easily, rapidly, and with gi-ace, running along the boughs, jumping to great distances,
and alighting with unerring certainty, and clinging on -with wonderful tenacity. The structure of the
muscles, bones, and ligaments enables them to lead this active arboreal existence, and so sti'ong is their
power of grasp, that it remains sometimes after death, for it has happened that in shooting them whilst
clinging to the bi-anches they have remained suspended after having been mortally wounded, or dead.

Being dwellers in the foliage of the trees, and amongst the network of branches, twigs, and creepers,
the kinds of Indris have a choice of many kinds of food. Leaves, buds, fruit, insects, eggs, and small
birds are constantly within their reach, but usually they do not hunt or chase prey, and are satisfied
with the best fruit they can find, and other vegetable substances. Nevertheless, they do not despise or
reject a bird as something out of the common way of diet, and they open the skull and suck the brains.
The teeth are not very well suited for stopping and killing living prey, for in the grown-up individuals
there are no lower canines, there being only an upper pair, and thus one of the most important seizing
and killing arrangements is absent. On the other hand there are plenty of crushing teeth, -ndth sharp
points to them, which enable the Indris to champ fruit without much side to side movement of the jaw
being permitted. There are two false, or premolars on each side in both jaws, and three molar
teeth behind them. Besides these there are four front teeth in both jaws. In all there are thirty
teeth, a smaller number than in any of the animals yet considered.

The upper front teeth, or incisors (four in number only), project forwards very slightly, and nearly
bite up and down ; but the four lower front teeth (incisors) project well forwards, and the outer pair of

rECULIARITIES OF THE INLRIS.

them are sometimes called canines, but their office is plainly the same as that of the other front teeth.
The predominance of the crushing teeth (there being twenty of them) over those adapted for tearing
flesh, denotes that these animals should lia\e a vegetable diet, and this requu-es larger digestive organs,
as the food is bulky. So it is foimd that the stomach is single, and then there is a very large cKCuni,
or blind-gut, which ends in a large intestine, which is very long, and twisted on itself, so as to form
two regular folds, one on the other, instead of one, as is commonly observed in the higher animals
already noticed ; in fact, the arrangement is not very unlike that of the sheep, whilst the csecum is
on the same scale as that of that gi-eat vegetarian, the Rabbit. These large parts of the digestive
apparatus are common to most vegetable-eating animals, whilst the flesh-eaters have them short and
small.

But the Indris does not begin life with the prospect of being a vegetarian, for it has a fii'st set of
teeth, or milk teeth, as they are termed, and these ai-e shed to make way for the second, or permanent set.
Now, it is most curious that the young shoi'ld have more teeth than the elders, and that were

this first set to persist through life, it would indicate a very mixed- feeding animal. The little
ones have no less than thirty-four teeth, and they have two lower canines, and two extra lower
false molars more than the adults. As age increases all these first teeth gradually fall out, and
are replaced, to a certain extent, by the second set mentioned above.

Nf(w, what is the meaning of this 1 Why should the young have a larger set than the adults 1
Clearly those of the adult are admirably axlapted for its life, and it is equally evident that those of the
young are of no particular use to them. They are either suckling, or are eating fruits obtained for them,
and do not kill and feed on birds and living things. It Ls found that the milk teeth of Indris
correspond with the adult or permanent set of such an animal as the Ring-tailed Lemur, which belongs
to a different genus. Hence the perfect condition of the teeth of the genus Lemur are the same as the
fii-st arrangement of the teeth in the genus Indris. It tends to prove that there is some genealogical
relationship between the two genera, and that they were derived from a common ancestor. Moreover,
it may be assumed that the milk teeth of all animals are inherited from a perfect and adult ancestral
form which was less highly organised or constituted.

It is said that the female Indris has but one little one at a time, and that they are all gentle and
timid, being rarely kept for any time in captivity. They are noctui-nal in their habits, and evidently
have extremely sensitive vision, and, like the others which lead this life, they are protected from many
jarring falls by the structure of their hands and feet.

THE DIADEM INDRIS.*
This is a fine species, with a white furry niff, or crown, on the forehead and around the face, and
it has a long muzzle and body, and a thick, long tail. It greatly resembles the White ludi-is, called

* Indris diadema.

220 NATURAL HISTOST.

Si/ac, witli the exception of its characteristic head ornament, and leads the same kind of life in
another part of the island of Madagascar. Fine stuffed specimens of it, and of many other Indrisinse,
are in the British Museum, and it will be noticed that they are there called, not Indris, but Propithecus,
which is another name for them. It is a question of the value of a tail in classification, which
produces the two names for one genus. Some zoologists are impressed with the great importance
of the tail, and do not class species together as a genus, although they may have strong resemblances.

^ff^ /i!J^ if""^

8

^^:

^^^HmH^mwiI!

t^^m

W^^P

^

vD ^^ooLL\ IMJKIN (-l/lc Graiii! J t )

unless they all have or have not tails. Others do not consider the possession of a tail to be of
such great importance when the other characters are sufficiently close to render it advisable to form
them into one group. The same question arose in considering the Monkeys, for in the genus
Macacus we admitted Macaques wdth and without tails ; and also in the genus Cynocephalus,
in which there are some with good, others with small, and a few with very stumpy tails, the
same caudal latitude was given. Hence, it is not consistent to form two genera of these creatures,
one with a tail (or Propithecus) and the other without one, or with a stump (or Indris). Indris
contains the Lemuroids, whose other resemblances are so great that they overweigh the tail question.
So little is known about the Diadem Indris that it is only necessary to notice one point in its anatomy,
which refers to its habits. It evidently assumes the semi-erect posture very frequently when climbing,
and a gi-eat part of the weight of the body is felt by the foot, and its great cla.sping toe-thumb. The
examination of the foot proves that it is one, and not a hand, for bone for bone it may be compared

THE DIADEM IXDEIS. 221

with the human foot, and tliat of the Apes. The great toe is wide apart from the others, and in that it
resembles the thumb of a hand ; but all the other bones of the ankle or tarsus are in the same relative
position as they occupy in us. They have the same nances. Theii" foot is very broad, and this is
produced by the extra size of the four front bones of the ankle, and these form an arch, the three inner
ones being more or less wedge-shaped, and the outer, or foiu-th, is more or less of a cube in shape ;
hence they are called the wedge-shaped (cuneiform) and cube-shaped (or cuboid) bones. They are
jointed in front to the long bones (metatarsals), and behind to the three other ankle-bones. All are

BLACK OU SHOKT-TAILED INDIUS. Qloiifiel after G

united more or less solidly by ligaments, and yet there is motion. Now in this Indi-is the wedge-
shaped bones are large, especially the second from the inside, or the middle one, and curiously enough
this is small in most other Lemuroids. The large arch formed by these bones contributes to the
strength of the foot.

The Diadem Indris is found in the foi-ests of the central parts of Madagascar, and apjjears to keep
apart from other kinds and to roam about the dense woods in bands.

THE WOOLLY LEMUR— THE AVAHI.*
This Ls one of the long-tailed Indris, and is remarkable for having long hinder limbs, a long furry
tail, a very short muzzle, and a round head.

It was first described by Sonnerat, in his voyage to the East Indies, who called it the

* Indris lanigcr.

222 NATURAL HISTOST.

Makis a hourre, or the Woolly M;ikis. On the north-east coast, tiie natives call this Indris the
Amponghi, and tliis name is given to it in the gi-eat forest of Tsasifoutt, which is in the island of
St. Mary, adjacent to Madagascar. This is an interesting point, for it aflbrds evidence chat the
island of Madagascar had once a greater geographical extension, and that St. Mary's and the other
small islands along the coast were at a former period continuous with it. These woolly Indris are
not freqiiently caught, or indeed seen at all, for they hide during the daytime, and sleep curled up
amongst the thick shade of the foliage, or in some comfortable nest in the hollow of a tree. At
night-time they wake up, and eat and play amongst the trees on which their food gi-ows. They are
said to be stupid aiaimals, but probably, as they have never had their intelligence tested except when
half asleep, they may be quite as intelligent as the other Lemuroids, and this opinion is strengthened
by the ftict that the brain of the Iiulris laniger is large in proportion to the size of the body ; larger
indeed in proportion than the brain of any of the others. It is this relative size of the great
organ of the nervous sy.stem which has impressed some zoologists wth the propriety of placing this
Indris at the head of all the Lemuroids, and nearest the Monkeys.

The animals are small in size, and a dried skin measures rather more than a foot and a half in
length, from the muzzle to the root of the tail, and this latter appendage is thii-teen inches long. The
head is broad over the eyes, which are wide apart, and the muzzle bai'ely projects, and the whole of the
face is covered with short haii-s of a reddish-bi-own tint. There is a distinct band of whitish fur placed
across the top of the forehead, and which has fur before and behind it of a darker colour than the rest
of the hair of the body. This band is curved, and forms a point which projects forward in the middle
line of the forehead. The fur on the back and flanks of the body is of a dark gi-ey colour close to the
skin, but on its surface the colour is brown more or less i-usty. This is the tint on the extremities, the
grey colour underlying. On the backs of the thighs there are white patches, and at those spots there
is no deep-seated grey tint. The cylindrical tail is reddish-brown, like the hands and feet. The ears
are short and rounded, and are generally hairy, but not tufted, and they are hidden in the fur of the
head. The nostrils are separated by a naiTow septum. The feet are short and broad, and the claw of
the toe is long and cylindrical.

Although the muzzle is so shoi-t, the teeth are set so as to be in a long row on each side, for the front
cutting teeth are not p!c.ced side by side, but in front of each other, and there is a strange gap between
the inner ones in the upper jaw. Then the canine teeth, seen, of course, only in the upper jaw, are very
broad, and the next teeth to them (the first pre-molars) are as large as they are. This is a marked pecu-
liarity, and there is no other creature except man that has these teeth so closely resembling each other.
To complete the notice of this little highly-constructed Indris it is necessary to remark that its wrist-
bones resemble in their number and place those of man and the higher Apes. The Gibbons and all the
other Monkeys have an extra bone to the wrist, called the iutermedium, and tliis is present in the Indris
already noticed, but it is absent in this Avahi, and in the next kind about to be described.

The next species to be noticed was never included in the so-called genus Propithecus, as it has only
a short stump of a tail, but has always been taken as the special illustration of the group Indris.

THE SHORT-TAILED INDKIS.*
Tliis species can be distmguished from all others by its stump-like tail. It has a long muzzle,
visible haii-y ears, and generally speaking the fur is black ; it is marked, however, with white hairs on
the fore-arms, back, and hinder quarters. As regards the teeth, there is some variability in the size of
the upper incisors in different individuals, and the front pair- may be smaller or larger than the hind
pair. The inhabitants of Madagascar call it the Babakoto {haba means "father," and koto, "boy"). This
Indris, which attains the height of three feet, is found in the interior of the east of Madagascar ; and
when Vinson travelled through one of the gi-eat forests in that part of the island, he was constantly
annoyed by the incessant noise made by numerous bands of them, which kept themselves, however, out
of sight, and hidden in the dense foliage. The natives consider the Babakoto sacred, and believe that
the trees on which they live yield leaves which will cure all diseases. Moreover, they tell some

* Iwlrii brevicaudatud.

THE n'EASEL LEMUR. 223

astonishing stories about these objects of their veneration. They say that it is dangerous to cast a spear
at one of them, for, if it misses its mark, tlie animal returns tlie weapon with a surer aim ! They also
assert tiiat after a little one is born, the mother throws it to the father, who is usually up a tree close
by, and he throws it back again ! This exercise is repeated several times j and if the young one is
invariably caught it is reared v/ith care, but if it tumbles, there is an end of it. They train the
Babakoto to catch birds ; and it is said that they become as useful as Dogs ; moreover, it appears
that, although these Indris are in the main fruit-eaters, they will not despise the brains of bii'ds, which
they suck with evident delight.

The skull of an Indris has large orbits, which are open behind into the space in which the temporal
muscle works, and the " tear-canal" is in front of the orbit ; moreover, the forehead, or frontal bone, is
divided. The lower jaw has its angle, or the part between that which holds the teeth and that
which rises up to be jointed with the skull, tm-ned in, and the upper jaw iu front ls joined by
the intermaxillary bones. --

GENUS LEPILEMUR.

An animal which has no upper front teeth is certainly a curiosity, especially when its general state
and habits resemble tliose of the other Indris and Lemuroids, and the Lepilemur is such a one. It is
found in Madagascar, and it is interesting on account of the variable nature of the colour of the fur in
different individuals, as well as from the natui-e of its teeth and its habits. It differs, however, so
much from all the other Lemuroida, that it is placed by itself in a genus, and the distinctions are that
when fully gi-own it has no upper front teeth, although it has them in the first, or milk set, and that it
has also four teats for its young instead of two, as is the case in all the animals hitherto noticed.
The name refers to its prettiness, and hence the genus is called Lepilemur.

This creature, considering its size, has an immense tail, as it is ten inches long, the head and trunk
measuring only fourteen, and the whole animal forms a nice little meal for the natives of the north-
west of the island. They call it Fitili-Ki, and as it eats the buds and leaves of trees it has a good
flavour as a meat ; hence it is sought after, but not hunted, for that is unnecessaiy. Knowing its
habits the natives watch it, and, when it has left off playing and scampering about with its fellows
(for it is very sociable), notice where it retires as daylight appears. There they find their prey quietly
asleep, curled up in a comfortable nest of leaves, and they kill it with a stick. Hunting them would
be useless, for they are quite nocturnal in theii- habits, and then- activity in moving, and agility in
taking prodigious bounds and jumps, are wonderful. Indeed, their body seems to be carefully made as
sti'ong as possible to meet the strains of then- jumping, and there is a ridge of bone iu the bodies of
some of the vertebraj which strengthens the spine as a whole ; moreover, the relation of the length of the
ankle-bones and of the lower leg is that which is best adapted to their heedless rushings from branch to
branch thi-ough the woods. Their nightly excursions for fruit and play are rendered all the more safe
by their gi-eat eyes and widely open orbits, but how the eating the fniit is assisted by the want of the
apjiei" front teeth may probably puzzle most people. Perhaps the diet may require a gieater use
than is usual of the back teeth, and the lower ones are peculiar, for their front pai-t is carried forward
outside the next tooth before them iu tlxe jaw, giving thus much extra strength to the whole. This
Weasel Lemur, or Lepilemur mustelinus, has fan-sized eai-s, and its colours are of all sorts of shades of
red, grey, white, and yellow.

These animals hide their little ones, wliicli do not get about much at first, in nests made in the
holes in trees.

Another Lemuroid excited the attention of the members of one of the political missions, which was
sent from the island of the Mauritius to the capital of the Hovas, in mountainous Central Madsigascar.
This animal was found in some numbers in the bamboo forests, which skirt the hills at their base, and
many were caught in that of Alamazaoitra. It seemed to live in the masses of bamboo leaves, and to
wander about them 1:)y night, sleeping and resting by day in the deepest part of the woods. It is
small, and has a short muzzle and a round head, and a long tail, the prevailing colour being gi'ey, Vitu
red tints here and there on tlie back and head, which are paler below. It is a variable species, and
some individuals are more olive than grey, but all have such peculiar teeth that they can be distin-
guished from all others of the sub-order. They have upper and lower front teeth, but the upper set are

221 NATVliAL HISTORI'.

very small, and are so placed that the caniiie teeth hide the outer ones ; besides this character there are
four teats instead of two.

M. Pollen, a well-known naturalist, says that the natives of the north-west of Madagascar call it
the Bokomboule, and in Europe it has been named the Grey or Broad-nosed Lemur, the genus being
called Hapalemur, and hence its proper name oi Hapalemur grisevs. The word Hapalemur means Gentle
Lemur (from aira\6s, soft, gentle), and this appears to be their character. Hearing of their presence in
the bamboo forests, M. Pollen wished to go there to hunt them, but he was strongly urged not to do so
on account of the fatigue of the sport, and the diflicidties likely to arise from the spines, thorns, and

WEASEL LEMUR. (After ScMegel oiid Pollra.)

sharp leaves, which readily produce wounds. He went, and after being well scratched and cut about,
he returned with some specimens. The Hapalemurs sleep during the whole of the day i-olled up, with the
back curved, and the head between the thighs, the tail being curled over the back ; but they are not so
sleepy that they cannot escape from the hunter who seeks them. Idle enough by day, they exhibit a
wonderful agility and disposition to I'omp and play at night. Their cry is like the grunt of a little Pig,
and the greater part of their nourishment is derived from bamboo- leaves. One, which was kept by
M. Pollen in captivity, ate bananas, but would touch rice only when it was half starved, and it liad the
strange propensity so often observed in some tame Monkeys of biting its tail.

The next gi-oup of the Lemuroids is that wiiioh has given the name to the whole sub-order.

OK BROAD-NOSED LEMIR. (After SMcr/d and PoUfll.)

CHAPTER XV.

THE LEMUROIDA {contwiied).

THE GENERA LEMUR AND CHEIROGALE.

Called by the French il/aiis— Restricted to Madagascar— Their Activity— Different Species— How to distinguish them—
The Ring-Tailed Lemur— Reason for the Name— Tail— Colour of Body— Eye— Haud and Foot— Geographical
Range— Anatomical Peculiarities— Playfulness in Captivity— The White -Fronted Lemur — Specimen in the
Zoological Gardens— The Lemur of Ma votte -AVhere Found— Colour— Manner of Life— The Mongoose Lemdb—
Description of one sent to Buffon— The Ruffed Lemur— Described by EUis— Domesticated Specimens— The Black
Lemur— Geographical Range— Hand— Foot— Genus Cheirogale— Bushy Tails— Resemblance to the Hapalemur—
Nocturnal Habits— Difficult to distinguish— The Forked-Crowned Cheirogale— Wonderful Powers of Leaping
— Cry— Reason for the Name — A Nest-making Variety — Specimens in the Jardin des Plantes— Resemblance to the
Galagos.

The animals which are included in the genus Lemur are popularly called by the French the
Makis. They are restricted, geogi-aphically, to Madagascar, and to some of the adjacent islands, and
are not found elsewhere. Instead of roaming along the boughs and through the woods with a restless
acti\ity during the night, after the manner of the Lemuroida already described, the Makis move, gambol,
and jump with gi-eat agility by daylight. Resting during the hours of the night, they run along
the branches after daylight, searching for their food, which consists principally of fruit and occasionally
birds' eggs, and even of the small birds themselves. They are very active, and as the conformation
of then- limbs adapts them for an arboreal existence, they rarely come to the gi-ound.

Having, without exception^ all the peculiarities of animals which move and prey by day, it is very

or even

226 NATURAL UlfSTORY.

curious that the species of Makis should be elassilied under a genus bearing the name of Leii
But in this instance, as in many others, the oiiginal deri-^-ation of the name has Ijut slight
no reference to the peculiarities of the animals wliich are thus artificially designated by it, and of couvse
great confusion results.

There are many species included in the genus Lemur, and there is gi-eat diificulty in discriminating
between them, for many of them are very variable, and therefore it is probable that it will be
much restricted with the advance of the knowledge of the zoology of Madagascar. All have a long
snout, a small, flat, and long skull, and a long body with narrow flanks. The hind limbs are rather
longer than the front ones, and there is a long furry tail. The feet and hands are short, and the great
toe is broad ; moreover, the ears are moderate in length, and are either tufted or are hairy. In some
kinds the head is surrounded by a ruff of fur, and the colour of the hair difiers according to the species,
and is even different in individuals of the same kind.

Thus, a black Lemur, called Lemur niger, has a female which has white whiskers, and another with
a black-and-white fur, which is called the Euffed Lemur {Lemur vnrius), has a yoimg one which is red, so
that all these different tints having been formerly recognised as belonging to different kinds or specie.'*
are now proved to be natural varieties of fewer species.

The males of many kinds difl'er from the females in colour, and from the young also ; moreover, at
certain times of the year, according to the age of the animal, the fur changes its tints, and a corresponding
alteration is produced by different food, so that the great number of species of Lemur described by
naturalists must be regarded with suspicion.

A careful plan in discriminatmg the species is to divide them after the fashion — but not with the
same intention — of the late Dr. Gray, of the British Museum. He made certain groups, and called
each a genus, but tliis last proceefling was not con-ect. One of his gi-oups is as follows : — For example.
Lemurs with faces without a ruff, the tail ringed, and a bdd spot above the inside of the wrist.* The
fii-st kind about to be described belongs to this set, and is

THE RING -TAILED LEMUR-THE MACACO OF BUFFON-LElirR CATTA-TIIE CAT-LIKE

LEMUR.

All these titles refer to the pretty Cat-like Lemur \vith chinchilla^grey tints, and a banded tail of
black and grey rings, which is commonly to be s^en at the Zoological Gardens. It is so familiar, and
has been so carefully examined, that it is advisalile it should occui)y some space in this description of
its natural histoiy.

The naturalist's name for this creature aptly denotes a Cat-like resemblance — a similitude due,
perhaps, partly to size, certain tints of colouring, a peculiar arching of the back, and the long tail
carried aloft, recalling at once purring Pussy. The tail, a striking feature, is several inches
longer than the head and body taken together; it is clothed with abundance of long, soft,
fluffy hairs, and alternately marked with rings of black and white. The predominant colour of
the body and legs is chinchilla-grey, with a sprinklmg of reddish hairs or rusty wash on the
back; the under parts, however, are pure white. The cosy covering of delicate woolly fur,
shorter than on the tail, stands out, instead of being smooth and sleek. The head is of a
conical shape ; the flattish depressed oval eai-s, by no means pi-ominent, are spai-sely haiiy within,
and are edged with shoi-t white hairs. The muzzle is nearly bald and black ; the eyes are broadly
encircled by the same colour, the remainder of the head and throat being snow-white. The eye, fidl,
conspicuous, and softly expressive, is of a rich orange hue, with a dark pupil, and the eyebrows are
represented by a few long black straggling hairs. There is a moustache and beard, but no vibrissa}
(smellers), as in the Cat-tribe. The hind limb far exceeding the fore-limb in height, mainly causes
the attitude of back-arching when on the gi-ound. The fore foot is a kind of dimiiuitive flat-nailed
hand, with a proportionally short thumb, and it is hairy above, but naked below, and all the fingers
liave expanded cushions on their last joints. The hand is not capable of being closely clenched, and
the thumb reaches only to the middle of the palm. The hind feet are lai'ge, and there is a strong great

* This classiticatioi) is not tl^.^t ailoiiced by comparative anatomists, but rather by zoologists.

NG-TAILED LEMlKiS

THE RIXG-T AILED LEMUR. 227

toe-thv.mb. Moreover, a true claw adorns the next toe, and in manj- other respects there is a certain
agi-eemeut between the foot and hand. Both are bhick-soled, and the beautiful tracery of the pro-
nounced cross lines, furrows, and folds would delight the Iieai't of a gipsy fortime-teller. Tlie
niammse, or teats, ai-e two in number, and are placed near the armpits. Usually the species of Leuuir
have but one, or at most two, little ones at a birth, and the period of gestation is about one hundi'ed
and ten days, the young Lemm- being born almost naked, and neiirly without fui-. Their haiiis ai-e short
and sparsely distributed, except on the head, where they form a kind of belt around the eyes. They
cling on to theii- mother's fur, and, holding on to that over her stomach and abdomen, they lie across
her, so that when she di-aws up her legs she either hides the little one effectually, or it may be seen
hail-less in the folds of the mother's gi'oins. After awhile, and a.s the young Lemur becomes better
clothed and stronger, it leaves this snug and warm retreat, and crawls up on to the mother's back and
shoulders, and seizes her fur, and holds on with such tenacity that she can jump and bound about
without unseating her little burthen.

Lemur catta inliabits a circumscribed region. Its range is along the south and west coasts of
Madagascar. Social, and banding together in troops, they feed on the fruits of the forest, and
occasionally, it is aveiTed, capture insects and small birds. Those kept in confinement, however,
are far less carnivorous than the smaller and livelier nocturnal Galagos to be described hereafter.
They seem remarkably sensible to cold, huddling and crouching close to one another as if heat and com-
fort were indispeusaUe to theii' nature. At such times theii' tails are wound round the bodies of theii-
companions and of themselves in a very odd fashion. Ordinarily very good-natured, they like to be
fontUed, and come down to be fed, uttering either a grunt of satisfaction or a loud plaintive cry, but it
is stated that in Madagascar when the wet season comes on they become much excited, and rush about
quite careless of danger, giiinting tenibly. They do not tease each other like Monkeys, and do not
jump about on theii- hind legs alone, to do mischief of all kinds ; on the contrary, they leap on all-fours
with gi-eat agility and quietude, and in a lighl^hearted sort of way. They use theii- hands in grasj)ing
objects given to them, and feed themselves with them ; but, like the Monkeys, they often scratch with
the hinder extremities, and do not use them to put food to theii' mouths.

On looking into theii- anatomy it will be noticed that the back-bone has none of those graceful
cui-ves so characteristic of man, and which are modified and less perceptible ui Apes. It is made for
going on all-foui-s and jumping, and consists of some twenty-nine pieces, or vertebrae, there being also
twenty-six in the tail. Having good lungs, the chest is capacious, but is long and flattened at the
sides, and there are thirteen ribs on each side, and a central breast- bone, or stermim, composed of
seven pieces.

The skull has large eye-cavities, or orbits, and (as iir IntU-is) they are not closed behind by bone, but
are open there, though the angle of the lower jaw is not turned in or uiflected. The diet of the Eing-
tailed Lemurs being both vegetarian and of insects, or an occasional small bii-d, their teeth are very
e(jually distributed as regards their kinds. There is a good set of front teeth for tearing and incising,
the full number of canines for piercing and killing, and the full number of gi-iuders. The numbers are on
each side of the upper jaw — two incisors, one canine, three false, or pre-molars, and three true molars,
and on each side of the lower jaw is a corresponding number. Thus this arrangement resembles
that of the milk teeth of Indris, but the front teeth of the lower jaw stick out in a remarkable manner.
CoiTesponding with their teeth are the digestive organs, which are more suited for the assimilation of
vegetable food than for a purely carnivorous diet. These measure nearly seven feet in length, and the
blind-gut, or c«cum, is about a foot long. There is one point of great interest in the throat of this
Lemur, especially when the animal is considered as intermediate between some Carnivora and the
American Monkeys. This, the organ of voice, has a small laryngeal pouch, recalling, or rather fore-
shadowing, the gi-eat ones of the Howlers ; and the bone at the base of the tongue (the hyoid) has a
body and projections, which resemble those of the Carnivora rather than those of the Monkeys. In
the wrist there is the ninth bone.

WLen in captivity, the Ring-tailed Lemur soon becomes attached to its keeper, and they show
some powers of memory. A quartermaster of the French frigate Dnpleix, who had one on board, was
1-ecogni.sed by it when fiurrounded by all the crew. This little creature liked to play with the cabin-
boys and the Dogs, and took cliarge of, and protected; a little ]\Ionkey belonging to one of the .sailors.

238 NATURAL HISTORY.

The Monkey was fondled and nursed, and cleaned witli gi-eat attention by its active little friend ; but
corresponding kindness was not sliown to the ship's fowls, whose tails it jiulled unmercifully.

THE WHITE-FRONTED LEMUR.*

This is easily known by its broad band of white fur encii-cling the forehead, cheeks, and ears, and
contrasting with the black muzzle, which is long and compres.sed. It Ls restricted in its geographical
range to Madaga.scar.

Several of these Wliite-fronted Lemui-s have been brought to Europe from time to time, and have
been kept in the Zoological Gardens. Their habits are simple enougli. They often exhibit gi-eat
vivacity, and are much given to leaping from one object to another, in which they are aided by the
pad-like structures of the hands and feet.

THE LEMT'R OF MAYOTTE.f

There Ls a kind of Lemur which lives in the island of Mayotte, one of the Comoi-o grouj) between
Madagascar and the mainland of Africa, and which is not found elsewhere. It is known as the Lemur
MayottensLs, or the Lemur of Mayotte, and Ls remarkable for the strange variation in the colour of its
fur. Probably there are five different colours, which are peculiar to different individuals of this species,
and they have all received different names. These are termed varieties. Bvit of what are they varieties,
and which is the animal whence they have varied \ These questions cannot be answered ; and there-
fore this gi'oup of forms constitutes a species — a species really being a term which includes the sum of
all the possible varieties of an animal. One of the varieties is the Black-fronted Lemur, which inliabits
Madagascar itself, and as there is every probability that at one time the Comoro Islands were joined on
to Madagascar, the existence of apparently different species, but really only varieties, can be explained.

These animals live in companies compo.sed of from .six to twenty, in the vLrgin forests of Mayotte,
and they may be seen in broad daylight or at night. They lead an-arboreal life, but they occasionally
come to the ground after fallen fruit. They are hunted with Dogs, and when closely pressed, they take
refuge in the highest branches, look fixedly at their enemy, growl, and wave their tails. When they
see the hunter they rush off and take prodigious leaps, and go into the very depths of the forest.
Should one be wounded it will defend itself against the Dogs, and will even jump upon them and bite
their ears. They are fond of fruit, and especially of the wild date, and they wander for and near in
numbers seeking their favourite food.

THE MONGOOSE LEMUR, OR WOOLLY MACACO.J
The great natiu-alist Buffon had a Lemur sent to him as a present, which he kept as a jiet for
many years. At first it ran about the house, and was tame and full of f in, roaming here and there,
and settling down before the fire like a common Cat. It was very good-natured, and became a gi-eat
favourite; but with age came ill-temper, and it became cross and vicious; moreover, it was always
making disturbances, so it had to be chained up. Having some ingenuity and perseverance, it managed
to slip its chain now and then, and to escape. It made its way directly into the street, and used to
visit a confectioner's shop; where it veiy quietly and systematically roamed in search of sweets,
devouring all it could lay its hands on. If it could not get sweets it would take fruit, and was quite
heedless regarding the price or the rarity of its desii-ed treats. When it was knomi that it had
escaped, if the shop-people hail not already told Buffon, eveiy one knew where it was to be caught,
and a great trouble the catching was, for it got into corners, showed fight, and bit, and resisted being
touched very decidedly. The cold, however, was its gi-eat enemy, and it always suffered much from it,
and finally died from its effects.

The Mongoose Lemur, as it is often called, has a long head, flat forehead, and large canine teeth.
It is of a reddish-grey colour generally, the crown of the head, the face, and cliin being black ; more-
over, there is a streak of the same colour up the forehead, and across the crown. The cheeks and the
side of the forehead are iron-grey, and this and its black nose distinguish it.

• Lamir albifrona. f Lemur mayottensis. J Lemur mongoz.

THE HUFFED LEMUR.

229

It carries its fine tail well stuck up when it runs about, and jumps on all-fours from place to
place, and grunts with pleasure when fed and noticed.

The last group of the genus Lemur contains kinds which have a ruft' of fur on the cheeks and neck,
and the ears are pencilled at the end, the wrist being moreover hairy. They are common in Madagascar,
and two are worthy of notice — the Rufled Black-and- White Lemur, and the Rufled Black Lemu)'.

THE RUFFED LEML'R.*
Ellis, when joiimeying through one of the Madagascar forests, noticed, one bright, clear, and
bracing morning, a peculiar shouting or hallooing, apparently at no very great distance. It was, he
^vl■ote, "not like any sound I had heard before, but resembled that of men or boys calling to each
other more than anything else. At fii-st I thought it was a number of people cb-iving cattle out of
the forest into the roail. Still I heard no crashing amongst the underwood, and saw no signs of
bullocks. Then I imagined it must be a number of bird-catchers, or squii-rel-catchers. But on

230 NATURAL HISIORT.

iiiquii-ing of my coruji.mions tlicy said tlie noise iiroceeded from the Black-aii l-\vliite Lemurs — Lemur
vuicaco, or Lemur vn.nKs (GeofFroy) — of which there were gi-eat numbers in the forests. I had repeatedly
seen Lemui-s of more than one species in the market at Tamatave, and numbers among the people of
the place. There were two or three of the large ruffed Lemurs in a house near my own dwelling, and
they seemed to be quite domesticated. Though covered with thick, almost woolly, hair, they appeared
to be ill at ease in wet or cold weather, but to luxuriate in the warm sunshine. I often noticed
two or three of them together on a fine morning after rain raised upon their liind legs, on
the outside of th" house, leaning back against the wall with theii- fore legs spread out, evidently
enjoying the warmth of the sun which was shining upon them. They are often kept tame by the
natives for a long time, and numbers are sold to the masters of ships and others visiting the port.

Rl-FfED LEMVU. (Afler Scldegel

We had one on })oard the sliip in which I made my first voyage from Madagascar. It was a fino
animal, and during the twenty-eight days of our passage I had frequent opportunities of observing its
disposition and habits. It was tied to a boat on deck, and in a basket under the fore part of the boat
it found a partial shelter from the rain and wind. It conveyed its food — boiled rice and fruit — to its
mouth by the hand ; and it was gentle and sociable, seemingly gi-ateful for any trifling notice or kindness.
I frequently gave it water, which it lapped like a Dog, and occasionally a banana ; and in a short time
it seemed to watch my movements whenever I came on deck, jumping on my arm or shoulder if T
approached the boat ; but was most delighted when, attaching a long line to the short cord tied round
its body, I loosened it from the boat and allowed it to run up the cords or rigging, which it ascended
v.'ith astonishing eise and speed, sitting sometimes with apparent pleasure on the extremity of the
yard. It was scrupulously clean, and seemed unable to endure any tar or other du-t on its shaggy
coat. One morning, dui-ing a heavy gale of wind, when there was much motion of the ship and gi-e.at
confusion and noisi.' among the sailors, the Lemur seemed unusually excited, and clapped its hands
together, and chattered loud in a most extraordinary' manner, occasioning gi'eat uneasuiess amongst

TBE BLACK LEMUR. 2E1

the CTC'.v of Miilaga.sy sailors, who declined it was an omen of evil to the ship, and that some fearful
calamity might be expected. I liad felt so much interest in the sociable and apparently gentle animal
on board ship, that I should have been glad to have seen some of its species in theii- own forest homes ;
but though nurabei's were evidently near, none of them came within sight."

Tliis Lemur has, as its name implies, a black-and-white fur ; the whit* tint is very general near
the skin, and black is put on in patches, the tail being completely of that colour. It has a long face
and skull, with, a high nose and a narrow space between the eye cavitias.

THE BLACK I.EJirR.*

It is this Lemur which has a mate with wliite -sN-hiskers and a whice patch on the lower part of
the back, whilst its own colour is miiformly black.

It inhabits the north-west of Madagascar, and the Sakalaves call it Acoumba. JI. Pollen noticed
one of the white-whiskered yellowish-red coloured females with a little black young one (a male)
on its shoulders, and when the mother was shot, it fell with her, so tightly had it grasped her wool.
They live in companies, and like the very tops of the tallest trees of the forest for then- home ; they
iire usually seen in the evening, when they make a great deal of noise with their concert of gi-unts and
oiies, and they jump from bough to bough quite as quickly as a bird flies. They have a trick of
falling down suddenly, when pm-sued, into the underwood, and when the hunter s.earches for them they
.^•ill be seen rushing off to a distant ti'ee. When reared in captivity they are docile and aflectionate.
ITiey like to sit on their keeper's shoulder, and will eat nearly everything that is offered to theui.
Frait they prefer, but they will crack a bird's skull and eat the brain. In some districts of Mada-
gascar these Lemurs are not allowed to be killed or to be kept either dead or ali^-e, on account of some
superstitious ideas of the natives.

One of the most remarkable peculiarities of this Lemur is the marked padded nature of the hand.
The i>alm of the hand is longer than the flnger.s, and the thumb is not nuich bigger than the little

232 NATURAL UISTOKY.

or fifth finger. The fourth finger is slightly the longest, and its tip, as well as those of the other
fingers, is furnished with a well-marked pad, which gives a roundness and fulness to the last joint, or
phalanx. The fleshy pads of the palm and fingers are also numerous, and the largest occupies the
position on the palm of the ball of the thumb in man, whilst in frout of this there is a pad space on
the i)alm close below the first joint of the index finger. A smaller pad is placed behind the roots of
the third and fourth fingers, and there is a pad at the root of the fifth digit. Two long pads are
seen behind this last on the outer margin of the palm, which converge towards the gi-eat pad of
the base of the thumb. These six pads of the palm form an ellipsLs around the centre of the hand,
and are of paramount importance in preventing the jar of jumping.

The under part of the foot of the Black Lemur is at first sight very much like a hai'd palm, with a great
thumb, for the great toe is large and thumb-like. The four other toes are finger-like, and are very slightly

larger than the fingers of the hand ; and the sole, although narrow and rather elongate, resembles a
palm somewhat. The second toe is small ; and although it has a small pad beneath its tip, a distinct
and sharp nail in-ojects from the last phalanx. All the other toes have large pads beneath their tips,
and assume more or less of a rounded shape at the ends. The gi'eat toe's pad is large and almost
cu-cular in outline. There is a large pad at the base of the gi'eat toe, which is almost divided into
two by a fun-ow, and each of the remaining toes has a small pad at its junction with the sole, and
there is one along the outer border. All these tactile pads with cushions of fiit on the palm and
sole act admirably as bufiers, and prevent injury to the joints of the bones, as the Lemur terminates
its leap by bringing its extremities in sudden contact with boughs or small trees. Moreover, they
enable the animal to distinguish substances by their very sensitive surface. By being placed at the
base of the fingers and toes on the palm or sole, and by being separate and along the edge of
elliptical spaces, the movement of the fingers and toes still retains their independence. Moreover,
the existence of a central spot between the pads favom-s the movements of the palm and sole, and
assists in the opposable nature of the thumb and first toe. The pads on the under part of the
ends of the fingei-s and toes aj)pear not only to act as cushions, but to enable the Lemur to distin-
guish the nature of the sub.stances with which they come in contact. They are therefore sensitive,
and may be termed extraordinary organs of touch. A circlet of very long haii'S projects and radiates
round the ears of this Lemur, and gives the animal a very peculiar appearance.

THE ClIEIROGALES.

GENUS CHEIR0C4ALE*
There are many very small bushy-tailed and almost Eat or SquiiTel-like Lemuroida in Mada-
gasc'ar, rvhich have a most curious habit. Tn England Hedgehogs, Dormice, and Bats — and in other
countries the Marmot and other animals — hide up on the approach of winter, and go ofl' to sleep for
many a long day until warm weather returns, and food can be, obtained; and this is done also bj
■ uany reptiles, and not a few insects. They take theii- winter's sleep like the Water-rat —

" And when cold winter comes, and the water-plants die,
And his little brooks yield him no further supply,
r)own into his burrow he cozily creeps,
-iVnd quietly thi-ough the long winter-time sleeps.'

And in Madagascar, where the heat is always great, and there is a wet and dry season, food being
always in great abundance, these little bushy-tailed things go off at a certain time into a nest of leaves,
and doze away for weeks, whilst tlieir fellows arc scamiK riii^- around tliciu durini;- tlie moonlight nights,
and imitating them in their ,slr.-(i whilst all nature -lows in tlic ticpical siiu. In temperate climates
where there is a winter, this long sleep is called wintering, or hibei-nating, and in the hot climate it is
called the summer sleep, or restivation.

Why some animals should do this and others not, why some slimdd sleep long in winter, and
others in summer, and why all .should be most regular in their time of taking their- nap, are questions
well worthy of any one's attention, and especially because they cannot be answered. Some of the liiber-
nating animals awake for a little time now and then, and take food, but others get quieter and quieter,
their breathing Leeonies slower and slower, their heart l)eats with dimiuislied force and rapidity, and
their- temperature falls ; lait, on tlir other hand, the irritaljility of tlio niuselcs. especially of those of
the heart, increases ; and in these- — for instance, in many of the Bats — tlie liiln rnation is not a common-
l>lace, long-continued slumber, but a necessary matter, and the awakened sleeper dies.

Let us notice what takes place in the hibernatoi-s. They get into a place out of the light, and
where the temperature is tolerably equable, and after having got nice and fat pi-eviously, they settle
down in different positions, according to their shape, and go to sleej). 'rho\ .ivwi,] too cold jilaces, and
get out of the range of the action of frost. Now taking no food, laeatliing \-er\ slowly, w itli very slow
pulses, and indulging in no .x.-reise, there is very little exliauslion g<Miig on. The <|uantity of fat
stored up by the animal in its l.ody geuei-aily eonsuiurs away, but wry tardily, for tla- oxygen in the
blood is at its lowest el.l,. and the arterial blood resiaubl.s timt of tlj.- dull purple veins. Under
ordinary ch-cutustances, if the whole of the blood is in this condition, the muscles of that side of the
heart which propels the pure blood throughout the frame lose then- ])ower of contraction, and death
ensues. But in their- hibernating condition theii- ii-ritability is increased, and they pump the impure
blood as well as they did the bright scarlet fluid of old. At last the fat is consumed, the animal gets
thin, and by the time the spring comes it is ready for its new life.

Now the little Cheiroyales of Madagascar certainly do pai-t of all these wondei-ful things. They
get fat, and then- tails attain a most dignified size ; then they retire for their summer sleep, grow
thinner and thinner, and finally come forth with such miserable vestiges of tails, so thin and
nriserable-looking. Their time of quietude is during the hot and dry season, and is equivalent to
the English winter, and they fatten up during the months when the warm rain makes everything to
grow in profusion. It must be noticed that although these Cheirogales greatly resemble the Lemurs
already described, they have no special construction which necessitates this sleep.

These Cheu-ogales resemble the Hapalemurs in shape, and may be known by their small size, their
long tail, which is either conical or cylindrical, and by their face, which is scarcely narrower m front
than behind. Having long ankle-bones, the back muscles of the leg have a great leverage over the
foot, which enables the creature to make its easy jumps. Being nocturnal in their habits, they have
very large eyes, and rounded and short, but sharp-sensed, external ears. They ai-e vegetable feeders,
yet most of them are extremely fond of something alive to eat, and, indeed, ai-e gi-eedy enough when

# X=.p (hand), vaXr, (weasel).

iZi NATURAL HISTORY.

they have the opjiortiuiity of catching insects. Having wonderful powers of sight, and of rapid
jumping, they watch for then- prey, and approacli it quietly, and finally descend from some height with
the stealthy swoop of an Owl, catching the Beetle, Spider, or even small bird, and tearing it to pieces
with astonishing celerity. They have a shrill cry at night, which is loud for such small creatures,
but then- usual voice is soft.

Holes in trees are used by the Cheirogales for hiding-places and nests for their young, which d'a
not accompany the mother at fu'st out of their safe retreats.

Natm-alists have had a vast amount of trouble in distinguishing these little Lemuroids one from

{Moiijici after SMegel and PoUm.)

the other, and there has been a vast amount of confusion about their names, but the following are
interesting for many reasons.

THE FORKED-CROWNED CHEIROGALE.*
The "Walouvy," or " Tantarou6-lela " — for such are its Malagasy by-names — is found in abundance
in the forests on the western side of the island, but it equally inhabits the eastei'n parts of Madagascar.
Their choice of a domicUe is oitluiarUy in the hollow of a tree, particularly in one with a double
aperture ; and in their selection they not unfrequently stumble on a cavity already occupied by Bees, but
this does not deter them from having a share in the busy business concern. For the natives pretend that
it has a preference for the society of the Bees, doubtless with an eye to the dainty luscious honey, which
it steals as opportunity ofFei's. They make incredible leaps, so that it is extremely difficult to capture
them. At night then- cries resound in the woods almost continuously, and their noise somewhat
resembles the piwcing tones of the Guinea-fowl, a kind of " Ka-ka^ka-ka " being uttered loudly and
precipitately.

* Cheirogalc furcifer.

THE CUEIROGALES. 235

Tlie name of this species comes from a dark brown streak which passes along the whole length
of the back, and over the head, to fork into two bands — one over each eyebrow. Whatever may be its
liking for honey, it has the means of biting hard fruit, for it has large middle front teeth, and also a
strong first upper false molar. As a whole the teeth number the same as in the fii-st division of the
American IMonkeys.

COQUEREL'S* AND THE DWAEFf CHEIROGALE.

Another of these little Lemuroids, called Coquerel's Cheirogale, is celebrated as a nest maker, for it
gathers dead leaves, and twigs, and grass, and makes a comfortable nest of large size, for it is a foot
and a half in diameter. It goes into it by day, and sleeps soundly whilst the sun is up, but comes out
at dusk to leap, crawl, and swing amongst the trees, looking out for live food quite as much as
for fruit.

M. Milius, who was Governor of the Island of Reunion in 1821, gave a pair of little "Lemuroids,
each being about nine inches in length, with a long tail, to the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. They lived
there for some time, and used to get out of then- cages at night and wander about the rooms and places
where the beasts were confined. At dusk, after having been very quiet all day, they got up and stood
well on their hind legs, and began to jump to and fro like mad creatures, and they kept it up when the
room was quite dark, for they could be heard rushing about amongst a crowd of cages tenanted by
other animals ; but if the least light were admitted they darted through a small hole which led to their
own cage, and were there again in the twinkling of an eye. They had beautiful silky fawn-coloured fur,
and rolled them.selves up m balls during the daytime, for the light seemed to be especially pauiful to
them. In their captivity they were fed on bread, biscuits, and fruit.

One of the Cheii'ogales has a black circle around the eyes, and is called the Spectacled
Cheirogale, and it is interesting because it is the species whose summer sleep has been noticed,
and because it has an extremely important tail. This tail thickens greatly at the root, and, tapers
towards the end, not being cylindrical throughout, and it is the root wliich gets grossly fat, and finally
excessively thin.

The la.st kind to be noticed is sometimes called the Madagascar Rat, or the Dwarf Cheirogale, for
it is onl}- four inches long, with a tail of six inches, and it might be passed by as only interesting for
its small size and Rat-like look, but it has a most resplendent eye. The tapetum, or coloured tinsel-
looking glaring structure situated deeply in the eyes, is so large, and the eye admits so much light at
dusk, that quite an unnatural brilliancy is produced. They are night hunters, and are quiet and good-
tempered when kept in cages.

They make true nests, like those of the crow, which consist of small interlaced twigs, in the midst
of which there is a depression, with a bed of haii-s for the young.

All the Cheirogales come, of course, from Madagascar, and they appear to inhabit the northem
part of the island, and the east and west coasts, but not the south. They complete— with the exception
of the curious Aye-Aye, which will be described at the end of this notice of the Lemuroida — the Mada-
gascar Lemurs, and it is a i)oint of interest to know that they are the only Madagascar Lemuroids which
are pretty closely allied, .so far as construction and shape are concerned, with any of the African kinds,
which will now demand attention. Indeed, they and the Galagos of Africa have much in common, and
are readily distinguished from the Indris and other Lemuroids already noticed. For instance, both
have the long heel, or ankle-bone, the same number of teeth, and both have four teats, or mammse —
two on the breast, and two on the gi-oin. They have no ruffs and no ear-tufts, and their- brain ia
more triangular iu shape than that of any other of the Lemuroida.

* Cheirogale Coquercllii. ■)■ Cheirogale nain.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE LEMUEOIDA {co>idiiaicl)—THE cALAt;.

The Cxalagos-DemidopfV Galac.o axd the MorsE CxALago-The Senegal Galago-The Sennaar &alago-The
MvHOLi Ovlago-Thi i;i \m. .ii; Tin. k tattxo riAiAfiO— Monteiro's Galago— The African Slow LemcrS"\an

Bosman's Potto— Gfm - \v. n.f ~. -i: r., ak :\Ioxkkv Tribe— The AngwAntibo— The Asiatic Slow Lemckoids

-The Slow LoRis— Tin s; imh,: I.^^i- i :rM - lAk^irs- The Spectre Tarsiee.or Tarsius— The Malmag— Genus
CHEIB05IYS— The AyeAu Th, I'li/d. nf till- Niituialists— Opinions regarding it— Specimen Examined by Owen-
Feeding— Teeth— Hands— Classification of tiie Lemuroida— Geographical Distribution.

These Galagos are most interesting, lively creatures, and they have wonderful ears, which :u-e long,
large, and elliptical, and can he fm-led up if the animals become frightened. Moreover, they have a
long heel-bone, and the tail, often bushy, either equals or is longer than the trunk.

TEE GALAGOS.

DEillDOFFS GALAGO AND THE MOUSE GALAGO*

The distinction lietween these kinds is not very definite, but they are inhabitants of the West Coast
of Africa, namely, Senegal, Calabar, and the Gaboon. The Eev. W. C. Thomson's account in a letter to
Mr. INIurray of what he suspects to be really and truly G. Demidoffii and G. murimis i.s well worth quota-
tion. "Young ones of both species were brought to us about this period of the year (July 26). Mr. Robb
has a young specimen of the smaller species just now, and about this time last year I became po.ssessed
of one of the larger. It is a most interesting and amusing pet, not only quite tame, but manifesting
strong attachment. I had it for about six weeks i^i my possession, when, unfortunately, both for myself
and it, it took a false leap into a water-canal and was drowTied. It was a very e})itome of zoology, of
the size and colour of a large Rat ; it had the tail of a Squirrel, the facial outline of the Fox, the mem-
branous ears of the Bat, the eyes and somewhat the manners of the
Owl in its cool odd way of peering at objects, the long slendei
fingers of a lean old man, who habitually eats down his naUs, and
all the miithfulness and agility of a diminutive Monkey. It hated
its cage at night, but delighted to leap upon the bars of the chaiis
ranged purposely round the table for it. It could clear a horizontal
distance of at least six feet at a leap ; and whenever it fell, as
during its short apprenticeship it often did, and from alarming
heights too, it gave expression of its apparent chagiin by a rough
sort of purring. It possessed a curious power of folding its mem
branous ears back upon themselves, and somewhat con-ugating them
at pleasure ; and it apjieared to me that the palms of its hands and
feet were endowed in some degi-ee with the power of suction, such
as the Walrus is said to possess in perfection. I have .seen it
maintain itself in positions where the mere lateral pressure of its

limbs appeared to be inadequate for the purpose. I once applied it "^^"^ °^ maho^li^oal^go, contracted
to the side of a-cylindrical glass shade, of which it could not embrace (Onamoi after Mvne.)

.so much as a third of the cii'cumference, and sure enough it main-
tained its position for some time, gi-aduaUy sliding down until it gave waj-. The palm was ^•ery much
dei)ressed, always clean and glistening, surrounded by five papilliform growths, those near the roots of
the fingei-s serving as points of opposition to them, the fingers never closing beyond the palm. Mi-.
Robb had one of your species {G. murinus) in his possession for a considerable while. It devoured
Grasshoppers, and even the fierce Mantides (leaf insects), greedily, as well as Moths, little as it was; but
I never saw my kind muster courage enough to attack a Grasshopper or Mantis, though nearly twice as
large as Mr. Robb's. No doubt mine would, by-and-by, have become less particular and more daring.
The smaller species was very familiar, and used to run over peojile with perfect freedom. A
fiivoui-ite place of refuge was under his whisker, and between it and his shirt collar." According to
the same correspondent, the little ones breed in captivity, but never grow more than about three or four
inches long in the body ; the larger kind, he says, within a year grow to six or seven inches long, or
equal to a big Rat. Tlieii- voices differ, the larger animal's tone being lugubrious. He further says
that the little creatures (G. nmrinns?) are gregarious or social in their wild state, travelling in small
companies, and inhabiting a common nest, one of which he himself got a glimpse of He saw several
individuals rush out of it as he passed, and it answered in its situation and description to the account
he had received of them, which was, that they were built on suitable forks of trees, with a foundation
■of clay and superstructure of dried leaves.

THE SENEGAL GALAGO. t
This is interesting from being the earliest known species of tiiie Galago, and also as apparently
having the widest range of geogi-aphical distribution. It is but a very little larger than the fuU-gi-own

* Galoffo Demidoffii and Galago murinus. t Galago smegalensis.

XATUliAL BlUTOliY.

species mentioned above, and lias fawn-grey far above, and yellowish-wliite beneatu, with dark-brown
feet and tail, and a white stripe on the face. It is common in the Senegal forests, even to the borders

of the great Sahara Desert. Its habits in
no way differ from the other Galagos', though
it is asserted that when pressed by hunger it
feeds on the gum-arabic, plentiful in the
acacia trees of its native forests. Its eager-
ness in the capture of insect prey is well
attested. It pursues Beetles, Sphinges, and
IMotlis with great ardour, even while they
are on the wing, making prodigious bounds
at them, and often leaping right upwards to
seize them. Should it by chance miss its
object and accidentally fall from the branch
to the gi'ound, it re-ascends with the rapidity
of flight to renew the hunt. In captivity it
freely eats chopped meat, eggs, and milk.
Although good-tempered in confinement, it
nevertheless is vivacious and petulant. At
night it is always on the move, and if the
occasion arises, darts off to the woods with-
out a moment's delay. The Moors say its
flesh is good eating.

The so-called Sennaar Galago* by some
is held to be a different species, but by many-
is only deemed a variety of the preceding.
This animal is plentiful on the wooded banks
of the White Nile, and is spread over the.
forest tracts in Kordofan, and in the same
latitudes to the Blue Nile in Sennaar, bordering
Abyssinia. By the native name, "Camimdi,"
it is also well known in the intexior of the

East African Coast, viz., above Tete near the Zambesi River. If, moreover, the Maholi Galago, as

certain authorities believe, is but a variety of the same, then the Senegal Galago ranges over nearly

three-quarters the length and breadth

of Africa.

THE MAHOLI GALAGO.f

Originally discovered and de-
scribed by the late Sir Andrew
Smith in his "South African Zoo-
logy," this is one of the most charm-
ing and interesting little creatures
imaginable. The general colouring
of the upper parts is a yellowish or
brownish-grey, with slightly darker
brindling on the back, a broad nose-streak, cheeks and throat white, and a tinge of yellow intermixed with
the white of the belly and inside of the limbs. Tlie great tender-looking eyes are of a deep topaz yellow ; the
eai-s, flesh-tint inside and downy-white outside, are very big, and betimes are rajudly folded together like
those of Garnett's Galago, giving the creature great variety of expression. The head is somewhat globular.

TAIL OF GRAND GAL.\GO.

Galiiffo smnaariais.

f Oala'jo mahoH.

THE GliAKD GALAGO.

with a short, higli, almost pointed nose. The delicate woolly fur of th< 1 od\ k Hj^tlu ns xrid daikens on

the tail, most so towai'ds its end. Smith observes that they spring fiom bi im li to branch, and tree

to tree, with extraordinary facility, and always seize with one of theu foi e feet the bi .inch upon which

they intend to rest. In then- manners they manifest considerable resembhnct to Monk( ys, particularly

in their propensity to the practice of ridiculous gi-imaces

and gesticulations. It spends the daytime in the nests

which it forms for itself in the forks of branches, or in

the cavities of decayed trees ; and in these nests the

females also produce and rear their young, of which

there are generally two at a birtli. Sir John Kirk

found it common among the hills of Keb'abassi,

Batoka, and Nyassa, in East Africa. Pie says singly

and in pairs they came about the camp-fires at night,

and in the dim light I'esembled a Bat in movements, by

crossing from side to side, at single leaps, distances of

six feet. A pair- which lived a few years ago m the

Zoological Gardens wei-e a most interestingly tendei

couple. The day s;iw them nestled lovingly m then

little box, and as night wore on they would peep out

and cautiously and by stealth venture into theu moie

spacious cage. Creeping down the branch, whu'

served as a ladder, so noLselessly that not a mo\ erne i

could be heard, they would suddenly spring hith i

and thither, not like ordinary cjuadrupeds, but in <i

manner only to be compared with the leap and dait

of a Tree Frog (Ilyla). Approaching a dish of Meil

worms laid out for them, they would snap them \x\i

with their forepaws so quickly that the eye could not

follow the motion ; this rapidity of action equalled

the Cliamjeleon's tongue, who.se protrusion and with

di-awal baffles the eye, the fly gone being the maui

fact the observer is cogni.sant of They seemed heaitily

to enjoy the Meal-woims, these being dainties in com

parison with their ordinary food, which was sopped (j ii , t m 4)

bread, rice and milk, and fnrit. They were much

more timid creatures than the impudent, rollicking Garnett's Galago,* whose habits were noticed

in the beginning of our description of the Lemuroids. Neither were they by any means as noisy ;

indeed they seldom if ever uttered a sound, and that was only a subdued warning note. As

regards their Monkey-like gestures, hinted at by Smith, this pan- never showed any, their manner being

rather Squirrel-like than otherwise. Occasionally a hasty contraction or curling together of each

capacious eai- simulated the scared gi-imace of a Monkey, but this action was one of surprise or

timidity, and not that of the drollery and mischief of Monkey habit. On the whole, these Maholi

Galagos appear to be animals of lower intelligence than the Monkey tribe.

THE GRAND, OR THICK-TAILED GALAGO.f

This handsome animal comes from both East and West Africa south of the Ei[uator, and is about

as large as a Cat, with a great bushy tail some three or four inches longer than the bodj-. This

appendage it carries aloft very majestically, or swerves it to and fro as a kind of rudder in climbing,

occasionally sweeping it along the back and belly, or curling it around the body after the manner oi

This siiecies, which intervenes between thf
pp. 215, 216).

t Galayo crasiicaudatus (Geokirot).

Maholi and Grand Galago, we have

dy fib"''-''' ■•"<1 described (sea

240 NATUMAL SISTORY.

the Lemurs." Being nocturnal in its habits, tlie eyes, which are large, and with great wide dark pupils
and a brown-red iris, have a glassy, glimmering appearance in daylight, but look like balls of tu-e at
night. The ears are a remai-kable feature : about a tliird sliorter than the head, they stand out
like gi-eat, flattish, elliptical-mouthed trumpets, ever changing position and shape, and catching all
sounds, and they are neai-ly bare within and slightly hairy outside. This animal has fur of a uniformly
dark brown, and this colour mainly distinguishes it from

MOXTETKO'S GAL.\GO.*

This short description of the Thick-tailed Galago in a great many i-espects answers to another,
which merits the title of " Grand," if dimensions a gi-ade larger deserve it. One was obtained at Cuis
Bay, south of Loanda, and was conveyed to England Ln the living state, being supposed to be only a pale
variety of the last-mentioned species. The only visible difference from the latter seems to be that of

LTT-f, VLVOO. SOLE OF FOOT

colour, even this slightly varying. It is of a light chinchilla-grey all over, save the tail and the throat,
which are nearly white. The nose is black and bare, and the feet are deep brown. The entire length
of the animal is twenty-eight inches, whereof the tail is sixteen. The ears are a couple of inches long,
and blackish. Mr. Bartlett remarks that when these ai-e thrown forwards they give the head a re-
semblance to that of the Aye-Aye ; but when they are folded back and down the physiognomy
approaches that of the Douroucouli. Sir John Kirk (who accompanied Dr. Livingstone) says :
*' While the G. maJioli is peculiar to the interior, where its geographical range seems to be great, the
other, or Great-tailed Galago {G. Monteirl), is confined to the maritime region — so far as I know,
never penetrating teyond the band of wood known generally as the mangi-ove forests. By the Por-
tuguese it is named ' Eat of the Cocoa-nut Palm,' that being its favourite haunt by day, nestling
among the fronds ; but if it be disturbed, performing feats of agility, and darting from one palm to
another. It will spring with great rapidity, adhering to any object as if it were a lump of wet clay.

" It has one faOing — otherwise its capture were no easy task. Shovild a pot of palm-wine be left
on the tree, the creature drinks to excess, comes down, and rushes about intoxicated. In captivity
they are wild ; during the day remaining either rolled up in a ball, or perched half asleep, with ears
stowed away like a Beetle's wing under its hard and ornamented case (elytra). I had half a dozen
Squirrels with one in the same cage; these were good friends, the latter creeping under the 'Golgo's'
soft fur and falling asleep. On introducing a few specimens of Slu'ew (Macroscelides tetradactylus),
the ' Golgo ' seized one and bit off its tail, which, however, it did not eat. The food it took was
biscuit, rice, orange, banana, guava, and a little cooked meat. Stupid during the day, it became active
at night, or just after darkness set in.

* Galago Montciri (Baktlett).

MONTEIRO'S GALAGO. '.i*!

" The rapidity and length of its leaps, which were absolutely noiseless, must gi\e great facilities to
its capturing live prey. I never knew it give a loud call, but it would often make a low chattering
noise. It has been observed at the Luabo mouth of the Zambesi, at Quilimane, and at Mozambique.
When I had my live specimen at Zanzibar, the natives there did not seem to recognise it; nevertheless,
it may be abundant on the mainland."

Mr. Monteii-o tells us that the Loanda specimens have not the character of being such a di-unken
lot of creatures, though they are arrant thieves, but otherwise he corroborates Kirk's observations.
He mentions that they come in bands, and rob the fruit-trees of the villages. Their Hesh is looked
upon as good eating, and their skins are eagerly souglit for, the fur being used to staunch wounds.

m

^fy ^^-

POTTO IN ITS SLEEPING AND w.iKiNG ATTITUDES. (Modified from AJiih. MUne-EdKards.)

In allusion to the Galago's inebriety, Dr. Gray relates that a friend of his gave a half-gi'own Scotch
Terrier to a distiller, who soon returned it with the character of "habit and rei)ute." The
animal could not by any correction be prevented from drinking the spirit as it came from the still, or
any spirits it could get, and it would stagger and reel about, verifying the term, " a drunken dog,"
so often applied to divine man.

THE AFRICAN SLOW LEilUES.

The rest of the African Lemuroids have not the habits, appearance, and anatomy of the
Galagos, and are a vei-y sad, weird, slow-going set, totally different from the active, careless kinds
already noticed. A world of care seems to hang around their deliberate movements ; they are images
of Sleepy Hollow ; they never are seen to spring and rush about, but ordinarOy conduct themselves
with gi-eat gra^^ty and decorum. Slow they are, and hence theii- name the Slow Loris, and theii-
body and limbs are not made for rapid locomotion. The limbs are nearly equal La length, theii- head
is globular, and the eyes are uneven. The short ears and short fur are all of a piece, and so is the
short tail (for this is most common), and the short second or index (counting the thumb as one)

242

NATURAL HISTORY.

finger. Tiie back or rib vei-tebrte are fourteen or more, and the loin-bones are never less than seven.
There is a remarkable division of the blood-vessels of the arms, loins, and legs called the rete
mirabile. The vessels split into minute tubes, like hairs in calibre, biit of two sizes, and lie closely
adherent to each other in long parallel lines (see page 245) ; tiiis arrangement, also termed a
plexus, or plexiform, being similar in kind to what is met with in the Sloth tribe of South America.
The Slow Lemurs inhabit both Africa and Asia, but are not found in Madagascar, and their mode of
life is strictly arboreal and nocturnal.

The first African genus is Perodictkus.

VAN BOSMAN'S POTTO.*

As far back as the year 1 705, while on a voyage to the Guinea coast, the Dutch navigator, Van
Bosman, came across a new and strange little quadruped which, on his return, he figured and briefly
described under the name of Potto. The colonists knew it as the Bush- dog, and that it was slothful
and retu-ing, seldom making its appearance except in the night-time, and then- to feed on the cassada
and other vegetables. It is remarkable for its singular hand, which has, as it were, a defoiined fore-
finger, and for a seeming protrusion of the neck-bones.

Like other tropical night-animals, the home or wild habits of the Potto have only been loosely
studied. It is not restricted to the northern parts of Guinea, but is found on "the Gold Coast and at th3
Gaboon River under the Equator. It shows a certain agility at night, clambering up the most smooth
and polished branches with ease. "V\Tien caught, and in captivity, one authority says, it sjjed along
the cornices and angles within the house wherever there was the least elevation from the wall.

Those specimens which have lived in the Regent's Park Gardens from time to time ha,ve fed or>.

Perodictkus potto.

THE POTTO. 243

the same kind of food and exhibited no sjiecial diflerences of habit fi-om the Slow Loris of Asia, pre-
sently to be described, if we except a more intractable disposition; for they have seemed rather addicted
to giving an ugly bite whenever attempted to be handled, however gently. Mr. Bartlett managed tc
get one that showed a more amiable disposition, courting kindly stroking. When first obtained, it
was so young that doubts were entertained of its surviving, especially as it suffered fi-om the cold
weather. To obviate this a small bag of hare-skiii was made, fur inside, and Ma.ster Potto was placed
therem. Furthermore, a bitch having whelps on the premises, one
of the latter was put in with the young African for a while, then
another, and so on in rotation, the animal heat of Potto being duly
sustained. The latter clung to the puppies as it would to its ij
mother, hugging them on the belly so tight that the doggies did not
quite seem to relish their forced companion. This nursing, however,
did well, and Potto was didy reared, and became on the whole
good tempered.

Mr. Skiies records having purchased a female at Cape Coast
on the 31st March, 1869, along with its young one, which had been
born on the 8th Febniary. They slept all day ; the mother usually
perched on a door, with the youngster clasped to her belly, by its
fore and hind extremities. At dusk they came down and wanderei
about the room all night. After a time, young Potto scampere?
hither and thither on his own account. Milk and bread they re-
fused, but would feed on pine-apples and bananas, with water.

Although there were insects about the room, as is the case always hand vnd i ^

in tropical climates, the Pottos were never detected eating them, '''•''" ^"'" ^ ' ^ ^ )

but oi)e day the mother was found busily munching at a tray of pre-
served Beetles. At Accra, circumstances prevented due attention being given them, and there the
young one died aged twenty-two weeks. The mother survived only six weeks. The negroes seemed
to be much afraid of tlie Potto, which they called " Aposo," or " Aposou." It inhabits West Africa
and the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea.

The haii-s on the Potto are longish, soft, and woolly, mouse-coloured at the base, rusty in the
middle, and paler tipped. Hence results a general chestnut tint, with intermixture of grey, the
under suriiice being considerably paler. The limbs are nearly of one length ; the head rounded, with
slightly-hairy shortish eare, and moderately-projecting muzzle. The nose and chin are almost
naketl and flesh-coloured, the former gi-ooved or nicked in the centre. The eyes are lateral and
oblique, very convex, and with an oblong pupil. Tlie index, or first finger, is very short, resembling
a tubercle.

The nature and number of the teeth indicate a mixed diet, as there are four incisors above and
below, and two canines in the upper and lower jaw. Then come three pre-molars and three lower
grinders on each side in both jaws.

GENUS ARCTOCEBUS, OR BEAR MONKEY TRIBE.*
The next genus is very singular. The species has just the trace of a tail, and the index finger is
reduced to a slight projection, or tubercle, on which there is no trace of a nail, and the fingers and toes
about the lower joints are imited by skin. Tlie ear has two cross folds, and there are fifteen doi-sal
back-bones, and seven in the loin region.

THE ANGWANTIBO.+

Our knowledge of this curious African species, which comes from West Africa and Old Calabar,
truly a " three-fingered Jack," is due to the Rev. A. Robb, when missionary at Old Calabar. From liis

" A very surprising term, as it applies to a LemuroiiL T Arctocehus calabarensis.

244 XATVItAL HISTORY.

letter (December, 1859) accompanying the bottled specimen first ti-ansmitteJ to England, we gather
the following history: — "The Calabar people call it Angwdiilibo — amjwdii means a farm, but we do
not know the etymology of the second part of the word, and cannot say whether it arose from any habit
peculiar to the animal. It lives in trees ; but, being nocturnal, the people know exceedingly little
about it. Tliey cannot tell what it eats. A lad whom I asked said that he lived in the house, and it
lived ill the bush, how then could he know anything about it 1 My Krumen also recognised it as a

They consider the one sent as a young one, and say that in their country it
common puss. Probably theirs is a different animal, but I cannot tell. They

countryman of theirs,
grows to the size of s

call it Dwan, and say that it lays down the law to the other beasts, forbidding them to eat the young
fruit when it begins to form on the trees. If tlie Monkey transgresses, the Divdn seizes him, and holds
him there till he dies — yea, the Monkey rots in his grasp. They say they are shot together thus.
If the Monkey gets the shot, the Dwan holds on ; if the Dwdn gets the shot, they fall together. The
Krumen say that the Dwan eats fruit. This is all we know about it at present ; and their (the
Krumen's) account seems somewhat fabulous."

TEE SLUJF 10 JUS.

.l\v.^.

Dr. Alexander Smith describes and compares tlie animal with the Potto. He mentions the fol-
lowing character.s : — Above, yellowish-brown, the roots of the haii-s, dark grey ; below, paler, in some
parts nearly white; hair, wool-like; length from
muzzle to point of taU, lOi inches, the tail being
only a quai-ter of an inch long. The body is
slender; the head oval and rounded, with a blunt
but protuberant face; the eyes, full and large;
ears, naked within, and with short hairs externally ;
nostrils, sinuous, and laterally placed; there is a
projecting fold beneath the tongue, as in other
Lemuroids, and the ueck is sliort. The limbs are
slender, the hinder a trifle lai'ger and stronger than
the others ; both feet and hands conform to those
of the Potto, with, however, a still greater reduc-
tion of the index finger. He observes that the
hands and feet are divided, as it were, into two
opposing portions, which he likens to the grasp of
such climbing-birds as the Parrots. This pecu-
liarity, along with the multiple blood-vessel division
of the extremities, he thinks indicative of long-
enduring muscular actinn, stcnltliy step, and adap-
tation for grippiu- t\\i-s ,,f tries, nither than for
the purpose of capturing a pr'} •

The anatomical peculiarities (.f tlic Aiigwiintibo huxe been lucidly described by Prof. Hiixley in
the '• Proceedings of the Zoolugkal Society," where, from his examination, he substantiates Dr. Gi-ay's
separation of the animal generically from its African mother the Potto.

of \ esselb c How the capilUi y ves&els of two g

Tliere are two
East, and they

— makes for his box. There is e
be taken for wisdom or stupidity,

THE ASIATIC SLOAV LEMUROIDS.— THE SLOW LOEIS.*

well-marked kinds of these Lemuroida to be met with in very large districts in the

e in tlie tropical woods of Eastern and Southern Hindostan, Ceylon, Burmah, Siani,

Cochin China, the Malay Archipelago, and iu the great Islands of

Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. But they do not live together in the

same parts.

The first to be noticed has the widest geogi-apliical range, and
is to be found here and there from Hindostan to China, and from
Burmah to the great islands. Hencr i|uitc a \oluminous history is
attached to this animal, whose singular appearance and habits,
peculiar anatomy, and geographical distribution, have been the
fruitful theme for travellers and naturalists of most European
nations. He is called by many names, and is the Bashful Billy —
"Chii-mumli BUli" — of the Bengalese, or the Slow Lemur, and
naturalists term him the Slow Loris, or Kukang (Xycticcbus fardi-
fjradus). "When he is turned out of his quarters in the daytime, he
reminds one of a very young, awkward, puppy without a tail. But
his eyes, however, are enormous and owl-like, and seem to start
protuberantly forwards with an unmeamng stare.
sl-cfcJi la TkUdl.) retm-n, and the scare ceases, he softly tun

a very slow, measured pace— hand-over-hand, as .sailors term it

1 cool, sedate manner about his whole proceedings which may either

Dui-ing the night, when hungry cravings send liim forth on his

When his wits
his heel, and vnih

* Ni/ctkebus,

246 NATURAL BISTOSY.

own account, his eyes light up, and he seems more alive to his interests, thougli seldom increasing the
activity of his movements. On a table he waddles like a sailor newly ashore, but with a rope or
bough to grasp, by foot or hand, there ensues a grip like a vice, a steady mode of ascent putting him
betimes out of reach of danger.

The eye of the Kukaug, besides its adaptation to nocturnal vision, in the presence of a tapetum,
or silvery lining to the choroid or blood-vessel layer, has also a singular manner of closing. Instead of
the eyelids shutting from above downwards, as in the majority of Mammals, they approach obliquely
outwards and inwards. This mode of closui-e is entirely due to an inequality in the fleshy fibi-es
which surround the eyelid, and, together with the large pupU, somewhat ellijitical in shape, produces
in daylight a very strange, unmeaning look. It has a very odd knack of hanging to boughs, body
downwards, and the way in which it is done, asleep or awake, apparently receives explanation from
the mode in which certain of the flexor muscles are fastened above the knee-joint. Thus, by simple
bending of the leg, the toes are dra^vn (on bending) together, and hold fast without any sensible
muscular exertion. The mechanism, in fact, is similar in kind to that which enables bu-ds to
perch while slumbering, or by which Bats adhere to crevices while suspended head downward.s.
It possesses the peculiar rete mirahile of blood-vessels already noticed.

Many anecdotes respecting the habits of the Nycticebus in confinement have hitherto found
ciu'rency, a similar vein of narrative rumiing through each. One kept by Mr. Baird some nine
months had a preference for veal, fresh -killed fowls' necks, sugar, and gum-arabic, cooked meat being
abhon-ed. Instead of recounting old stories, we append the following observations of Captain Tickell,
not hitherto made public : —

'• Tliis animal is tolerably common in the Tena-sseiim provinces, and in Arracan, but from being
strictly nocturnal in its habits Ls seldom seen. It inliabits the densest forests, and never by choice
leaves the trees. Its movements are slow, but it climbs readily, and grasps with great tenacity. If
placed on the ground, it can proceed, if frightened, in a wavering kind of trot, the limbs bent at right
angles, like a mutilated Spider. It sleeps rolled up in a ball, its head and hands buried between its
thighs, and wakes up at the dusk of evening to commence its nocturnal rambles. The female beai-s
but one young at a time. In confinement they are at first savage, bite severely, and in spite of general
slow movements, can do so pretty quickly, uttering a rough giimt or growl. Tliey, however, get
quiet, if not absolutely docile, in time, and are kept without difficulty, requiring no other diet than
plantains, or any other kind of fruit. They become content to remain in the smallest box, where
another animal would soon pine and perish for want of exercise. When for a time confined they
readily abandon their nocturnal habits, eat during the day, and rest at night. They will thus remain
icontentedly on an old punkah himg in a lumber-room, for many days ; but, imless thoroughly reclaimed,
they will always seize an opportunity d\iiing night to escape, never travelling far, however, and
generally turning up in some thicket or bamboo-clump, or other quiet comer in the gi'ounds. They
greedily devour all sorts of insects, and also birds' eggs."

On one occasion Captain Tickell watched an indi-vidual crawling along the floor to seize a
Cockroach. When it had approached within ten or twelve inches, it di-ew its hind feet gradually
, forwards until almost under its chest ; it then cautiously and slowly raised itself up into a standing
position, balancing itself awkwardly with its uplifted arms, and then, to his astonishment, flung itself,
not upon the insect, which was off " like an aiTow from a Tartar's bow," but on the spot which it had,
half a second before, tenanted (see woodcxit). This is its manner, however, of catching such of its li\-ing
food as will wait long enough. Grubs, CateriDiUars, and the slower Beetles {Scarabcei) are seized in
one or both hands, and slowly carried to its mouth, and there solemnly munched up ; the Nycticebus
looking all the time, with its delicate small muzzle and its protuberant eyes, like one of those apologetic
pigmy Lapdogs ladies love to carry. It is almost wholly silent, but when roused to take food, now and
then it utters a feeble tone, like the crackling of some substance in-the fire. When angiy, and about
to bite, it gives forth a tolerably loud growl or grunt.

The above animal (with one or possibly two species) forms the genus Nycticebus, in which the
body and limbs are short ; there is no tail, and the head is globular, whilst there are no less than
sixteen back-bones with ribs. The index finger is short, and there is a nail on it.

The next genus is called Loris, or Stenops.

rUE GENUS STENOPS.

THE SLENDER LORIS*

Comes from Ceylon. Malabar, and the Coromandel Coast, and the Malays in Ceylon call it
" Sey voingoo," the Cinghalese, " Onaha ppoolowa." The meagre figure and long lank limbs of this
creature give it a droll, half-starved look, its skin-tight robes and silent melancholy lending
oddity, but not gracefulness, to its charms. If seen during the day, and made to walk on a flat surface,
what between its blinking, peeping eyes and awkward gait, a feeling of pity devoid of admiration Ls
apt to arise. But watched at night, when it is clambering among branches, its character changes to
that of a more lithe and nimbler animal, whose great staring eyes and gliding progi-ess most surely

jmli afte\ Emerson. Teini

indicate a nature less apathetic than a more hasty conclusion would warrant. Its imcommonly long
body, devoid of a tail, is rendered more striking on account of limb-length, and the colour is usually
of an unequal sooty-grey, the back mingled with much rusty-tinted or tawny haire. The under parts
are whitish, and there is a light nose-streak. The space round the eyes, which are close together, is
dusky, and on the head is a dark spot, pointing to the inner eyelid. As m. other of the Lemuroid
groups, there is no absolute constancy in depth of tint and markings, lighter and darker varieties
being met with. The roimded ears are conspicuous, though not long and mobile as in the Galagos,
xmd the face has a kind of Dog-like expression. The hair is very singular when the animal is alive :
it resembles soft packed wool, somewhat curled and arranged in little tufts, as the hair on the scalp
of the negro, but very delicate ; it soon loses this appearance after death if much handled, as is
always the case in removing the skin.

The Slender Loris is very common in the lower country of the south and east of Ceylon. Dr.
TempletOD, who had several of them, observ-es " that after a few months' confinement they soon begin to
• LmU, or Stenopa gmcilis.

248 NATURAL HISTORY.

pine and die. One was particularly noticed. If the I'oom was perfectly quiet about dusk, it ventured
about, crawling along the rails of the chairs with a very gentle moiement. There was an interval of
nearly a minute iu the closiiag of its hands on the parts of the furniture which it gi-a.sped in succes-
sion, while moving its head from side to side with much gi-ave delil)eration. But when a Spider or
other insect came within its reach, its clutch at it was quick as lightning, and with equal rapidity
it was conveyed to the mouth. It seemed particularly anxious to avoid having its hinder extremities
touched. When approached, it retiringly slunk along the stick placed slantingly in the corner for
its use, or along the back of the chair, with the usual deliberate movement. Its great goggle eyes
would be fixed immovably on your face or hands if held towards it, and with every expression of fear.
Its mouth appears .small, and so little distensible that one cannot imagine it capable of biting anytliing
except it be of very small size. The natives, nevertheless, assert that it destroys Peacocks in the
jungle, seizing them by the neck, which it clutches with such tenacity that the bird soon fiiUs exhausted
to the ground off its perch, or in its sudden flight, attempting to escape its persecutor. Ha\ing
devoured the brain, the Loris leaves the rest of the body untouched." Among the others in his pos-
session, Terajjleton alludes to a female which gave birth to a young one. " This latter, when u.shered
into the woild, was about two inches long, like a Mouse, perfectly without hairy covering, a huge
head, attenuated body, and excessively slender legs. The face and eyes were proportionally much
smaller than in the older animal. It clung to the inother so tenaciously, that I believe it would
almost have parted witJi its life than let go its hold." This baby Loris, he remarks, was not at all
entitled to the usual ap])ellation, Dog-like.

Sir J. Emerson Tcihh ni snys that the Slender Loris, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal
habits, and consequent iu.i-iinn iluving the day, has acquired the name of the, "Ceylon Sloth."
Acbording to him there lut- i\\\> \arieties in the island; one of the ordinary fulvous brown, and
another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A specimen of the former was sent to him from Chilaw,
on the western coast, and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vegetables. It
was j)artial to Ants and other insects, and always eager for milk or the bone of a Fowl. The natural
.slow motion of its limbs enables the Loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes buds before
they can be alarmed by its presence. During the day one which he kept was usually asleep in the
strange position shown in the woodcut (p. 2-1-7), its perch firmly grasped with its hands, its back curved
into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep between its legs. The singularly large and intense eyes
of the Loris have attracted the attention of the Cinghalese, who capture the creatiire for the purpose of
extracting them as charms and love-jjotions, and this they are said to efiect by holding the little
animal to the fire till its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is theivangu, or "thin-bodied;" and hence
a deformed child or an emaciated pereon has, acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The
light-coloured variety of the Loris in Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the
naniam, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu ; and from this peculiarity it is distinguished as
the JVama-theimyigu.

A curious animal, differing from the foregoing Slow Lemuroids, but Asiatic in its distribution, is
the only species of the geuus Tarsius.

GENUS TARSIUS.— THE SPECTRE TARSIER, OR TARSIUS.
THE MALMAG.*

This is a small, active creature, which appears to excite great terror in the minds of the
natives of the East Indian Archipelago, from its cui-ious-shaped face, and sudden appearance at
dusk. So impressed are the inhabitants of some portions of Java with its malevolent influence,
that if they see one of them on a tree near their rice-grounds, they will leave them uncultivated.

About the size of a small, common Squirrel, this tiny cause of fright has a round head, like
that of a MaiTOOset, a pointed muzzle, large ears, and staring eyes. Its gi-inning mouth gives a queer
and comical look to the face. Its body is about six inches in length. The limbs are long, espe-
cially tlie hind pair, and the tail — about nine inches long — is slender, and furnished with a brush
ot long hair at the end. The colour of the body is fawn-brown as a rule, and the bare parts

* Tarsius spectrum (GEorFROY).

TEE TARSIUS. 249

are of a flesh tint, and the forehead, face, and nose are reddish, and there is a bhxck eye-streak.
The name is derived from the fact of the " tarsus," or ankle-bones, being remarkably developed,
the heel-bones being very long. There is but one kind as yet known, and it can be distin-
guished from all the other Lemuroids by the peculiarity of its front teeth. There are four
upper ones and only two lower, and the inner paii- of the upper jaw are much larger than the outer.
There are four canine teeth ; and there are twelve molar teeth in each jaw, six being false molars.
These teeth are very crowded, and there is scarcely any space between them. The ends of the
fingers and toes are well supplied with patls, which assist the animal in its jumping and clinging,

and the second and third toes have short, sharp, and pointed claws, which stand nearly erect. The
nails of the hands are scale-like and triangidar, and this is the case with those of the gi-eat and
outer toes.

The cavity for the eye, or orbit, is unlike that of niiy otlier of the Lemuroida, for it is
closed behind, and does not open there on to the temple : this Ik, therefore, very characteHstic.
But the globular-shaped head, although remarkable, is not quite so distinctive. Tlie most
striking anatomical featm-e, and indeed that which is observable in the outside shape, is the dis-
proportionate length of the heel-bones and foot to the lower leg and thigh. It has a very small
side-bone to the leg (fbvla), and it does not reach to the ankle. Oddly enough, the thii-d finger
of the hand is the longest, and the second and fourth are nearly equal, presenting a difference
with regard to the other Lemuroida. So that this small, active creature, with a Monkey-like
appearance, has more resemblance to the Insectivora, and differe veiy considerably from the rest

250 NATUIiAL HISTORY.

•of the gi-oup witli which it Ls classified. The Spectre Tarsier, which inhabits the Oriental Archipelago
and the Philippine Islands, has not been brought alive to England, but the late well-known natu-
ralist, Mr. Cuming, gave the following description of its habits and peculiarities : —

" The Malmag is a small animal living under the roots of trees, particularly the large bamboo of
these islands. Its principal food is Lizards, which it prefers to all other. When extremely hungry I
have known it to eat Shrimps and Cockroaches, and give a great preference to those which are alive.
It is very cleanly in its habits ; never touches any kind of food that has been partly consumed, and
never drinks a second time from the same water. It seldom makes any kind of noise, and when it
do3.3 emit sound, it is a sharp, shrill call, and only once. On approaching it in its cage it fi^es its
large full eyes upon the pai-ty for a length of time, never moving a muscle ; on di'a-vving nearer or
putting anything near it, it draws up the muscles of the face similar to a Monkey, and shows its
beautiful, sharp, regular-set teeth. It laps water like a Cat, but very slowly, and eats much for so
small an animal. It springs nearly two feet at a time. It sleeps much by day, is easily tamed, and
becomes quite familiar, licking the hands and face, and creeping about your pei-son, and is fond of
being caressed. It has an avereion to the light, always retiring to the darkest place. It sits upon its
posterioi-s when it feeds, holding its food by its fore-paws ; when not hungiy it will ogle the food for a
■considerable time. A male and female are generally seen together ; the natives of these islands make
■sure of taking the second having secured the first. They are extremely scarce in the island of
I3ohol, and found only in the woods of Jagiia and the island of Mindanao. It produces one at a
time. I had the good fortune to procure a female without knowing her to be with young. One
morning I was agreeably surprised to find she had brought forth. The young one appeared to be rather
-weak, but a perfect resemblance to its parent ; the eyes were open and covered with hair. It soon
■gathered strength, and was constantly sucking betwixt its parent's legs, and so well covered by its
mother that I seldom could see anything of it but its tail. On the second day it began to creep about
the cage with apparent strength, and even climb up to the top by the rods of which the cage was
composed. Upon persons wishing to see the young one when covered over by the mother, we had to
disturb her.^ipon which the dam would take the young one in its mouth, in the same manner as a Cat,
iind can-y it about for some time. Several times I saw her, when not dLstuibed, trying to get out of
-the cage, with the young one in her mouth as before. It continued to live and increa.se in size for three
weeks, when, unfortunatelj', some one trod upon the tail of the old one which was protruded through
the cage, a circumstance which caused her death in a few days. The young one died a few hoiu's after,
and I put it in spirits."

GENUS CHEIROMYS.
Another Madagascar Lemuroid remains to be noticed, and it ought to have been described with
•those of that gi-eat island ; but the creature is so unlike all the others, and is so manifestly inferior in
its Lemuroid character, and peculiar in its construction and habits, that it is necessary to place it at
the end of all. Its position in the scale of classification is at the end of the Lemuroida, for although it
3ias many of theii- anatomical characters, it resembles the Rodents, or Gnawers, in others. It is called

THE Al'E-AYE.*

This is one of the most remarkable animals in the world, both on account of its peculiar Squirrel
shape and Lemur-like construction, as well as on account of its habits. The animal was first kept and de-
scribed by the traveller Sonnerat, who obtained a male and female from the west coast of Madagascar.
He kept them on board ship and fed them on boiled rice for two months, when they died, and he used
to remark that they used a finger of each hand to eat with, after the fashion of the Chinese, who use
x;hopsticks. Having shown them to some of the natives of the east coast of the island, they were
sm-prised, and denied that these curious-looking creatures belonged to their part of the country ;
•moreover, they ejaculated " Aye-aye " on seeing them, and thus gave the familiar name to the breed.
it is now Icno-sm that the so-called Aye-Aye chiefly inhabits the forests of bamboos, which are

* ChciromifS Mada'jascurknsis.

TBE AYE-A\2. 251

numerous in the interior of tlie i-slaiul. They are rare animals, and live a solitary life, or are found
in pairs, but they never associate in bauds of several individuals. They are essentially nocturnal in
their habits, for they sleep all the day long in the thick bunches of leaves of the bamboos in the most
impenetrable part of the forests, aud they are therefore rarely seen, and are onlj' met with quite by
accident. The Aye- Aye feeds on the pith of the bamboos, and on sugar-canes, but it also loves
Beetles aud theii- gi-ubs as a change of food. During the dark nights it awakens the echoes of the
fore.st with a kind of plaintive grunting, and jumps from bough to bough, and clambers up the trees

-with gi-eat agility and vivacity, examining the bark of old trees most carefully in crdgr to find its
favourite insect-food.

As daylight approaches, the Aye-Aye ceases its lively play and forest-roaming, and moves into the
sombre shades of the densest foliage ; there it avoids tlie light and the rays of the sun, and placing its
Jiead between the fore-feet, and encii'cling itself with its bushy tail, the now half torjiid creature sleeps
on iintil the evening.

Tlie Aye-Aye is about three feet in length, including the long tail, and there is a half Fox, half
Lemur look about it, with a little of the Squirrel. The hind feet at first sight are like those of a
Monkey, as are also the lim.bs ; but the hands are not in keejiing with the rest, for the fingers are of all
kinds of lengths, and the middle one looks as if it were atrophied and wasted. A little care, however,
j)roves th.at tlie ears, so widely open and spoon-shaped, and nearly naked, are larger tlian those of

252 XATVUAL HISTORY.

these animals, that the head is really broader than theirs, and tliat the furthest end of the muzzle sur-
mounts a perfect lip which hides four great front teeth, two above and two below. The taU is a very
prominent object, and is longer than the body ; it is straight, very bushy, flexible, and is covered with
long coarse hairs, being thicker at the end than at the root. All the rest of the body, except the ears,
nose, and the palms of the feet and hands, which are naked, is covered with a fur that is dense and furry
imderneath, and long and haii-y at the ends ; and it is these long hairs which give the genei-al tint to
the animal. The prevailing tint is a deep fuscous approaching to black ; there is a little dark-red
underneath, and yellow-grey on the throat nearest the head. Everywhere the dark colour is relieved
• by long scattered white hairs, which are very conspicuous on the back. On the back and tail the hair
attains the length of from three to four inches. It has widely-open staring eyes, and whUst it is lively
enough in the dark, it looks dazed and stupid in daylight. As if to render the animal more curious
than ever, the teats, or mammaj for suckling the young, are not on the breast, but in the lower part of
the body, and close to the gi-oins, there being one on each side.

The Aye-Aye, so strangely constructed, has been a great (wzzle to naturalists, and there have
been many keen debates about its natural history. It is a hundred years since Sonnerat stated
that, although the Aye- Aye much resembles a Squirrel, " yet it differs therefrom by some essential
characters, being also allied to the Lemur and the Monkey ; " and in describing the fore-foot, he
specifies the long slender joints of the skeleton-looking middle finger, which the animal, he says, " makes
use of to draw out of holes in trees the worms which foi m its food." Buffon saw the skin of one of these
specimens obtained by Sonnerat, and concluded that it is more closely allied to the genus of Squirrels
than to any other, and that it also has more relation to a kind of Jerboa. After describing
the hind feet, Buffon remarks that the opposite character of the thumb with the flattened nail
separates the Aye-Aye widely from the Squirrel, and that of all animals that have a flat great
toe-thumb nail, the Tarsier, a kind of Jerboa, is that which most resembles it. He ranked the
Aye-Aye with the Eodents, or Gnawers. Nevertheless, Cuvier considered it to be one of the
Squirrels, and by no means ignoring the opposite hind thumb, he still believed it to be an unusual or
anomalous kind, but he was greatly led by the belief that the animal gnawed wood invariably for the
sake of its only food, the worms and grubs. About the same time a German (Schreber), by examining
the limbs, decided that the Aye-Aye was a Lemur, and he called it Lemur psilodaetylus, or the
" bare-fingered " Lemur ; and after a while Cuvier obtained the skull and part of the limb-bones from
Sonnerat's specimen, and examined the tir.st especially. Then the great front teeth of the Aye-Aye,
and the space behind them, influenced the great anatomist, who saw that it had the teeth of Gnawers
(Rodents), and skull like that of the Quadrumana, so he placed it in the list of doubtful animals.
After his time, most anatomists considered the animal to be clearly allied to the Squii-rels, and
placed it amongst the Eodentia. But in 1859 Owen, from whose works the above notices of the
progress of opinion on this subject have been taken, received an important letter from Di-. Sandwith^
C. B., and a specimen of the Aye- Aye. The following letter explains the habits, and Owen subsequently
described the anatomy of the animal, and j)laced it in its present position in the classification.

Dr. Sandwith wrote : — " After very great difficulty and much delay I have at length obtained a.
fine healthy male, a real Aye-Aye, and he is enjoying himself in a large cage which I had constructed
for him. And now I have some questions to ask you. Do you want him dead or alive ? It will, of
course, be much easier to send his dead body home, if that will do ; and if so, how am I to preserve
him % If you want him alive you must tell me so without delay, as I tliink it would be dangerous to
send liim home in the cold season. I observe he is sensitive of cold, and likes to cover himself up in a
piece of flannel, although the thermometer is now often 90'' in the shade. He is a very interesting
little animal, and from close observation I have learned his habits very correctly. On receiving him
from Madagascar, I was told that he ate bananas, so of course I fed him on them, but tried him with
other frait. I found he liked dates, which was a grand discovery, supposing he be sent alive to
England. Still I thought that those strong Rodent teeth, as large as those of a young Beaver, must
have been intended for some other purpose than that of trying to eat his way out of a cage — the only
use he seemed to make of them besides masticating soft fruits. Moreover, he had other peculiarities,
e.g., singidarly large naked ears, directed forward as if for offensive rather than defensive pui-poses ;
then again the second finger of the hands is unlike anything but a monster supernumeraiy member, it

THE AYE-AYE.

being slender and long, half the thickness of tlie other fingers, and resembling a piece of bent wire.
Excepting the head and this tiuger, he closely resembles a Lemur. Now, as he attacked every night

FOREST SCENE IN MADAGASCAR.

the woodwork of his cage, which I was gradually lining witli tin, I bethought myself of tying soni - ,
sticks over the woodwork, so that he might gnaw these instead. I had previously p^it in some large
branches for him to climb upon ; but the other.s were straight sticks to come over the woodwork of his
cage, which alone he attacked. It so happened that the thick sticks I now put into his cage were bore J

254 NATURAL HISTORY.

va. all directions liy a large ami destructive grub called heretbe Montorek. Just at sunset the Aye-Ayo
crept fi-om under his blanket, yawned, stretched, and betook himself to his tree, where his movements-
were lively and graceful, though by no meau,s as quick as those of a Squii'rel. Presently he came to one
of the worm-eaten branches, wliich he began to examine most attsntiveiy ; and bending forward his
ears and applying his nose close to the bark, he rapidly tapjjed the surflice with the curious second digit,
as a Woodpecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time to time inserting the end of the
slender finger into the wonn-holes as a sui'geon would a probe. At length he came to a part of the
branch which evidently gave out an interesting sound, for he began to tear it with his strong teeth.
He rapidly stripped oft" the bark, cut into the wood, and exposed the nest of a grub, which he daintily
picked out of its bed with the slender tapping finger, and conveyed the luscious moi-sel to his mouth.
I watched these proceedings with intense interest, and was much stnick with the marvellous adaptation
of the creature to its habits, shown by his acute hearing, which enables him aptly to distinguish the
different tones emitted from the wood by this gentle tapping, his evidently acute sense of smell aiding
him in his search ; his secure footsteps on the slender branches to which he fii-mly clings by his Quad-
iiimanous members ; his strong Rodent teeth enabling him to tear through the wood ; and, lastly, by
the curious slender finger, unlike that of any other animal, and which he used alternately as a.
pleximeter, a probe, and a scoop. But I was yet to learn another peculiarity. I gave him water to
drink in a saucer, on which he stretched out a hand, dipped a finger into it, and drew it obliquely
through his open mouth ; and this he rejjeated so rapidly that the water seemed to flow into his mouth.
After a while he lapped like a Cat ; but his first mode of drinking appeared to me to be his way of
reaching water in the deep clefts of trees. I am told that the Aye-Aye is an object of veneration at
Madagascar, and that if any native touches one he is sui-e to die within the year ; hence the difficulty
of obtaining a specimen. I overcame this difiiculty by a reward of ten pounds."

Further information on the same subject was obtained by M. Vinson, who states that his Aye-Aye
slept the greater part of the day, and moved about and made attempts to escape at night time.
Having once succeeded, it climbed to the nearest tree, and moved about, leaping from branch to branch
with the agility of the Ring-tailed Lemur ; but its ordinaiy life in captivity suggested the idea of its
being an indolent and rather slow-moving animal. The tail is carried in a curve, with the hollow of
the bend downwards, so that it is slightly arched, and its chief ofiice seems to be to add to the warmth
of the already warm fur when the animal is in repose. In assuming the attitude of re.st, the Aye-
Aye jilaces its head between its hands, and bends the tail over it by curving it forwards and letting it
fall. Then it rolls itself into a ball, and covers the whole surface with the bushy hairs of this useful
ajipendage, which is longer than the whole body and head together.

With regard to the Aye-Aye mentioned by Dr. Sandwith, Owen advised that, if it could not be
sent safely to England, it had better be killed by chloroform, and sent over in spii-it. Before this
advice arrived the animal managed to escape from its confinement, and made for the sugar-caneis
in a neighbouring plantation, and there the unlucky Aye-Aye was speedily captured. He was
martyred for the sake of science, and its description by Owen will last as long as literature, and its;
slvin and bones as long as the British Museum exists. Some other observers had interested themselve.?
about the animal in the interval, and in 18-5.5 M. Lienard is said by Owen to have observed the habits
of a young male. This one liked mango nuts, and invariably made a hole in the rind with his strong
front teeth, inserted therein his slender middle digit, and then lowering his mouth to the hole, put
into it the pulp which the finger had scooped out of the fruit. Wlien one hand was tired it used
the other, and often changed them. On presenting him with a piece of sugar-cane, he held it by both
hands, and tearing it open with his teeth, sucked out thejiuce. M. Vinson had one for two months,
which was brought from Madagascar to the He de la Reunion, and he stated that it selected the grubs
it liked best by the sense of smell, and that when cofe an lait or eaii. maree was ofiered, it drank by
pa-ssing its long slender finger frem the vessel to the mouth with incredible rapidity.

The Aye-Aye, according to the discovery of M. Soumagne, honorary consul of France in
Madagascar, constructs true nests in trees, which resemble enormous ball-shaped " birds'-nests." He
found them in the belt of forest which is situated half-way up a great mountain close to the town of
Tamatave. They are composed of the rolled-up leaves of the so-called " Traveller's Tree," and are
lined ^vith small twigs and dry leaves. The opening of the nest is narrow, and is placed on one side.

TES AYE. AYE. 255

auil it is lodged in tlie fork of the brandies of a largo tree. In this the Aye-Aye resembles the
lower Lemuroids, aud not th3 genera Loris and Tarsias.

The specimen of the Aj'e-Aye examined by Owen is three feet in length, the included tail
measuring one foot eight inches and a half, and the fourth fingers of the hand and the fourth toes
are the longest. The forefinger is shorter than the fifth, or little finger, and the second toe, counting-
the toethumb as the firet, is shorter than the little toe.

The Aye- Aye is achnirably adapted for its jieculiar life, although part of its construction is very
unlike that of the other Lemuroids, whose habits are much the same. Having nocturnal habits, the eyes
are especially formed for the purpose of admitting all the light possible. They are large, prominent,
and none of the " white " or conjunctiva is seen, only the cornea and the light brown or hazel-coloiu-ed
iris behind it (commonly called the " sight ") being visible. It is a very staring, open eye, and the pupil
i.s capable of being widely opened in the dark, aud in fact it dilates generally as the light wanes, so as
to admit every possible I'ay. In daylight, on the contrary, it contracts to a pin's point in size, so as to
shut out the light which would dazzle the eye and probably produce injury to it. There is a tapetuni
(see page 214) which assists in nocturnal vision. Nature has protected the eye not only with lids, for
there are traces of eyelashes on the upper one but not on the lower, under which, however, there are
some bristles. There is a kind of eyebrow in the form of tufts of a dozen very slender bristle-like
haii-s, and to complete the an-angement for protecting the eye against direct injury, and for letting the
animal know when things are near enough to injure its organ of sight, there is what is called a
nictitating fold in each eye. This is a layer of the white of the eye, or conjunctiva, situated close
to the inner side near the nose, and which extends when requii-ed over the " sight " as a cover and
protection. In atldition to the nocturnal sight, the Aye-Aye has evidently extremely delicate
hearing, the ears being large, spoon-shaped, aud open, and their sense is very acute. For, either by-
hearing or by theii- vei-y fine sense of smell, it detects grubs in the wood, and soon has them out,
thanks to its teeth and claws.

The feet are long, and are made for grasping and for supporting the Aye-Aye on boughs whilst
it uses its hands and teeth. They are very strong, and have a very long ankle, and claws to aU the
toes, except to the gi-eat thumb-like toe, which is very powerful, and has a flat nail. But it is in the
hands and teeth that the singularity of the animal is made manifest, which makes it so little like
the Lemuroida as a group. The hand is unique, but the front of the skull and the front teeth resemble
those of the gnawing animaJs, and hence the name Cheu-omys, which means hand-rat. Something has
been said already regarding the food of the animal, and as its nature has to do with the hands and
teeth, it is advisable to quote the able Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, Mr. Bartlett : —

"In feeding," writes Mr. Bartlett, "the left hand only is used, but the examination of the
mode of taking her food requii-es careful attention, owing to the vei-y rapid movement of the
hand. The fourth finger, which Ls the largest and longest, is thru.st forward into the food; the
slender thii-d finger is raised upwards and backwards above the rest, while the fir-st finger (or thumb^
is lowered so as to be seen below and behind the chin. In this position the hand is drawn backwards
and forwards rapidly, the iimer side of the fourth finger passing between the lips, the head of the
animal being held sideways, thus depositing the food in the mouth at each movement. The tongue,
jaws, and lips are kept in full motion all the time. Sometimes the animal will advance towards the
dish and lap like a Cat, but this is unusual. The skeleton-like third finger is used with great address
in cleansing her face and picking the corners of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and other parts of the
body, and during these operations the other fingers are closed." From all' that has hitherto been
observed, the Aye-Aye evidently eats both insects and vegetable food, so that in captivity it will
reject meat food more or less. In its natural state it will prefer the grubs of some trees to tliose
which frequent others, and it searches along the boughs for some evidence of their presence, and, with
teeth and slim fingers, opens their galleries and brings them to light.

The teeth are certainly remarkable. There are two sets, the milk teeth and the adult teetii.
In the first, or milk teeth, there are two front teeth, one canine tooth, and a molar or grinder on each
side of the upper jaw. In the lower jaw there is but one front tooth, no canine, and one
molar on each side. A further peculiarity consists in the falling out of the molars, one incisor, and
the canine in the upper jaw, to be replaced by the following adult dentition, or second set. This

256

NATURAL BISTORT.

consists of one incisor, no amine, one pre-molar, and three molars on both sides of the upper jaw;
while below, the canine and pre-molar ars entirely absent, the incisor and molar being like those of
the upper jaw ; it has thus eighteen teeth altogether. There are two front teeth in the upper
and two in the lower jaw only, but they are very large, long, and narrow, being shaped like those
of a Rabbit or Rat. Their tips wear away and expose a shai-p cutting surface of thick enamel in front,
and they are splendid cutting cliisels. They gnaw and cut away wood, strip off bark, and make
deep holes in the branches, and theii- length permits them to be i)laced in hollows in the wood so as to
prise them open by acting as levers. It appears that they are made to gi-ow from their sockets as they
are woni down by frequent use. They are by themselves, and there is a great gap (diastema) or distance
in the gxims between them and the next teeth. This is quite after the fashion of the gnawing
animals. The back teeth crush and champ fruit, vegetable substances, and insects with ease.
There is a curious point about the dim, for there is no bony union there between the two sides of the
lower jaw ; on the contrary, the union is by a more or less elastic tissue, which permits of some move-
ment up and down and from side to side during the action of the great front teeth.*

The hand is most peculiar, for certain of the fingers are so thin and long that they appear as if
improperly nourished. They have the usual number of
joints, and the last joints have strong curved claws.
They have not the same relation of length and size as
in any of the other Lemuroids, for the fourth finger is the
longest instead of the third, and the third finger is so
much more sUm than the others, that Owen remarks that
it seems as if it were paralysed. The hair is carried
down the arms to the fingers, and adds to their spideiy
look. In the wrist there are the usual nine bones, the
intermedium being there in addition to the eight recog-
nisable in the higher Apes ; and the two bones of the
fore-arm greatly resemble those of the Monkeys in
general.

The wrist and fore-arms are very movable, and the
fingers also ; but the thumbs, small as they are, and
clawed, have but little of the thumb-like motion, and
are but very slightly opposable to the forefinger, which,
moreover, is rather shorter than the " little " or fifth
finger.

On the whole the Aye-Aye presents .some re-
semblance to the Lemuroids, and less to any other
animal. Its large open eare, the eyes looking .straight forward, the nostrils placed at the end of the
snout, the want of any groove on the upjier lip, the nature of the fur, so furry below and hairj above
on the skin, are interesting to those who care to compare this animal with the Lemuroids and
Rodents, or gnawing animals ; so are the perfect condition of the orbits, or eye cavities, in front and
their opening through behind, and the arrangement of the back-bones and limbs to those who would
compare it with the Monkeys.

The skeleton resembles that of these last, and there are so many points of difference from the
Rodents — although the skull at first sight looks like that of a Rat — that this very exceptional creature
with the Lemuroida fi-om its partial resemblance to them and the Monkeys.

THE CL.VSSIFICATION OF THE LEMUROIDA.
Now tliat the Madagascar, African, and Asiatic Lemuroids have been noticed, and their promi-
nent peculiarities described, it is easy to airange them in the proper clas.sification. Firstly, the

* The formula of the milk set is— i. -J, c. f,, M. J, = :
»i. 1^ = 18. Professor Peters of Berlin moreover states his
Aye, rudimentary teeth yielding a milk dentition— I. |-, c.

That of the permanent set is— I. f, c. %, P. M. §,
iig found in a very early stage of development in the Aye-
[. 4 = 18.

THE CLASSIFICATIOX OF LEMUROIDA.

position of tlie whole sub-order is next to tlie Hapale Monkeys of South America in the order of
Pi-imates. Then, if the figures
or stuffed specimens of an
A}-e-Aye, a Tarsius, and a
Slo^\' Loris be compared, there
is no difficulty in distinguish-
ing them, for they differ much.
But if a Lepilemur and a
Galago are compared, it will
be noticed that although they
differ enough to be placed in
two genera, still the distinc-
tion is not great. So it is
advisable to group them to-
gether in a family ; but the
three others must belong each

(o a separate family. The scheme of Professor Mivart,
auimaLs, and which we adopt, is as follows : —

D FRONT VIE-n)

I'hc has paid much attention to

SlB-OKDEU LeMUROIDA .IXD THEIR GEXEH.i

Famihj I. — Lemuridfe

, Genera.
Indi-is.
Lepilemur.
L.niur.
Hapaleinur.

FamUy 11. — Xycticeljid*

III.— Tamd*
IV. — Cheiromvda

Cralago.

Perodicticus.

Loris, or Stea

Nycticebus.

Aretocclius.

Tarsius.

C'heiromys.

As groups these have more or less well-defined differences. Thus, the Leiuuiidse have no refe
mirabile, and, excei>t in one ii;iecies, the tail is large, and all have their hind legs longer than their
front ones.

The Nycticebidse have short ears and faces, and the tail is short or absent. They have a strange
defect in the fingers (of hand and foot), the ankle is short, and there is a rete mirabile.

As a family the Tarsidie have long ears, a long ankle, a long and slender tail, and there is a rete
mirabile. Moreover, the fourth finger is not the longest.

The CheiromydcB are kuo^\^l at once by their great front teeth, and the probe-like middle finger
of the hand.

GEOGR.iPHICAL DISTEIBUTION.
All the kinds of Indris, Lepilemur, Hapalemur, Lemur, and Cheirogale inhabit Madagascar
and some of the small islands close to its coast, and one kind of Lemur is found in one if not in two
of the Comoro Islands, which are between the north- west of Madagascar and the African coast, and
nearer the island than to the continent. They have not been discovered elsewhere, and this is ex-
tremely interesting, because, with the exception of the genus Galago, they form the entire family oi
the Lemuridw. The Galagos are not found in Madagascar, but in the woods and forests of the ojJposits

* The simplicity of this classiBcation is its great merit. The student wiU, however, find many other genera mentioned in
books or placed before the specific names in museums. Thus, the beautiful Lemuroids in the British Museum of our genus
Indris are caUed Propitliecus, when the animals have tails, and Ihe genus Lemur is termed Varecia. The genus Galago
includes the animals calli^l by somo zoologists OtoUoius and Otormk, &o.

10

258 KATUliAL KltiTUKY.

coast of Africa. Some Galagos are found as lar south as Port Natal, and the tliick-tailed species
inhabits both the eastern and the western coasts of the continent, and the central parts also. Others
have been found near the Gaboon and in Fernando Po, Senegal, and Gambia, and in the country of
Sennaar and near the White Nile. The Aye-Aye is essentially a Madagascar form. The Nycticebidan
family has a ^vide geographical range. Thus, the species of the genus Loris are found in Ceylon, in
Southern India at Pondichen-y, and in HLudostan ; the genus Nycticebus has one species in Borneo
and Sumati-a, a second in Java, and a third in China. On the contrai-y, the remaining genera, Pero-
dicticus and Arctocebus, are limited to the west coast of Africa, none of them being found in the
intermediate regions of that continent or in Madagascar. Finally, the Tarsidse, according to Wallace,
inhabit Borneo, Celebes, and some other neighbouring islands, the species being the same in all localities.
How is the widespread distribution of the animals of the sub-order to be explained ? On the pre-
sumption that they all sprang from one parent stock, it is necessary to suggest the occurrence of vast
geogi-aphical changes in bygone ages, such, for instance, as the former connection of Madagascar and
the mainland of Africa, and theii- separation; the foi-mer existence and subsequent subsidence of a vast
tract of land between Hindostan and Africa, north of and remote from Madagascar ; and the former
continuity of land where there are now the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is necessary
also to assume that Ceylon was united to Hindostan ; and the gi-eat islands just mentioned to the con-
tinent of Asia. The land which was intei-mediate between Hindostan and Africa has been called
Lemuria by Dr. Sclater, and its theoretical existence explains the otherwise incomprehensible presence
of Gii-affes and Hippopotami, now purely African genera, in the olden time in Asia. Geology rather
favours these views. The first Lemuroida swamied amongst the forests of these vast countries, and
their descendants cut off from each other by geographical changes are now limited to very remote
localities.

The fossil remains of Lemuroida, or of animals whose skulls resemble somewhat those of the sub-
order, have been found in the Eocene of the Western temtories, of the United States, and also in the
south of France.

The pai-ticiJar muscles of the hand, arm, ami shoulder which characterise the Monkeys, and which have been described
in the former chapters, are found in the Lemuroids ; and Murie and Mivai-t have already shown that in the Lemuroids the
muscles agi-ee mainly with those of Monkeys, and others bear certain resemblances to those of animals lower in the scale.
Moreover, the Lemurs possess a unique band of fleshy fibres, which stretch between the shin-bone and the adjoining small
bone of the leg, which would seem to serve in aiding the turning of the limb (the rotator fibulae).

James Murik.

P. Martin Duncan.

^^^y^.

^^'-

M lK^H J ^T

CHIROPTEEA, OR WiyG-KANDED ANIMALS.
THE BATS.

CHAPTER I.

INTKODVCTION. — rL.\SSiriC.\TIOX OF ]1.\TS.— THE FHVIT-E.\T1.\G BATS.

One of ^sop's Fables— Opinions of the Ancients regarding Bats— Scaliger's Statement of the Puzzle— Opiuions of the
Middle Ages— Tlie Tnie Position of the Rits- The Wing of the Bat— General Structure : The Breast-bone, Arms,
Fingers, " Wing-membrane," Wings, SkuU, Ribs, Pelvis, Legs— In P.epose— Walking— The Teats— Organs of the Senses
— "Blind as a Bat "—The Eyes — Spallanzani's Experiments— The Bat's Power of Directing its Flight in the Darkest
Places — Their Food— In Winter-Quarters— A Battue of Bats — Fhugivorocs and Insectivoroi's Bats.

One of those ancient fables ascribed to ^sop, which were the delight of our younger days,
contains a description of a battle between the birds and the beasts. The grounds of the quan-el we do
not remember, and indeed the moral of the fable was tacked on to the conduct of the Bat. Availing
himself of his combination of fur and wings, that astute animal hovered over the field of battle, and
took his place on one side or the other, accoriling to the direction in which the tide of success appeared
to be turning, with the purpose, of coui-se, of claiming in any case to be on the side of the victor.s.
But this finesse was unsuccessful ; the traitor was scouted by both parties, and has ever since been
comj)elled to make his appearance in public only at night. Passing over the ingeniovis explanation
thus afibrded of the nocturnal habits of the Bats, this fable reflects pretty clearly the state of uncer-
tainty in which the ancients were as to their precise nature. The union of a Mouse-like body
with long wings was a great puzzle to people who had no sound jirinciples of natural history classifi-
cation to go upon ; and even among the naturalists of antiquity there was much doubt as to the true
position to be assigned to animals so singularly endowed. Aristotle seems to have thought they were
bii-ds v/ith wings of skin ; and Pliny describes them as the only birds which bring forth theii- young
aJive and suckle them. Among the Jews it is perfectly clear that the Bat was reckoned a bird ; it
is distinctly included among the unclean fowls in Leviticus (xi. 19), and Deuteronomy (.xiv. 18). The
obfu-scation displayed by ancient writers with respect to the Bat is well shown in the following jjassage,
in which 8caliger .summarises their opinions ;—" It is indeed," he says, "an animal of marvellous

200 XATVMAL BISTORT.

structure; biped, quadruped; walking, but not vt-itli feet; flying, but not witli featliers; seeing -tt-ithout
light, in the light, blind ; it uses light beyond the light, but wants light in the light ; a bird with
teeth, without a beak, with teats, with milk, bearing its young even when flying." Can it be wondered
at that such a creature should be a puzzle ?

Nevertheless, some ancient ^vl•iters seem to have entertained clearer notions on the subject, sueli
as Macrobius, who maintained that as the Bat walked like a quadruped it ought to be classed with
quadrupeds, for which he is blamed by Jonston, who speaks with approval of Plato's opinion, according
to which this unfortunate animal is neither bird nor beast, an opinion which partially prevailed to a
rather late date. Tlu-oughout the Middle Ages, however, the general opinion even of professed natural-
ists was that Bats were birds ; and we find this notion prevailing down to the time of Aldrovandiis, in
the latter part of the sixteenth century, and of Jonston, whose gigantic compilation was published
in 1657. It is a question whether this notion that Bats are birds has even yet been entirely dis-
pelled in the popular mind, and no doubt many people still regard them as birds, because they

SKELETON OF THE MOISE-COLOURED BAT I VESPEllTILIO MUKIXfS.) (From Dc Bid iiwiHc)

iiuienis ; b, slioulder-bLade ; e, collar-bone ; d, fore-arm (radiiis, with the tilna at tlie elbow) ; e, wiist-boue-. (carpal-bouss) ;
/, thumb ; g 3, metocaiijal bones ; s s, breast -bons (sternum) ; p, pelvis ',11, he^l^spiu*.

can fly, just as Wliales and 'Seals are considei-ed fi.shes, because they swim, and Centipedes and
Scorpions reptiles, because they crawl. John Ray, the father of modern zoology, writing in 1683, was
the first to refer the Bats to their true position among the Mammalia (animals which suckle their
young), and in this course he was followed by Linnseus, who actually ])laoed these puzzles of former
naturalists in his highest order of Mammals, the Piimates, along with man and the Apes. The
po.sition assigned to them by Liunteus in the series of anim;ils they \\a.\e virtimlly retained in nearly
all systems to the present day.

By all modern zoologists the Chiroptera have been regarded as a distinct order of the Mammali;i,
characterised especially by their possession of the power of flight, and the consequent modification of
the structure of their fore limbs, which is indicated in the name given to the group (Chiroptera — hand-
wings). They are, in fact, the only true flying Mammals, and, indeed, the only truly flying Vertebrates
except birds, for the so-called flj'ing Squirrels, flying Lemurs, and fl^'ing Opossums are only furnished
mtli a broad fold of skin on each side of the body, which, when expanded by the spreading of the limbs,
acts as a sort of parachute to sustain them for a time in the air. Tliis is also the case with the flying
Dragons, although in them the membrane is stiflened by medns of a portion of the libs ; and even in
the fl.ying fishes, in which ths organs of aerial locomotion are formed by the fore-limbs, these iri";-':»ly
sustain the fish in the air for a time by the increased surface tiiey give it, but do not serve as real
wings, like those of Bats and birds.

There is, however, an imi)ortant dilTerence in the structure of the wing in the Bats and bi.-cls

TUE Ji.irS OltGJXS OF FLIGHT.

261

although the general priueiple on which the org;ins of Hight are constnicteil is the same. In both
(as mdeed also in flying insects), this principle consists in having a strong framework, to which
!Ui up and down movement can be communicated, along the front of the wing, enabling it to sti-ike
the air with more or less force during its do^vnward passage, whilst the effective sm-face of the organ
is of a flexible or elastic natm-e, being formed in the bird by the long feathers which are implanted
ill the skiu clotliing the bones of the wing, and in the Bat by a thin leathery membrane wliich
is stretched between the liones of the fore and hind limbs. Upon these leathern wings the Bats flit
about noiselessly in the twilight or in the darkness of the night. They are able to advance with con-
siderable speed, and also to turn and wheel about in their course with great facility.

Of course, as in birds, the piincipal modification of structure exhibited in these animals is connected
\rith their [wwer of flight, and manifested in the fore-limbs. These, although most disproportionately de-
veloped, still, however, display the same bones which have been described in the arms of the Monkeys
and Lemurs, as will be seen in our figiu-e of the skeleton of the Eiu-opean Mouse-coloured Bat. We
find in them a .strong humenis (a) of moderate length, articulating with large shouldei^blade.s (b),
wliich cover a considerable isortion of the back of the chest, and are kept apart by well -developed
collar-bones (c), springing in front from a breast-bone (sternum, s), which,
although distinctly showing Mammalian characters, projects in such a manner as
to serve the purpose of the deep keel in the breast-bone of bii-ds, and give attach-
ment to the powerful muscles requu-ed to set the wings in motion (see accom-
panying figure). The humerus is followed by the bones of the fore-arm (d), the
radius and ulna, of which, however, the latter is generally veiy small, and reduced
to a mere i-utliment immovably fixed to the radius towards the end nearest the
Ix)dy. This section is the longest part of the arm, and the simplicity of its
stnicture is in connection with the fact that, as in birds, there is here no
occasion for any movement of rotation in the arm, such as enables the fore-limbs
of many Mammals to be applied to a vaiiety of uses. At the extremity of the
radius are the carpal or wrist^bones (e), which are small but numerous, and
furnish surfaces for the articulation of the bones of the fingers. Of these, the
fii-st, or thumb (/), is short, and composed of three joints, a metacarpal and two
phalanges, the last of which beai-s a strong curved claw, of great use to the
animal in clinging to various sui-faces, and in walking on the gi'ound. Of the
other foiu- fingers, the metacarpal bones {(j) are very long and slender, forming,
indeed, the greater part of the fingers ; they taper towards their tips, but at the
tips themselves are slightly enlai-ged. The fii-st, or index finger, in most Bats
is composed of the metacarpal bone alone, but in some this is followed by two
.'^hort phalanges. The other fingers possess either two or three phalanges. In genei-al only the thumb
pos.sesses a claw, but in some -Bats there is one also on the index finger.

To convert this framework into an organ of flight its vai'ious parts are, as already stated, united
liy a membrane of more or less leathery appearance, although often so thin and deUcate as to be
'vjmewhat translucent. It is an expansion or wide fold of the skin of the body like tho.se forming
♦he parachutes of the flying Squin-els, &c., and often called by the same name — patagium. We
shall employ the simpler, if rather longer term, " wing-membrane." The bones of the arm, with their
.iccompanying muscles, and those of the fingers, are enclosed between the two layers of skin of which
the membrane is composed, and which they serve to extend and support. In front of the ami there
is a small portion of membrane filling up the angle of the elbow, and called the antebrachial membrane.
The thumb is left free. Behind the arm is the gi-eat expanse of the wing, which springs from the
■.ides of the body, and is also attached to the hind legs, generally extending down to the ankle.

The wings are expanded by the spreading of the fingei-s, which radiate from the wrist something
like the sticks of a fan. The second, or middle finger, which is the longest, runs to the extreme tip
of the \ving, but before reaching this it generally joins the extremity of the first, or index finger, which
thus acts as a sort of stay to it, and the two fingers together form a tolerably stifi" support for the
outer margin of the wing. The other two fingers (the third and fourth) travei-se the wing to its
hinder border, where they carry out the membrane into small pointed projections ; so that when the

TlIK STERNUM OF FLYING
FOX (pTEROrV.s).

202 NATURAL HISTORY.

wing is cxpandeil, this l)order shows two points besides that at the apex of the wing, and three more m
less rounded notches, the last of which is between the tip of the fourtli finger and the attachment of
the membrane to the hinder limb.

In most Bats the membrane does not stop short at the legs, but encloses them after the same
fashion as the arms, leaving only the foot and sometimes a pai-t of the shank free. The port-on of
membrane that passes within the legs, sometimes filling up the whole space between them and
enclosing the whole or a part of the tail, sometimes forming only a narrow border to these liiabs, is
called the interfemoral or intercrural membrane, and the characters furnished by it and its relations to
other parts are of great importance in the classification of Bats.

The re.st of the structure of these ammals may be dismissed in a few words. The skull, and all
the other parts of the skeleton, are generally light and delicate in their construction, as might be
expected in animals destined to support themselves in the air ; but there is no trace of those pneumatic
cavities which, in bir<ls, enable the air to penetrate all parts of the skeleton. The jaws are well
armed with teeth, wliieh differ in their character in accordance with the food consumed by the animals.
The ribs are well developed, and enclose a large chest cavity. The pelvis (/)) is long, slender, and
somewhat bird-like in some respects ; the legs are short, generally slender, and articulated in such a
manner that when vised in walking the knees are directed backwards, like our elbows ; the fibula
(the second bone in the shank) is usually imperfectly developed, in the same way as the ulna in the
fore-arm ; and the foot consists of five distinct toes, armed with small but sharp claws, by which the
animals suspend themselves from the surface of rocks, walls, and other objects, in the dark retreats to
which they retire for their repose. From the heel-bone {calccmeum) in most Bats there sprmgs a
cartilaginous or bony rod or spur, which is regarded by some zoologists as forming part of the bone
itself. This spur, which is often of considerable length, runs along the margin of the interfemoral
membrane, which it no doubt helps materially to stretch. Wlieu long, and more or less curved, it often
causes a projection of the side of the interfemoral membrane, as shown in the figure of the Marsh
Bat (p. 259). The tail is very variable in length.

In repose, or rather when not flying, the wings of the Bat are folded up by a reversal of the
process by which they were extended for flight ; the long fingers are drawn together, and up towai-ds
the fore-arm, and the membrane forms leathery folds at the sides of the body. This is also their position
when the animal is walking or rumiing on the gi'ound (see the engraving on the next page), which it
does in a somewhat awkward fashion, by the action of its hind feet and the claws of its thumbs.
When seen thus engaged there can be little doubt as to the quadruped nature of the Bat. Our little
European species have a Mouse-like appearance, which fully justifies their old popular name.

The teats are usually situated on the breast ; but sometimes they are placed quite on the sides,
immediately beneath what we must call the armpits. Tliey are two in number. In addition to these
chest or pectoral teats, some species have been described as possessing a second paii' of such organs
situated on the groin, but recent investigations prove clearly that these are merely nipple-like warts.

The organs of the senses are well developed. The eare are almost always of considerable size,
sometimes very large and membranous, and in most cases there is in front of the cavity a sox-t of lobe
of variable form, called the earlet, or tragus, representing the little rounded lobe which, in the human
ear, projects from behind the cheek over the opening (see the woodcut of the Head of the Long-eared
Bat). The nostrils are either simple slits or apertures at the end of the muzzle, or surrounded by
leaf-like organs, often of the most extraordinary fonns (see the Head of the Spectacled Vampire,
p. 264, and other illustrations later on), in fact, tins tendency of the skin in Bats to run out into
membranous expansions is one of their most remarkable characteristics, and, from their mode of
life, this great development of the skin system would seem to be almost essential to their existence.

The old proverbial expression, " As blind as a Bat," is certainly not founded on a due appreciation
of facts, for Bats are by no means blind ; on the contrary, they are furnished with very efficient eyes,
although, in most cases, these are little bead-like organs, very unlike the eyes usually seen in animals
whose activity is nocturnal or crepuscular. But it would appear that the oSice of the eyes in guiding
these animals is, at all events, supplemented by some other means. Towards the end of the last
century, the Abbe Spallanzani made .some exceedingly interesting, although certainly cruel experiments
on various species of Bats. He blinded these animals, sometimes by bm-ning the eyes with a red-hot

Si:XSi:S OF hats. 263

wire, sometimes liy removing the organs altogetlier, and e\'eu filling up tlie orbits with wax, and tiien
allowed them to Hy. In spite of the mutilation, the unfortunate little creatures continued quite lively,
and flew about as well as those which still retained their eyes ; they did not strike against the walls
of the room, or the objects in it, avoided a stick held up before them, and showed a greater desii-e to
keep out of the way of a Cat or the hand of a man than to escape contact with inanimate objects.
One of these blinded Bats was set free in a long underground passage, which turned at right angles
about its middle. It flew through the two branches of this passage, and turned, without approaching

BAKB.-ISTELLE W.\LKIKG.

the side walls. During its flight it detected a small cavity in the roof at a distance of eighteen inches,
and immediately changed its course in order to conceal itself in this retreat. In a garden a sort of
cage was prepared, with nets, and from its top sixteen strings were allowed to hang down. Two
Bats were introduced into this enclosure, one blinded, the other with its eyes perfect. Both flew about
freely, never touching the strings with more than the tips of the wings. Finally, the blind Bat dis-
covered that the meshes of the enclosing net were Iar<;v rmmuli for it to get through, and made its
e.scape ; and, after flying about for a time, niiMlc its \v;iy r:i|ii.lly and
directly to the only roof in the neighbourhood, in whicli it ilis;ip]icared.
In a room containing numerous branches of trees, or in which silk
threiwls, stretched by small weights, were suspended from the ceiling,
the Bats, though blinded, avoided all these obstacles ; and when, after
tiring themselves with their aerial evolutions, they settled on some object
for the sake of rest, they would immediately rise again on an attempt
being made to seize them with the hand.

From these experiments it was perfectly clear that in threading the
galleries of caverns and other narrow and piitch-dark places to which
Bats commonly resort for their diurnal repose, these animals were
guided by some other sense than that of sight, and the worthy abbe set
himself to ascertain what this sense might be. He commenced opera-
tions by covering the body of one of his blind Bats with varnish, and

found that this had no effect in rendering its movements uncertain. He then stopped up the ears
v/ith wax, and finally with melted sealing-wax, and still the Bats obstinately persisted in avoiding
obstacles placed in theii' way. Consequently they did not /ieai- their way in the dark. There
remained the senses of smell and taste. To test the former the nostrils were stuflfed up, but the
only eftect of this operation was to bring the creature speedily to the ground, owing to difficulty of

or LONG ElKED BJT

264 NATURAL HISTORY.

breathing. Little fragmeuts of sponge impregnated with musk, camphor, or storax were fastened ia
front of the nostrils, and then the Bats flew about as freely as ever, and showed the same power of
avoiding contact with objects in their path. The removal of the tongue, as might be expected,
produced no result.

Many of Spallanzani's experiments were repeated by M. de Jurine, of Geneva, and with similar
results, although Jurine found that when the ears were effectually stopped the Bats struck their wings
against any object that came in their way,

Spallanzani found further that when the head of a Bat was enclosed in a small paper bag, or
even wrapped in some fine light stuff, the animal could not be induced to fly. Coupling this observa-
tion with the results of his other experiments, he came to the conclusion that the mysterious faculty
possessed by Bats of finding their way in the darkest places was due to some special sense with which
they were endowed, and which was seated in some unknown organ
situated in the head. Cuvier, however, who was the first really to
appreciate the results of these experiments, arrived at the conclusion,
now generally accepted, that the wonderful power possessed by Bats
of directing their flight in places so dark as to render, the sharpest eyes
useless, was due to an excejjtional development of the sense of touch,
residing especially in the great delicate membranous expanse of Jhe
wings. These organs are really of the most delicate structure, and
traversed by nerves, the fine ramifications of which terminate in little
loo])S, like those found in those parts of the skin in man in which the
HEAD OF THE SPECTACLED vAMPiKE scn.sB of touch is manifested with the gi-eatest perfection ; and their
(sTExoDEiiMA PEiispiciLLATu.M.) su,.foce is covcrcd with rows of Small thickened points, or papillre,
which may very probably have something to do with the perception of
exceedmgly delicate tactile impressions. Further, the wings of Bats are very copiously supplied with
blood-vessels, and according to Dr. Wharton Jones even the veins are furnished mth contractile
walls, so that the circulation of the blood in them must be exceedingly active. In fact, acccordiug to
Professor St. George Mivart, Ave have here a condition of things which may be in some degree
analogous to a state of inflammation, which would doubtless considerablj^ heighten the sensibility of
the parts. But besides the wing-membranes many Bats, as we have seen, possess gi-eatly enlarged
ears, and also curious leaf-like and membranous appendages attached to the region of the nose, all of
which no doubt partake of the sensibility of the wing-membranes, and assist in no small degree
in guiding their possessors. In fact, from some observations recorded in Bell's " British Quadrupeds "
with regard to two British species (the Pipistrelle and the Horseshoe Bat), it would appear that the
species with nasal appendages show greater acuteness of perceirtion than those with simple noses, and
many of them are known to frequent the darkest places of retreat, and to fly later than some of their
less highly endowed fellows.

The food of the gi'eat majority of Bats consists of insects, which they captiire on the wing. The
members of one lar-ge family, however, and some species of another, feed upon fruits ; whilst a few
fiml at least a part of their nourishment in the blood of other animals. They generally fly in the
twilight of the e\'ening and morning, retiring to obscure places durmg the day, although some species
will occasionally come out of their concealment by daylight.

In temperate and cold climates they pass the winter in a torpid state suspended by their hinder
claws in their ordinary places of daily retreat, where they are often to be found in immense numbers.
An American gentleman, describing a cave in the Western Territories, wheie the excrements of Bats had
formed so large a deposit of "guano" that it was proposed to utilise it as manure, was asked by a
friend of ours about the number of Bats in the cavern. He said, " Well, I guess when we went in
there was about as much Bats as air in it." Thei-e is doubtless a slight tinge of occidental hyperbole
about tliis statement, but the following sober details, although also from the Western continent, may
serve to show what multitudes of these creatures may collect together when left undisturbed in
a suitable haunt. The story is told in the introduction to Dr. Allen's " Monograph of the Bats of
North America," and is a descrijrtion by M. Figaniere, Portuguese Minister to the United States, of
the incidents attending his occupation of a new house in May, 1860 : —

A BATTUE OF BATS. 265

" Tlie weather/' lie says, " wliieii was Ijeuutiful, balmy, and warm, invited us towards evening to
oiit-door enjoyment and rest, after a fatiguing day of ti-avel and active labour ; but cliaii's, settees, and
benches were scarcely occupied by us on the piazza and la^vii, when to our amazement, and the horroi
of the female portion of our party, small black Bats made their appearance in immense numbers,
flickering around the premises, rushing in and out of doors and thi-ough open windows, almost
obscuring the early twOiglit, and causing a general stampede of the ladies, who fled, covering
their heads with their hands, fearing that the dreaded little vampii-es might make a lodgment
in their hau\

" This remarkable exhibition much increased our disappointment in regard to the habitable con-
dition of our acquisition, and was entirely unexpected, inasmuch as the unwelcome neighbours were
in their dormant state, and ensconced out of sight when the property was examined previous to
jnirchase.

" Evening after evening did we patiently, though not complacently, watch this periodical exodus
of dusky wings into light from theu- lurking-places one after another, ami in some instances in couples,
.ind even triples, according as the size of the holes or apertures from which they emerged in the slate
I'oofijig would permit. Their excm-sions invariably commenced with the cry of the Whippooricill, both
at coming evening and early dawn, and it was observed that they always first directed theii- flight
towards the river, undoubtedly to damp their Mouse-like snouts, but not theii- spirits, for it was like-
wise observed that they returned to play hide and seek, and indulge in all other imaginable gambols :
when, after gratifying theii- love of sport, and satisfying theii- voracious apj)etites (as the absence of
Mosquitoes and Gnats testified), they would re-enter their habitation, and again emerge at the first
signal of their feathered trumpeter. Thus I ascertained one very important fact, namely, that the
Bat, or the siiecies which annoyed us, ate and drank twice in twenty-four hours. Such appeared their
habit, such, therefore, was theii- indispensable need." After trying various remedies, none of which
seemed to abate the nuisance, M. Figaniere adopted the foUomng plan : —

" When the Bats' reveille was sounded by the bugle of the Wkijrpoorwill, all the hands of our
establishment, men and boys, each armed with a wooden implement (shaped like a cricket-bat),
marched to the third floor, ' on murderous deeds with thoughts intent.' A lighted lantern was placed iii
the middle of one of the rooms, divested of all fui-niture, to allure the hidden foe from their strongholds.
After closing the window to prevent all escape into the open air, the assailants distributed at regular
tlistances to avoid clubbing each other, awaited the apfiearance of the Bats enticed into the room by
the artificial light and impelled by their own natural craving. Tlie slaughter commenced, and pro-
gressed with saiiguinaiy vigour for several hours, or until brought"^o a close by the weariness of dealing
blows that made the enemy bite the dust, and overpowered by the heat and closeness of the apartment.
This plan succeeded perfectly. After a few evenings of similar exercise, in which the batteurs became
quite expert in the use of their weapons, every wielding of the wooden bat bringing down an expii-ing
namesake, the war terminated by the extermination of evei-y individual of the enemy in the main
building. However, there still was the cockloft of the laimdi-y, which gave evidence of a large popu-
lation. In this case I had i-ecourse to a plan which had been recommended, but was not carried out
in regard to the dwelling-house. I employed a slater to remove a portion of the .slating which required
repairing. This process discovered some fifteen hundred or two thousand Bats, of which the larger
number were killed, and the remainder sought the bam, trees, and other places of concealment in the
neighbourhood.

"To remote the very disagreeable odour which remained in the upper part of the house, various
kinds of disinfectants were employed with some advantage ; but the most efiectual method resoi-ted to
was that of opening holes of about four inches square, two at each gable end, to permit a current of
air to pass throiigh. These holes were covered with wire gauze to prevent the re-entrance of any of the
remainder of the army of the enemy which might hover around the premises. At the end of five years
the odour has now nearly disappeared, being hardly perceptible during a continuance of very damp
weather."

The great number of speeie.s of Bats wliich have been described from various parts of the world,
but especially from tropical and sub-tropical regions, display two very strongly-marked types of structure,
associated in general with very diflerent habits and modes of life. Some are exclu.sively confined to a
10*

2G6 AATUIiAL SISTOEY.

fruit diet, or consume animal food only as an exceptional daiiity ; whilst the others almost as exclusively
find their nourishment in the swarms of insects wliich everywhere people the air. Of the latter, how-
ever, some few feed upon fruits, and others are said to diversify their insect fare by occasionally suck-
ing the blood of other animals, and even of man himself. In the Frugivorous, or Fmit-eating Bats,
the crowns of the molar teeth are smooth, wath a central farrow running in the du-ection of the length
of the jaw; in the Insectivorovis forms, on the contrary, the molars show sharp tubercles separated
by transverse fuiTows, generally producing a sort of W-like pattern on each tooth. These two types of
tooth-structure are associated in each case with other characters. The Bats ai'e thus di\ided into two
great groups, generally regarded as sub-ordei"s.

HE\D 01 THE K\LONO

CHAPTER II.
SUB-ORDER I.— MEGACHIROPTERA, OR LARGE BATS.

FAMILY I.— PTEROPID.E, OR FRI'IT-EATING BAT-S.

acteristics of Fnut-Eating Bats— Distribution— Diet— Flying Fox of Ceylon : its Habits, as described by Sir E. Tennent
—The Fliglit of the Ptej-opiite— Known to the Ancients— The Fruit Bats in the Zoological Gardens— Indian Flying
Fox— Diet— Dissipated Habits— Great Kalong — Linnceus's Description— In their Dormitories— NicoBAH, IIaned,
.Iapankse, and Grey Fruit Bats- Grey-headed Fruit Bat— Gould's Fruit Bat— Roussette— Egyptian Fruit
Bat— Hottentot Fruit Bat— Maritime Fruit Bat— Margined Fruit Bat— White's Fruit Bat— Hammer-headed
Bat— Harpy Bat— Greater Harpy Bat— Cloaked Fruit Bat Dwarf Long-tongued Fruit Bat— Black-cheeked
Fruit B.ix- Fijian Long-tongued Fruit Bat.

The fruit-eating Bats {Frugivwa, Wagner), called Me(iachiropii>ra, or L,irge Bats, by Mr. Dob.son,
on account of the comparatively large size of most of the species, are charactei'ised by having the face
elongated and Dog-like (see above illustration) — whence the name of Flying Foxes is often applied
to tliem by European residents in the countries where they occur— the ears simple and usually jiointed,
ijut with the sides uniting, so as to form a complete ring at the base, the nose without any leaf-like

FRUIT BATS OF CEVLON AT HOME.

THE FRUGirOROUS BATS.

appendages, the tail sliort or altogether deficient, the interfemoral memljrane, or the membrane between
the legs, which in our ordinary Bats encloses the tail, reduced to very small dimensions, and the
molar teeth furnished with flattish crowis, along the middle of which runs a longitudinal furrow
(figured below). The free thumb is long, and armed with a strong hooked claw, and the fii-st, or index
finger, in nearly all the species, is also terminated by a claw.

The .species of Frugivorous Bats, of which about seventy have Ijeen described, agree very closely
in their general characters, and constitute a single ftimily, to which the name of Pteropidce has been
given, derived from that of the oldest and most extensive of its genera, Pterojms (wing-foot). They
are distributed all over the warmer parts of the Eastern hemisphere and the islands of the Pacific.
Wherever they occur, they present nearly the same form, and generally a very similar .style of colora-
tion, whilst in their diet they stick most religiously to fruits, for although some have been fovmd in
captivity to feed on the flesh of bii-ds and rats, and others are charged with catching and eatin" fish,
in the former case some allowance must be made for the artificial condition of the animal, which
probably produced a morbid appetite, heightened by the fact that the supply of his natural food had
been exhausted ; and the second statement seems to rest exclusively on the observed fact of these Bats
on leaving theii- roosts at sunset skimming close over
the surface of water, and sometimes even dipping
into it ; but the object of these evolutions, as remarked
by Mr. Dobson, " is probably, in the first instance, to
drink, and, secondly, to rid themselves of some of the
numerous parasites with which they are commonly in-
fested." Sir- James Emerson Tennent, however, says of
the Ceylonese sjiecies, that " insects, caterpillars, birds'
eggs, and young birds are devoui-ed by them ; and the
Singhalese say that the Flying Fox will even attack a
Tree Snake," but these statements are not confirmed by
other writers, and from the reference to the Singhalese,
it seems probable that they are foimded upon hearsay '
evidence. Mr. Dobson, however, has suggested that one
species (the C'l/noni/cten's umphxicaudata) feeds occa-
sionally upon the shell-fish that it finds upon the shore,
and in this opinion he is supported liy Mr. W. T.
Blanford, who found the species upon the island of

Kishm, in the Persian Gulf, a spot so barren that he thinks the Bats would starve if they de])ended
upon fruits for their nourishment.

The habits of the Flying Fox of Ceylon {Pteropus medim) are so well described by Sir James Emer-
son Tennent, that we may here quote his observations upon that species, e.specially as they will apply,
inutatis mutamlis, to the members of the family in general. He says : — " They feed, amongst other
things, on the guava, the plantain, the rose-ai)ple, and the fruit of the vaiious fig-trees. Flying Foxes
are abundant in all the maritime districts, especially at the season when the pidum-imbul (Eriodeiulron
orientate, Stead.), one of the silk-cotton trees, is putting forth its flower-buds, of which they are
singularly fond. By day they suspend themselves from the highest brandies, hanging by the claws of
the hind-legs, with the head turned upwards, and pressing the chin against the breast. At .sunset
taking wing, they hover, with a miu'muring sound occasioned by the beating of their broad membra-
nous wings, around the fruit-trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their pensile
attitude as before. [See Plate 9.]

" A favourite resort of these Bats is the lofty india-rubber trees, which on one side overhang
the Botanic Gardens of Paradenia, in the vicinity of Kandy. Thither for some years past they \m\e
congregated, chiefly in the autumn, taking their departiu-e when the figs of the Ftcus elastica are con-
sumed. Here they hang in such prodigious numbers, that frequently large branches give way beneath
their accumulated weight. Every forenoon, between the hours of 9 and 1 1 , they take to ^ving,
apparently for exercise, and possibly to sun their wings and fur, and dry them after the dews of the
early morning. On these occasions theii- numbers are quite surprising, flying in clouds as thick as

THE ECYPTH

2G8 natuhal siSTom: -

Bees or Midges. After these recreations, they hurry back to their favourite trees, chattering aud
screaming like Monkeys, and always wrangling and contending augiily for the most shady and com-
fortable' places in which to hang for the«rest of the day protected from the sun. The branches they
resort to soon become almost divested of leaves, these being stripped off by the action of the Bats
attaching and detaching themselves by means of their hooked feet. At sunset they fly off to their
feeding-grounds, probably at a considerable distance, as it reuuu-es a large area to furnish sufficient
food for such multitudes.

" In all its movements and attitudes, the action of the Fteropus is highly interesting. If placed
wpon the ground, it is almost helpless, none of its limbs being calculated for progressive motion ; it
ch-ags itself along by means of the hook attached to each of its extended thumbs, pushing at the
.same time with those of its hind feet. Its natural position is exclusively pensile ; it moves laterally from
branch to branch with great ease, by using each foot alternately, aud climbs, when necessary, by means
of its claws.

" When at rest or asleep, the disposition of the limbs is most curious. At such times it suspends
itself by one foot only, bringing the other close V3 its side, and thus it is enabled to wrap itself in
the ample folds of its wings, wluch must envelop it like a mantle, leaving only its upturned head
uncovered. Its fur is thus protected from damp and rain, and to some extent its body is sheltered
from the sun.

" As it collects its food by means of its mouth, either when on the wing or when suspended
within reach of it, the Flying Fox Ls always more or less li;ible to have the spoil wrested from it by its
intiiisive companions, befoi-e it can make good its way to some secure retreat in which to devour it
unmolested. In such conflicts they bite viciously, tear each other with their hooks, and scream
incessantly, tOl, taking to flight, the persecuted one reaches some place of safety, when he hangs by one
foot, and grasping the fruit he h.as secured in the claws and opposable thumb of the other, he hastily
reduces it to lumps, with which he stuffs his cheek-pouches till they become distended like those of a
Monkey. Thus susjjended in safety, he commences to chew and suck the pieces, rejecting the refuse
with his tongue." Sir James Emerson Tennent adds that the Flying Fox drinks by lapping, to do
which it suspends itself head downwards froifi a branch above the water.

The flight of the Fteropidre. is strong and dii-ect, although not very rapid, • and they often
travel considerable distances in search of favourite articles of food. During flight the hind legs are -
usually stretched out horizontally, and as the space between them is not, as in most other Bats, filled
up by an interfemoral membrane, the animals appear as if they had two stiff tails. Their skin exhales
a pecidiar odour, which has been sometimes described as " musky," although the term is hardlj'
applicable to it. This odour, which is supposed to be due to the contamination of the fur with the
urine of the animals, strongly pervades their dwelling-places, and unless great care is taken in skinning
them their flesh is said to acquire a corresponding taste, which is a matter of some importance, as the
larger species constitute a favourite article of food in the countries which they inhabit.

That the ancients were acquainted with some species of these Bats seems pretty certain, <1s
one of them [C ynonycteris (vyyptiaciis) is common in Egypt, and, in fact, is frequently represented
on the monuments of that country (see the engraving on the next page), and Aristotle refers to a
tail-l^ss African Bat, which was probably a Flying Fox. The town of Borsippa, in Mesopotamia, is
mentioned by Strabo as being haunted by Bats of larger size than any of those known in Europe ;
and, indeed, that it was so haunted, and that the inhabitants ate these Bats, is nearly all that is
definitely known of the town. The species was in all i)robal)ility either the Egyptian one just
referred to, or a nearly allied form (Cynonycteris amplexicamlata), which is known still to inhabit
Persia. The Mosaic prohibition of the Bat as an article of food to the Jews also no doubt related
to one of these species, which may have been commonly eaten in Egypt or in Syria.

Formerly it was considered a matter of considerable difficulty to keep these Friigivorous Bats
alive in captivity, and especially to transport them to Europe ; but the latter difficulty lias itis-
ajipeared with increased facilities of loaomotion, and several species have been exhibited alive Li
various menageries and zoological gardens.

The Zoological Society's beautiful Gardens in Regent's Park, London, generally contain several
examples of the Collared Fruit Bat of South Africa (Cynonycteris coUaris). It may be noted that

THE IXDIAN FZriXG FOX. £6P

these animals tlirive remarkiibly well iu thi-ir ratlier confiued cages iii tlie Monkey House, wjiore,
tinfortunately, they have no opportimity of displaying theii' activity on the wing ; but the visitor uw /
see theii- usual attitude in repose, suspended by their liind feet, and with theii- wings wrapped i"oui\J
them like a cloak, whilst the fact of their curtain being lifted is always sufficient to distm-b some of
them, and induce them to turn their shai-p little noses and bright eyes in the direction of the intruder,
and to utter the little querulous cry which seems to indicate their objection to being disturbed.
At night, howevei-; they become more active, crawling briskly about their cage, and quarrelling
vigorously among themselves _

for the choice morsels of their
food. They also bi-eed freely
in their prison (especi;dly the
African species). The j-oung
African Fniit Bats born in
tlie Zoological Gardens were

covered with shon, smooth representation- or .. fkvit >,at on an EGvrr.Ax monument.

hair of a nearly uniform pale

ash-coloirr, a little darker towards the tips. Only one was produced at a time, and this clung bv its
hind claws to the lower part of the body of the mother, with its mouth usually attached to one of the
two nipj)les situated on the breast, as shown in the figure on the next page. The young Fruit Bats
bom in confinement may be brought up, as Mr. Bartlett tells us, to display some fondness for the ])erson
who takes care of them and feeds them. They will then, if let loose, crawl about upon him, and even
mount upon his shoulder and demonstrate their affection by licking Ms face after the fashion of a Dog.
In the uneducated state, however, they bite viciously.

THE INDIAN FLYING FOX.*

Southern Asia and it.s dependent islands may be regarded as the metropolis of the Fruit Bats.
Here the species are most pleutii^ul, and most numerously represented by individuals ; it is here also
that the large.st species occur. One of the best-known is the Indian Flying Fox [Pteropus Kiedius),
some account of the habits of which, from the pen of Sir James Tennent, hsis already been given ; and
this species inhabits the whole of Hindostan, with the exception of the Punjab, Ceylon, Arracan,
Tenasserim, and Pegu. It has been described by most writers under the name of P. Edwarddi, having
been erroneously identified with a species inhabiting ISIadagascar and South-Eastern Africa. It
measui-es about eleven inches in length,+ and more than three feet in expanse of wing. As in all
species of the typical genus Pteropus, of which it is the sole representative in the Indian peninsula,
the tail in P. medius is entirely deficient, the tongue is of moderate size, and the molar teeth well
developed — five on each side in the upper, and six in the lower jaw ; the nostrils project, and are
separated by a deep notch ; the wing-membranes spring from the sides of the back, and are attached
to the biick of the tiret joint of the second toe ; and the head and nape of the neck are covered with
fur of a different colour from that of the rest of the upper part of the body. Tlie latter is blackish oi'
dark brown, with scattered greyish hairs. The nape of the neck and shoulders, the chest, and upper
part of the abdomen are vai'iable in colour from reddish-yellow or straw-colour to dingy rusty brov/n,
the fur of the under surface being darker than that of the nape, and all the light tints dai-ker in the
females than in the males. The latter have usually a tuft of stLfl' haii-s, of a light reddish-yellow
colour, on each side of the neck. The ears, which are nearly naked, are acutely pointed, with tlie
outer border concave just below the tip ; ihe wing-membrane is dark brown, hairy beneath towards
the body.

This species is refeired to by nearly all writei-s on Indian zoology ; but their accounts of its
genera! habits agree closely with those given by Sir James Tennent, and already quoted. The Bats
feed on fruits of various kinds, except oranges, according to Mr. Jerdon, and besides figs they are
especially lond of the anonads, pa'.-ticularly the fruit of GiiaUeria lomji/o/ia, the soft parts of which

• Plcrnpua medius. t Colonel Sykes states that he had met with individuals more than fourteen inches long-.

270 h\-i TUBAL BISTORT.

tliey devour, rejecting the kernels, with which the ground under the trees is speedily covered.
According to Mr. F. Day, the fruit of the wild almond (Terminalia catappa) is also a favourite article
of diet with them, and he adds, " they sometimes carry off the almonds into the verandahs of houses,
where they extract the kernels, and in .so doing frighten nervous people into the belief that robbers
are endeavouring to effect an entrance." In search of these and other favourite fruits, they often fly
to great distances during the night, returning with the dawn to their sleeeping-places, when a
scene of confusion takes itlace, which has been described as follows bv Mr. Tickell: — " From the arrival

Zn.,lojical Societij.]

of the first comer, until the sun is high above the horizon, a scene of incessant wi-angling and
contention is enacted among them, as each endeavours to secure a higher and better place, or to eject a
neighljour from too close vicinage. In these straggles the Bats hook themselves along the branches,
scrambling about hand over hand with some speed, biting each other severely, striking out with the
long claw of the thumb, shrieking and cackling without intermission. Each new arrival is compelled
to fly several times round the tree, being threatened from all points; and when he eventually hooks on
he has to go through a series of combats, and be probably ejected two or three times, before he makes
good his tenure." No doubt these squabbles are rendered more violent by the disgracefully dissipated
habits in which the Bats indulge during their nocturnal expeditions, for, according to Mr. Francis Day
and other obsei-vers, " they often pass the night drinking the toddy from the chatties in tke cocoa-nut
trees, which results either in their returning home in the early morning in a state of e..treme and
riotous intoxication, or in being found the next day at the foot of the trees sleeping ofi' the eflects
of their midnight debauch."

TBE CHEAT EALONG. 271

The flesh is said by Colonel Sykes to be delicate, and without disagi-eeable flavour ; but he states
that the only jiersons in Western India who eat these Bats are the Portuguese residents. According
to ]Mr. Jerdon, however, many classes in the Madras presidency also eat them.

THE GREAT KALONG.*

This, which is the largest of all known Bats, is an inhabitant of the gi-eat islands of the Eastern
Arcliipelago, especially Java and Sumatra, where it exists in immense numbers. The species is also
said to occur in the Philippine Islands and in Malacca. It is nearly allied to the Indian Fruit Bat, but
grows to a larger size, attaming a length of about fourteen inches, and an expanse of wing of four feet
and upwards. The colour varies considerably, but is generally brownish-black on the back, with the
top of the head and the neck reddish-yellow, and tinged with chestnut-brown beneath. The muzzle,
eai-s, and wing-membranes are black ; the ears are .shorter than in the Indian species, and the outer
margin is less concave towards the tip ; and the wing-membrane.'i originate on the sides of the body
at a gi-eater distance from the centre of the back. Some of the varieties have been described as distinct
species ; two especially, in which the fur is entirely black, figure in the catalogues under the names of
Pteropvs Pluto and P. funereus.

The Kalong (see next page) was the first of the Indian Frugivorous Bats to be made
known to European naturalists in modern times. It was described under the name of VespertUio
admirabilis, by Bontius, in his " Historia Naturalis Indiaj Orientalis." The species was also described
and figured by Seba and other naturalists of the seventeenth century ; but Linna?us, by a curioas
blunder, confused the references to thLs and allied species ^vith the stories told of tlie American Vampire
Bats, and described these Eastern fruit-eating forms as constituting a species under the name of
VespertUio vamptjni.s, the natural history of which he summed up in the following queer pai-a-
graph : — "Noctu haurit sanguinem domiientium servorum, cristas gallorum et lacrymas palmarum,
])hlebotomus felicissimus in pleuritide ! " (By night it sucks the blood of sleeping slaves, the
combs of cocks, and the juice of palm-trees, a capital lancet in pleurisy ! ) In its habits it closely
resembles its Indian ally, resorting in great numbers to particular trees for the purpose of sleep-
ing through the day, and starting forth at sundowii in search of the fruits on which it feeds.
Dr. Hoi-sfield describes them as presenting a singular spectacle in their dormitories. "Banged
in succession with the head downwards," he says, " the membrane contracted about the body,
and often in close contact, they have little resemblance to living beings, and by a person not
accustomed to their economy are readily mistaken for a part of the tree, or for a fruit of un-
common size suspended from its branches." He adds that they occasion " incalculable mischief,
attacking and devouring indiscriminately every kind of fruit, from the abundant and useful cocoa-
nut which surrounds everj^ dwelling of the meanest peasantr-y, to the rare and most delicate
productions which are cultivated with care by princes and chiefs of distinction." In his history
of Sumatra, Mr. Marsden states that he has observed very large flights of these Bats passing at a
gi-eat height in the aii-, as if migi-ating from one country to another ; and he adds that Captain
Forrest noticed them crossing the Straits of Sunda from Java Head to Mount Pugong. The flesh of
this species is eaten by the inhabitants of the countries where it abounds, who thus get some return
for the mischief it does in theii- gardens and plantations. Its specific name (eJulls) refers to this
circumstance. Its name among the natives of Java is Kalong, and with the Malays of Sumatra and
of the peninsula of Malacca Kaluwang, or Kluang.

THE NICOBAE, MANED, JAPANESE, AND GREY FRUIT BATS.f
It will l)e unnecessary to do more than refer to a few of the numerous species of Pf.erojms in-
habiting the islands of the Ea.stern seas, as their habits in all cases are almost exactly alike, and it
would be useless to attempt the bare description of a number of closely-allied species. The Nicobar
and Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal have their peculiar si^ecies (P. nicobaricus), about the same
she as the Indian Fruit Bat, but of which the females and young males are usually black all over,

* Ptcromis ctlulis. t Pteropus nicobaricus, jubatus, dasymaUus, and griseus.

272

NATURAL m.STOIir

whilst the male lias a recUlish or chestnut-coloured tippet. The Philippine Islands have a rather
remarkable species, the Maned Fruit Bat {P. jvhatus), the head of which is shown in one of our
illustrations on the next page. Japan possesses a smaller form {P. dasymallus), about eight inches
long, which is characterised by the woolly nature of its fur, as indicated in its specitic name. Those
i.slands of the Eastern Archipelago from Celebes to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands which,
according to Mr. Wallace, belong to the great Australian legion, are abundantly supplied with fruit-

eating Bats, such as the Grey Fruit Bat {P. grisens, see next ]-iage), a small species which inhabits
Timor and Amboyna. The small islands scattered over the ocean to the east also possess their
peculiar species.

THE GREY-HEADED FRUIT BAT.*
The northern and eastern parts of Australia are inhabited by a laige species of Pteropns, the
Grey-headed Fruit Bat {P. poliocephaliis). This Bat measures about a foot long, and has an expanse
of wing of about three feet. The head, cheeks, and throat are ash-grey, with a few scattered black
hairs ; the nape, part of the front of the neck, and the shoulders are bright reddish-brown, and separated
by a black band from the grey fur of the body. These Bats, according to Dr. Bennett, are found in

fteropm pol iocephahis.

GO VLB'S FRUIT BAT.

273

great numbers about Moreton Bay and the nortliern districts of New Soiitb Wales. They coidd b.^
oliserved -'hanging iu dense clusters from the uppcnuost luanclics of the lofty gum and other trees,
which often bend so much under the weight, tluit the s|«(t itnr is in momentary expectation of their
lireaking off with a crash, and falling to the gi'ouml (.•niuiiilifred with their heavy load of Bats." The
sKime observer remarks that, although theii- regular activity is crepuscular and nocturnal, they ocea-
sionaliy seek food for a short time during the day, and he adds when seen flying about the trees in the
daytime they resemble rooks so closely as to have been frequently mistaken for those birds. Since the
cultivation of fruit has been carried on extensively iu Xe\y South Wales and Queensland, these Bats
have been found to do a vast amount of injury to the plantations.

Mr. Gould, speaking of this Bat, says, " The enormous number that may be seen sleeping pendent
from the trees in the more secluded parts of the forest are beyond conception. It is not surjirising,
therefore, that the settlers whose abodes may be in the neighbourhood of one of these colonies should
lind their peach-orchards devastated in a single night. Indeed, no one of the native animals is more
troublesome to the settlers than this large Bat, which, resorting to the fruit-grounds by night, when it
is impossible to protect them from its attacks, commits the mo.st fearful havoc." Like the Indian
species, this Bat is exceeduigly fond of the wihl fig.

,/

•^ /

HEAD OF THE M.\NED FKUIT BAT.

HEAD OF THE GKEY FRUIT BAT.

Mr

GOULDS FliUIT BAT.*
Gould described and figured from Northern Australia a large species of Fruit Bat of a

sombre colour, with a reddish-brown neck-spot, which he identified with the Pieropus funereus of
Timor, a supposed species which is now regarded as a mere colour-variety of the Great Kalong. The
Australian Bat is described by Professor Peters as a distinct species under the above name. It is
about nine inches in length. We have the following observations upon its mode of occurrence and
habits: — Mr. Gilbert found it to be extremely abundant in the Coburg peninsula. During. the day
tlie Bats were seen suspended in great numbers from the upper branches of the mangi-oves overhanging
the creeks. They constantly emit a very strong and disagreeable odour, which is ])erceptible at a
considerable distance. At night they become exceedingly active, and while flying about in quest of
food they utter a loud, trembling, but shrill whistle.

Dr. Leichardt, in his expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, found this Bat an excellent
article of food. According to him it feeds upon fruit and the honey of various flowers. After it had fed
.ipon the flowers of the so-called tea-tree, he found it to be unusually fat and delicate ; while those Bats
v.hich had been revelling among the blossoms of the gum-trees were not so fat, and hod a strong
unpleasant odour. In the neighbourhood of the Eiver Eoper the Bats occurred in myriads, suspended
in thick clustei-s on the highest trees in the shady and moist parts of the valley. T};cy ctarted from
their repose as the traveller passed, and the flaj.ping of their great leathery wings produced a sound
like that of a haU-storm,

* Fterorrdi Goidd-i.

NATURAL EISTORY.

THE EOTJSSETTE.'

Tho so-called Mascarene Islands, Mauritius and Bourbon, those specks in the great Indian ocean
wliich, when first discovered, harboured so many curious birds, also furnished one of the earliest
known species of Fruit Bats, the Roussette (Pteropus vulgaris, see next page), which was described
by Gesner and Clusius. This species, which is said to occur also in Madagascar, and even on the
mainland of Africa, is about eight and a half inches long, and three feet in expanse of wing. The
muzzle, forehead, and cheeks are rusty red ; the crown of the head, the nape, and the sides and front
of the neck yellowish-red ; and two longitudinal bands of the same colour run parallel to each other
down the middle of the back, separated by a strip of blackish chestnut, which, with the similarly
coloured shoulders, forms a sort of cross ; the sides of the back are rusty red, and the lower surface of
the body black. It is probably to the generally reddish tinge of its fur that this species owes its
French name of Roussette, which has been extended in its application to the whole of the Frugivorous
Bats.

THE EGYPTIAN FRUIT BAT.f

The majority of the African Fruit Bats belong to genera which hav& been separated from the
old genus Pteropus. Thus we have several species of Cyiionycteris (Xanthwrpyki and Eleutlierura di
the late Dr. Gray), in which the characters are generally those of Pteropus, but there is a shoit tail
more or less enclosed in the interfemoral membrane, and the basal portion of the thumb is joined to
the index finger by a membrane. To this genus belongs the Egyptian species already refen-ed to
{C ynmiijcteris agyptiaca), representations of which occur on Egyjitian monuments (see page 269).
This species is about five and a half inches long, with an expanse of wing of eighteen or twenty
inches ; the tail is rather more than half an inch long, and the basal half of it is enclosed in the
intei-femoral membrane ; the ears are rather long, rounded at the tips, and naked ; the upper surface
of the body is pale greyish-brown, becoming yellowish on the sides and the hairy part of the arms,
.and the lower surface is whitish. The.se Bats are found abundantly in Egj'pt, where they dwell
amongst the ruins of its ancient edifices, and in the dark chambers of the PjTamids. They also occur
in Senegambia in Western Africa, and in Sj'ria.

THE HOTTENTOT FRUIT BAT. J

An abundant species of South Africa is the Hottentot^ Fruit Bat (Cynonycteris collaris), speci-
mens of which may be seen in the Zoological Gardens, where they breed pretty freely. This
species varies considerably in colour, but usually displays various shades of reddish or greyish-
))rown. ■ The fur is less dense on the :iape of the neck, which in con.sequence generally has a rather
bare appearance. This Bat occm-s at the Cape of Good Hope, in Caffrai'ia, and in Mozambique.

THE MARITIJIE FRUIT BAT.§

These tailed Fruit Bats are represented in the East Indian region by several species, which gives
the genus Cynonycteris a geogi-aphical range from the Philippine Islands iu the north-east to the Cape
of Good Hope m the south-west. The best-known Indian species {Cynonycteris cunplexicaudata), is
nearly allied to the Egyj^tian form, but smaller, bemg little more than foiu- inches in length. Its fur is
reddish-brown, or brownish-red above, and so .short upon the back that this pai-t appears nearly bare.
The range of this Bat extends from the shores of the Persian Gulf to the Philippine Islands, and it
appears always to haunt tbe coasts. As already stated this Bat is supposed by some zoologists to feed
en mollusca and other marine animals picked up en the seashore.
\
* Pteropus vulgaris. t Cynoniictcris tvgiiptiuca. % CinwinjcUris coUaris. § Cynonycteris ampJexicaudcttti.

TH£ MASGINED FRUIT BAT.

THE jiargiist:d fettit bat.'

In the Cynopteri, wliicL ai-e small Fruit Bsits inhabiting Southern Asia and its islands, the
cliaracters are very similar to those of the preceding genera, but the muzzle is considerably shorter
and more Dog-like, and one of the true molars is deficient, so that the whole series of molar teeth

contains four on each side in the upper, and fi\'e on each side in the lower jaw. The most aluindant

M

'\ ^

^

iki. \^^

^

fc\

H^HL \^^

^W^y*

^

^^iyV^

w^^

^^L

i.v

AlU

>%^^

^^^^1

teN

^

=^.^?==S3

^^^^9Hp

!^'«f

species is the Cynopterus marginatus (see next page), which is about four inches in length, and varies
in colour through different shades of brown and reddish-brown. It is specially di.stinguished by ha^-ing
the ears surrounded by a white border. This Bat occurs in all parts of India, in Ceylon, in Further
India, and in the eastern islands to Celetes and the Philippines. It is exceedingly common, anil very
destructive to fruits, esj^ecially guavas, plantains, and mangoes. Mr. Dob.son gives the following
account of the voracity of a specimen obtained by him at Calcutta :— He gave it " a ripe banana,
which, ^^-ith the skin removed, weighed exactly two ounces. The animal immediately, as if famished
with hunger, fell upon the fnut, seized it between the thumbs and the index fingers, and took large
mouthfuls out of it, opening the mouth to the fullest extent with extreme voracity. In the space of
three hours the whole fruit was consumed. Next morning the Bat was killed, and found to weigh one
ounce, half the weight of the food eaten in three hours ! Indeed, the animal when eating seemed to

be a kind of li^-ing mill, the food passing from it almost as fast as devc

eating being perfonned

* Ci/noplerus marginatus.

;;76 _ NATUBAl BISTORT.

alone for the sake of the jJeasure of eating." It is hardly fair, perhaps, to apply the character of this
[lisgnsting little gorniandiser to his whole species, but no doubt if the rest of his kind only approxi-
mate to his j)rowess, they must do incalculable miscldef in the plantations of fruit-trees. According to
Captain Hutton, these Bats travel long distances, as much as thirty or forty miles in search of food, and
back again the same night. This is most strikiui;ly shown in tli'ir fi(i|U(iiting the valleys of the Dehra
Doon and Nepaiil to feed on the giiavas growini; tlure, as tiny aii' iii\ ei seen in these localities during
the day, but arrive there during the fruit season about midnight, and ilepart again before morning. "To
reach Dehra," says Captain Hutton, " they must either cross the iSivalik i-ange of hills, from 3,000 to
3,500 feet high, or thread their way for miles through the passes leading into the Doon, though even
then we may ask with amazement how, when they are approaching the Sivaliks, they can tell that there is
fruit some twenty miles in advance of them ! To reach the valley of
Nepaul at 6,000 feet of elevation they must ascend and descend the
mountains ; and yet, wonderful to say, they penetrate no farther into
the hills, neither do they descend from the Doon to Mussooree, appa-
rently instinctively knowing that they will find no guavas farther in
the hills ! Almost equally astoni.shing is it that, ha\Tiig thus feasted
in the Doon and Nepaul, they should be able to find their way back
i^5J'ljl\\N.^ V\"^ again, through forests and hills, for thirty or forty miles to theii-

natural haunts in the plains." Caj)tain Hutton fully confirms Mr.
HEAD OF THE MABoiNEn FRi'iT BAT. Dobsou's Statements as to the gi-eediness of this Bat. He says that
one he had " in Calcutta in 1849 aj)peared to be almost incessantly
eating, resting onlv, even dtiring the day, for a short interval of sleep, and then recommencing upon
rijje guavas, as if it had not seen food for a fortnight."

WHITE'S FRUIT BAT.*
A series of peculiar species are inhabitants of the continent of Africa, from the Northern tropic to
ilie Cape of Good Hope. They have the muzzle rather elongated, the molar teeth three on eacli side
in the upper, and five on each side in the lower jaw, the base of the thumb united to the index finger
by membrane, and the tail very short and chiefly enclosed in the .small interfemoral membrane. The
males have tufts of divergent white hairs on the shouldere, whence the generic name of Epovwphorus,
applied to these Bats, has been dei'ived. The best-known species is the Upomophorus W/i iiii, a.n
inhabitant of We.stern Africa (Senegambia and Guinea), which measures about six and a half inches in
length, and has an expanse of wing of about eighteen inches. Its fur is reddish-brown above, and
greyish beneath; and both sexes present white spots at the base of the eai's.

THE HAMMER-HEADED BAT.f

A species presenting so gi-otesque an appearance tiiat it might almost have served as the original
of one of Callot's demons (see next page), was discovered some years ago in We.stern Africa, by
M. Du Chaillu, and described by Dr. Allen, of Philadelphia. It is allied to Epomophorus, but
differs from all other Pteropine Bats in the extraordinai-y size and shape of the head, which has
a hammer-like ajipearance, owing to the muzzle being enormously developed and cut oS" abruptly in
front, and the whole of this part of the animal is garnished with curious fieshy lobes, which give it a
most singular aspect. The length of the head and body is about twelve inches, and the expanse
of the wings twenty-eight inches. Of its habits nothing appears to be known.

THE HARPY BAT. J
The Harpy Bat {Harpyia ceplialofes), is a remarkable species, having a short and rounded head,
with the no,strils wide apart and somewhat tubular, and a very peculiar dentition, there being

* Epomoji/wrus Whitii. f Hi/psi'/nathus monstrosm. J Harptiia irpliahtcs.

TEE CLOAKED FRUIT BAT. ill

only two incisor teetli in the ujiper jaw, and none in the lower, while the upper jaw has only four and
the lower one six molars. This Bat, the Molucca Bat of Pennant and Shaw, inliabits the islands of
Celebes and Amboyna. It is nearly four inches in length, and has an expanse of wing of about
fourteen inches.

Mr. Dobson has recently described a second species of Harpy from Duke of York Ishmd,
iiiar New Guinea, which may be called the Greater Harpy Bat {Uarj.yin mujcr). It is niiicli

larger than the above species, and is especially "remarkable for the great length of the nasal tubes.
The general colour of the fur is pale buff.

- THE CLOAKED FRUIT BAT*
This is another very curious Bat which inhabits Amboyna, Vnit is also met with in Tmior
and Banda. It differs from all the preceding forme by wanting the claw at the extremity of the
iirst finger, and is fui-ther remarkable by ha-iong the wing-membranes springing from the middle hue of
the back, so as to form a complete mantle for the animal. In the form of the head, this Bat resembles
the tnie Pteropi, but the dentition approaches that of Harpyia, the incisors being usually two in each
jaw, and the lower ones sometimes deficient, and the molare four and six in the upper and lower jaws

• Ciph-:h,tfs rcronii.

-^

M 1'^^

273 NATURAL HIS TOUT.

respectively. This Bat is about six inches long, with an e.ipanse cf wing of rather more than two
feet. The colour of the fur in adult animals is generally olive-grey, often with a brownish tinge, and
the wing-membranes are lignt brown and translucent. The tail is shoi-t, and about half enclosed in
the interfemoial membrane.

THE DWARF LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT,*

The remaining forms of the Frugivorous Bats to which we have to refer constitute a peculiar .

gi'oup, characterised by having the tongue very long, thin, capable of being pn.shed far out of the

mouth, and covered with pecidiar recurved, brush-like papillfe, and the molar teeth very small and

scarcely raised above the surface of the gum (see figure below). From the great length of the tongue,

the name of Macroglossiis was apjilied by F. Cuvier to the first species of this gi-oup that was

discovered ; and, as it is the smallest species of the family, it received from its original deseriber the

specific name of minimus. The Macroylossiis minimus is, in fact, a mere dwarf in comparison with

the large Bats which constitute the majority of the Pteropidae, measiu'ing only from two and a

half to tlufp inelies in length, ^vith an expanse of wing of from eight to ten inches. The muzzle is

long and naiTOw, with the nostrils not prqjecting ; the index

finger has a claw at its tip ; the wing-membranes spring from

the sides of the body, and run down to the base of the fourth

toe ; and the tail is veiy short, free from the mterfemoval mem-

rane, but usually concealed beneath the fur. The colour of

the fur is reddish-brown. The tongue is said to be two inches

long. This little Fruit Bat occurs npon the Himalayas, at

Darjeling, and extends thence through Bui-mah and Siam to the

islands of the Eastern Ai-chipelago, and as fai- south as the

northern and western parts of Australia. According to Dr.

TEETH OF THE^D^^^.RP^Lo^•o-To^■Gl•ED Horsfield, this species, although far less abundant in Java

than the great K along, exists there in suflicient numbers to

inHict serious injury upon the plantations of frait-trees. It particularly afiects the most succulent

fruits, such as those of various species of Eugenia, kno\vn in Java as Jamboo. Piobably the

peculiar structure of the tongue has some connection-with this soft, juicy diet.

THE BLACK-CHEEKED FRUIT BAT.f
Among the Bats from Duke of York Island, north-east of New Guinea, lately described by Mr.
Dobson, there is a most chai-acteristic species of the long-tongued group, which may be called the
Black-cheeked Fi-uit Bat. It has the long thin tongue, armed with brush-like iiapillw, of Macro-
glossiis, the nostrds bounded at the sides by naked raised edges, the metacarpal bone of the middle
finger as long as the whole index finger, the wing-membranes starting from the sides of the body
and from the back of the middle toe. In the number of the teeth it agi-ees with Macroglossus, but
differs somewhat in the position of the pre-molars, the first of wluch are very small and placed close
to the canines, while the second and thu'd are separated from this and from each other by considerable
interspaces. We have no information as to the habits of this Bat, which is figiu'ed on the next page.

THE FIJIAN LONG-TONGUED FRUIT BAT.i
Tlic only other species of this group was described by the late Dr. Gray, under the name of
Nclopteris Macdonaldii, and it is interesting as reproducing the peculiar character presented by
Ceplittlotes of having the wing-membranes springing from the middle of the back. In the structure
of the tongue it agrees with Maa-oglossus ; but it has no claw on the first finger; its tail is
elongated : and it has only two incisors in each jaw, and four molars on each side in the upper,
and five in the lower jaw. This ciuious Bat is an inhabitant of the Fiji Islands.

* ilacroyloims minimus. f Melonycteris mdaiiops. j Notopteris Macdonaldii.

SUB-ORDER II.— MICROCHIROPTERA, OR INSECTIVOROUS BATS.
CHATTER III.

HORSESHOE KATS AND >.';GADERMS.

iNSECTlvoRors Bats — llr. Dobson's Objection to the Name— Cbaracteristics — Nasal Appendages— The Vespertiuonine
AND Emballoxuri.ve ALLIANCES- The Fur in the Two Alliances— The Horseshoe Bats— General Characteristics-
Distribution— Diet— Carnivorous Tropensities— Greater Horseshoe Bat -General Appearance— " Nose Leaves"—
H,abitat— The Lesser Horseshoe B.iT— Habitat— The Mourning Horseshoe Bat— The Austr.vlian Horseshoe
Bat— The Orange Bat— Phyllorhin.e— The Diadem Bat— Character of tlieir " Nose Leaves "—Captain Button's
Account of their Habits— The Persian Trident Bat— The Megaderms— The Lyre Bat— Characteristics— Calleii
Vampire by Europeans in India— Mr. Blyth's Account of a Megaderm's Blood-thirstiness— The CorDxVTE Leaf Bat—
The Ai'KicAN Megaderm— The Desert Bat.

The second sub-order of Bats — which inchide.? a much larger number of species, displaying a far
greater variety of characters than those which have hitherto occupied our attention — has I'eceived the
name of InseHivora, from the general nature of the diet of the animals composing it. Mr. Dobsoii
objects to this name, chiefly on account of there being already an order of Mammalia beai-ing the same
designation ; and he proposes to call these Bats Microchiroptera, in allusion to the small size of most
of the species in comparison with the majority of the PteropidiB. Moreover, although the tood of most
Cif these Bats consists exclusively of insects, some of them feed, at least partially, upon other vertebrate
I'uimals, and a few are known to eat fruit.

The Bats belonging to this second sub-order may be at once distin.guished by the structure of their
molar teeth, which are armed with acute tubercles, separated, more or less completely, by transveree
furrows. The ears also differ from those of the Pteropidre, in that the two margins of the conch start
from different points on the surface of the heatl, and, in a gi-eat number of cases, they are complicated
by a membranous lobe, springing from near their ba.se, or by a great development of the tragus, or
anterior lobe of the ear. The tail in these Bats is generally well developed, and the inde.x finger is
never terminated by a claw.

A considerable number of Insectivorous Bats of different families have their noses furnished (we

23-) NATURAL Hl.yTuJiV.

cannot say adorned) with curious leaf-like appendages, often of most complicated construction (see some
of t'ii3 ilkistrations), and these organs, as has already been stated, probably assist matei-ially in the
exert-'ise of that delicate sense of touch which supplements or takes the place of the power of vision h\
guiding the Bats in their obscure abodes. In general, the presence or absence of nasal appendages being
an exceedingly obvious character, has been adopted by zoologists as the means of classifying these Bats,
and the order has been commonly divided into two groups — the Istiophora, or those with a nose-leaf,
and tlio ftymnorhina, or Anistiophora, in which there is no such appendage. Mr. Dobson, who has
dcN'Hcil :i ur.-it deal of attention to the Cliiroptera, finds, however, that by following this system
Cfilaiu tViiiii^ are gi'ouped together which have little in common, whilst in other cases real affinities are
lost sight of, and he suggests another mode of division, which, for many reasons, appears to be the
most natural that has hitherto been projiosed. He ranges the families of his Microchiroptera in two
alliances, the leading characters of which may be briefly indicated as follows : —

In the fij'st, or Vesperiilionine alliance, so called from its including our common Bats (Vesper-
tUiones), the tail is generally long, never absent, and always entirely enclosed in the interfemoral
membrane, with the exception of the extreme tip, which projects a very little ; the pre-maxillary bones
are rudimentary, and the upper incisor teeth' which they carry small and weak ; and the first phalanx
of the middle finger is extended in repose in a line with the metacarpal bone.

In the second, or Einballonurine alliance, so called from one of the genera included in it, the tail,
which is frequently absent or short, exeeiit in two or three species, is not contained within the
interfemoral membrane, but has its extremity free, usually perforating the membrane and appearing on
its upper surface. The pre-maxillary bones are generally well developed, and the incisors large ;
and the first phalanx of the middle fuiger is folded forward in repose above or below the metacarpal
bone.

The chai-acter derived from the condition of the middle finger in repose seems to be regarded as of
the most importance by Mr. Dobson, who says that it is connected with differences in the habits of
the animals ; but those of the tail and incisor teeth will be most useful to the student in determining
to which alliance he is to refer his specimens ; and, although they are liable to exceptions in the second
gi'oup, will never both fail in the same individual.

A striking confirmation of the naturalness of this arrangement is to be found in the fact that even
the microscopic character of the fur differs in the two alliances. In the first,
the longer hairs of the fur when magnified show a series of scales, imbricated or
partly overlapping each other, something like the grains of com in the ear, ihe
tips, which are not acute or very prominent, forming a soi't of spiral line round the
surface of the hair (see Fig. a). In the second alliance, on the contrary, the scales —
which are smaller and narrowed, with acute and projecting tips — are arranged
in rings round the hair, giving it a somewhat jointed appearance (see Fig. b).
Mr. Dobson has examined the fur of a majority of the genera of these Bats, and
also submitted his specimens to the examination of Dr. J. D. Macdonald, F.R.S.,
" " and both these gentlemen find the difierences in the structure of the hair always

HAIRS or BAT.S, MArj- . , . ° , .,.,.,,

NiFiED. perfectly in accordance ^vlth the arrangement above indicated, with but two ex-

'^ ra"i cJ^J'Sfc Ba(f"7' '^^P*'^"'^^' °^^ °f them being a genus which really forms a sort of connecting
link between the two alliances, and the other having fur quite diflerent from
that of any other Bat, and in which the scales can hardly be distinguished.

VESPERTILIONINE ALLIANCE.

FA5IILY II.— EHINOLOPHID.i;, OR HORSESHOE BATS.

The Bats of this family are usually called Horseshoe Bats, from the circumstance that their noses
are furnished with leaf-like membranous appendages of rather complicated structure, the front part of
which is usually something like a horseshoe in its form (see figiu-e on next page). The nostrils ai-e situated
within this horseshoe, between it and the other parts of the nose-leaf, which vary considerably in their
shape and structure. • The middle finger has two phalanges, or joints, beyond the long metacarpal bone,

THE GREATER HORSESHOE SAT.

m hemisphere, of wliicli tJjey cliiefly iiduibit the

IE GREATEK HORSESHOE BAT

a character common to all the Bats of this alliance, vrith only a single exception : and the ears have no
trcKjnu. Throngiioiit the family there are two small incisor teeth in the npper jaw, and four in the
lower, and three true molars on each side in both jaws ; but the number of pre-molars varies, being
u.sually two on each side in the upper jaw, and either two or three in the lower; whilst in one curious
species the upper pre-molars are only one on each side.

The Rhinolophida are confined to the
rtarmer parts. They are generally insectivo-
rous in their habits, but some of the laigei
species are said to prey upon othei \ertebiate
animals, and not even to spare their smallei
brethren. Thus, Mr. Frith infoimed IMi
Blyth that " a number of these Bats weie m
the habit of resorting to the verandah of his
residence in Mymensing (Burmah), and that
every morning the ground undei them was
strewed with the hind-quarters of Fiogs and
. the wings of large Grasshoppers and (.'rickets
On one occasion the remains of a small hsh
were observed ; but Frogs appealed to con-
stitute their chief diet — never Toads, and ot
a quiet evening these animals could be dis
tinctly heard crushing the heads and smallei
bones of their victims."

Captain Hutton also states that various
.species of llhinolophida;, and some Vesper-
tilionidce* when confined with some smaller
species than themselves, will prey upon
them ; and he suggests that these carnivo-
rous propensities may be "the reason why the larger species keep aloof in pairs, instead of
congi-egating, as do some of the smaller kinds." In illustration of this suggestion he gives the
following interesting account of a cave frequented by Bats : — He says, " I know of an enormous cave
at Mussooree, to which various species, both large and small, are in the habit of inserting for rest and
concealment during the day. Standing within this spacious vault in the earliest hours, just Ijefoie the
first streaks of day appear, the spectator is perfectly astonished at the numbers of Bats resorting to it ;
not, however, in one promiscuous crowd, but in separate detachments, each seeking its own particular
quarter of the cavern, and alighting against the sides, at first within reach of a Butterfly-net, and
commence crawling upwards and backwards to spots beyond the reach of invasion from below. Here,
in one spot, will be-seen a pair of lihiHolophvs /nrhis-. li;iii;;iiig high up, and quite apart from all the
rest ; in another place hangs a pair of PhyUorhiiia anii.ijer, the large ears and the facial crests in
active tremulous motion as the head is turned in evefy direction to ascertain that no iutruilrr is nigh
its dwelling-place, until, this restlessness gi-adually passing off, the animal hangs at length ipiietly
susjiended by the feet. In another direction are a dozen or more of Rhinolophus niiuoi; rapidly
scramlJing all together, like a lot of crabs, u)) the inequalities of the rocky .surface, and hurriedly
disappearing into some deep, narrow crack or crevice ; while again, in another part, the same scene is
observed, as dozens of a very small species of Nycticejus {Scotophilus) scramble into similar hiding-
places, to rest in jieace until the hour for again emerging in search of prey calls them all forth once
more."

THE GREATER HORSESHOE BAT.f

Although, as already stated, most of the Horseshoe Bats inhabit warm countries, several species
are found in more temperate regions. One of these is the Greater Horses'ioe Bat [Rhinolophus ferrum-

* Rhinolophus tuctiig, Pht/Uorhina armiger, Nyctkejus luteus (=ScotopMlm Temminckii), MinwpUrw blepotis, and
Vespertilio Bl/ithii.

t Rhinofophi/gfei'ruvi-equinum.

252 NATUJIAL IIISTulir.

cqidiium, whicli occurs, altliougli not very aljundantly, in various parts of tlie South of England
He is a puffy and rather pursy-looking little fellow, with a head which appears full large for his
body. The length of his head and body is about two and a half inches, and that of hLs tail, which
is entirely enclosed in the interfemoral membrane, about an inch and one-third. His wings have
nn expanse of thu-teen or fourteen inches. The fur on the upper surface is reddish-grey, and on the
lower surface veiy pale gi-ey ; the membranes are of a dingy bro^vn colour, and the ears and nasal
appendages pale brown. The eai-s are large, broad at their attachment to the head, pointed and
turned oiitwards at the apex. From the outer margin ten or a dozen transverse furrows run
towards the middle of the ear. The outer margm, at its junction with the head, is also continuous with
n low rounded lobe* which bounds the aperture of the ear in front, and may be used to close the
riivity. Tlie nasal appendages, or "nose-leaves," are very curious and complicated (see figure, p. 281).

..\^Cv^^^>

ITie anterior, or horseshoe-shaped portion, lies longitudinally upon the nose, and is foi-med of three
concentric elevations, the innermost of which bounds the depression in which the nostrils are placed.
Between the nostrils arises the central process, the anterior portion of which forms a sort of cup,
behind wliich the process is slightly narrowed and excavated, but again widens before terminating
in a short but rather shai-p point. This point overhangs the third, or frontal leaf, wliich touches
the horseshoe portion, and is about as broad as the latter at their junction, and tapers up to a
point upon the forehead. The eyes, which are like little black beads, are placed on each side of the
junction of the horseshoe and the frontal leaf.

These curious structures are found with slight variations in all the .species of the genus
Rhiiioluphus, to which this Bat belongs. The nasal appendages vary somewhat in the form and
proportions of their parts, and the ba.sal lobe, or antitragus of the ears, is developed in different degrees
in various species, but theii- general character is always recognisable. Other marks by which the
species of this genus may be recognised are the presence of three joints in the first toe, the others
possessing only two, and the dentition, which includes the full number of teeth developed in the
family, namely, incisors, ^, canines, ^^ , pre-molars, 3^3 , molars, "l^^.

The Greater Horseshoe Bat lives chiefly in desei-ted quan-ies, old buildings, and natural caverns,

* To this lobe the name of " antitragus " has been given.

TME LESSER EOHSESHOE BAT. 233

and is said to frequent tlie darkest and most inaccessible parts of such excavations. Thus, Montagu
found it in company with the smaller species next to be described, iu '■ Kent's Hole," near Torquay,
" a retreat," says Mr. Bell, " so dark and gloomy, that no other species, even of this lucifugal family,
were found to frequent it." In such retreats it passes the winter in a torpid state, coming forth in the
spring to prey upon the insects which constitute its sole nourishment. It is said often to feed upon
chafers, but to eat only the body. That it does not disdam smaller game, however, appeal's from
Pennant's reecixl of its original discovery in England by Dr. Latham, who obtained it at Dartford, in
Kent, where, says Pennant, " they are found in greatest numbers in the .saltpetre houses belonging
to the powder-mills ; and frequent them during the evening for the sake of the Gnats which swarm
there. They have also been found during wintei", in a torpid state, clinging to the roof." Mr. James
Salter, in a communication to Mr. Bell, mentions his having caught one of these Bats on the 29th of
September, 1865, in so aj)propriate a locality as the "haunted room" at Tomsou Manor House,
Dorsetshire. It was flitting about the room when he went to bed, having entered by an open window.
" On the next three nights, which were still and calm," he says, " I saw numbers of (apparently) the
same Bats flj'ing around the house among a grove of sycamores. The flight was low, short, and
sluggish, both in the room and out of doors."

This Bat suckles its young, after the usual fiishion of Bats, at the two pectoral teats. Several
authoi's, and among others Geofl"roy, have maintained that the Horseshoe Bat, and indeed all the
species of the family to which it belongs, possess, besides the ordinary pectoral teats, a second pair
situated on the groin. This, howevei', is not the case, for the nipple-like appendages situated on
the groin in the females of this group have been proved to have no connection with any mammary
glands.

In England the Greater Horeeshoe Bat has been found in various localities in the southern
cciuities. Besides Dartford, where it was originally discovered in this country, Mr. Bell mentions
Margate, Rochester, and Bristol Cathedrals, Colchester, caverns at Clifton, and the Underclift' of th^-
Isle of Wight. On the continent of Europe it inhabits the whole of the southern and central parto
from Spain and Portugal in the west, to Greece and Turkey in the east, extending noi-thwards as far
as central Germany and southern Russia. In Asia it Ls found in Syria and Asia Minor, and ranges
thence eastwards to Nepaul and Mussooree; whilst in Africa it appeals to stretch from Algeria to the
Ca])e of Ciood Hope. Over this \\ide range, as might be expected, the species does not always display
precisely the same charactei-s, and variations of gi-eater or less importance have led to the establish-
ment of supposed distinct species; amongst others, the -Japanese Iihitioloj/hm nipjMii iaregavded by
Mr. Dobbou as identical with our Greater Horseshoe Bat.

THE LESSER HORSESHOE BAT.*

The Les.ser Horseshoe Bat, the second British species of this genus, was formerly regarded only
a'i a small variety of the preceding, and was first distinguished

by Colonel Montagu, who also first detected its occurrence in ,Jj^ ^i

England. It is about half an inch shorter than the Greater Horse- •''"'TV,,,-. . ^^

shoe Bat, and its expanse of whig is about nine inches. In general
aspect it resembles the larger species. The fur is equally soft and
full, and of the same colours, except that the upper surface is a little 5^^^^
browner, and the lower parts rather more tinged with yellow. In ^J?r
the ears the transverse furrows are scarcely perceptible, and the

basal lobe is rather larger in proportion. There are also some small, _ ;^..: \]'^

but constant, peculiarities in the structure of the nasal appendages.

The central leaf is less i)iominent and less cupped at the base than HE.to op lessee HonsssHOE p.ki.
ill. B. ferrum-equinum ; the frontal leaf is lance-shaped, and not

much dilated at the sides towards the base ; and the outer margin of the horseshoe is sligliti)
crenulate^l (see figure).

In its habits this kind seems to agree with the Greater Horseshoe Bat, As alisady iasn>

' Ic'iinolop'ius hipposiderss.

284 NATURAL HISTORY.

tioned, tlie two species were taken together by Montagu in " Kent's Hole," clinging in considerable
niunbers to the vaulted roof of the interior apartments. It was first discovered by him in
rather a singular situation, namely, a hole over a baker's oven, which it had entered through a
fissure. He afterwards found it in a dark shed surrounded by tall trees, at Lackham, in Wiltshire.
In the second edition of Mr. Bell's " British Quadrupeds " there is an interesting account of the
manners of this specie.?. The writer mentions the occuiTence of the Lesser Horseshoe Bat in two
localities in Warwickshii-e, one of these being the roof of the neglected mansion of the iEarquis of
Hertford at Kagley, near Alcester. Numbers of Long-eared Bats were found, chiefly in paii-s, in holes
in the massive timbers, but" although several of the Horseshoe Bats were seen flitting in the deep
gloom, broken only by an occasional gleam of light through some small crevice, and by our lighted
candle, yet a careful search was for some time unrewarded by the discovery of a single individual in
its resting-place. A great accumulation of excrement around a huge central stack of chimneys at
length attracted attention, and a long stick, thrust upwards in a narrow opening between the chimneys,
soon dislodged several of these Bats, which were caught as they descended, and before they were well
on the wing, after which pursuit proved iLseless. Some of these examples being at various times
liberated in a room, exhibited extraoi-dinary powers of flight. One of them displayed in its search for
a means of exit an ability which was quite extraordinary. It literally flew into every part of the
room, and behind and under everything, even under a bookcase standing against a wall, although there
was scarcely a space of three inches between it and the floor .... it flew into a vacancy
occasioned by the removal of a moderate octavo volume, without having so much as touched anything
with the tips of its wings." In examining the window this Bat searched every pane inch by inch, its
wings while thus occupied being " kejit in .a vibratory state, the face of the animal being directly in
front of the glass, and very near to it, as if looking out of window." The impression produced on the
observers was that the animal was "feeling its way about like a blind person ;" but "at the same tune
its shyness when approached sufiiciently testified that its organs of sight were by no means inactive."
In order to rest, instead of adhering like most other Bats against some object by means of its claws,
it always sought for something from which it could hang freely. According to Dr. Leach this Bat
is easily tamed, but is fond of concealing itself.

Besides the English localities already mentioned, the Lesser Horseshoe Bat is found not unfro-
quently at Cirencester and in some parts of Ireland. Professor King obtained it in Galway ; and
from the statements of Mr. Foot and Professor Kinahan it ap-
pears to be the commonest Bat in some parts of County Clare.
Its European distribution is much the same as that of the
preceding species, but it seems to extend rather fai-ther to the
north. It is also found in the Caucasus and in South-we.stem
Siberia. North African specimens are said to be paler in
colour than European.*

THE MOURNING HORSESHOE BAT.t

Other species of Rhinolophus are met with chiefly in India
and the Asiatic Islands. One of the most striking of them,
and indeed the largest species of the geniis, measuring more
than three and a half inches in length, is the Mourning Horse-
shoe Bat {Rhinolophus hictus, see figxire), an inhabitant of the
higher grounds of India, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippine Islands. This Bat is remarkable for
the great development of the nasal appendages, the central leaf being expanded on each side into a lobe
neai'ly as long as the central ascending portion, the horseshoe very large, so as to project beyond the
Mjjper lip, and the frontal leaf so long as to ascend between the ears. The latter organs are also of

* Besides the two species found in Britain, two others inhabit southern Europe, the Levant, and Northern Africa, namely,
RlunoJophus euri/alc and R. Blasii, the latter often described under the name of R. divosus. Both these species are nearly
allied to the English Horseshoe Bats.

t Rliiiiolophiis liictus.

MOLKNP^G HORSESHOE BIT

TEE AUSTSALIjy HORHESEOE BAT.

gi-eat size, and ha^•e a large Ijasal lobe (aiititragus) separated fiom the outer margin of the ear by a
deep angular notch. The far is very long and thick, and usually black with grey tips, so that the
sjiecies appeal's to be in mourning, whence its specific name ; it is, however, subject to considerable
variation in tliis respect, some specimens being reddish-brown. Captain Hutton, who resided for a
considerable time at Mussooree, lias described the habits of this Bat, which he found in the Himalayas
up to an elevation of 5,500 feet, where it was " hanging from the roof of an outhouse, looking, with its
ample black wings folded round it as a cloak, somewhat like a large black cocoon." He says that it com-
mences its flight rather early in the evening, and generally keeps at about twenty or thirty feet from the
gi-ound, wheeling, with a somewhat heavy and noi^less flight, around buildings and large trees in
seai-ch of small Moths and other insects. He adds that he has taken them from the roofs of outhouses
and from wide caves in limestone rosks, and that they seem generally to live in pairs and not in com-
munities, although several pairs miy be found in a large cave. At Mussooree they fly only during the

warmer months, and remain in a semi-torpid state during the winter, but Captain Huttoii suggests
that in the warmer climates of Sikkim and the Khasia hills they may be active all the year round
Another smaller species with a similar central nose-leaf has been described under the name of R. tri-
foliatus ; it is an inhabitant of the eastern coast of India, Java, and Borneo. These two species form
the genus Afpdcm of the late Dr. Gray.*

THE AUSTRALIAX HORSESHOE BAT.t

A single species of Rhinolophus occurs ill Australia, having been obtained from caverns on the

Mun-umbidgee River, and also near Richmond River in New South Wales. It has pale mouse-coloured

fur. The ears are large, with long basal lobes, and the nasal appendages are larger than in the

European species, the frontal leaf being lance-shaped and long, and the horseshoe rather deeply

• The commonest of the numerous Eastern tpecies of the genus are Pearson's Horseslioe Bat (B. Pearsnnii), which has
a very large nose-leaf and greatly developed ear lobes, and is found throughout the lofty hill-countries from the Himalayas
to the mountains of Bumiah and China ; Roux's Horseshoe Bat (R. affinw), which varies in colour from orange-brown to
greyish-brown, and is found among the hills all over India, and in Ceylon. Burmah, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo ; and the
Dwarf Horseshoe Bat {R. mimr), only about one inch and three-quarters in length, whicli occurs in Burmah, Yunnan, Java,
Sumatra, Borneo, and Japan. Several varieties of the last two species have been described as distinct forms.

+ Bhinoinphus mfyajphi/llus.

286 NATURAL HISTORY.

notched in front. In allusion to the large size of the nose-leaves this species has been called R.
megaphyllds.

THE ORANGE BAT*
Another Australian species of Leaf-niJsed Bat, belonging, however, to a dLstinct genus, of which,
indeed, it is the sole representative, is the Orange Bat {Bhinoni/cieris aurantia, see p. 285). This species,,
which is about two inches long, is clothed with a soft fur, which, in the male, is of a bright oiange.
colour, and in the female pale yellow. This coloration is exceedingly remarkable in an animal oi
nocturnal habits, as these are generally rather sombre in theu' tints. The nose-leaf ha the Orange Bat
is somewhat similar in its character to that of the true Ehbiolophi, but in its other peculiarities this
Bat is rather related to those which we shall next have to describe, and thus forms a sort of transition
between the two gi-oups. It has the toes equal, and composed of only two phalanges, a character which
distinguishes it from the preceding species ; whilst its resemblance to them in the structure of the nose-
leaf serves to separate it from its following allies. The teeth resemble those of Khinoluphus. In
repose the tail and interfemoral membrane are generally turned back, which ajipears to be the case in
some at all events of the following species. This species inluilnts Northern Australia, and is espe-
cially abundant on the Coburg peninsula. It reposes during the day in hollow spouts and holes of the
gum-trees.

THE DIADEM BAT.f
Whilst the EhinolopJii are chiefly inhabitants of elevated localities, especially in tropical regions,
the members of the second large geiius of Horseshoe Bats (Phyllorhina) for the most part frequent the

plains and lower hills of the
¥/ iS*'^ ^ .^it'^'i "-iime countries. The most de-

li iiite character sejiarating the
rhi/Ilorhhue from the Rhino-
lojjhi is the presence of only
two phalanges (joints) in all
(.lie toes of the hind feet, the
hvst toe in Ehinolophus having
tliree such joints. The nose-
leaf consists of a horseshoe and
of two other portions, which,
however, differ considerably
m form from those of Rhino-
lojjhusj the anterior portion
l>eing horseshoe-shaped, but not notched in front, the intermediate jiart not forming a prominent pro-
cess, but broad and heart-shaped, and the posterior part broad, erect, and concave in front. The number
of teeth is the same as in Rhinolophus, except in one species {P. tridens), which has only a single
premolar on each side in the U2)per jaw. Fourteen species of this genus are cited by Mr. Dobson as
inhabitmg the East Indies and the islands of the Eastern Ai-chipelago, and one of them, the Diadem
Bat {Phi/llorfiina armigera), which is found among the mountains of Northern India, extends its
range as far north as Amoy in China. The characters of the nose-leaf in this species will be seen
from the annexed figui-es, which show strikingly the great complexity of this curious apparatus.
Behind the nose-leaf is the aperture of a peculiar sac situated in the forehead, which is characteristic
of many species of the genus, and which can be turned out like the finger of a glove at the pleasure of
the animal, and the surface of which secretes a waxy .substance. Its centre bears a tuft of straight
hairs, the tips of which project from the orifice when the sac is drawn in. The Diadem Bat is rather a
large species, the head and body measuring from three and a half to four inches in length, and the
expanse of the wings being about two feet. Its general colour is light brown, darker on the upper
surface, where the hairs are ringed with three colours — pale sepia at the base, then grey, then dark
sepia, with the extreme tips a little paler.

II LID Ol THE MILE

THE I'JiJiSIAiX TRIBEXt BAT. 287

Tlie late Oaptam Hutton has given an account of the haliits of this species an observed by hiiu at
Mussooree, where specimens were captured at elevations of 5,500 and 6,000 feet above the sea-level.
At the latter elevation a pair resided in a loft, from wliicli they issued every evening about dusk, r.nd
flew with a slow, deliberate flight roiuid the house, from which they never departed to any great dis-
tance. They did not remain on the wing long at a time, but retu-ed at intervals to their dwelliug-place
in the loft. The same WTiter describe.s these Bats, which seem to emerge from their concealment very
early in the evening, as leisurely wheeling with noiseless flight round some wide-spreading oak, attracted
by the loud discordant note of a large Cicada, which is abundant during the rainy season, and only
pours forth its clamorous evening song just as the sun begms to dip below the horizon. " It is during
this dreadfully harsh concert," he adds, " when almost every tree sends forth its stunning notes, that
this Bat emerges from its hiding-place, wheeling round and roiind the trees, scanning each branch as he
slowly passes by. now rising to a higher circle, and then descending towards the lower branches, until
at length, detecting the unfortunate minstrel, it darts suddenly into the tree, and snatching the still
screaming insect from its perch, bears it away."

In capti\ity, according to Captain Hutton, the large ears of this animal are kept in i constant,
rapid, tremulous motion, and the creature emits a low purring sound, which is exchanged for a sharp
squeak when it is alarmed or in-itated. When it is suspended iii a resting attitude the tail and inter-
femoral membrane are tm-ned up, not in fi-ont, as usual in Bats, but behind, upon the lower part of the
back In tliis species and its allies Captain Hutton further noticed that when they are disturbed
" the whole of the facial crests are kept in a state of constant agitation ; and as the animal hangs
suspended by the feet, the head and muzzle are stretched forth, and turned about in every direction,
as if for the purpose of sniiBng out the presence of danger, and ascertaining the cans? of the dis-
turbance."*

THE PER.'^IAN TRIDENT BAT t
Under this name ^Ir. Dobson describes a very lemaikable sp..^t.ies of thi'i funil) m

nasal appendages seem to attain the extren\e of complexity

(see figure). The ears also are of very peculiar constniction. '

This is a small species, about two and a quarter inches long,

and of a pale buff colour, specimens of which weie obtained

at Shiraz in Persia at an elevation of about 4,750 feet above

the sea. Its nearest ally, curiously enough, is to be found, ac-
cording to Mr. Dobson, in the Australian Orange Bat (B/iiiw-

iujcieris auranfia).

Frith's Short-tailed Bat (Cielops Frithii) is a still moie

remarkalile species, single specimens of which have been ob

tiiined from the Sunderbunds and from Java. It is most neailv

allied to the PhyUorhhvx, but has the lior,seshoe part of the

nose-leaf composed of two notched pieces, the front lobes of w hich

cover the base of two long hanging leaflets, the tail short, the

interfemoral membrane deeply excavated, and the index fingei unusu dh long, and composed

of the metacarpal bone.

* Other common Eastern species are the Masked Leaf Bat (Pliijllorhina larrata), which occurs in Bengal, Further India,
Siam, and Java ; the Bicolorous Leaf Bat {P. hirolor), which inhabits India, China, and many of the Eastern island's ; and
the Indian Horseshoe B.^t (P. spcoris). an abuu.lint f-i n; in r. i,ti i! im' S'.nili, i n India .and in Ceylon, and which has also
been met with in Burmaln A single specie.s (P. ^' ' , ; . : n l.ldti. It is very nearly related to the last-

n.amed Indian form, if not merely a variety of it. \ _ / ... inhabits North Australia, where it has

been met with at Cape York, and in sandstone c;i\. rii> in AIImnj 14, mi It i^ ji.,nit two inches long; .above, tawny-brown,
darker on the face, he.ad, and shoulders : below, paler, with a grey tiuge on the belly. Several species of the genus inhabit the
w,anner parts of Africa, and one of these [P. tridens), a small species, only two inches in length, an inh.ibitant of Egypt and
Nubia, has the posterior nosedeaf divided into three teeth towards the forehead, a character which it displays in common with
an Indian species {P. Stoiickanc). and another from Amboyna and Batchian, of still more diminutive proportions. A distinct
genus Uscllia) has been proposed for the reception of these Bats. The hirgest species of the genus conies from Guinea and
the Gold Coast, on the west coast of Africa. It is nearly five inches in length, and has received the name of Phyllorhma gigOS.
It is associated with two or three smaller species, and two or three others occur in Southern and Eastern Africa.

t Triwnopi persicus.

11

NATUIiAL EIS70RY.

This extraoi-clinary little creature,

FAMILY III.— NYCTERID^.
The development of peciiliar nixsal appendages for which the RhiaolopJiiJa' are remarkable is still
more striking in some species of another family, the membei-s of which were formerly included in the
preceding. In these Bate (the Nycterklce of Mr. Dobson) the ears are enormously developed, mem-
branous, and united either by a poition of their inner margins, or by
a transverse band of membrane, the tragus or eurlet is greatly de-
veloped, and the middle finger contains two phalanges.*

The«species inliabit the wanner jiarts of the Old World.

THE LYRE BAT.f
The extraordinary development of the ears and of the mem-
branous appendages of the nose is greatest in the species of this
genus, which has in consequence been denominated Megaderma, two
of which inhabit tropical Asia, whilst two occur only in the warmer
parts of Africa.

Of all the species the most abundant and best known is the
Lyre Bat {Meyciderma lyra, see figure), which is found with but \
IE LVKE i!AT. little variation in its characters throughout continental India, from

Cashmere to Cape Comorin, and also in the adjacent island of Ceylon,
v^hich measures only about three and a half inches in length, and is
of a slaty blue colour, paler beneath, has its ears considerably longer than its head, and imited for
nearly half the length of their inner margins, and the earlets (tragi) very long, divided at the end into
two parts, one of which, the posterior, is pointed, and a good deal longer than the other, which is
i-ounded off at the end. The ears are, in fact, about half the length of the head and bod\ The nos&-
leaf starts from a nearly circular base, lying hoi-izontally upon the muzzle and uses like a soit of strap
more than half an inch long, the front surface of which lias a projecting iidgc lunning u]) it'^ middle,
and corresponding to a deep groove on the posterior surface. The
nostrils are situated in the concavity of the basal disc from which
the nose-leaf springs. In this and the other species of Meyculerma
there are no incisor teeth in the upper jaw (see figure), the inter-
maxillary bone itself, wliicli ought to bear these teeth, being repre-
sented only by a cartilaginous piece, which fills up the space between
the canines ; and the tail is exceedingly short, and contained in the
basal part of the intei-fen.oral membrane, which is large, and has its
hinder margin concave, and not pointed as in most Bats.

The great size of the ears and nasal appendages in these Bats
has led Europeans in India to give them the name of Vampires, as
they agi-ee in these particulars with the tnie Vampii-e Bats of South teeth of the lyue hat.

America, and the name is certainly better applied to them than to

the frugivorous Pteropidte, which are sometimes called Vampires even by zoologists. It is, liowever,
a singular fact that in both the.se gi-oups the extraordinary developments of membrane about the head
should be proved to co-exist with more bloodthii'sty habits than ai-e common to the Bats generally.
It does not indeed appear to be absolutely made out that Meyculerma lip-a condescends to partake of
that insect, diet which contents so many of its fellows. As Mr. Dobson remarks, " The very
peculiarly-shaped, elongated, narrow muzzle and large trenchant canines, with acutely-pointed basal
cusps (see figure) of this and of the other species of Meymhrma, the projecting mandible and
divided lower lip, so difterent from all Insectivorous Bats, naturally lead us to suspect corresponding

* This character is ,of special importance here, as serving to di.stmgiiish t
af Leaf-nosed Bats belonging to the second principal group cf Miorochiropteri
t Meijaderma lyra.

: Jlegaderms from the species of another family

rilE LYRE BAT.

289

differences iu habits." And lie goes on to say tliul. in examining the stomacli and intestines of
niunerovis specimens of the piesent species, he always found them either perfectly empty or filled with
a pultaceous matter, in which no remains of insects were to be recognised. Mr. Hodgson, however,
found insects iu the specimens examined by him. But whether it contemns insects or not, an ob-
servation made by the late Mr. Blyth suffices to prove that higher forms of animal life, and indeed
its own near- relations, are exposed to its attacks. The account
given by Mr. Blyth is so interesting that, although rather long,
we may give it entii-e : —

"Chancing one evening," he says, "to observe a r.ithei
large Bat enter an outhouse, from which there was no othci'
egress than by its doorway, I was fortunate in being able to
procure a light, and thus to proceed to the capture of tlie
iinimaJ. Upon finding itself pursued, it took three or four
turns round the apartment, when down dropped what at the
moment I sujiposed to be its young, and which I deposited in
my handkerchief After a somewhat tedious chase, I then
secured the object of my pursuit, "wliich proved to be a fine
female of Mer/rulerma lyra I then looked to the other B-it ueah of the khihati; i.tAr hat.

^\hlch I had picked up, and, to my con&ideiable suipii^e,

found it to be a small Ve'^peitdio neiilv ilhed to the Pipistrelle of Eiirope, wliich is exceedingly
ibundant, not onl> \aie 1 ut \\<\ iirutK thuiu^diout India Tin- iiHli\ i'liial now referred to was feeble
iiom loss of blood wliidi it w is i_\iiltiit tlie Megadeima had l.rcn sucking fi-om a large and still
bleeding wound undei iiid behind the tai , and the ^eiy obviuusly suctuiial form of the mouth of
the Vampue was of itself sufficient to hmt the stiong piobability of such being the case. During
the very short time that elapsed befoie I enteied the outhouse, it did not appear that the depredator
had once alighted, and I nii sitistipd tint it siuki d the Mtal fluid from its victim as it flew, having

(1 it on the wing, and that it was seeking a quiet
iiii^ht de\our the botly at its leisure. I kept both
1 till II t morning, when, procuring a convenient
lit 111 ill Jliyaderma ; and after observing it for
111 tun 1 I I I I 1 till other Bat with it. No sooner was the
I ti I I I i\ I thin the other fastened upon it with the ferocity
t 1 li^ I 1^ an sn/mg it behind the ear, and made several eflbrts
to flj otl with it but finding it must needs stay within the pre-
cincts of it^ cage, it soon hung by the hind legs to the wires of its
jiiison, and aftei sucking its victim till no more blood was left,
commenced de-\ouiing it, and soon left nothing but the head and
some portions of the limbs."

Accoidmg to Ml Jerdon, the Lyre Bat frequents old liuild-
ings, pagodas, loofs of houses, and caverns, and is very abundant
m the inueimost chambers of the cave temples of Ellora and
Ajdnta The same wiiter states that it has been known to eat
Frogs and fish indeed, Mr. Blyth also charges it with a particular
fondness for Frogs, and says that on quiet evenings the Bats may be distinctly heard crunching the
skulls and smaller bones of their amphibious victims.*

The other Oriental species, the Cordate Leaf Bat (Megaderma spasma, see figure), very nearly
resembles the preceding, both in colour and in general characters, but the posterior division of the
earlet is lai-ger and more acutely pointed, the nose-leaf, although similar, is shorter, and has the sides
convex, and its concave basal disc is considerably larger. This species is an inhabitant of the whole
Malayan region, of Ceylon, Java, Simiatra, Borneo, Celebes, Temate, and the Philippine Islands.

* See also some general remarFs on the supposed carnivorous propensities of the Minohphidic, p. 281.

ll l\ s.
vlni,
lis s, I
1 tlls-

MEG \PEKM

NATURAL RISTOET.

THE AFRICAN MEGADERM*
The best known African species {Megaderma from) is an inhabitant of the west coast of that
continent, where it is found in Senegal and Guinea. In this Bat tlie ears and nasal appendage (see
p. 289) attain even a greater development than in Megaderma lyra ; the earlet is very long, especially
the posterior division of it ; the ears are united by theii- inner margin for about half theii- length ; and
the fur is of an ashy colour, with a faint yellowish tinge. A second African Megade.rma has been
described by Professor Peters under the name of Meyadfrma cor ; it is from Egypt, and somewliat

resembles M. spasma
M. frons.

the form of its nose-leaf, but

spects

is more nearly related to

THE DESEKT BAT.f

At the first glance, the Desert Bat would seem to have but little to do with the Megaderms, but
its general organisation is very similar. The nose-leaf — the striking charac-
teristic of the head in the Megadenns — is entirely wanting, unless indeed
we may, with Professor Gei"vais, regard the groove which runs up the face
from the nose to the forehead as really representing a sunken nose-leaf.
This groove, or furrow, is a deep depression, increasing both in width
and depth as it runs backwards, and is of such extent as to leave traces of
its existence even on the underlying bones. In its posterior part the floor
of the depression is divided lengthwise by a narrow ridge, and its sides
are margined, as far back as the eyes, with peculiar horizontal cutaneous
appendages. It is thus, evidently, a somewhat difl'erent manifestation of
the tendency towards a peculiar development of the cutaneous system in
the neighboiu-hood of the nose which we have seen to be characteristic
of the Ehinolophidfe and Megadei-ms, and no doubt subserves the
same purpose in the economy of the animal as the external nasal appendages of those Bats.

The ears are large, and united across the forehead by a sort of membranous band ; the tail is

Megaderma frons.

f Nycteris ththaica.

THE DESERT BAT. 291

long, and contained within the interfemoral membrane; and the intermaxLlUu-y bones are present, and'
T'ear four incisor teeth. In the lower jaw there are six incisors. The canines, as in Megadermu, are
iargy iui..l iiowerful; tliere is a single pre-molar on each side iji the upper, and two in the lower jaw, and
the true molars are three on each side in both jaws.

These characters are common to all the species of the genus Nycteris. most of which are
inhabitants of the continent of Africa. The Desert Bat (iV. tkebaica) is found in the desert regions
of Egypt and Abyssinia, and receives its name from its occuiTence in the Thebaid, that desert
the caves of which gave shelter to so many hermits in early Christian times. It is a small Bat, the
length of its head and body being about two and a half inches. Its ears are longer than the head,

and the tail is about as long as the body, and enclosed within an ample interfemoral membrane, which
is stretched on each side by a long heel-spur. The fur is of a grey colour.*

These Bats possess an exceedingly curious foculty, namely, the power of inflatuig the skin with
air. The skin adheres to the body only at certain points, where it is connected by a loose areolar
tissue, and the spaces thus left can be filled with air at the pleasure of the animal, through the large
cheek-pouches, which have an opening at the bottom, and thus communicate with the spaces under the
loose skin. When the animal chooses to iniiate its skin it fills its lungs with air, and then, closing the
mouth and nostrils, and contracting the chest, forces the air through the openings in the cheek-pouches
under the skin. Its return is prevented by .sphincter muscles, with which the above-mentioned
apertures are provided, and also by large valves on the neck and back. By this means the Bat has the
power of inflating its skin to such an extent as to resemble, according to Geoffroy, " a balloon with
wings, a head, and feet attached to it." Geoffroy compares this condition of things with that of the
fish of the genus Tetmodoii, which also have the power of inflating theii- skins with aii-. but adds that.

'-' Other describeJ African species are JV. capcmis (Smith) : N. macrntis (Dobson) ; J^. Jiispida (Schreber) ; and N. grandis
(Peters). The only species found out of Africa is the Javanese Desert B.at (N. jamnim).

-y^ NATURAL ULSTOkY.

"more fortunate than the Tetraodoii, which can only return to its original condition by becoming a
mere inert mass on the surface of the water, the Bat preserves all its faculties, or; what is better-,
increases their energy by becoming lighter and capable of more lapidity in flight." This supposed
advantage is at least questionable.

CHAPTER IV.

FAMILY IV.— VESPERTILIONID.E, OR TRUE BATS.

The Genus Vospertilio and the Family Vespertilionidse— Characteristics : Nostrils — Tail — Ears— Dentition — Diet— Distribu-
tion Long-eared Bat— Ears— Distribution — Asleep— In Captivity— Barbastelle — Characteristics — Distribution —
Habits— Flight— In Captivity— BiG-EAHED Bat— Townsend's Bat- The Genus iV2/c(op/i«7»i— Its true place-Charac-
teristics—Geoefeuy's Nyctophile-Pipistrelle— Distribution— Diet— NoCTUi.E-Natural Food —Mr. DanielVs Obser-
vations—Serotine— Parti-coloured Bat— Hairy-aemed Bat— Negro Bat— Kiuil'.s Bat — Nilsson's Bat —
CoROMANDEL Bat— Thick-eooted Bat — Temminck's Bat— Welwitsch's Bat— New Zealand Bat — Mouse-
coloured Bat— Natterer'.s Bat— Daubenton's Bat— Whiskered Bat— Black and Orange Bat— Painted Bat —
Harpy Bat— Ked Bat— Schreibkes' Bat— Brown Pig-Bat— Straw-coloured Bat.

LlNN^us, in his " Systema Naturse," united all the Bats kiiown to him (with the exception of a
single species, which, by a curious perversion of judgment he referred to a distinct genus, and placed
in quite a different order) under the single genus Vespertilw. Later writers, finding it necessary, as
their knowledge of these animals increased, to divide the Bats into many genera, have gradually, as
it were, cut off portions of the old Linnsean genus and given them new names, always retaining the
' old name for the group which might be considered to include the most typical forms of the original
genus Vespertilio, the ordinary Bats of European countries. Of these, only two are noticed in the
last edition of the work of the gi-eat Swedish naturalist, and even these are now refeiTed to two
-distinct genera, and the generic name of Vesperlilio is now retained by only one of the few species
-with which Linnoeus was acquainted. The genus, however, as at present restricted, contains a great
number of sj)ecies, all of which present the characters of what may be called an average Bat, forming,
-as it were, the centre (or part of the centre.) round which the other groups forming the order may be
ideally arranged, and hence it very appropriately bears the old name Vespertilio, as Bat par excellence,
constitutes tlie type of the family Vespertilionidae, and gives its name to the Vespertilioniue
alliance. In point of fact the genus Vespertilio and the family Vespertilionid* may be regarded as
«^ the ideal centre of the whole order. As in other groups of the .same

^T^v^^^ kind the number of species contained in the femUy is very considerable,

/ rji TjNrtr^_ and their structural differences are generally minute, these, indeed, being

„„,/ (i^^'T^Y^--/^ *''® characteristics usually presented by what are called typical groups,
^"^ " " ^ the study of which is on this account attended with peculiar difficulties.

/- '^ " ■^ Except in one Australian genus (Nyctophilus), which has been

^ removed here from among the Megaderms by MM. Tomes and Dobson,
the nostrils in the Vespertilionidse are simple round or crescentic
apertures placed at the extremity of the muzzle, and not sun-ounded by
leaf-like appendages. The tail is always long, contained in the mem-
brane between the legs, which it traverses from base to aj)ex, usually

leaving a single ioint projecting beyond the membrane : the ears are
MMiiiDN "i THE THICK legged » SJ I J a J ,„.,,

my of moderate or large size, are generally separate, and are furiushed

with large tragi. With regard to the teeth, the upper incisors are
separated in the middle by a wide space and placed close to the canines. The number of incisor
teeth in the upper jaw varies, being generally four, standing in pairs in the pre-maxillary bones,
but in some species there is only one incisor on each side, and this difference may not be associated
■with any other characters sufficient to justify the generic sei)aration of the species. The lower in-
cisors arc almost always six in number ; one genus only has four. The canines are of moderate

BKITISH BATS AT HOME.

THE lOXG-EAHET) BAT. 293

length and strength. The pre-moUirs again are exceeilingly variable ; there may lie three or two en
each side in both jaws, or one on each side in the upper and two in the lower jaw, but the occurrence
of two above and three below is very rare. As a rule, when there are more than one pre-molar on
each side in the upper jaw, the hindmost of them which is close to the true molars is larger than
the one or two nearer the canine (see ligiu-e, p. 292), and the latter are often inserted within the line
of the row of teeth. The true molars are three on each side in both jaws ; they are well -developed,
and show the characteristic sharp W-shaped cusps veiy distinctly.

The VespertOionidoe are all, so for as is known, strictly insectivorous in their habits. They are
found generally distributed throughout the temperate and warm regions of both hemispheres. It is to

this family that nearly all the European Bats belong, and it includes all the British species, except ths
two Horseshoe Bats which have been ah-eady described.

THE LONG-EARED BAT.*
This common British species is known by the large size of the ears, which are united by
their inner margins over the middle of the crown of the head. Hence this group, the Flecoti of
authors, may be regarded as naturally forming a sort of stepping-stone from the Megadei-ms, with their
extravagant dermal developments, to the more commonjilace " Vespertiliones." In the Long-eared
Bat this character is very striking, the ears being nearly seven-eighths as long as the head and
body. The organs are quite thin and membranous, resembling those of the Megaderms already
described, and they are traversed longitudinally by three thin threads oi cartOage, which apparently
sei-ve by their elasticity to sujiport the ears in an erect posture. From the middle thread of cartilage

11*

291

KATUKAL HDSTURY.

the inner margin of the e.ir is bent in, fornung a sort of ibkl. A little above the bass there is on each
ear a small lobe, so i)laoed that when the ears are erect these lobes touch each other. The outer
margin of the ear ends opposite the base of the tragus, which is very long, tapering upwards. The
tail, which is nearly as long as the head and body, is contained, all but the extremity of the last
vertebra, in the ample interfemoral membrane, along the posterior margin of which the spurs extend
fully half-way from the heel to the tip of the tail on each side. The fur in the Long-eared Bat is long,
thick, and soft ; the haii-s are blackish at base, tipped above with brown, with a reddish or greyish
tinge, which appears to vary with the age of the individuals, and beneath with pale brownish-grey.
All the membranes are dusky, usually with a reddish or brownish tinge. The head and body in this

species measure about one inch and five-
sixths in length, and the tail is about one-
sixth of an inch shorter. Its expanse of
wing is ten inches.

This Bat occurs in nearly ail parts of
Eui-ope and in North Africa, extending
eastwards throughout Central Asia, but
ajjparently not south of the Himalayas.
Specimens from Northei'n Africa, even up
to the fifth Cataract of the Nile, and from
the desert regions about the Mediterranean
and Caspian Seas, are described as having
the fur paler and more ashy in colour, and

I-SBk» • --.i^K \U ^ss^ n H - ' *''^ membranes also paler than those from

%i. i^^^^^i-i '^[j^^^ il^ I more humid localities.

FL^^^M^^x4,3ii>_ ^l^^yl^^ // i '^® Long-eared Bat Ls common, and

/ iMal't 'i « -~^ -— -«^H^HI^^iia«n^Q_e^ / pi'etty generally distributed in Britain, but

is not so abundant or so well known as
some other species. This may, perhaps,
be in part due to the fact that it is a
nocturnal species, coming abroad later than
its fellows, and continuing on the wing in
pursuit of the moths, which appear to con-
stitute its chief prey, during the whole of
the night. " At all hours," says Mr. Bell,
" through the dead of the night, and in the
darkest nights, in the open fields or elsewhere, wj have heard the shiill chatter of the Long-eared Bat
over our heads, its voice, once known, being easily recognised from that of any other species." Mr.
Bell suggests, what may probably be true, that the great development of the ears in this (and probably
other species) may be connected with the habit of flying late at night. It chiefly frequents the open
country, taking up its aliode in the roofs of tiled houses, especially in country villages, in which
situations the Bats pass the day during the siuumer, suspended in clu.sters from the walls and timbers
by the claws of their hind feet, and the whole winter cosily packed between the tiles and in various
holes and corners. It also exhibits a predilection for chui-ch towers. When sleeping, the long delicate
ears are not generally left exposed, but are folded down under the wings, where they are carefully
tucked away. This is commonly the case when the Bat has settled down for its day's sleep, and
always occurs during lubernation. When the ears are thus disposed of, the earlets or tragi still
project from the head, giving the little creature the appearance of possessing only a pair of short
pointed ears (.see figure).

In capti\'ity the Long-eared Bat soon becomes very tame and fomiliar. These Bats will fly
about the room, play with each other, and may soon be induced to feed from the hand. " One kept
by Mr. James Sowerby," as stated by Mr. Bell, " when at liberty in the parlour, would fly to the hand
of any of the young people who held up a fly towards it, and, j)itching on the hand, take the fly
without hesitation. If the insect was held between the lips, the Bat would then settle on its young

{-EAUED 11.4T SLEEPIN

THE BARBASTELLE. _ 295

patron's cheek, ami take the fly with great gentleness from the mouth ; and so far was this familiarity
carried, that when either of the young people made a humming noise with the mouth, in imitation of
an insect, the Bat would search about the lips for the promised dainty." From an observation made
by Mr. Tomes (Bell's " British Quadi-upeds," second edition, p. 76), it would appear that the Long-eared
Bat, even in freedom, habitually captures at least some of its food in a somewhat similar manner. He
says that " having occasion to rise early — about three in the morning — on opening the window of his
bedroom, a Bat of this species was seen actively engaged around the sprigs of a spindle ttee which
extended across the window. It was in bloom at the time, and' was surrounded by a cloud of
Microlepidoptera, on which the Bat was feeding. As this took place scarcely four feet from the open
window it was easy to see the whole proceeding, and to determine with certainty the manner in which
the food was taken. With scarcely an exception, the moths were picked from the leaves while resting
there, only one or two being taken on the wing. While thus occupied the Bat hovered much after the
manner of the Kestrel, and the ears were bent outwards so much as to curl down the sides of the face,
appearing more like two large cheek-pouches than ears, no part of them appearing of greater elevation
than the crown of the head."

On the ground the progression of the Long-eared Bat is very peculiar. Bats in general run
along the ground with the head and body in a nearly horizontal po.sition, but the Long-eared Bat
carries the fore part of its body raised, and advances by a series of jerks, first on one side and then on
the other.

Several species nearly related to the Long-eared Bat have been described under various generic
names. Antrozous paUidus is an inhabitant of North America, Histiotus velatiis is found in Brazil,
and Otonycteris Hemprichii occurs in Nubia.

THE BABBASTELLE.*

The Barbastelle is another British Bat belonging to the same group of the family Vespertilionidse as
the Long-eared Bat, but forming the type of a very distinct genus. The ears, instead of being elongated
into great membranous organs half as long as the body of the animal, are only of moderate size, but
they are united by their inner margins in the middle of the forehead a little in front of the eyes. The
outer margin sweeps round upon the fa<;e, on which it terminates above the upper lip, so that the eye
is almost completely surrounded by the ear. The tragus is triangular and pointed. The nostrils,
as in Plecotus, open on the ujiper surface of the nose in front of a naked space, and from each
nostril a deep groove runs down to the edge of the upper lip. The muzzle is short and blunt, giving
the animal rather a surly aspect ; the tail is nearly as long as the
body, and enclosed in the interfemoral membrane, . except the
extreme tip ; and the teeth are as in the Long-eared Bat.

The Barbastelle is by no means a common Bat in England,
where it seems to be confined to the Southern and Midland
Counties, extending as fiir north as Northamptonshire and
War^vickshire. It is found in France, i-arely in Belgium and
Germany, in Italy, Scandinavia, and Russia. In the southern
part of the last-mentioned country it appears to be more abundant ^^^^ ^^ b\kb\stelle.

than elsewhere, especially in the Crimea, on the south coast of

which it is said by M. Demidoff to be very common. It is said by Mr. Bell to occur in Nep.iul, but
the specimens referred to Ijy him probably belong to the Darjeling Bat (Si/notxs darjelinemts) of Mr.
Hodgson.

This curious little Bat measures about two inches in length of body, and its tail is about a
quarter of an inch shorter. The expanse of its wings is ten inches. The cheeks are covered with
black hair, which forms a sort of moustache. The ears are ii-regular in form, their tips being slightly
truncated, and theii- outer margins sweeping in so as to form a notch, from which five or six folds run
about half-way across the ear. The eyes are almost concealed by the black haii-s on the cheeks. The

* Si/notus harhasteUus,

XA TURA L HIS TOE V.

fur is long and soft, r.nd of a li;-ownis!i-blac''.v colour, with wlnti.sli tips, which are longer on the hairs
of the lower surface. The membianes are dusky black.

In its habits the Barbastelle seems to be rather solitary ; both in its places ot repose and in its
evening flights it is generally seen alone. It sometimes takes up its abode in caverns, but almost any
place of retreat wUl suit it. Thus it may be found in the crevices of walls or trees, in the roofs of
sheds, behind shutters, and in fact in almo.st any situation that ofi'ers it a chance of concealment. Its
flight is j)eculiar, being a lazy, desultory sort of fluttei-, performed as if with no particular object ; ami
according to Mr. Bell it is in the habit of approaching evening promeuaders "so closely that the
flutter of its wings may be heard, and even the cool aii- thrown by their movement felt upon the
cheek." In captivity the Barbastelle is i-ather timid, ahd does not become familiar with its keeper
after the fashion of its near relation, the Long-eared Bat : and when confined with other Bats it shows
a certain sullenness of disposition, and an inclination to keep apart from its companions. A specimen
received iu winter by ^Ir. Bell from a chalk cavern at C'hislehui-st was veiy restless when awake, and

was constantly biting at the wires of his
box, as if endeavoui-ing to escape.
" When sufiered to fly about the room,
he flew very low, and less actively than
any other under similar circumstances ;
and he was fond of lying before the fire
<jn the hearthrug, where he appeared
rpiite to luxuriate in the wai-mth."

In the second edition of " Bell's
British Quadrupeds," a beautiful variety
of this Bat from Alcester, in Warwick-
shire, is mentioned, having "the fur of
the under pai"ts, from root to tip, strongly
tinged with puri)lisli-red, or rose-colour."
The authors aLso state that they have
in which the head and neck were of the
■ white. In both these specimens, which

r-

Wf

r\U \M IirvD ( T0^^^^^^1 i vt After Vlcn)

seen 1 [(iftit]\ \\hite specnncu of the <^p'>clcs and one
orduni\ di k colon \\ nlst tht icst of th° body wis j ui
■^e.e j^uii^, the membi iieb weio ueailj white.

THE BIG-EARED BAT.*

Two North American Bats, allied to the Long-eared Bat and the Barbastelle, have been formed
into a distinct genus by Dr. Allen. They have the ears very large, with the outer border carried
forward beneath the tragus, which is nearly half as long as the ear, tapering upwai-ds, and furnished
near the base on the outer side with a small circular lobe standing almost at right angles to the
tragus. The sides of the nose bear large excrescences, which join with the inner margins of the ears.
There are three premolars in the lower jaw, instead of two, as in Plecotus and Synotus.

The Big-eared Bat is a small species an inch and four-fifths long, with a tail nearly of equal length.
It is clothed with a long, fine, and soft fur, the haii-s of which are blackish at the ba-se, with dusky-
brown tips on the upper surface, and gi-eyish tips below. This Bat is an inhabitant of the Southern
Atlantic States of the Union.

Townsend's Bat (Cori/norhinxs Tovjtisendi) is a very similar animal, but is a little longer, and has
the face larger and broader and the facial crests more prominent. Its ear and head are shown in the
annexed figures. The fur is brown above, with the bases of the haii-s only a little darker than the
tips, lighter beneath, and slightly rusty towards the base. It inhabits the central parts of the United
States (Missouri, Utah).

GEOFFROY'S NYCToPHILE.f

The genus NyctophUris includes a small number of Bats belonging to the Australian region,
•which, on account of their possession of a rudimentary nasal appendage, have usually been placed with

* Corynwhimts macrotis.

t Nyctophilus Geoff royi.

GEOFFIiUY'S m'CTOFUILE. 29V

the Mer/aJerms or the Rhiaolophi'hi'. But apart ti-om the presence of the nose-leaf, which is of very
simple structure, the charact«i-s of these Bats are in such close agreement w-ith those of the Yesper-
tiliouidw, that there seems to be no doubt that this is their true position. They appear to be most
nearly related to Plecotus.

The nasal appendages are very simple, consisting of a transvei-se front piece placed immediately
above the nostrils, and having its upper margin straight, and a second portion, also transverse, placed
at a greater distance from the firat than the latter from the nostrils, and thickly clothed with short
bristly hairs. The eara are large, ovoid, united at their bases by a membrane which runs acioss
the top of the head, and furnished with a short broad tragus. The dentition diflers from that of
the allied genera. There are two separated incisors and only one pre-niolar ou each side in the

upper jaw, and the lower jaw has only two pre-molars on each side. Thus the dental formula is —
incisors, ~, canines, J-=?, pi-e-molai's, ],5^, molai-s, ^^.

Geoffrey's Nyctopliile, which appears to be one ot the commonest sj>ecies, as also the one fii-st
described, is a small Bat, the head and body measuring i-ather more than two inches in length,
and the tail more than one inch. The heel-spurs are half an inch long. The body is covered with
long, thick, and soft fur, which is usually brown above and brownish-grey beneath, the hairs on
both surfaces being black at the base, tipped above with olive-brown, and on the under surface with
brownish-white. The membranes are dark brown. The species is an inliaiiitant of Western
Australia, where it is abundant. These Bats are sometimes found in great numbers in the hollow
spouts of the gum-trees, from which they emerge in the evening to tlit about the shrubs and smaller
trees in search of insects.

Thi-ee other species of this genus are known, one of which, ahliougli originally describe I a.s from
Timor, and named N. timorien»is, is only known to occur in Western Australia; another is from New
South Wales, and the third from Van Diemen's Land.

208 KATUEAL SISTOHT.

THE PIPISTRELLE.*

The commonest and most generally distributed of the Britisb species is the Pipistrelle.t to
which the local country name of Flittermouse is considered by Mr. Bell to be specially applicable.
In this and the allied species forming the genus Vesperugo, the outer margin of tha ear sweeps round
on the cheek below the tragus, so as nearly "to reach the angle of the mouth, and there is a small
membranous lobe outside of the spur which runs from each heel' into the interfeiuoral membrane.
There are four incisor teeth in the upper and six in the lower jaw.

The Pipistrelle is of a reddish-bruwn colour aljuve, )):ilei- beneutli. The ears are about two-thirds

of the length of the head, somewhat triangular, rounded at the tips, with the upper part of the outer
margin deeply concave ; the earlet, or tragus, is nearly half as long as the car, and is of .in oblong form
with the apex rounded ; the wings extend down to the base of the toes, and their membrane, like that
of the ears, is of a dusky tint.

This Bat seems to occur abundantly in all part.s of the British islands. It is also common on the
continent of Europe, as far north as the central parts of Sweden, and southwards to the shores of the
Mediterranean, extending thence eastwai-ds through Russia into Siberia and Central Asia, but not passing
to the south of the Himalayas. It is essentially an inhabitant of temperate regions. Its favourite
resting-places in Britain, according to Mr. Jenyns, are the crevices of decayed brick walls, the cracks
of old door-frames, and behind the pipes which are attached to buildings for carrying oft' rain-water ;
and Mr. Bell describes it as taking shelter under the roofs of houses, and in crevices of buildings of
every description, either inside or out. Accoidingto the second edition of Mr. Bell's work, aspecinicii

Vcspcrutio pipislvcUas.

t A name tlcrivoil from the Ita

THE yOCTVLF.. 299

Las been taken from a hole in the thatch of a low shed in a brick-fiekl. another from a pile of hurdles
in a stackyard, whilst a thiid was observed iasuing from the spout of a disused wooden pump, and one
was captured from behind a piece of loose bark on a pollard willow near Stratford-on-Avon.* The
Pipistrelle is thus rather indiscriminate in its choice of a residence, and this may perhaps be due to the
fiu-t that its period of winter torpidity is shorter than that of any other species found in the countries
wliich it frequents. In Great Britain it appears on the wing as early as the middle of March, and
does not retire for its annual sleep until the winter season has decidedly set in; indeed, Mr. Gould
once shot a specimen in the middle of a bright simny day just before Christmas. Its food consists
principally of small insects, especially Gnats, Midges, and other small two-winged flies, but it does not
confine itself exclusively to such diet ; raw meat possesses such attractions for it that this Bat not
unfrequently makes its way into places where this is kept, and may be found clinging to a joint, and
making a hearty meal upon it. In confinement, also, the Pipistrelle readily takes small pieces of raw
meat as a substitute foi- its ordinary insect food, and it will become so tame as to take its nourishment
from the fingers. On ths ground the Pipistrelle runs with considerable ease and quickness, and Mr.
Bell states, in opposition to the assertions of certain writers, that it can rise from a flat surface without
difficulty. He says : — " We have often seen the Pipistrelle rise from a plane surface with a sort of
spring, instantly expand its wings, and take flight. This was i-epeated by a single individual several
times in the courae of an hour, and without the slightest appearance of difficulty or efibrt ; it was, on
the contrary, evidently a natural and usual action." The same writer remarks that this Bat climbs
•with considei-able agility, and in connection with this notices a peculiarity in the use of the tail which
appears to have escaped other observers, namely, that it is used as an organ of prehension. Tlie last
joint of the tail projects a little beyond the interfemoral membrane, and " not only does the aaimal
employ the tail in horizontal progi-ession, in which case it assists in throwing forward the body, by
being brought into contact witli the ground on either side alternately, con-esponding with the action of
the hinder foot on the same side ; but in ascending and descending a rough perpendicular suiface, this
little caudd finger holds by any projecting point, and afibrds an evident support. This is particularly
conspicuous when the Bat is traversing the wires of a cage, in which situation the fact was tust
observed."

THE NOCXrLE.r

The Great Bat, or Noctule, is another well-known British species, altiiough far from being
so abundant as the preceding. It is, however, even more widely distributed, being found in
nearly all parts of the Eastern hemisphei-e, except the extreme north, but in tropical regions,
according to Mr. Dobson. it seems to inhabit only the high
grounds. In England it ranges as far north as Yorkshire.
Its head and body measure about three inches in length,
and its wings are about fourteen inches in expanse. Its fur
is of a reddish-brown colour, nearly unifoiin throughout ;
the ears are ovate-triangular, shorter than the head, broad,
and having the outer margin produced down upon the
cheek below the level of the angle of the mouth ; the ear-
let is short, not more than one-thii-d the length of the
ear, broad, with the outer margin roimded and the inner
one concave. Tlie wing -membranes reach only to the
ankle-joint, and there is a distinct lobe outside each of the "i-"' "' -■■' l.lle.

spurs.

Tlie Noctule seems to prefer for its resting-place the hollows of old trees, and generally to avoid
buildings, although instances of its taking up its abode in or about the latter are not wanting. It is

♦ Mr. R. McLachlan, F.R..S., mentionoa to the jiresent writer an instance wliicli fell within his own cxiiericncc of the
disloilgment of a Bat from beneath a large iiiece of bark which was torn from a tree by an entomologist in search of Beetles
or larvre. When the bark was detached, the Bat fell, but the entomologist, being unprepared probably for such large game,
omitted to secure it, an<l the species was not ascertained.

t Vi.'^pcnif/o itodula.

300 NATURAL HISTOIIY.

gi-egarious in its habits, considerable numbers often retiring together to the same hiding-place. Thus, in
the second edition of Bell's " British Quadrupeds," a good many Noctules are said to have been " dis-
lodged from a hole made by the Green Woodpecker in an elm by the insertion of a flexible stick;" and
at Rugby, in Warwickshire, in a grove of old oaks, theu- excrement has been observed to form so thick
a layer as to darken the ground under some of the oldest trees. Pennant states, on the authority of
Dr. Buckworth (Buckhouse 1), that one hundred and eighty -five of these Bats were taken in one night
from under the eaves of Queen's College, Cambridge, followed by sixty-three on the second night, when
the supply seems to have been nearly exhausted, as only two were captured on the ensuing evening.

The natural food of the Noctule consists of u^sects, and its jaws are sufficiently powerful to enable
it to devour even such large and horny Beetles as Cockchafers, which, indeed, seem to constitute its
favourite food. It is, in fact, most active during the period of the year when these insects abound, for
White, who first noticed its occurrence in Britain, states that he never saw it at Selbome befoi-e the
end of April, or later than the end of July. In Warwickshire, however, it has been observed as early
as the 12th of March, and as late as the 18th of Septembei'. It flies very high, and on this account
■was named by White Vespertilio allivolans. Its course through the air is rapid and straight, and
accompanied by a contiimal sharp and shrill cry, wliich ceases only during the cajiture and consumption
of its insect prey. It Ls described by White as emitting a rancid and offensive odour.

Mr. George Daniell, in a paper communicated to the Zoological Society in 1834, published some
notes on tlie behaviour of this Bat in captivity, which are particularly ii^teresting from the description
they contain of the birth of a young Noctule. Mr. Daniell obtained four females and one male of this
species on the 16th of May, 1834. The male was very savage, biting the females, and breaking his
teetl» upon the wires .of the cage in his attempts to escape. He refused to feed, and died on the 18th
of May. The females, although at first sulky, fed after a time upon small pieces of raw beef, wliich
they seemed to prefer to insect food. One of them died on the 20th, and two others on the 22nd ; the
survivor, which fed by preference upon the breasts and livers of fowls, lived on for rather more than a
month. It pas.sed the day suspended by the hind feet at the top of the cage, and came down in the
evening to feed, which it did sometimes most voraciously ; the quantity eaten exceedmg half an ounce,
although the weight of the animal itself was only two drachms. It rejected flies, but ate parts of some
Cockchafers that were given to it. Tlie animal was rather careful in cleaning itself, using the posterior
extremities as combs, with which the haii-s were parted on either side from head to tail, forming a
straight line down the middle of the back. The membrane of the wing was cleaned by passing the nose
through its folds. On the 23rd of June Mr. Daniell observed liis Bat to be very restless, and this con-
dition lasted for about an hour, the animal remaining as usual suspended by the hinder extremities.
Suddenly " she reversed her position, and attached herself by her anterior limbs to a cross wire of the
cage, stretching her hind limbs to their utmost extent, curving the tail upwards, and expanding the inter-
femoral membrane, so as to form a perfect nest-like cavity for the reception of the young, .... which
was born on its back, perfectly destitute of hair, and blind. The mother then cleaned it, turning it
over in its nest ; and afterwards, resuming her usual po.sition, placed the young Ln the membrane of her
wing. She next cleaned herself, and wrapped up the young one so closely as to prevent any obser-
vation of the process of sucklmg. At the time of its birth the young was larger than a new-born
Mouse ; and its liiiid legs and claws were remarkably strong and serviceable, enabling it not only to
cling to its dam, but also to the deal sides of the cage. On the 24th the animal took her food in the
morning, and appeared very careful of her young, shifting it occasionally from side to side to suckle it,
and folding it in the membranes of the tail and wings. On these occasions her usual position was
reversed. In the evening she was found dead ; but the young was stUl alive, and attached to the
nipple, from which it was mth some difficulty removed. It took milk from a sponge, was kept carefully
wrapped up in flannel, and survived eight days ; at the end of which period its eyes wei-e not opened,
and it had acquired very little hair."

From these obseiwations of Mr. Daniell it appears that the period of gestation in the Noctule
exceeds thirty -eight days, and they are of very considerable interest with respect to the general history
of the Chiroptera, at any rate of the present family, for it is most probable that the conduct of this
female Noctule on this interesting occasion is closely followed by other maternal Vespertilionidse at
the arrival of their "little strangers." Moreover, the fact of the production of only a single young

THE SEROTINE. 30'.

one, and the finding of only a singlt- emljryo in each of tlie three females which died soon after they came
into Mr. Duniell's possession, taken in conjunction with observations to the same eifect which have
been made upon tlie female of the Pipistrelle, and of several other species of Bats, would seem to show
that the Bats iii general produce only one at a birth.

THE SEROTINE.*
Three other species of Vesper ugo occur in Britain. One of these, the Serotine (7'. serotinus),
is nearly as large as the Noctule, and closely resembles that species in some respects in its habits.
The head and body in the Serotiue are about two iaches and two-thirds in lengtli ; the ears are ovate-
triangular, and a little shorter than the head ; the tragus is a little more than one-third the length of
the ear ; and the extremity of the tail projects nearly a quai'ter of an inch from the membrane. The
fur, which is soft and silky, is usually chestnut-brown above, and yellowish-grey beneath, but it is
liable to vary more or less ; British specimens being sometimes of a greyish tinge, whilst some from
tlie Asiatic side of the Ural Mountains are described as having the upper parts yellowish cream-colour,
and the lower surface yellowish-white. Like the preceding species, the Serotine is uidcly (listril)uted,
being found apparently over a great part of Em-ope, and throughout the temperate re,!.;i'>iis uf Asia, at
least as far east as the Himalayas ; whilst specimens have been identified with it, which were lirought
from the northern parts of Africa, as far south as the mountains near the Gaboon. In England it is found
only in the South-eastei-n counties, and is said to occur in the neighbourhood of London. Folkestone
and the Isle of Wight are other recorded localities. In France it is not uncommon, frequenting the
forests, and flying amongst the lofty trees ; it is also found in the timber yards of Paris. Like the
Noctule it is late in making its appearance in the spring, and it also flies late at night, whence its
specific name. In France it liears one young one about the end of May.

THE PARTI-COLOURED BAT.f

Of the Parti-coloured Bi:t ( Vespernyo discolor) only a single specimen has been taken in
England, and it was obtained by Dr. Leach many years ago at Plymouth. The piobabihty is, as
indicated by Mi-. Bell, that this individual mu.st have been conveyed
to Plymouth in the rigging of some vessel. On the continent of
Europe it is found chiefly in Russia and Germany, but does not
extend into Belgium, Holland, and France. It has also been obtained
from Central Asia and from the Himalayas. This Bat is of the same
size as the Serotiue, and is perhaps the handsomest of the European
species, the fur of the uppeK sm-face being of a fine chestnut or deep
brown colour, with the extreme tips of the haii-s pale, or even some-
times white, giving the fur a finely-marbled appearance, wliile that he.id or fakti-coloiued bat.
of the lower parts is gi-ey at the base and white at the tips, with a

reddish-brown patch on the middle of the chest and belly. The ears are about two-thirds the length
of the head, oval, and directed outwards (see figure), their outer margin produced nearly to the angles
of the mouth, and their inner margin with a projecting lobe at the base. The Pai-ti-coloured Bat is
said to haunt towns, and to come abroad early in the evening.

The Hairy -armed Bat ( Vesperuijo Leishri) also for a long time fomided its claim to be regarded as
a British species upon a single .specimen, but of late years it has occurred at several localities in the
midland co\mties of England and in Ireland. It is a little smaller than the preceding species, the
head and body measuring only two inches and a half in length, and is characterised especially by
having a broad band of hair upon the wing-membrane along the whole course of the fore arm. The fur
is bright chestnut above and brownish-grey on the under surface. It is found generally about villages,
and appears to take up its residence in buildings. On the continent it seems to be pretty generally
distributed, and it extends, like the pi-eceding species, over the temperate parts of Asia. Specimens
have also been brought from the Azores and Madeira, and it is believed to live in Algeria.

* Vesperugo serotinus. t Vespervgo discolor.

302 NATURAL HISTORY.

Several other species of this genus have an almost equally wide range. Thus one that may be
called the Negro Bat ( VesperuffO numrm) is found along the whole of the gi-eat axis of elevation of the
Old World from the Pyi-enees into China, and even extends southwards into India, Cochin China, and
Java. Tills species has a sooty-brown or deep-black ftir, with the tips of the hairs greyish. Kuhl's Bat-
( Vesperugo Kuhivi) is found throughout India, and in Persia and Southern Europe, to Madeira. It is
rather a small species, about an inch and three-quarters long, with black fur, tipped for one-fourth of
its length above with yellowish-brown or dun-colour, and beneath with ash-colour. Another species,
Nilsson's Bat {Vesperugo borealis), which has the highest northern range of any species of the order,
stretches right across the old continent, from Scandinavia and Gei-many as far south as the Hartz
Mountains, to the Altai Mountains and North China. Tliis species has a dark-brown fur, tipped
with yellowish-brown above and with ash-colour beneath. It is about two inches long.

THE COROMANDEL BAT.*

Besides the preceding, which are common to Europe, there are a good many purely Asiatic' species,
mostly belonging to the Indian region and its islands. Mr. Dobson enumerates eighteen such species,
the most generally distributed of which is the Coromandel Bat ( Vesperugo ctbramus), which appears to
represent in the southern parts of Asia the Pipistrelle of the more temperate regions. It is rather
larger than the Pipistrelle, measuring an inch and three-quartei-s in length, and the outer margin of the
ears is straight, or very slightly concave ; the fur is dark-brown, tipped with light yellowish-brown
above, and sooty-brown with pale tips beneath, and the head, face, and neck are yellowish-brown.
Tliis species Ls conmion in India and Ceylon, and extends thence through China to Japan, occurring
also in several islands of the Eastern Archipelago.

Mr. Swinhoe says that it is a common house Bat at Nagasaki, in Japan. He also found it
abundantly in Hainan, and, treating it as the common Chinese Bat, quotes the description of the Bat
from the Chinese Gazetteer, in which, as is usual with Chinese wi-iters, the animal is classed with
birds. This choice description is as follows : — " Peenfoo, or Bat, shaped like a Mouse, has thin flesh-
wings uniting the four legs, and extending to the tail. In winter stows away ; in summer comes out.
In daytime lies prostrate ; in night flies. One name for it is Foo-yeh, or Belly-wings. It is now
called Feishoo, or Flying Mouse."

THE THICK-FOOTED BAT.+

In this species, which inhabits Northern India, Tenasserim, the Andaman and Philippine Ishmds,
and the Islands of Java and Sumatra, the bases of the thumbs and the soles of the feet are furnished
with broad, fleshy pads, which on the feet form nearly circular discs, and are doubtless organs of
adhesion, analogous to the more perfect sucking discs present in an Amarican member of the flimily-
(Thyroptera tricolor). These organs probably assist the Bat in clinging to the under surfaces of large
leaves and fruit, a habit which is common to many tropical species of Bats. It is remarkable that in.
this species, as in the Thyroptera, the claws on both the thumbs and the toes, although acute, ai-e
very small.

The Thick-footed Bat is abuut an inch and three-quarters in length of body, with a tail an inch
and a quai-ter long. It is covered with a fine, dense, and moderately long fur, of a bright reddish-brown,
colour above, paler beneath. There is only one pre-molar on each side in the upper and two in the
lower jaw, and this chai-acter, with the presence of the foot-pads, serves to distinguish the sub genus
Tylonycteris of Professor Peters, to which this species belongs. J

TEMMINCK'S BAT.§
A few species, very nearly allied to the preceding, form the genus Scoiojihllus, in which tlie outer
margin of the ear likewise comes down to the level of the angle of the mouth, but there are only two-

* Vesperugo ahramui. t Vesperiiriopachypm.

t Another Eastern species, furnished with pads on the thumbs and feet, is the Club-footed Bat ( V. tiilopus), from Northern
Borneo, which is distinguished from the above by the presence of two ])reraolars on each side in the upper jaw. A smaD
Afiican species, the Dwarf Club-footed Bat (T''. nanits), is similarly provided.

§ Scotophilxis Temminckii.

WELWITSCE-S BAT.

incisor teetli in the upper jaw, instead of four as in Vesperujo. Tliese are stout-bodied Bats, with the

muzzle nearly naked, the limbs stronj,', and the wing-membranes very thick and leathery, and scarcely

encroached upon by haii-. They' are confined to the Eastern Hemisphere,

and generally to its warmer pai-ts, the species being found in Africa, Southern

Asia and its islands, and in Australia. The best-known species is Tem-

minck's Bat {Scotophilm Temminckii), which enjoys a wide range from

India and Ceylon eastward through Burmali and Southern China to the

Eastern Archipelago, extending to the Moluccas and Philippine Islands. It

is rather more than three inches in length, and varies considerably in colour,

but is generally dark olive-brown above, and reddish or yellowish-white

beneath. The fin, as throughout the genus, is short and close. The ear is peculiar in its form, and

its outer margin sweeps round on the cheek and terminates in a convex lobe ; the tragus is naiTOW

HEAD OF TEMMIXCK S
(After Dolson.)

From the Prouedtngs of (hf ^ ofoj

and pointed, and considei'ably curved forwards ard inwards. Temminck's Bat is very abundant in the
countries which it inhabits, and is one of the most prominent species of the group, seeing that it
lives in large bands, often of several hundred individuals, in the roofs of houses and in hollow
trees, and that it flies very early in the evening, in fact before the commencement of twilight.
Temminck says that it feeds principally on White Ants (Termites).

The Harlequin Bat (Scotophiliis ornalu/i), another Indian species, is remarkable for its coloration,
which is a pale tawny-brown, curiously variegated ^^'ith white spots. It has been obtained in India,
Burmah, and Yunnan.

WELWITSCH'S BAT.*

Tliis curious Bat, originally described by Dr. Gray from a specimen sent from Angola by the

late Dr. Welwitsch, is especially remarkable for the brightness and variegation of its colours. The-

general tint of the fur is brown, the haii-s being black at the base, ^nth brown tips, which are longer

and paler on the hairs of the lower surface, rendering the fur of that part paler than that of the back.

Scotojjhilm Wclwifschii.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The head also is pale, and the muzzle shows an orange tint, as do the ears, which are longer than tha
head, and rather acute, with a long pointed tragus, reaching nearly half-way up the ear. But the most
striking peculiarity of the species consists in the colouring of the wings, which are yellowish-brown,
dotted with black near the body, and beyond this chiefly blackish-brown, with numerous yellow dots
arranged more or less regularly in curved lines, while a broad band of brownish-orange, beai-ing a few
black dots, follows the course of the fore-arm, and gives origin at the wrist to three other bauds of the
same colour, one running down the margin of the wing and enclosing the first and second fingers, the
other two following the course of the third and fourth fingers, and thus breaking the dark ground
colour of the wing into three triangular patches. The occurrence of this peculiar mode of coloration
in a Bat is the more remarkable as it is reproduced in at least two quite distinct species, namely, tha
Oriental Vespertilio formosus and Kerivoula picta, and in all these must probably subserve the same
purpose, which Mr. Dobson with much justice sujiposes to be the protection of the animal by assimi-
lating its ap])earance to that of witlfered leaves. The arms and legs in Welwitsch's Bat are yellow,

tij"; 0/ the Zoofogii

but the feet are black. The interfemoral membrane is yellowish-brown, with a few black dots,
especially towards its margins. The length of the head and body is about three inches. Of the habits
of this Bat nothing is recorded.

THE NEW ZEALAND BAT.*
Two species of Bats have been ascertained to inhabit New Zealand, and both present characters
which isolate them systematically, just as much as their distant insular habitation does absolutely.
The present species was discovered by J.R. Forster, the naturalist who accompanied Captain Cook,
and described by him under the name of Vespertilio tuberculatum. It has short rounded ears ; there are
cutaneous lobes at the angles of the mouth, and three true molars on each side in both jaws. The
upper incisors are in pairs, the inner ones much larger than the outer, and are separated from the
canines ; the premolars are small and pointed, and the molars of the ordinary form in the allied
genera. The tragus is short, rather broad, and rounded at the tip. The \ving-membranes spring from
the base of the toes ; the interfemoral membrane is large, and contains the long tail, of which the tip
only projects ; and the heel-spurs are long, extending one-third of the distance between the heel and
the tip of the taU.

* Chalinolobus tubercufatus.

THE MOUSE-COLOURED BAT. 305

Tn its form and general proportions tliis Bat resembles the common British Pipistrelle, as also in
the characters of the skull. In its dentition it has a still closer affinity to an Australian species,
Gould's Bat {Scotophilus Gouklii). The fur is of a blackish-brown colour on the head and back,
becoming chestnut-brown on the rump ; the lower surface is of a similar colour, hut browner, and
becomes reddish-brown towards the tail. The hairs are of one colour throughout their length. The
length of the head and body is rather more than two inches, and that of the tail about an inch and a
half. This Bat inhabits the middle island of New Zealand. Nothing appears to be known of its
habits.

THE MOUSE-COLOURED BAT.*

The genus Vespertilio, as now restricted, comprehends a very considerable number of species
distributed in nearly all parts of the world. It differs from Vesperugo hi having the outer margin of
the ear terminated opposite the level of the tragus, and not produced towards the angle of the mouth,
and is further characterised by the nostrils being simple and crescent-shaped, and scarcely projecting
from the muzzle. Eight species inhabit Europe, and five of these are found in Britain.

The Common Bat of the continent of Europe, the Mouse-coloured Bat of Prof Bell {Vesper-
tilio niurinus), is a large species more than three inches and a half in length. Its fur is of a pale
reddish-brown colour above and greyish-white beneath, but with the bases of all the hairs black ;
the head is long, the ears oval, narrowed tow;mls the apex, as long as the head, and the tragus is
nearly half as long as the ear, narrow, pointed, with its inner mai-gin quite straight. The membranes
are of a yellowish-brown colour. Vespertilio nmrinus is met with in the north-western Himalayas,
and extends thence through Syria into Northern Africa. It is
common in Central and Southern Europe, but in England is one
of the r<ft-est Bats ; in fact the only known British-caught specimen
was taken (most conveniently) in the gardens of the old British
Museum. Its claim to be considered indigenous rests, therefore,
upon a very insecure foundation. In many parts of Europe,
however, this species is exceedingly abundant, and lives by
hundreds together, chiefly in church-towers and other similar
localities, issuing forth in the evening to prey upon the insects
which fly at that time. Moths are said to be its favourite victims,
and the harder parts of these insects, with portions of the wings,

^ , ,,.,-!-,, -VT • 1 i-"" HEAD OF MOl --E-COLOrUED EAT.

are found unaltered m the Bat s excrement. Notwithstandmg

their social habits, these Bats are exceedingly quarrelsome ; they fight vigorously with their sharp
teeth and the claws of their thumbs, often tearing each other severely, and even breaking the slender
bones in the wings of their ad\'ersaries.

NATTERER'S BAT.t

The Eeddish-grey Bat, or Natterer's Bat ( Vespertilio Nattereri), is an undoubted native of this
country, although it appears to be local in its distribution. It has been taken near London, at Swaff-
ham in Cambridgeshire, at Colchester and Norwich, at Chislehurst (hibernating in a chalk cavern),
and at An-ow, near Alcester, in Warwickshire. It has also occurred in Ireland. It inhabits the con-
tinent of Europe from the Ural Mountains westward to Belgium and France, and in the south occurs
on the shores of the Mediten-anean. Apparently its range does not extend into Asia.

Natterer's Bat has the fiu- reddish-grey above, and whitish beneath, the hairs of which it is
composed being dark towards the base, with light tips. The ears are oblong-ovate, and about as long
as the head, and the tragus is nearly two-thirds the length of the ear ; but the most distmctive
character of the species consists in the margin of the interfemoral membrane, from the tips of the spurs
to that of the tail, being fringed with a row of long stiff haii-s. In its social habits this Bat seems to
agree with the Mouse-coloured Bat, but is much more amiable in its disposition. Specimens received
by Mr. Bell from a cavern in the chalk at Chislehurst (where they were found hiljernating in company

* VespertUio niurinus. + VespertUio Natlcrcri.

506 NATURAL SIS TOM T.

with several other species) were kept alive for a tinre by feeding them on bits of raw meat, and exhi-
bited " great familiarity of disposition, not only by their friendliness towards their companions, but by
their readiness in taking food from the hand, and in allowing themselves to be interfered with without
«vincin<T fear or anger." These Bats were active in their habits, running and climbing about the cage
with gi-eat agility. The sociability of character of Natterer's Bat is stUl more strikingly shown by tha
curious description given in the second edition of Bell's " British Quadrupeds " of a colony observed in
the roof of Arrow Church, near Alcester. In a dark retreat, between the ceiling of the church and
the tiled roof, " the Bats were seen adhering, by all their extremities, to the under surface of the row
of tiles which forms the crest or ridge of the roof (partly supported, however, by the upper tier of roof-
tiles on which the ridge-tiles rested), and others clinging to them, until a mass was made up three or
four inches thick, six or seven wide, and about four feet in length. It would be wrong to call this
their place of repose, as they presented a most singular scene of activity, the constant endeavour of
those outside being to penetrate the mass, probably for warmth ; and to do this they were contiimally
poking their noses between those nearest to them, and the.n forcing in their bodies, to be in their turn
again pushed to the outside. In this manner a regular bickering was kept up in the whole mass.
However, they seemed to be very gentle, and to have no idea of biting or otherwise annoying each
other."

DAUBENTON'S BAT.*

Daubenton's Bat is another species which is almost confined to Europe. It is generally distributed
over that continent from Finland and the Ural Mountains to Ireland and the Mediterranean, but is
only of doubtful occurrence in North-western Asia. It is about two inches in length ; its ears are
about three-fourths the length of the head, oval, with the outer margin sinuated, and the inner margin
folded in ; the tragus is narrow, rather obtuse at the apex, and about half the length of the ear ; the
tail is longer than the body ; the fur is usually reddish-brown, but sometimes dark brown or greyish-
brown above, and ash-grey beneath ; and the wing-membranes show a slight reddish tinge.

The habits of this Bat are very peculiar. It usually takes up its residence in church-towers arid
other buildings, but sometimes in hollow trees, and always in the vicinity of water, its active life being
passed in flying over the surface of water. Its flight is not very rapid, and is perfoi-med by means of
very slight but rapid strokes of the wings. It flies usually close to the surface, and from time to time
dips its nose into the water, probably for the purpose of drinking. This Bat is gregarious in its habits,
great flocks being generally seen flying about together, and considerable numbers always inhabit the
same retreat. In confinement it seems to be very delicate, and does not live long ; but it is quiet and
gentle in its behaviour, and will cb-ink mUk from the palm of the hand, and feed upon small pieces of
meat and house flies. The latter, according to Mr. Bell's editors, are favourite moi-sels with these Bats,
and " it was curious," tliey say, " to see them poke their little noses between the fingei-s for flies which
were concealed there. A fly put on a smooth table was always a tempting but tantalising bait for
them, for the Bats, in attempting to take hold of it, almost invariably pushed it to the outside of the
table, from which it fell and was lost." In Britain, Daubenton's Bat has been taken in various
localities, extendii.g as far north as Aberdeenshire ; and in Ireland it has occurred in Donegal and
Kil lare.

THE WHISKERED BAT.f
The Whiskered Bat inhabits all Central Europe from the Alps to Finland, and from Russia to
Ireland. It is also found among the Himalayas, and is said by Schrenck to occur in the 5^moor
country, so that its distribution in Asia is probably rather wide. In England its occurrence has been
recorded in Cambridgesliire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire, at Colchester and at Chislehui-st,
and in Ireland in the county of Clare. The Whiskered Bat is a small species, the head and body
measuring only one inch and two-thirds in length. Its colour is dark chestnut-brown above, ashy
brown beneath ; the ears bend oiitwards and have the outer margin notched ; the tragus is half the
length of the ear ; the face is very hairy, and the hairs on the uiiper lip are longer than the rest, so as

* Vespertilio Daubentonii. t VcspeHiUo ihydacinus.

THE BLACK ylXn ORANGE BAT.

30?

to form a moustache, whence the name of the species. This Bat is solitary, being generally found
singlj' in its resting-places, which consist of holes in walls, the roofs of houses, and, in general, any
dark crevice or corner. It resembles the Pipistrelle in its flij^lit and general habits, and is doubtless
often mistaken for that species.*

THE BLACK AND ORANGK BAT.f

This species, which has been referred by various authors to different genera, is especially remark-
able for its peculiar coloration. The muzzle is of a conical form ; the ears ovate, with the rounded
tips pi-ojectmg outwards, so as to render the outer margin concave for some distance ; the tragus long,
narrow, and obtusely pointed ; the fui- is soft and thick, of a reddish-yellow colour above, and pale

yellowish beneath ; and the wing-membranes, which are very broaid, are smgvdarly variegated with
briglit orange and brownish-black. The dark portions foi"m irregularly triangular patches on the
membranes between the second and tlm-d and third and fourth fingers, and between the fourth finger
and a line drawn from the wrist to the ankle. All the rest of the membrane, including the eai-s and
interfemoi-al membrane, are orange, this colour forming naiTow bands along the course of the fingers,
and also extending more or less iir the form of specks and streaks over the dark patches. The length
of the head and body in this Bat is from two inches and a thii-d to two inches and a half, and the
expanse of the wings twelve inches and a half. It is found in the Himalayan re,gion in Nepaul and
at Darjeling, in the Khasia Hills, and in China at Shanghai, Kiang, and Amoy.

This beautiful Bat presents a remarkable resemblance in coloration to another Eastern species

* Other European species are Bechatein's Bat [VcspcrtiUo Bechsteinii), which lias occurred in the Xew Forest ; the
Marsh Bat {Vespcrtilh dnsvcneme), which inhabits the Altai Mountains, and in Europe extends, according to Mr.
Dobson, from Russia to England; Capaccini's Bat (V. Capaccinii), an inhabitant of Italy, with which specimens from
the Philippine Islands and Japan have been identified ; and the Notched-eared Bat (V. emarginatus), found in Central and
jSouthem Europe, and extending eastward into Persia.

+ VcspertUio formosus.

3(18 NJTUEAL HISTORY.

(the Painted Bat), to which we sliall presently refer ; and, indeed, by some zoologists it has
been placed iii the same genus (Kerivoula) with the latter. Mr. Swinhoe, in his memoii- on the
Mammals of Formosa (Proc. Zoc. Soc, 1862, p. 357), refers to a sjiecies which he regards as allied to
the Black and Orange Bat and the Painted Bat, but which was most probably the former, in the
following terms : — " The body of -this Bat was of an orange-brown, but the wings were painted with
orange-yellow and black. It was caught, suspended head downwards, on a cluster of the round fiiiit
of the Longan tree (Nephelium longanum). Now this tree is an evergreen, and all the year thi-ough
some portion of its foliage is undergoing decay, the particidar leaves being, in such a stage, partially
orange and black. This Bat can therefore at all seasons suspend from its branches, and elude its
enemies by its resemblance to the leaf of the tree. It was in August when thLs specimen was brought
to me. It had at that season found the fruit ripe and reddish-yellow, and had tried to escape obser-
vation in the semblance of its own tints to those of the fruit." This example of " protective
mimicry," if such is i-eally its nature, is reproduced, as already stated, in the Painted Bat, and also,
as remarked by j\Ir. Dobson, in Welwitsch's Bat from Western Africa.

THE PAINTED BAT*

A small gi'oup of Bats, nearly related to the preceding, is distinguished as forming a distinct
genus under the name of Kerivoula, originally proposed and founded on a native Cingalese name by
the late Dr. Gray. These Bats have the apertui-es of the nostrils perfectly cii-cular ; the first and
second pre-molars in the upper jaw nearly as large as the thii-d pre-molar, the ears lai-ge and fumiel-
sliaped, the outer portion sweeping forward very much, and the spur of the heel long and stout, and
curved backwards.

The Painted Bat [Kerivoula picta) has been already referred to a.s one of the species remark-
able for their coloration. It is a small species, having the head and body only an inch and a half to
an inch and three-quarters long. Its fur is of a deep oi-ange colour above and paler beneath. The
ears and intei-femoral membrane, and the poi-tions of membrane in front of the bones of the arm, ai-e
likewise deep orange, as are also the basal portions of the wing-membranes, broad bands bordering all
the bones of the arms and fingers, and the hinder margin of the portions of membrane between the
feet and the extremities of the fourth fingers, and the remainder of the wing-membranes being occupied
by large triangular patches of deep black, more or less variegated with orange spots and streaks.

This remarkable Bat is found in many parts of the Peninsula of India, and also in Ceylon,
Burmah, Sumatra, aiid Java ; in fact, Mr. Dobson tliinks that it is probably distributed in all parts of
tropical Asia. It haunts the forests, and is very active in pursuit of insects. When distui-bed in the
day-time, according to Dr. Jerdon, it looks more like a Butterfly or yMotli than a Bat, and we may
easily believe that the character and ai-rangement of its colours will give it an exceedingly un-batlike
aspect. For its place of repose it selects the folded leaf of the ]>lantain, and, according to Dr. Kelaart,
its native Cingalese name of " Kjehehoulha" (from which the generic name is derived) signifies " Plan-
tain Bat." The other species of this genus present notliing remarkable.

THE HARPY BAT.t

The I/arpiocephali are a curious group of Bats almost entii-ely confined to tlie Himalayan region,
only two species being found elsewhere, namely, in the islands of Java and Sumatra, and one of these
is also a Himalayan species. The most striking character of the genus is one wliich it displays in
common with the Harpy Fruit Bat {Harp\jia Pallasii) already described, namely, the remarkable
prominence of the nostrils, which project in a tubular form on each side of the muzzle. These Bat«
are further distinguished by the hairiness of the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane, which is
sometimes entirely, and never less than half covered with hair, the ^ving-membrane being also gene-
rally haiiy for a gi-eater extent than in other allied species.

The Harpy Bat (Harpiocep/talus ]mrpia) is about two inches and a half long, with a tail
nearly two inches in length. Its fur is veiy soft and silky, that of the upper surface brownish or

* Kerivoula picta. + Hurpioccphulus luirpia.

THE RED BAT.

whitish -grey, ^^^th the tips of tlie liairs retl, producing a bay or reddish-brown tint on the back, wliilst

the head, neck, and shoulders show more of a greyish cast ; and that of the lower surface entirely grey.

The membranes are of a reddish-brown colour, clothed above with hairs of the same tint on the basal

part of the wings, and over the whole surface of the interfemoral membrane. The ears are broad, and

rounded at the tip. This fine Bat has been observed in India, at

Darjeling, and the Khasia Hills ; it is also an inhabitant of Java

and Sumatra.

The skull and jaws in the Harpy Bat exhibit indications of

considerable strength ; in fact, the general aspect of the skull

is very Dog-like, and the large size of the coronoid process of
the lower jaw would seem to indicate that the whole is intended
to form a powerful masticating apparatus. This notion is fm-ther
borne out by the character of the teeth, which are very stout, the

molars being furnished with short, blunt cusps, thickly coated with enamel, and admirably fitted to crush
the hai-d cases of the Beetles, wliich appear, from the contents found in its stomach, to constitute the
principal food of this Bat. Mr. Dobson remai-ks that " as we become better acquainted with the habits
of these animals, it will probably be found that the food of this species is restricted to certain species of
Coleoptera possessing extremely hard cases, wliich would effectually resist the feebler, although more
acutely-pointed teeth of other Bats inliabiting the same localities. The form of the teeth, the great
development of the coronoid process, and the. shortness of the mandible, are all evidently subservient
to the same object, and have been modified simultaneously to suit the food of the animal."

SKVLL OF HAKr\

THE RED BAT.*
The genus Atalapha, to which the Red Bat of North America belongs, is very nearly related to
Nijcticfjus, and in fact its species have been not unfrequently ])laced in that genus. In general
characters the two groups clo.sely agree, but the head in Atalapha is more elevated, and the mter-
femoral membrane is wholly, or to a very considerable extent, clothed with hair. This latter character,
with the presence of only two incisoi-s in the upper jaw, serves at once to distinguish the species of
this genus, which are confined, like those of Xycticejus, to the Western hemisphere.

The Red Bat is generally distributed over all the temperate parts of North America, even
extending, accorduig to Feters, as far north as the Aleutian islands, wliilst Geoflroy and Temminck state
that it occurs in Cayenne and Surinam. The head and body are usually rather less than two inches
long, and the tail is of about the same length ; the expanse of wing is from eleven to twelve inches.
There are two pre-molar and three molar teeth on each side. The ears are iiregidarly rounded, and the
outer margin runs round upon the cheek, and forms a distinct lol)e below the origin of the tragus,
which is about half the height of the ear, and turns inwards at the point. The fur is long and silky,
and is generally of a light russet colour, tinged with yellow, darker and richer
on the back. The colour, howevei-, varies, specimens being met with showing
fawn-coloiu-ed and even yellowish-ashy tints. At each shoulder there is a tuft
uf white hail-. The interfemoral membrane is entirely covered above, and half
covered beneath, with hair of the same colour as that on the body. The mem-
branes are of a rich lirown colour, and the ears and lips are marked with yellow.
The above furnishes indications only of the general eflect produced, but each hair
is dark lead-colour at the base, then j-ellowish-brown, passing into dark or bright
red or chocolate colour, -n-ith the extreme tip generally white. Northern
specimens usually show the darker tints, while those from warmer regions are more frequently of a
bright red colour.

Dr. Allen quotes the following anecdote, illustrating the force of the maternal instinct in tins
little Bat :— A lad had caught a young Red Bat. which he took home witli him. " Three hours after-
wards, in the evening, as he was conveying it to the museum, in his hand, while passing near the
place where it was caught, the mother made her appearance, and followed the boy for two squares.

AtalaplM

y.O NATURAL UISTORV.

ilying around him, aiirl fiually alighted on liis breast, such was lier anxiety to save her offspring.
Both were brouglit to the museum, tlie young one firmly adhering to its mother's teat. This faitliful
<;reature lived two days in the museum, and then died of inj uries received from her captor. The young
■one being but half growni, was still too young to take care of itself, and died shortly after."

The Hoary Bat {Atalapha cinerea) is larger than its congener, the Red Bat, measuring from two
to three inches in length, and from twelve to fifteen inches in expanse of wing. Its colour.s, also, are
quite difierent. The head and neck are of a faded yellow colour, the back brownish chocolate or
lumber smoky fa^n-colour, and the lower surface fa^vn-colour, darker on the breast. All the hairs
are tipped with white, which gives the animal the peculiar ashy tinge alluded to in its name. Ths
■whole ujiper surface of the interfemoral membrane, and about one-third of its lower surface, are
clothed with hair. The Hoary Bat is distributed over the whole of North America, as far north as
Clanada and the Hudson's Bay Territories.*

SCHREIBERS' BAT.f

Several species of Long-tailed Bats, peculiar to the Eastern hemisphere, have been formed into the
genus Minioptcrus, which differs from all the preceding forms by having the crown of the head
abruptly and very considerably raised from the face, and the upper incisors in pairs separated not only
from each other, but from the canines. They have the eare separate, with their outer mai'gins extend-
ing forward nearly to the opening of the mouth ; the nostrils simple ; the first phalanx of the second
finger very short ; and the tail as long as the head and body, and entirely enclosed wtliin the inter-
femoral membrane.

Schreibers' Bat, the type of this genus, is very remarkable for its extraordinary geographical
range ; for, according to the determinations of Messi-s. Tomes and Dobson, it extends from Japan
•through the Eastern Ai-chipelago to Australia, and westward of these localities through Burmah and
■Ceylon to Asia Minor, and thence into Southern Europe. It is also generally distributed in Africa,
and occurs in Madagascar. On the continent of Europe it is found as far north as S\vitzerland and
Lower Austria.

The species varies considerably in the colour of its fur. The basal half of the hairs is always dark,
■either brown, greyish-black, or black, with the extremities .sometimes of nearly the same tint, but
generally lighter, varying from a light grey, even becoming whitish on the lower surfece, to reddish-
grey and reddish-brown. Specimens from tropical localities are generally dark in colour. The ears
are much shorter than the head, and sweep almost completely round the eye (whence the name of
"blepolis" was given to the Eastern form by M. Temminck), terminating near the angle of the mouth
in a small square-ended lobe. The tragus is much shorter than the ear, about twice as long as broad,
and rounded at the tip. The total length of this Bat is about four inches, half of which goes to the
head and body, and the remainder to the tail. Schreibers' Bat is an inliabitant of caves. It was
originally obtained from the caverns of the Banat, but occurs generally throughout Southern Europe.
In the East it is also said by M. Temminck to find a retreat in caves aud clefts in the rocks. It is
-very common in Java, but rai-ely appears in the open country. +

THE BROWN RIG BAT.§

This is another of the forms occupying the border-land between the families of VespertilioHidce and

UmbMonuridce, and assisting to unite the whole of the simple-nosed Insectivorous Bats in one great

series. In the form of the head, and in the dentition, it resembles especially Natalus and Furia. The

•wing-membranes are continued down the toes to the base of the claws ; the tail is long, and enclosed,

* Other recorded species of this genus are : A. intermedia, from Mexico, A. Pfeiffcri, from Cuba, A. FranUii, from
"Drazil and Costa Rica, A. varia, from Peru and Chili, A. pallescens, from Venezuela, and A. Grayi, fiom Chili, all with
molars J^ j and A. egregia, from Brazil, A. Ega, from Brazil, and A. caudata, from Pemambuco and ChiU, with molars *rt_
A. Gmiji has been said to occur at Juan da Fuca, in North America, and in the Sandwich Islands.

t Minioptcrus Sclireibersit.

X Other recorded species are Minioptcrus tristis, from the Philippine Islands, and M. australis, from the Loyalty Islands.

§ Thyroptera tricolor.

THE STRAW-COLOURED BAT. SU

ercept tlie last joint, in llie interfemoral nienibrauR, which is supported by long heel-spurs, beyond

which there are membranous lobes ; and the thumbs are free and clawed, and, like the soles of the feet,

furn'-shed with curious adhesive discs. The toes consist of only two phalanges each, as in the genus

Phyllorhhia. The genus was described by MM. Lichtcnstein and Peters

under the name of Hymiycteri^ (Pig Bat), in allusion to the elongated

4ind truncated form of the muzzle, which has somewhat of a Pig-like

jispecft

The singular adhesive organs mentioned above as occurring on the
thumbs and feet of this Bat, are described in considerable detaO by Mr.
Dobson in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society." He remarks that
they constitute the only known instance of the possession by Mammals
of prehensile organs at all resembling the sucking-discs of the Cephalo- ''oot a^d thumb of the browk
podous mollusca. " On the inferior surface of the thumb," he says, " from (From the PrtI'ed/^g^/o/eh™oo!o3M,.!
the base of the first phalanx, .... corresponding to the position Society.)

tif the ball of the thumb in other Bats, arises, by a short peduncle, a hollow suctorial disc about one-
tenth of an inch in diameter. On the sole of the foot a similar but considerably smaller disc is placed,
not in the same relative position, however, as in the thumb ; for it covei-s the metatarsal bones, not
the bases of the firet phalanges of the toes." According to a Spanish writer, Senor Jimenez de la
Espada, these discs were used by the animal to fasten itself to the fingers as it tried to bite, producing
the same feeling as a key or thimble when applied to the tongue after sucking but the air ; and it is
added, " the musaular arrangement is such as to allow the animal to vary the diameter of the organ ;
iind by their means the^ animals attached themselves to the sides of the box in which they are kept,
although, when sleeping, they suspended themselves by the claws like other Bats." Mr. Dobson,
however, by careful examination of the structure of the discs, convinced himself that the Spanish
zoologist was mistaken in ascribing any muscular arrangements to these curious organs, which consist
exclusively of an unusual development of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, amongst which a radiating
cartilaginous structure pi-obably gave rise to the notion of a special muscular apparatus. Mr.
Dobson indicates further that the discs of the feet are supplemented by several small projections
from the hinder border of the heel-spur, which are known to occur in no other species of Bat, and
lie regards the whole of these peculiarities as indicating that the animal is specially ada])ted for
climbmg, like the New Zealand Bat {Mi/stacina tvherculata), and that in all probability both these
species are in the habit of capturing the insects on which they feed while crawling over the branches
of trees.*

The Brown Pig Bat {Thyroptera tricolor) is an inhabitant of South and Central America. Its
head and body are rather more than an inch and a half long, and the tail about an inch and a quarter.
The fur is of a cinnamon-brown colour, paler beneath, and the wings dusky brown. t

THE STRAW-COLOURED BAT.J
In this curious little Bat, as in Furipterus and Miniopterus, which with it form the links of connec-
tion between the two families of sLmple-nosed Insectivorous Bats, the crown of the head is also much
elevated and separated from the muzzle by a strong depression. The nostrils are placed quite at the tip
of the nose, and close to the upper lip (see figure, p. 312), the chin has a semicircular double row of warts,
the ears are large, broad, somewhat jiointed at the tip, which is turned outwards, so as to make the outer
margin appear excavated, whilst below it sweeps round upon the side of the face as a free lobe, and the
tragus, which is short, broad, and fleshy, i-ises from the end of a short stalk projecting horizontally
from the inside of the opening of the ear. Tlie wings are of moderate length, and I'ather broad, and
fire attached to the ankle in a most singular manner. Their point of attaclunent is not, as usual in
Bats, on the outside, but on the inside of the ankle, so that a narrow strip of membrane has to cross

* Mr. Dobson's paper above referred to {" Proceedings of tlie Zoological Society," 1876, p. 526) contains some interesting
particulars as to the occun-ence of adhesive organs in Bats and other Mammals.

t A second species, TInjroptera albirenter, has been described by Mr. Tomes from the vicinity of the Rio Napo, near
Quito. It is rather larger than the preceding, and of a reddish-brown colour above, with the lower parts pure white.

J, Ifatalus stramineus.

NATURAL fflHTOHr.

over the terminal portion of the shank.

HE ID OF STRAW-COLOIRED EAT

(From the Proceedings of tfte Zoological Society )

The thumbs are free ; the legs and tail are long and slender ;
the latter, which consists of only seven joints, is longer
than the head and hody of the animal, and is almost en-
tirely enclosed in the amjile interfemoral membrane, the
posterior margins of which are supported by long spurs
springing from the heels. All the membranous parts,
including the eai-s, are thickly marked with dotted lines.
There are four incisor teeth in the upper jaw, placed in
paii's, and separated by a space from the canines. There
are three pre-molars in both jaws. (Dental formula —
incisors, ?=r, canines, j^J, pre-molars, ^3^, molars, ^^.)

The Straw-coloured Bat measures about four inches
in total length, fully one-half of which is occupied by
the tail. It is clothed with a moderately-long fur, of a
brownish-yellow colour, paler on the lower surface. The
membranes are reddish-brown. It is an inhabitant of
South and Central America.

CHAPTER V.

EMBALLONITEIXE ALLIANCE.

FAMILY v.— EMBALLONl'EID.E, OR THICK-LEGGED BATS.

Characteristics of the EmbaUonurida:, or Thick-legged Bats— Cuvier's Fury— The Genus .Sncfopfov/.r— Striped Sack-
winged Bat— The Pouch or Sac in the Wing-membrane— Dentition— Mountain Bat— Tomb Bat— Origin of its Name
— Dentition— The peculiar Sac or Pouch under the Chin - Other Species of the Genus (note)— Egyptian Rhino-
pome— Difficulty of assigning its true place in the System— Characteristics— Great Hare-lipped Bat— Seba's De-
scription—Linnieus's Mistake— Dentition— Distribution— The Genus Niietiuomus—Cw.'som's, Bat— Pale CHESTNur
Mastiff Bat— Distribution— Habits— Smoky Mastiff Bat— Habits— Collared Bat— Hideous Ugliness— Charac-
teristics—New Zealand Short-tailed Bat— Characteristics— Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane, Thumb, and
Foot.

This family is the first of the second great group into which Mr. Dobson divides the ordinary
Bats, and it includes many forms which are almost as typically Bats as the VespertiHonicke themselves.
As in the VesperiUionidce the nostrils are simple, that is to say, they are quite destitute of foliaceous
appendages, except in one curious genus (Ehinopoma), which has a very small nose-leaf. The cha-
racter of the folding of the first phalanx of the middle finger in repose upon the upper surface of the
metacarpal bone has already been mentioned as distinguishing the members of this alliance generally.
It is subject to two exceptions in the present family, being extended in a line with the metacai'pal
bone, in the same way as in the Vespei-tilionine Bats, in the curious genus Noctilio. and folded beneath
the metacarpal in the equally singular genus Mystacirm. In the latter genus, moreover, the middle
fixiger has three phalanges, the number of these bones in all other EmhaUonuriche being two. The
legs are short and stout, and have the two bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) nearly equally de-
veloped ; the tail has its basal portion enclosed within the interfemoral membrane, but perforates this
on the upper surface, at or beyond the middle, and is usually continued as a free organ for a considerable
distance beyond this point ; and the upper incisor teeth are generally two in number.

The members of this family, which are insectivorous in their habits, are chiefly confined to the
tropical and sub-tropical regions of both hemispheres. A single species inhabits Europe, and one is
found in New Zealand.

THE STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT.

oi Fu

CrVIER'S FURY.o
A curious little South American Bat, described by F. Cuvier under the i

of interest to the zoologist as one of the links between the two

gi'eat groujjs of Microchii'optera. It is remarkable for the form

of its muzzle, which is somewhat Pig-like, cut oft' and turned

up at the extremity, and bristling all over with haii-s. The

tragus is m the form of a barbed aiTow-head ; and the thumb is

exceedingly short, and entii-ely enclosed within the membrane,

only the claw beiug left free. The canine teeth in the upper

jaw ai-e very peculiar, showing four points. This Bat is only

about an inch and a haJf long. Its eyes are large and promi-
nent, its nostiils surrounded by slightly-raLsed borders, and

its chin bears eight white warts, seven running round the

lip, whUe the eighth stands in the centre. The fiu- is soft, thick, and black. A second species

of the genus, also from South America, is described by Mr. Tomes under the name of Fxirip-

terns ccerulescens. Its fur is of a
slaty blue tint.

THE STRIPED S.U'K-WINGED
BAT.t

The genus .Sarcoplcri/x is
readily distinguished from all
others by the existence in the
membrane in front of the arm
(the shoulder membrane or ante-
brachial membrane) of a singular
sac or jiouch, which is situated
on the lower surface of the mem-
brane near the elbow, and opens
at the upper siu-face in a corre-
sponding position. X This sac is
not peculiar to the males, but
occurs in both sexes. Tliere are

in the upper jaw only two incisor teeth, which are small and separated by an interval from each

other and from the canines (see figure above). The lower jaw has six incisoi's in a close row. Tlie

canines are strong and sharp, especially the upper ones ; the

first premolar is small, the second larger and acute, and the

three true molars are large and strongly tubercular. The

eai-s are of moderate size, and furnished with well-developed

ti-agi. The interfemoral membi-ane occupies the whole space

between the legs, and is stretched by a pair of long spurs,

between which the hinder margin is either straight or in-

cm-ved, and the basal portion of the short tail is enclosed

in the membrane, from the upper surface of which its tip

projects. The species of this genus are all American.

The Striped Sack-winged Bat is rather a small species,

measuring about two inches and a quarter from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. Its fur is

tolerably long, full, and lu.strous, that of the upper sm-face dark brown, with two white streaks running

S'G OF STRIPED SACK-WIXGED BAT, FKOM BELOW.

or STKIPED S

-■nlNfiED BAT,

» Furipteru3 lioirens. f Saccopteryx bilinmta.

X In one species, Saccopteryx plirata, from Costa Rica, of which Professor Peters makes his genus Balantiopteryx, the sao
is placed in the middle of the shoulder membrane. In this species, also, the facial part of tlie slcull is inflated on each side.
In S. canina and its allies the sac is in the margin of the membrane. These form the genus Peropteryx of Professor Petera.

NATUMAL HISTORY.

down from the sliouiders to the hinder extremity of the body ; the
having asliy tips. It is an inhabitant of Siuinam.*

sm-face is paler, the hairs

THE MOUNTAIN BAT.f

This species is an example of a small series of Bats which, although neariy allied to the preceding",

iro inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere, the known species of the genus Emhcdlonuta bein^j

I \Hul in the Eastern Archipelago and Australia, and in some of the oceanic islands of the

'acific. The ears in this genus are soraewliat triangular in form, with the outer margin siuuated ;

the tragus is truncated, slightly widened at the tip, and furnished with a small blunt projection at
the base of the outer margin ; the muzzle is somewhat elongated, with curved nostrils situated in a
rounded pit ; the interfemoral membrane is large, and stretched by long spurs. There are four incisor-
teeth in paii's above, and six below, and two pre-molai's and three molars on each side in eacii jaw.

The Mountain Bat {Emhcdlonura monticola) is a very small creature, measuring only an inch andt
a half ill length, with a tail nearly half an inch long, the extremity of which protrudes from the back of
the interfemoral membrane. The wing-membrane springs from the ankle. The general colour of the
fur is a chocolate-brown, lighter on the lower surface, the hairs being in all parts chocolate-brown at,
the tips. Theii- basal portions are yellowish-wliite on the back and brown on the belly. The mem-
branes are entirely naked.

This Bat is an inhabitant of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands, where it lives in
the wildest and most solitary regions of the mountains. It is social in its habits, considerable troops

* Other described species of the genus are Saccopteryx canina, from Brazil, 'Guiana, Venezuela, and Guatemala ; SL
Irptura, from Surinam ; S. riUosa, from Brazil ; S. Kappleri, and S. Imenptcra, from Surinam ; S. hrevirostris, from Brazil ;
and S. plicata, from Costa Rica. Rhiincliovjictcris nam, the Sharp-npsed Bat, is allied to these, but distinguished especially
by its very pointed snout. It inhabits Brazil, Surinam, and Guiana.

f EmbcUlonura monticola.

THE TO JIB DAT.

31^

of thein sleeping susiiended from the surfaces of perpendicular rocks, under the shade of the overhan"--
ing trees and shrubs. They are said to be unsavoury little beasts, their presence being perceptible,
even at a considerable distance, by the strong and disagreeable odour with which they contaniiiiate
the air.*

THE TOMB BAT.t
During the French expedition to Egypt under the first Napoleon, M. Geoffrey, one of the savantif
who accompanied the army, discovered a species of Bat inhabiting the tombs of the ancient kings of
Egypt, which differed in many important charactei-s from all pre\ iousl\
known Bats. He made it the type of a new genus, to which he ga\ e
the name of Tajjhozoug, in allusion to its tomb-haunting habits. Souk
other species have since been discovered in various pai'ts of the East*, in
hemisphere.

The Taphozoi have a rather short and broad head, with a tapeung
muzzle, its breadth behind the eyes being due to the wideness of the
zygomatic arches. . The ears are separate, and their outer margins sweep
round upon the cheek, terminating near the angle of the mouth ; the
tragus is short, somewhat widened at the apex, so as generally to
have a hatchet shape ; the wings are long and naiTow, and the in-

terfemoral membrane is ample, and stretched by very long spui-s, between the tips of which its
hinder margin is concave ; the base of the tail is enclosed in the membrane, from which its tip
projects. The teeth, especially the canines and upper true molars, are powerful, and the latter show the
W-shaped cusps very distinctly. There are three molars and two pre-molara in each jaw, but in the
upper jaw the hindmost molar is reduced to a naiTOw transverse plate, as shown in the figure,
and the first pre-molar is so small as scarcely to project above the gum. In tlie lower jaw tlieie
ai-e four small incisors ; but in the ui>per jaw the pre-maxillary bones are rejn-esented only by cartilage,
which in the young, and sometimes in adult animals, beai-s a pair of minute teetb, sepai-ated from each
other by a ^vide space, but these apparently frequently drop out as tlie animal advances in age. In
consequence of this structure, the skull pivsmfs a |«-.-uliar appeai--
ance. The intermaxillary cartilage hanv^ lust, tln^ iVont of the
fice piesents a deep notch between two priiif.tiuL;- pnnesses which
beat the canine teeth, and even during life the lower jaw extends
fuithei forward than the upper one, so that its incisor teeth jjress
only ig\mst the upper lip.

Another curious character presented by most of these Bats is
the existence under the chin of a pecidiar pouch (see figure, p. 316),
\\lnLh sometimes occurs in botjj sexes, although smaller in the
fi-nnles, ind is sometimes altogether wanting in the latter. In
some the place of this sac, which is evidently of a glandular nature,
seems to be represented by a gi'oup of small pores. The purpose of
this peculiar arrangement is not clearly known ; but from the
greater development of the organ in the males of those .species
which possess it, it would appear to be of a sexual character. The
jieculiar wing-pouches which characterise the genus Saccoptery.v are
wanting in these Bats ; but in mo.st of them there is a small membranous band, enclosing the angle
formed by the tip of the fore-arm and the base of the fifth finger, and thus forming a little pouch.

Tlie Tomb Bat {Ta2}hozous perforatus) is one of those which presents a pouch of this description,
and the male also possesses a large throat-sac, which is altogether wanting in the females. It is about
three inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which is thin at the extremity ; the wing-membranes

DENTITION OF TOME BAT, ENLAKOED.

* Other known species are Emhallonura nigrescens, from Amboyna, Ternate, and Australia ; and S. semicaudata
inhabitant of the Samoa, Fiji, and Pelew Islands. An allied African species is Coleura afra, which, however, presents s
characters indicating a relationship to the American Saccopteryx,

t TapltcNua perfm-atus.

NATURAL BISTORT.

»U iEMVLE LONG-^HMED 1! \T (Jftc

extend dowii to within about a quarter of an inch of the ankles, and the heel-spnrs are about as long

as the tibia. The body is covered with short
dark-brown fur, which extends over the bases of
the wings, and down the interfemoral membrane
as far as the point where the tail emerges
from it.

This is the species originally discovered by
Geoffroy in the chambers of the Pyramids, and
other tombs and buildings in Egypt. It is
Do!.i,oii , said also to inliabit Sennaar and Senegal. It
flies in the evening, passes the day in the

darkest place.s it can find, and feeds exclusively upon insects. These liabits, indeed, appear to be

common to all the species of the genus.'''

THE EGYPTIAN KHIXOFOME.f
This Bat, descrilied by the French traveller and naturalist Belon, about the middle of the sixteenth
■ century, under the name of the Egyptian Bat (Cluiuve-Souris d'Egypte), is one of the most singidar
members of the order Chiroptera. It presents so
curious a combination of characters that its place in
the system has always been uncertain ; and owing
to the presence of a small nose-leaf, it has hitherto
been arranged by different wi-iters with the Phyllo-
stomata, the Rhuiolophidie, and the Nycterida>. Its
true place, according- to Mr. Dobsou's recent re-
searches, appears to be with the Emhcdlonuridct, with
whicii, and especially with the Taphozoi, it certainly
agrees closely in the form of the skull and the
dentition. This view of the relationships of the genus Rhinopoma seems also to have struck Cuvier,
who, while placing the genus next to Nycteris, makes Taphozous immediately follow it.

The genus is characterised by having the crown of the head considerably elevated, with a deep
concavity in the forehead between the eyes, as in Taphozov^ ; the muzzle considerably elongated
beyond the opening of the mouth ; the nostrils of valvidar structure, situated in the anterior margin of
a very small, erect nose-leaf, which bears some resemblance to those of the Phyllostomes ; the eai-s
rather large, united upon the forehead (a Nycterid character), and furnished with a well-developed
tragus ; and the tail long and slender, and free throughout almost its
whole length from the interfemoral membrane, which is exceedingly
short. Tlie upper incisors are two in number, and of very small size,
uiserted in intermaxillaiy bones which unite with the maxillaries
by slender processes, a character which also occurs in EmbaUunura.
In the lower jaw there are four incisoi-s in a close row. The canmes
are strong, and followed on each side by a single pre-molar in the
up]>er, and two in the lower jaw ; and there are three true molars with
W-shaped cusps on each side in both jaws : thus the dental formula
is — incisors, ~, canines, 1=], pre-molars, t!^ molars, ^. Tlie index
finger consists of three joints, a metacarjjal bone and two phalanges, a structiu-e which occurs in no
other Insectivorous Bats.

* Other described species of the genus are
Ceylon, and Burmah ; T. melanopiu/oii. \\itl>
figure above), an inhabitant of Imlia, I'enaTi
from Tenasserim ; T. aiistmlis, from Australia
Madagascar, and the Mascarene Islan

)is Innriimanus, with a large throat-
ouch, but usually with a small b
Cochin China, Java, ami the Pli
Guinea ; T. viauritianvs. witli wlii
1 India and the larger Eastern isl

,c in the male, found in India,
ck bearil under the chin (see
ipiiine Islands: T. TImhaldi,
; wings, fjom tropical Africa,
nds ; T. affinis, from Labuan ;

and T. FcJi, from tropical Africa. The Valve- tailed Bat {Dichdurus albus), a native of Brazil, is remarkable for its whitish
colour, and especially for the presence of a curious horny case, composed of two parts, which covers the extremity of the
tail, and is attached to the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane.
+ Rhinopoma microphyUum.

THE CLEAT SAKE-LUTED BAT.

The Egvpti;

PJa

aopoi

jiruba

ily ilistrilmt
head aiin

xUe poitiuu ot the Afiic^n

continent, is a small Bat, the lengtli of tl
body being only about two inches and a quartc;
The portion of the tiiil free from the membrane is &huv.\
the same length as the heatl and body, and the inter
femoral membrane encloses about anot!:er half-inc'.i. It
has a nearly naked face, along the middle of which a
naiTOw groove runs back from the base of the little nose-
leaf to the deep concavity situated in the forehead
between the eyes ; the wing-membranes are attached to
the tibia for about two-thirds of the length of the latter,
and are entirely free from haii- ; and the small develop-
ment of the membranes, coupled with the comparatively
gi-eat length of the limb-bones, rendei-s this Bat more
active in walking than most of his fellows. The fur is
short, and leaves a good deal of the hinder part of the
back naked ; ajid the bare skin thus exposed, as well as
the base of the wings, is curiously wrinkled, a character
which this species has in common with certain species of
Taphozoi and Mvlossi. egaftia

The Egyptian Rhinopome is found commonly in
Egypt, where it frequents the mimerous i-uins and old buiklings with which th;
is particularly abimdan', in the dark galleries and chambers of the Pyramids.*

countrv abounds, and

THE GKEAT EAEE-LirPED BAT.t

In Seba'j well-known illustrated book on Natural History a peculiar species of Bat is described
and figured under the name of " Vespert'dio cato similis americanus." It may be doubtful whether
iiny of our domestic Grimalkins would be much flattered by the likeness thus briefly indicated (see
figure), but there can be no doubt that the animal in question was a Bat, and as such it duly appears
in the earlier editions of the " Systema Naturre " of Linnieus. By a curious misapplication of the very
sound principle of not being guided exclusively by external characters, the great Swedish naturalist
was led in the last edition of his work (in which he founded the genus Noctilio) to refer the animal to
the Rodents, on the groitnd of the apparent presence of only two incisors in each jaw.

A glance at the dentition of a Noctilio will at once show how LiuJiKus was misled, and at the
same time that it has all the dental characters of a Bat. In the upjier jav/ there ai-e four incisor
teeth, the two middle ones approximated and considerably larger than
the lateral ones, which are placed quite behind them, leaving a small
ojien space between the incisoi-s and the larger canines, behind which
comes a series of four molars showing the characteristic W-sJiaped
cusps very distinctly. In the lower jaw there are only two small
notched incisors, followed immediately by the powerful canines,
behind which is a series of five molars, the first very small, the
second larger, but simple and pyramidal, and the remainder with
distinct cusps and ridges.

The ears in the Bats of this genus are rather large, and furnished
with a small tragus, the outer margin of which is notched. The
outer margin of the ear forms a rounded lobe upon the cheek, and
is then continued to the angle of the mouth. The upper lip is widely cleft, forming a broad margined
running up to the nostrils, which are surrounded by borders raised to

HEAD OF GREAT HARE-LirPEE

:h an extent as

• Rhinopoma Lepsianum (Pe'.ers), is another African spe.-ies,

t I^^vctilio lejionnus,

12

It inhabits the banks of the Blue Nile.

SIS ifATUKAL BISTORT.

give tliem almost a tubular appearance ; and the lower lip, which is also thickened, hears several
curious folds of skin ; the whole in combination giving a most singular and forbidding expression to
the little creature. Tlie wing-membranes descend but little below the knee, but the interfemoral
membrane is ample, stretched by very long spurs, and traversed in its basal part by the short tail, the
tip of which projects from its upper surface like a little knob.

The Great Hai-e-lipped Bat {Noctilio leporinus), wliich Ls distributed over the whole of tropical and
sub-trojiical South America, from the West Indies in the north to Paraguay and Chili in the south, is
about three inches and three-quarters in length without the tail, anJ has an expanse of wing of about
twenty-one inches. The general colour of the fur on the back is greyish-brown or reddish-brown, but
in many specimens a yellowLsh-white streak I'uns from the nape dowfl. the middle of the back to the
root of the tail. The throat, neck, and belly are reddish-yellow, the eiu-s, membranes, and other naked
parts blackish-brown. The interfemoral membrane extends about two inches beyond the tail, which is
three-quarters of an inch long, and the heel-spurs are more than an inch in length.

This Bat lives in large parties in hollow trees, cavei-ns, the roofs of buildings, and even among
the dense foliage of trees, but generally in the immetUate vicinity of water. In the twilight they are
seen in great numbers flying, almost in the same way as the Swallows in Europe, in gi-eat flocks over
the surface of the water, close to which they skijn with a very rapid flight in pursuit of the insects
which constitute their food. The voice is described by Prince Maximilian of Neuwied as a hissing
sound. According to an observation made by Mr. Louis Eraser in Ecuador, the object of the Noctilio
in haunting the waters is not so peaceful as that of most bats, which, so far as we know, resort to the
lakes and rivers only to di-ink. Mr. Eraser describes it as flying along the banks of rivers, and from
time to time dashing down upon the surface of the water, where it captures small Crustaceans as they
swim up the stream. He adds that the Bats have a fishy odour, and possibly they do not strictly
confine themselves to invertebrate prey.*

CESTONI'S B/.T.t
We come now to a series of Bats (the Molossi of Professor Peters and Mr. Dobson) which we
shall treat here as 'belonging to three genera, the classificatioil and nomenclature of which are attended
with considerable difliculty, partly owing to the variability of characters on which we are accustomed to
rely in the definition of generic groups, and partly to the confusion which has ai'isen in the use of the
generic names employed especially by the older writei-s. They are all stoutly and rather clumsily
built Bats, with short, thick muzzles, a character which has obtained for some of them the name of
Bulldog Bats ; the tail is thick, and projects beyond the margin of the interfemoral membrane, the
hinder limbs are short and stout, and the fibula or second bone in the shank is well developed, often
nearly as lai-ge as the tibia.

In the genus Nyctino)ims, as we shall here restrict it, the ears are large, and generally united
upon the forehead or on the muzzle in front of the eyes, either lUreotly or by a fold of skin, and furnished
with a distinct tragus, and the upper lip is more or less distinctly
folded or wi-inkled. Tlie intermaxillary bones are generally separated
l)y a cleft ; and in all the species they bear two incisor teeth, which
are separated by a space from each other and fron; the canines, whilst
the lower jaw has six incisors in young animals, -and usually only
TONi's BAT. (After Tmimincii.) fo\n- in the adults. The canines are strong, and followed in the iipper

jaw by either four or five teeth, the number of premolars being either
one or two. In the lower jaw there are always two premolars, and three true molars. The first and
fifth toes are much thicker than the rest. The species of this genus occur in the warmer parts of both
hemispheres.

Cestoni's Bat, originally dLscovered at Pisa, is the only species of the group that occurs in
Europe, and forms the type of the genus Dinops of Professor Savi, now regarded as a sub-genus of
Nyctinomus. It is one of the species with five molars in each jaw, and six incisors permanently in the

* The White-bellied Hnre-lipped Bat (N. albivaitrisj is also an inhabitant of South America.
+ Nyctinomus Cestonii.

THE PALE CHESTXUT MASTIFF BAT. 319

lower jaw ; and t'le tail extends for fully half its length be^vond the iuterfemoral membrane, which is
small, and stretched by long curved heel-spurs. A small membranous baud crosses the shank, uniting
the wing with the iuterfemoral membrane. The general colour of the fur is a mouse-grey, palar below ;
on the backs of the toes there are some loag white hair.s. The wings in this and the other species of
Nyctinonius are long but narrow; the second linger, wluch runs to the tip of the wing, being very
long, so long indeed that its metacarpal bone alone exceeds the fourth
or hiiiclmost finger in length. The inner toe also is rather largei
than the rest, and somewhat separated from them, without, however,
taking on the form and function of an opposable thumb. The head
and body in this Bat ai-e about three inches and a ^quarter long,
and the tail rather more than two inches, of which about an inch
is within the iuterfemoral membrane. It has a very wide distribu-
tion, being found in the South of Europe and throughout Jfortliern
Africa, and occurring also at Amoy, in China, where Mr. Swiidioe
obtained specimens of it. He describes the iuterfemoral membrane
as fitting loosely on the tail like a glove, so that it can slip up and
down at the will of the animal. It flies high in the air, where it
can be readily distinguished by the narrowness of its wings. A
specimen that" Mr. Swinhoe kept for some time alive would slip the "^"' "' """"T.l'lV .T"",' T

.i r i V ^ Proceeiuis of the ZoologwaX SouUt) )

iuterfemoral membrane up and down when irritated, and had the

further disagreeable habit under such cii-cumstances of protruding its eyes until they seemed ready
to fall out of theii- sockets. In Egypt Cestoni's Bat is one of those that frequent the Pyramids and
other old l.mildings, which must make that country a perfect paradise for Bats.*

THE PALE CHESTNUT MASTIFF BAT.*

This -svidely-distributed species belongs to the typical sub-genus Nyctinomns, in which the
characters of the genus are most clearly manifested, the upper lip especially being very strongly folded.
Its total length is about four inches, an inch and a half of which is made up by the tail, about half of
which is enclosed by the iuterfemoral membrane. The body is covered with a thick, short, soft fur,
which scarcely encroaches upon the membranes, and is composed of hairs of a fawn colour at the tips,
with the basal portion whitish or light ash colour ; the fawni colour is paler on the lower surface of the
body. The ears are of considerable size, rounded, closely approaching each other, but not joining on
the top of the head, and furnished with a small tragus. The inner margin of the ear beais a row of
five or si.x minute warts.

This species is found commonly in South America and the West Indies, and also extends north-
wards into the United States, at least as far as Charleston, in South Carolina. Mr. Osburn gives an
excellent account of its habits, as observed by him in Jamaica, where tlus Bat is often very abundant
in the houses. He says, '' They generally appear from half-past five to six o'clock, directly after sun-
do'wn, and occasionally appear up to ten o'clock, but not in such numbers. They again make their
appearance in my bedroom before dawoi. The beating of their wings, with the occasional squeaking
call, is quite familiar to me as the first sound of morning." Its cry resembles the .sound " click-click."
In the shingled roof of the house at Eowington Park, Vere, Jamaica, these Bats were exceedingly
abundant, passing the day clinging together in clusters, notwithstanding the heat experienced imme-
diately beneath the shingles. Mr. Osburn says that he " counted fourteen little heads in a mass about
the size of a turnip." Under these cii-cumstances, however, they are not all asleep. " Now and then,"
says Mr. Osburn, " a wing is stretched in drowsy enjoyment ; and the luxury King James thought too
great for subjects, and ought to be reserved for kings, is largely indulged in by Bats. Fii-st one and
then another wakes up, and withdrawing one leg, and leaving itself suspended by the other alone,
adroitly uses the foot at liberty as a comb, with a rapid, efiective movement di'essing the hair of the

* Nyctinomus tragatus (Dobson), from Continental India, is a nearly allied species, as also Kiictimmus pUcatm, an
inhabitant of India, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.
+ Nyctinomus hrasUiensis.

323 NATUSAL HISTORY.

under part and head - an action far from ungraceful. The foot is tlien cleaned ciuickly with the teetb
or tongue, and restored to its first use," of suspending the animal. A little after sundown, according to Mr.
Osburn, the roof is alive with movement, betrayed by squeaks and a scuffling shufHe over the boards, and
the Bats scramble eagerly up the shingles, and escape through any ojiening they may find, shooting ofT
with gi-eat rapidity in search of their insect prey. In March they made their exit about half-
past six o'clock in the evening, returning to theii- dwslling-place about eight or nine o'clock. " It is
then," says Mr. Osburn, " they are so particularly annoying to the inhabitants of even the mo.st care-
fully kept Jamaica houses. The great majority return to the roof ; but one or two vigorous little
fellows come into the room, and flap about in the most unmeaning way. Nothing is more i-emarkable
than the agility with which a dozen, in the early part of the evening, skimmed and glided by every
article of furniture. But now they bang themselves against the ceiling and walls, drop on the table,
got up again, when the Cat, by jumping, catches them a pat, and they fall on the floor, not much
hurt, to judge by their liveliness, for Grimalkin, ha^'ing performed the feat, sits down, her paws tucked
under, and gravely watches the hurry of the alarmed Bat shuffling over the floor. They disturb the
harmony of the evening by becoming the occupants of, and making an escapade beneath, a gentleman's
coat collar, or a gi-eat sensation by getting hopelessly entangled in a lady's hair, and bite more furiously
than effectively during the process of release." These restless little fellows, which must at least add
considerably to the liveliness of an evening reunion in those pai-ts of Jamaica where they abound,
remain very active in their quarters all night, and start out in search of their breakfast so early that
they return home again by five or six o'clock. They then seem to amuse themselves, before
retiring to their own repose, by breaking the slumbers of the people whose evening houi-s they have
enlivened as above described, by flying about the bedrooms with a rushing sound and many squeak.s.
The specie.s is exceedingly common in Jamaica, and seems always to inhabit houses. Mr. Gosse
("Naturalist in Jamaica," p. 159) also describes the habits of this Bat, which he calls the Chestnut
Mastiff Bat.*

THE SMOKY MASTIFF BAT.f

In this abundant American Bat the fur is generally of a smoky-brown colour, with the bases of
the hairs whitish ; on the lower surface some of the hairs are entu-ely white, and the rest brown, with
the base and apex whitish. The length of the head and body is frpm three and a half to four and a
half inches, and that of the tail about two inches, neai-ly half of which projects beyond the membrane.
The heel-sjnirs are very long. In this and the other species of Molossus, the intermaxillary bones are
united, and the upper incisoi's close together in front.*

The Smoky Mastiff Bat is a well-known South American species, and extends also into the We.st
Indian islands. In Jamaica it was observed and described by Mr. Gosse under the name of the Monk
Bat, in aUusion to the fact that he found the species living in large communities, but always of one
sex. Mr. Osburn also ob.served it in the same island, and has given a long account of its habits. In the
house in which he was living at Shettlewood, these Bats swarmed in the roof, and during the breeding-
season, his bedroom, situated immediately below, was rendered so offensive by their peculiar odoiu\
that he was compelled to have every window left wide open at night. The Bats passed out from the
roof under the eaves, but not unfrequently small parties of them would come in tln-ough the windows
and take a short flight round the room. A man sent up into the roof brought down four or five
quarts of the Bats, all of which proved to be males. These Bats also live in holes in dead stumps of
cocoa-nut ti'ees, and Mr. Osburn describes as follows the results of felling one of the stumps thus
occupied. He says : — " It was broken into fragments by the fall, and among them a perfect hecatomb
of these little Bats, scattered into two distinct heajis, correspontling to a high and a lower storey in the
tree. There must have been at least 1 50 or 200 altogether. The heap which occupied the upper hole
were exclusively males ; those in the lower, females, in large propoiiion, though there seenied a male
here and there among them." Mr. Osburn's observations thus strikingly confirm those of Mr. Gosse

* In a paper on tlie group Molossi, Mr. Dobson distinguishes in all twenty-one species of the genus Nyclinomns. mostly
jnliabitants of the Eastern hemisphere. Three species besides the one above described are found in America.

-|- Mohssits nasutus.

Z Mr. Dobson {Provccdings of the Zoohgical Socict;i, 1876) describes nine species of Muhssus, all from tropical America.

THE COLLARED BAT. 321

ar, ta the curio'.is habit of segregation on the i>art of the mules of this species, which induced the latler
gentleman to give it the name of the Monk Bat. The holes occupied by the Bats contained a gieat
quantity of dust looking like coarse snuff, which proved to consist entu-ely of fragments' of the hard
^larts of insects. Mr. Gosse appears not to have ob.served this Bat in houses, but he describes it as
living iu gi-eat nurabei-s togetlier in the hollows of deaiyed thatch-palms. He had brought to him a
Jarge basket containing a number of the Bats obtained from such a tree, and says that, on being
uncovered, it " displayed a pretty scene of dusky life. The ' pie ' of ovu-. infant days, that contained
■^ four-and-twenty blackbu'ds ' all ready to sing, was nothing to it. Fifty Bats, all alive and kicking,
•were huddled into the narrow space ; an arrangement which, considering their natural propensities,
■was probably not very disagreeable to them. 1 examined forty-three, a few escaping from the crowd,
and if I was surprised before at the extent of their gregarious habits, I was still more surprised to find

that of this number every one was of the male sex, as had been the one formerly examined

As they huddled and crawled over each other they emitted quivering squeaks. They all dis-
played the extraordinary activity mentioned above, preferring to run rather than fly, though a few
took to wing. In climbing, to suspend themselve,s, they used the thumbs or the hind-feet indis-
criminately. In running along the floor, an action which they performed very swiftly, they rested on
the wrists, elevating the fore-parts of the body considerably."

THE COLLAKED BAT.*

The Mas till Bats certainly cannot boa.st of any great attractivene.ss in their aspect, but
they must yield the palm of ugliness to a curious species described by Dr. Hoi-sfleld. It Ls
a clumsy, heavy-looking animal, of considerable size for a Bat, measuring more than five inches
in length from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail. Its body is entirely covered with a thick
l)lack skin, which is absolutely naked on the back, and has only a few short hairs upon the sides of
the body, the intei-femoral membrane, and the lower surface. Tlie face and lips also have a few fine
long hairs, and a curious collar of brown hairs runs round the neck. To add to the charms of the
creature, the skm is thrown into thick folds in various parts of
the body ; the legs are thick, and termmated by clumsy feet, in
•which the first to? is verj' large, bristling with long hairs on the
outside, and widely separated from the others, so as to acquire
very much the character of a posterior thumb ; the interfemoral
membrane is short, forming a mere band between the legs, fiom
-whicli the tail, which is about half as long as the body, and very
thick, projects for about two-thirds of its length. The head is
long ; the muzzle, which is truncated, projects considerably beyond
the lower jaw ; the ears are quite separate, triangular, with the
tips rounded ; the tragus is very small ; the wings are long, and
rathe? narrow, and their iiiembrane extends down to about the
middle of the shank, but springs from such a level on the sides of [-^fl"' Temmmck.)

the body, that a deep cavity is formed on each side under the

armpit, which is converted ijito a .sort of pouch by an extension of the skin of the sides to the lower
surface of the ujiper arm and thigh. In the pouches thus formed, and close to the armpits, the nipjJes
sire situated. There are two incisor teeth in each jaw, the upper ones strong, and implanted in well-
developed and united intermaxillary bones. The upper jaw has one, and the lower jaw two premolars
on each side, and there are three true molars on each side in both jaws.

This hideous Bat was discovered in the peninsula of Malacca, and has since been found in Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo. It does not appear to be abundant in its native countries, and its apparent
Tarity is doubtless increased by its selecting for its residence the wildest and most solitary districts in
the heart of the great forests. During the day it usually retreats to the hollow trunks of trees, but
sometimes takes its repose in holes in the gi-ound or in clefts of the rocks, coming out soon after sun-
down, when it is seen flying heavily about the borders of the woods, or even high up above the forest in
the plains.

* Chircmdes torqualus.

S:.2 NATURAL BISTORT.

Anotlier curious but by no means agi-eeable peculiarity of tliis species remains to be noticed.
Across the base of tbe neck, immediately in front of the breast, there is a great pouch, formed
apparently by a fold of the skin, which receives an oily secretion from a large gland, regarded by Pro-
fessor Temminck as perhaps analogous to the thyroid. In the male this gland is very broad, and
divided into two lobes, and the fluid secreted by it passes into the pouch by a gi-eat number of small
pores. In the female the apparatus is smaller, but more complicated ; the gland is composed of two
small lobes, but between these there is a membranous pouch or reservoir, in which the oily fluid seems
to become concentrated, forming a brown, granular, fatty matter, which passes into the gi-eat throat-
pouch through a single lai-ge opening. This secretion possesses an odour so strong as to be still per-

ceptible after the animals have been preserved in spirits for several years ; and Dr. Salomon Muller
states that his ai-tist, M. van Oort, when engaged in making a di-awing from a living specimen, was
affected with a headache and nausea so violent that he had much difliculty in completing his task. It
appears that the fetid fluid gets diffused over the hairs bordering the throat-pouch, and thus readily
passes ofi' into the air, and spreads to a long distance round the places inhabited by the Bats, and may
thus serve, as Professor Temminck siiggests, to enable these creatures to find each other in the dark
retreats which they frequent. This would a{)ply to other species which difi'use a peculiar odour,
although none of them seem to possess so powerful an odoriferous secretion as the Collared Bat.

TEE NEW ZEALAND SHORT-TAILED BAT.*
We have already noticed the occurrence in New Zealand of a species of Bat nearly allied to the
common Bats of Europe, although differing fi'om them in certain characters which have led to the

Myda

', luhcrcalata.

THE K£ir ZEALAND SHORT-TAILED BAT.

V^

formation of a distinct genus for it. The present species, the second known Bat of New Zealand, is
a far more remarkable animal ; in fact, its characters are so singular that it forms not only a distinct
genus, btit a peculiar sub-division of the family to wliich it belongs.

The Short-tailed Bat of New Zealand, which appears to be not of very common occurrence there,
is a small Bat, not exceeding two inches and a half in length of head and
body ; the body is short and broad ; the muzzle is greatly produced beyond
the opening of the mouth, and terminates in a sort of projecting snout, whicl
carries the nostrils towards the sides of its tip ; the ears are quite sepaiate,
simple, ovate, and slightly pointed at the tips, and furnished with a long,
narrow, and pointed tragus ; the wings are rather short and broad, and the
middle finger consists of four joints, having three true phalanges; the'wmg
membranes extend down to the end of the shank ; a narrow band of the
membrane rmming from the wrist down the arm, and bordering the side
of the body and the leg, the antebiacliial ur slioulder membrane and the basal
part of the interfemoral membrane are thick and leathery, and marked -nith

numerous deep wrinkles on the upper surface. The tail is short, and only a very small jiortion of it
is enclosed in the interfemoral membrane. The dentition is exceedingly peculiar. Theie are two
upper incisoi-s, which are nearly of the same shape as the canines ; the lower jaw also has two incisors,
but these are small, three-lobed at the tip, and placed in front of the canines, which are of large size,
and nearly in contact at the base. There are two premolars and three true molars on
each side in both jaws.

The fur is short, crisp, and thick, and extends forward on the head towards the nose,
where it is boimded in front by a frill of stifl', upright hairs. On the upper parts of the
body the fur is dusky at the base and tipped with a shining greyish-brown, with a slight
olive tinge. On the lower surface the hairs are brown at the base, with greyish-brown
tips. The membranes are dark-brown, with the wrinkled, leathery portion paler, and of
a yellowish tinge. Of the habits of this species nothing has been recorded.

In many respects the New Zealand Short-tailed Bat is exceedingly interesting to the
zoologist. In its structure it presents striking resemblances to species belonging to several
"'™ioo''&>/i™'^' o'"°^^P^' whilst its own personal peculiarities are very remarkable. These are noticed by
Mr. Dobson, from whose valuable writings we have so often had occasion to quote, in
a .short paper read before the Zoological Society in 1876. lie finds that the peculiar leathery and
wrinkled portions of the membranes are so arranged that when the wings are folded — which they are
in a very complicated manner, and so as to pack away into the smallest possible space — each wing is
" tucked in beneath the thickened portion of the wing-membrane margining the fore-arm and side
of the body, which sheathes and completely
conceals the whole wing. The posterior half
of the interfemoral membrane, from the point
where the tail perforates it, is rolled upwards
and forwards beneath the leathery anterioi
half." In this way the more membranous
parts of the wings are protected, as Mr. Dol >
son remarks, precisely in the same way tli.it
the delicate wings of the Beetles and Bu<;s
are sheltered in repose beneath the hardened
elytra. " With the wings and interfemoral
membranes thus encased," he adds, " this
species is the most quadrupedal of Bats ;" and
the structure of the limbs indicates that all

these arrangements really tend to adapt this animal for progression on all-fours. The thumb is long,
and armed with a large, sharp claw, which is remarkable among Bats for having a small sharp tooth
near the base, in its concave side, a structure which, from the analogy of a species of Chameleon in
which the same thing occurs, is regarded by Mr. Dobson as greatly increasing the clinging power of

the animal. Tbe liiud limbs are short ami stout, and tlie feet remarkably large, and their whole
lower sui-face, including that of the toes, is covered with a soft, loose, deeply-wrinkled skin, that oi
each toe showing a strong central groove with short grooves at right angles to it, very much after the
l>attern seen in some Geckos or Wall Lizards. This loose, wrinkled skin is also continued along the
flattened lower surface of the anlde and leg. " All these jieculiarities of structui-e," says Mr. Dobson,
" must accompany some corresponding peculiarities in the habits of this species. ... I have no
doubt that the denticle at the base of the claw in Mystacina tuberculata compensates that species

exceptionally fur the imperfect condition of the fore-limbs as organs of prehension ; and this, takei.
into consideration with the peculiar manner in which the wings are protected from injury when not
employed in flying, and with the manifestly adhesive natui-e of the sole of the foot and inferior surface
of the legs, leads me to believe that this species hunts for its insect food, not only in the air, but also
on the branches and leaves of trees, among which its peculiarities of structure most probably enable it
to walk about with security and ease." This and the Brown Pig Bat (Thyroptera tricolor), already
described (p. 310), may be regarded as more especially adapted for climbing than any other members
of the order Chiroptera.

CHAPTER VI.

FAMILY VI.— PHYLLOSTOMID.E, OR VAJIPIRES.

nguisliing Mark.i of the PAi/Z^osiomirffc — Location — Diet -Blood -sucking Propensities — Exaggerations of the OlJer
■Writers— Testimony of Acara— Darwin's Evidence— Bat-bites -The Witness of Bates, Wallace, Fraser, Prince Maxi-
milian—Conclusion of the Whole Matter— The Desmodonts and Javelin Bat— The Tongue in the Genus Phiillostoma—
Blainville's Bat— Extraordinary Development of Face and Head— Owl-faced Bat--Javeltn Bat — Allied Species—
ViVMPIRE Bat — Mr. Bates' Testimony to its Inoffensiveness, and Description of its Habits — Neuwied's Large-leafed
Bat— Great - eabed Leaf Bat— Soricine Bat— Redman's Bat— Sezekoen's Leap Bat-Spectacled Stenodkrm
— Jamaican .Stenoderm—Desmodus— Dentition— Blood-sucking Propensities— The Bites— Stomach of Desmodus^
Frugivorous and Insectivorous Pats— Classification— Concluding I'emar'.ts.

We have already seen that the first group of ordinary Bats includes two sets of species, one
characterised generally by the possession of dermal complications of the muzzle, the other by the
absence of any such arrangements ; and in like manner the second alliance has also its .simple-nosed and

THE I'UYLLOSTOMES, Uli VAMPIRES. 325

leaf-nosed forms. Of course, the presence or absence of the nose-leaf can only be regarded as a
secondary character ; and we have had occasion to show that its mei-e existence is not sufficient to over-
rule other important structural peculiarities (as in the genera Nyctopldlm among the Vespertilionidm,
and Rhiaopoma among the Emballonuridct), but in conjunction with such characters it must be
regarded as of great value, especially since its development would seem to bs associated, as already
pointed out, with that wonderful acuteness of the tactile sense which seems to guide the Bats Ln theii-
nocturnal wanderings. .

In the Phyllostomldai, or Leaf-nosed Emballonurine Bats, this is strikingly the case, and the
family may be regarded as an especiaOy well-marked group, distinguished from all other Bats (except
the genus Mi/staamt) by the presence of three distinct phalanges in the middle linger. Of these
joints the first is short, and bent up in repose along the
upper sui-fiice of the metacarpal bone, in the manner
characteristic of the Bats of this division. The nasal
appendages are sometimes rudimentary, but generally
exhibit a structure more or less resembling that charac-
teristic of the Horseshoe Bats, the nostrils opening in the
fissure between the fro)it-piece, or horseshoe, and true
nose-leaf; and the chin is furnished with warts, or erect
riJges of skin, reminding us of the same parts in the
genus NoctiUo, which certainly forms a sort of transition
between the EmbaJlonwida' and Phi/Uogiomidce. Another
character which seems at once to distinguish these Leaf-
nosed Bats from those of the first division is the complete sici li. of javelin rat.
development of the intermaxillary bones, whioli in the

JiMnolophido' and Nycterklm are rudimentary, or represented by mere cartilages. The dentition
varies very considerabl}' in this family, but in all the species the canines are large and acute, and the
molar teeth show either the usual W-shaped cusps, or a sharp, cutting edge, like that found in some
carnivorous mammals.

The Phi/Uostomidcii are entuely confined to the warmer parts of America. Several of them are oi
considerable size. The food of some consists of insects ; others find their nourishment in fruits ; and a
good many appear to have the habit of sucking the blood of other animals — an evil practice wliich has
been erroneously ascribed to the species generally, causing them, under the name of Vampires, to be
regarded as most formidable animals. As many of the accounts of the bloodsucking propensities of
these Bats give no definite clue to the species referred to, and the number of species which seek this
form of nii\rrisliiii,-iit, lial)itually or occasionally, is very doubtful, it may be as well to give a general
statement mi the siiliject in this place.

The earliest accounts of the natural history of America contain references to these animals, w'itli
a probabl}' somewhat exaggerated statement of the fatal efl:ects of their attacks upon men and animals.
Peter Martyr declares that the Bats suck the blood of men and animals while they are asleep, exhausting
them to such an extent as to cause death. Piso, Father Jumilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa, and many
other writers, express themselves in similar terms, and generally agree in representing the consequences
of the l)ites as very serious.

La Condamine, who travelled in South America in the early part of the last century, confirms the
above statements as to these Bats, which, he says, attack man, and even destroy animals. He ascer-
tained that they suck the blood of Horses and Mules, and stated that they had in some places destioyed
the cattle inti-oduced by the missionaries.

Azara, in his natural history of the ijuadrupeds of Paraguay, describes the blood-sucking habit •, of
a species which Iims bi'i-n i-.-fn-red to the genus Stenoderitia. He says: — "I have seen a great numlier ,
they weie all constMiiil\ i.lutical among themselves, but diflfer from all other Bats in that, when put
on the ground, tlicy iiiu ivarly as fast as a Rat, and they like to .suck'blood. Sometimes they bite the
combs and wattles of sleejnng fowls, and suck theii- blood, in consequence of which the fowls die,
because the wounds mortify. They also bite Horses, Mules, Asses, and horned cattle, usually on ilia
rump, the shoulders, or the neck, because in these parts they find it convenient to cling tc th? mane or
12*

326 XATUKAL HHiWRT.

the tail. Lastly, man is not free from their attacks ; and upon this point I can give certain testimony,
seeing that they have bitten ine four times in the tips of my great toes, when I was sleeping in the
open coimtry in huts. The wounds they made without my feeling them were circular or elliptical, from
a line to a line ai^d a half in diameter, but so shallow that they did not entirely penetrate my skin,
and it could be seea that they were made by removing a small piece, and not by piercing, as might be
supposed. Besides the blood which they sucked, I reckon that what flowed away might be half an
ounce when I lost most by their attack ; but as the effusion in the case of horses and cattle is about
three ounces, and the skin of these animals is very thick, it is to be supposed that the wounds are
larger and deeper. This blood comes neither fi-om the veins nor from the arteries, seeing that the wound
does not extend to them, but from the capillary vessels of the skin, from which the Bats, no doubt,
draw it by sucking and licking. Although my wounds were painful for several days, they were of so
little consequence that I did not apply any remedy to them."

These statement » of Azara's reduce the affair to rather more moderate dimensions than would
appear to belong to them from the exaggerated statements of the older writers, which can only be
accepted with soms allowance for the love of the marvellous inlierent in those who have strange things
to tell of new couutrie."}. But even these less extravagant accounts of the Vampires of South America
were regarded in Europe with some feeling of scepticism ; and Mr. Darwin appears to have been one
of the first reliable naturalists to obsen-e the act of blood-sucking on the part of a Bat of this fiimily,
belonging to the genus Desmodus. He says (" Journal," p. 25) : —

" The Vampire Bat is often the cause of much trouble, by biting the Horses on their v.ithers. The
injury is geneiully not so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation which the pressure
of the saddle afterwai'ds produces. The whole circumstance has lately been doubted in England ; I was
therefore fortunate in being present when one was actually caught on a Horse's back. We were
bivouacking late oua evening near Coquimbo, in Chili, when my servant, noticing that one of the
Horses was very restive, went to see what was the matter, and fancying he could distinguish something,
suddenly put his hand on the beast's withers, and secured the Vampire. In the morning, the spot
where the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished, from being slightly swollen and bloody.
The third day afterwai-ds we rode the Horse without any ill effects."

Tschudi, who tra\elled in Peru, and wrote on the natural history of that country, gives an account
of his experience in the matter of Bat-bites. According to him, the blood which the Vampires draw
from the wounds inflicted by them on cattle and horses is not more than an ounce or two, but the
woimd continues to. bleed freely for some time; and it is not uncommon in the morning to find the
animals attacked in a deplorable state, and bathed in their own blood. He mentions the case of an
Indian who went to sleep when intoxicated, and was bitten in the face by a Vampire. The wound,
which was small, and apparently of little consequence, was followed by an inflammation and swelling
so gi-eat that the man's features became quite unrecognisable. In all pr'obability, the condition of his
blood after his debauch may have had a good deal to do with the severity of the after-effects of the
wound.

Mr. Bates, who during his ti'avels on the Amazon was once wounded in the hip, probably by a
Bat, which he describes as a snudl dark-gi-ey Phyllostome streaked with white down the back, states
that it is only a few persons who ai-e subject to be so attacked. His friend Mr. Wallace seems to have
had a larger experience in this respect. He ascribes the mischievous propensity to the great Javelin
Bat {Phyllostoma hastatum), of which he says : —

" This is a common Bat on the Amazon, and is, I believe, the one which does much injury to
horses and cattle, hy sucking their blood ; it also attacks men, when it has opportunity. Tlie species
of blxwd-sucking Bats seem to be numerous in the interior. They do not inhabit houses, like many of
the frugivorous Bats, but enter at dusk through any aperture they may find. They generally attack
the tip of the toe, or sometimes any other part of the body that may be exposed. I have myself been
twice bitten, once on the toe, and the other time on the tip of the nose ; in neither case did I feel any-
thing, but awoke after the operation was completed. In what way they effect it is still qiiite unknown.
The wound is a small round hole, the bleeding of which it is very difficult to stop. It can hardly be a
bite, as that would wake the sleeper ; it seems most probable that it is either a succession of gentle
scratches with the sharp edge of the teeth, gradually wearing away the skin, or a triturating with the

BLOOD.SUCKIXG BATS. 327

point of the tongue, till tlie same effect is prodviced. My brother was frequently bitten by them, and
his opinion was that the Bat applied one of its long canine teeth to the part, and tlien flew round and
round on that as a centre, till the tooth, acting as an awl, bored a small hole, the wings of the Bat
serving, at the same time, to fan the patient into a deeper slumber. He several times awoke while
the Bat was at work, and though of course the creature immediately flew away, it was his impression
that the operation was conducted in the manner above described. Many persons are particularly
annoyed by Bats, while others are free from theu' attacks. An old mulatto at Guia, on the Upper Rio
Negro, was bitten almost every night, and though there were frequently half a dozen other persons in
the room, he would be the party favoured by their attentions. Once he came to us with a doleful
coimtenance, telling us he thought the Bats meant to eat him up quite, for having covered up his
hands and feet in a blanket, they had descended beneath his hammock of open network, and attacking
the most prominent part of his person, had bitten him through a hole m liis trousers ! We could not
help laughing at the catastrophe, but to him it was no laughing matter.

" Senhor Brandiio, of Manaquery, informed me that he had once an Indian girl in his house, ^^■ho
was much subject to the attacks of the Bats. She was at length so much weakened by the loss of blood
that fears were entertamed of her life, if they continued their attacks, and it was found necessary to
send her to a distance, where these bloodtliirsty animals did not abound.

" The wound made by them is very diflicult to heal, especially in its usual locality — the tip of the
great toe — as it generally renders a shoe unbearable for a day or two, and forces me to the conclusion that,
after the fii-st time, for the curiosity of the thing, to be bitten by a Bat is very disagreeable. They
will, however, veiy rarely enter a lighted room, and for this reason the practice of burning a lamp all
night is almost universal."

In the island of Muciana, situated in the mouth of the Amazon River, Mr. Wallace had an oppor-
tunity of observing the mischief done by these blood-sucking Bats on a large scale. The island
is used as a gi-azing-ground, but some of the horses and cattle on it, says Mr. Wallace, were "miserable-
looking objects, from wounds inflicted by the Bats, which cause them to lose much blood, and some-
times, by successive attacks, kill them. Senhor Leonardo informed us that they particularly abounded
in some parts of the island, and that he often has Bat-hunts, when several thousands are killed." Mr.
Wallace describes the criminal in this locality as a large coffee-brown Bat, probably the Phyllostonut,
hastatum. He adds that they " live in holes of trees, where they are killed in considerable numbers,
Senhor Leonardo informing me that they had destroyed about seven thousand during the last six
months. Many hundreds of cattle are said to have been killed by them in a few years."

Mr. Louis Fraser, when collecting at Gualaguzia, in Ecuador, obtained a specimen of the Javelm
Bat, and was told by the Indian who brought it to him that this species attacks the Mules.

Prince Maximilian of Neuwied also lays the crime of blood-sucking at the door of the Javelin
Bat. He says : — " In its stomach I found remains of different kmds of insects, but never any traces
of blood that had been swallowed ; nevertheless, it is certain that this and many other species of
Phyllostomes suck the blood of animals. I have never surprised such a Bat at the moment of sucking,
but have observed in the moonshine and twilight how these large animals fluttered, with strongly
rustling wings, about our grazing beasts of burthen,' which bore their vicinity quietly, but on the
following morning were covered with blood, from the shoulders down to the hoofs. On the Rio das
Contas we found the cattle quite exhausted with the loss of blood." The same author adds : — " As I
have never found blood in the stomachs of the Phyllostomes, this nutriment can only be partaken of
by them rarely, and for this reason I do not venture to decide whether some, or all, or what species of
them aie fond of this food ; but with regard to the largest species here described, it needs no further
confirmation, and I believe that of all the Phyllostomes described by me, it is nearly the only one that
sucks blood."

It will be seen from the foregoing statements that there is some uncertainty as to the precise
species which may justly be charged with the crime of blood-sucking. The habit has been ascribed to
various species, some of which are now known to feed upon fruits, whilst others find their nourishment
in thf, abundant insect population of tropical America ; and in the opinion of many zoologists of the
present day, the sole criminals are the species of the genus Desmodus, a small aberrant gi-oup, specially
distinguished from all the rest by the structure of tlieir teeth and stomach. ^Mr. Tomes, in commenting

328

NATURAL laSTOSr.

;led stenoderm.

Mr. Fraser's statement, suggests tliat the blocd-sucking was performed l>y tlie Desmodonts. whioli

accompanied the Javelin Bat in Mr. Frasera collection, and the guilt transferred to the larger and

more striking species ; and the same explana-
tion may apply to the accounts given by Mr.
Wallace and Prince Maximilian, both of whom
apparently charge the Javelin Bat with san-
guinivorons proclivities solely upon cu'cum-
stantial evidence. If this be the case, Phyllos
ioina /lastatum must be regarded as a very
unfortunate animal. Professor Eeinhardt
agrees with Mr. Tomes in considering the
Desmodonts (Desmodus and Diphijlla) the only
blood-sucking Bats, and they appear to be the
only forms that have been actually taken in
the fact.

At the same time we are perhaps hardly
justified in passing a verdict of not guilty in
the case of some of the other species, for
ceitain observers record the finding of 'blood
in the stomach, and by others the structure

of the mouth is looked upon as furnishing circumstantial evidence of sanguinary propensities.

Thus Professor Bell says that the tongue in the genus Phyllostomci has a number of wart-like

elevations, so arranged as to form a complete circular suctorial disc when they are brought into

contact at their sides, which is effected by a sec of muscular fibres having a tendon attached ^

each of the warts. Bj' means of this curious sucker, he adds, these Bats are enabled to suck

the blood of animals and the juice

of succulent fruits. According to

other writers the papUlse which are

boi-ne by the lips (see figure), and which

seem to have some analogy with the

wrinkles occurring on the lips of the

MixstiflT Bats, serve this same office; and

Prince Maximilian e.specially describes

the mode in which the lips in the

Javelin Bat may be converted into a

sucking-canal. It is to be ob.served,

however, that these papillie are greatly

developed in species which are now

known to derive the whole or the

greater part of theii- nouriihment from

fruits.

BL.\IXVILLES BAT.*
A most grotesque species of Bat,
the position of wliicli has been a subject
of some di.scussion, as it seems to be
almost equally related to the Emhal-
lonurkhe on the one hand, and to the
PhyUostomidm on the other, wi;s de-
scribed many years ago (in 1821) by the late Dr. Leach under the name of Mormops Bla'mviUa. As
regards the develoj)meut of the cutaneous nystem about the face, this species is without exception the

\^MlMU\\

HEAD OF BLAI

ilcrnmr.s Btaiiu

BlAISriLLE'S r.AT.

most extraorilinaiy species uf the whole oriler (see figure). The sl;iill it.self is of curious structure, tlie

is iiearl>' equal

^^^^..^sC^

cranial portion, or that containing the brain, being so much elevated, that its
to the whole length of the skull, and its front wall
descends in such a manner as to form nearly a right
angle vnXh the bones of the ftice (see figure). The
superficial structures belonging to the face and head
are so complicated as almost to defy description, and
so grotesque that one might recommend their study to
the inventors of demon-masks for pantomimic purposes.
The ears are of considerable size, and have theii- mar-
gins notched in several places ; they sweep round on the cheek, to terminate at a .s!:ort distance from
the angle of the mouth, and have their inner margins joined by a fold of membrane. The tragus is
a thick, more or less lobulated organ. The nostrils are roimd apertures in the exti-emity of the snout ,

SKULL (Jfalu

{Uidayjed)

BLAI.NVILLL

{AJia Pelcrs.)

ir margins are raised
I perpendicular ridge

ind nakcil, and p oductd above into small lobes. Between the nostrils there
and ibo\e this a siu dl lound papilla, on each side of which there is an
irregular kidney-shaped elevation Behind these parts comes a large fold of skin, deeply notched in
the middle above, which joins on each side \vith the middle of the membrane uniting the ears, and
probably represents the hinder nose-leaf in some other Bats. The lower lip coiisifts of two leaves,
the upper of which forms in the chin a large shield-shaped, warty plate, beneath whicli the lower leaf
and the skin of the throat form a comjjlicated series of lobes.

The teeth in this Bat consist of four incisors and a pair of strong canines in each jaw, two pre-
molars in the upper and three in the lower jaw, and three molars, with more or less distinct W-
shaped ciusps on each side in both jaws (dental formula— incisors, |, canines, t|, premolars, |=^,
molars, ^^. The wings are well develo))ed, long, and broad, and the membranes descend to the

330 NATUliAL HISTOSY.

ankles (see figure) ; the first phalanx of the middle finger is very short. The interfemoral membrane
is ample, and stretched l)y two very long heel-spiirs ; it is perforated before the middle for the passage
of the tail, about one-third of which projects on the upper surface of the membrane.

The length of the head and body ui this species is about two inches and two-thii-ds, and that of the
tail from one inch to one inch and one-sixth, according to the sex, being longer in the male. The fur of
the iipper side is of a rich umber-brown, and that of the lower surface brownish-grey, the difference being
caused by the brown tips of the hairs above, which are wanting on those of the under side. The haii-s
on the inner margin of the ear are shiny brown. The membranes are dark-brown. This speeies is an
inhabitant of South America and of the West Indies, but it does not seem to be very abundant.
Nothing has been recorded as to its habits, but it is probiibly a strictly nocturnal Bat.

Blainville's Bat is the type of a small gnni]! nf I'ln/Ihistomida', which, as already indicated, form
a sort of transition towards the more normal Enihullonnrnhf, the line of relationship probably passing
through the Noctiliones. This gi-oup (Mormopes, Peters ; Lohostomiim', Dobson) is characterised by its
terminal nostrils, and the cutaneous folds or ridges on the chin.

THE OWL-FACEP BAT.*

This is another species of the Mormops group, but very much less remarkable in its characters.
It has pointed ears, with an elongated tragus. The hinder nasal appendage, which is so large in
Blamvilles Bat, here foims merely a sort of transvei'se pad across the middle of the muzzle, and the
nostiils lie pierced h\ the middle of the upper part of a naked piece, which rises
diiei^tlv fiom the upjjer lip. Tlie lower lij) is warty, but the warty portion
gi idually passes into the other part of the li|>, and below it there is a thin fold of
skin The skull is eonsidenibly longer than high ; and while the teeth are
l)i( sent m the same niiiiilier as in Mormops. the second premolar in the lower
1 smill, and ii'ii](j\(il inwards from the line of the series of teeth.
The Owl-faced Bat is a small specie.s, the head and body measuring only two
inches The tail is an inch long, and about a fifth of it projects from the upper
suifice of the interfemoral membrane, which is expanded by a pair of very long
spui s The expanse of wing is nearly twelve inches, which is very great for so
small a Bit The body is co\eied with a short, soft fur, of a browni.sh-grey colour above, and pale-
giej beneith, the niembianes are black.

The Owl-faced Bat was originally olitained from C'uba, but it has since been captured in St.
Domingo and Jamaica, and may probably occur elsewhere in the West Indies, or on the continental
part of Central America. Mr. Gosse, when in Jamaica, captured a specimen which flew in at an
open window, but did not allow itself to be taken until after a very tedious pursuit, in which it mani-
fested gi-eat agility on the wing. He say.s that " in captivity it uttered once or twice, very slightly,
the peculiar short sound resembling the clicking of some delicate piece of machinery, which every one
who is familiar with living Bats will remember as common to most of these animals. It was very
active, leaping up to flight from the table, and expanding the wings in a moment, though confined
within a candle-shade. It bit fiercely at the hand that held it, but could not draw blood from the
finger.s. It usually carried the apical half of the interfemoral bent upward at the point where it ceases
to embrace the tail, so that the tail seems to extend beyond the membrane. It is thus held by the
calcanea, the tips of which, curving downward, carry down again the tip of the membrane, puckered
into minute plicae."

Another species of this genus, Chilonycteris Parnellii, inhabits Cuba and Jamaica, and two others,
C. persoimfa and C. ruhiginosa, occur in Brazil, and extend thence to Central America.

Another allied form is Da-s^'s Bat {Pteronotus Davijii), which is remarkable for having the
•wings attached along the course of the .spine, as in the Pteropid genera Cephalotes and Notopteris
(see pp. 277, 278).

* Chilotiijctcrh Machiyii.

TUE r.lMFIRE HAT.

THE ja\t:lin bat.

Tl:

a distinct horsesiioe-
middle of tlie lower

In the genus PliyUostoma the nasal appendages are well developed ; tl:
shaped piece in front, and above the nostrils rises a large lance-shaped leaf
iip shows a triangular naked patch with warty margins. The ears
iire of moderate length and quite separate ; the tail is much shortei
than the interfemoral membrane ; and the first phalanx of the
middle finger is less than half the length of the metacarpal bone
There are, as usual in this family, four incisors in each jaw ; the
canines are large and powerful, and the lower jaw has only two
jiremolars on each side. The true molars are well developed, and
show strong W-shaped cusps.

The Javelm Bat, which lives in all parts of tropical America
and also occiu-s in the West Indies, is a lai-ge species, measuring

more than five inches in total length, and nearly twent}--three ,[j.^i, ^^ ti\eln uit

inches in expanse of wing. Its fur is usually of a uniform brown

•colour ; its ears joi moderate size, somewhat pointed, strongly excav;ited on the outside below the apex,
and with a lance-shaped tragus ; the short tail extends about one-third of the length of the inter-
femoral membrane, which is stretched straight across between the Ioul;- heel-spiu-.s.

We have already referred at some length to tin- liabits of x\\U sprcies in connection with the
charge of blood-sucking that has been brought auainst it, ;r,i(l ^^.■ll^ 1 tli.it \\ hen examined only remains
of insects are found in its stomach. It is descrilii'(l as liM\i]ii,' a lotiv aial powerful, although not rapid
flight. These Bats frequently make their way into rooms tliion^li tin- o|"'ii a\ iialows, when they fly
about rather noisily. In the neighbourhood of houses thoy slic|. ilinin- iKc ,l;i\ among the leaf-stalks
of the cocoa-nut palms ; in the open country they resort to the liollou tiuuks of trees.

ithcr parts of America, such a.s

iliiii'jidunt, Million Benacttii and

in bears two warts sejiarated by

lahlreni and crcnulatum, with only

«///ffl hrevicauda, in which the middle

y distinct from the upper lip;

lich the tail is entirely wanting;

'.« with three instead of two pre-

lie lower jaw.

THE A'AJiriEE BAT. t

The genus Vampyrvs differs fi'om P/ii/Z/osloiiia and its

allies (except the last) by the ]5resence of three premolars

■■ir 7 < ■"! \' V XV Nv\ ^"^ (^Ac\\ side iu the lower jaw. The lower lip has two broad

Y,\ "^ ^^ warts separated hy a furrow; the ears are large and

HEAD or VAMPIRE BAT. se))arate ; the first joint of the middle finger is more than

half as long as the metacar])al bono ; and the tail is

nltogether wanting. The nasal appendage has the horseshoe part well developed, with the margin free

and cjuite distinct from the upj)er liji.

The Vampire, which was one of the earliest known species of these Americ.xn Bats, and is also
the largest of all, is by no means an amiable-looking animal. Its head is consider.iV)ly elongated ; the
nose-leaf is long and pointed ; the wings reach the base of the outer tos, and the middle of the hinder
margin of the interfemoral membrane projects in a little point, although, as already stated, there is no
tail to cause any such projection. The fur, which is long and soft, is usually chestnut-brown above
and pale beneath. The length of the head and body in this Bat is about five and a half inches. From

PliyUostoma liasta

Vampyrus ipedr

33; ^.ITVr.AL BISTUUr.

various considerations, no doubt in part from its large size and uglinesE, this Bat 1ms ;.l\vays been
regarded as one of the most noxious of the blood-suckers of its family, and, in fact, it owes its name of
Vampire to the belief in its sanguinary nature. But Mr. Bates, who certainly had good opportunities
of observing it, acquits the Vampire of this charge. In describing his residence at Ega, on the-
Upper Amazon, he says : — " The Vampire was here by far the most abundant of the family of Leaf-
nosed Bats. It is the largest of all the South American species, measuring twenty-eight inches in exjianse
of wing. Nothing in animal physiognomy can be more hideous than the countenance of this creature
when viewed from the front ; the large leathery ears standing out from the sides and top of the head,
the erect spear-shaped appendage on the tip of the nose, the grin, and the glistening black eye, all com-
bining to make up a figure that reminds one of some mocking imp of fable. No wonder that imagi-
native people have inferred diabolical instincts on the part of so ugly an animal. The Vampire,
however, is the most harmless of all Bats, and its inoffensive character is well known to residents on
the banks of the Amazons. T found two distinct species of it, one having the fur of a blackish colour,
the other of a ruddy hue, and ascertained that both feed chiefly on fraits. The church at Ega was the
head-quarters of both kinds. I used to see them, as I sat at my door during the short evening twilight,
trooping forth by scores from a large open window at the back of the altar, twittering cheerfully as-
they sped off' to the borders of the forest. They sometimes enter houses. The first time I saw one iu
my chamber, wheeling heavily round and round, I mistook it for a Pigeon, thinking that a tame one had
escaped from the premises of one of my neighbours. I opened the stomachs of several of these Bats, and
found them to contain a mass of pul]i and seeds of fruits, mingled with a few remains of insects. The
natives say they devour ri])e eajils and guavas on trees in the gai-dens ; but, on comparing the seeds
taken from their stomachs with thos? of all cultivated trees at Ega,' I found they were unlike any of
them ; it is therefore probable that they generally resort to the forest to feed, coming to the village ih
the morning to sleep, because they find it more secure from animals of ])rey than their natural abodes.
in the woods."

The two foi-ras referred to by Mr. Bates in the above e.xtract were probably only colour varietie.?
of Vanipynis spectrum, but several nearly related species occur in tropical America. Thus, Chrotopterua:
aaritus diifers from the preceding only in having a short tail like that of rhyllostoma, and the .second
lower premolar small, and placed within the line of the teeth; Lophostoma si/lvicola, amhlyotis^
and hldeiis, all from Brazil, have the second lower premolar small, but in the row, the horseshoe only
developed at the sides, the lower lip as in PhyUostoma, the first phalanx of the middle finger a little
shoi-ter than the metacarpal, and only two iiicisors in the lower jaw; ScMzosto,na mimttum, elongatiim,
and Behiiii, whilst agreeing %vith LopJiostoma in the proportion of the first phalanx of the middle finger,
have the horseshoe and lower lip as in Vampyrus ; and Trachyops drrhosus has the lower margin of
the horseshoe indistinct, the lower lip with a double row of warts and a deep furrow, and the second
lower premolar very small, and placed within the line of the row of teeth. These Bats are all in-
habitants of the tropical parts of America.

Neuwied's Large-leafed Bat (Macrophyllum NeuwimU't) is one of the few species of the present.
family in which the tail is respectably developed. The ears are of moderate size and separate ; the
horseshoe is well developed, and the nose-leaf very long, lance-shaped, and pointed. The dentition is.
as in Phylloatoma. This is a small Bat, measuring only about three inches and one-sLxth in total
length, of which the tail occupies one inch and one-third. The fur is of a sooty-brown colour, paler
beneath ; the nose leaf is darker, and the membranes lighter in colour than the body ; the interfemoral
membrane has about half a dozen curved lines of small dark points towards its apex. Neuwied's Bat.
was discovered by Prince Maximilian iu Brazil in the forests of the banks of the Moucouri River.
He describes it as not very abimdant, and as passing the day clinging to rocks and the tninks of
trees. Its stomach contained remains of insects.

The Lar"-e-eared Spear-nosed Bat {Lonchorhina aurita), an allied species v/ith a long tail and a.
very long nose-leaf, is a native of the West Indies. The tail traversses the interfemoral membrane in
the fashion of that of a Vespertilionid Bat. The nose-leaf lias a distinct rib running up its middle,,
and at its base there is a deep pit divitled into two by a partition on each side of which are the.
nostrils, and the jjlace of the horseshoe is taken by a curious three-leaved process which stands oufe
iu fiont of the nostrils.

TUE SOJilCIXE SAT.

THE GREAT-EAKED LEAF BAT.'

The Greal^eared Leaf Bat, an iuliabitant of St. Domingo and Jamaica, is the type of a lemarkaLle
little genus, characterised by having the ears very large, membranous, and united at the base by a mem-
brane ; the nasal appendage erect ; the interfemoral membrane large, cut out beh'nd in a broad curve-
running from the tip of one spur to the other; and the tail long, projecting by its last joint beyond the
interfemoral membrane. The head is rather long, and the jaws armed with four incisors in each —
the intermediate ones in the upper jaw being larger than the lateral — two premolars in the upper, and
three in the lower jaw, and three true molars in each jaw. The species cf this genus occur in the-
West Indies, Mexico, and California.

The Great-eared Leaf Bat (Macrotus Waterhousii) is a small s])tcies, the head and body measuring
two inches and a half in length, and the tail one inch and one-sixth. Its fur is of a mouse-colour,
paler beneath, and the nose-leaf is lance-shaped.

Our knowledge of the habits of this Bat is chiefly derived from observations made in Jamaica
by Mr. Gosse and Mr. Osburn. The former says that it is one of the commonest of the Jamaica
Chiroptera, and that it is more addicted than any other species to visiting lighted rooms at night.
Mr. Osburn obtained it in abundance from caves ; and he adds that although it occurs in houses, it
there always inhabits the cellars, and ls never fuuiul in roofs. The gi-eat breadth of the wings giv»;s.
it during flight an appearance of being larger tli;iu it really is, and its flight, according to Mr. Gosse,
is not so noiseless as in Bats generally, but accompanied by an audible rushing sound. When on the
gi'ound, it makes no attempt to crawl, but springs at once into the air, and takes flight as readily as a
bird. Mr. Osburn obtained many females with their young, and describes the mode in which the latter
adhere to their mothers. He says the nipple was held by the little hooked teeth of the young animal,
while the fin-, or even the thigh of the opposite side, was grasped by its feet, so that the young Bat lay
diagonally across its mother's belly. The food of the Great-eared Leaf Bat consists for the most part of
insects. Mr. Osbum found in the stomach of one a yellowish mass, with fragments of the hard parts
of insects, among which were two short legs with strong claws, which probably belonged to some species
of Orthoptera.

From one observation it would appear that this Bat is supposed sometimes to feed on fruits. Mr.
Osbum says that at Mount Pleasant, St. Ann's, his attention was called to a number of spii-ts on Iho
wall in an open vei-andah, on examining wliich he says he detected seeds of the fustic berry sticking to
the wall. He was informed that they were produced by these Bats, which came in at night, and
hitched themselves up-, when a chewing might be distinctly heard, and then these splashes on the walL
One let the legs and wings of a large Grasshopper drop. The berries said to be particularly affected by
these Bats were those of the fiistic (Morus tinctoria), the bread-nut {Brosimum alkasiru'iu), and the
rose-apple (Euyenia jambos), all of which are meiitioned by Mr.
Osburn as favourite articles of food with Slenoderma perspicillatum,
a true fruit^eating Bat.t

THE SORICINE BAT.t
Agreeing with the Phyllostomes and Vampires in the form
of the molar teeth, the general form of the muzzle, the presence
of a nose-leaf and tragus, and some other characters, the GlossopJux-joi
exhibit some striking jieculiarities which serve to distinguish them head oi soiucine bat.

from these and all other Bats. Foremost among these is the

structure of the tongue, which is very singular. It is a long, somewhat compressed fleshy cyar.dsr
beset with reversed haii-s, and capable of being pushed out of the mouth to a considerable distance..
Tn the fresh state, according to Rengger, it has a furrow running along the upper surface, and this, lie-
thought, rendered it specially applicable to the purpose of sucking blood, which was formerly supposed

* Macrotus Waterhousii.

f Other known species are Maa-otus cali/ornictis and M. mcricanus, the native countries of which are indicated in thtir
tpecific names.

J GloBSophaga soricina.

Sf4

KJTVEAL HISTORY.

CO be a habil of ul! these Bats. The lower lip is cleft, and the margins of the fissure furnished with
warts, a construction which also contributed to raise a suspicion of the sanguinary habits of the
animab. The horseshoe-shaped part of the nose-leaf is very imperfectly developed, and the organ
consists chiefly of the lance-shaped leaf; there are four incisor teeth in a close row in each jaw, the
two middle ones in the upper jaw larger and broader than the others ; the upper jaw has two and the
lower three premolars on each side, and there are three true molars on each side in both jaws.

The Soricine Bat has received a great number of names ; at least, numerous supposed species
founded upon slight difl'erences of colour, &c., are regarded by Professor Peters as all referable to the
species described by Pallas, in 1766, under the name of Vcsj/erti/io sork-inus. It is a small Bat about
two inches and a ijuarter long including the tail, which nieasin-es about one-sixtli of an inch, and is

ngt, (f the Zoological Soc etu )

enclosed within the interfemoral membrane. The ears are of moderate size and separate, with small,
pointed tragi ; and the body is clothed with a rather long, soft, and thick fui-, usually of a rusty
greyish-brown colour, paler on the lower surface. This Bat inhabits the whole of the warmer part of
South America, extending from- the Brazilian coast to the Andes, and northwards into Venezuela and
Guatemala. It is said to feed chiefly on insects, but probably, like the following species, diversifies
its food by eating succulent fruits, this being apparently the purpose for which these animals are
endowed v.'ith their peculiar tongue.

REDMAN'S BAT.*

The genus Monophyllm is nearly allied to GlossopJiaga, but has the incisor teeth in pairs, and the

lower ones exceedingly small. The interfemoral membrane forms a narrow border nmning up the

legs, and crossing from side to side ; and the tail, although short, projects beyond the membrane.

The teeth are — incisoi-s, -f^, canines, |=-', premolars, ■■^, molars, ^. The oidy known species is

Mnnoph'illus Redmanii.

SEZEKORy'S LEAF BAT. 335

Jledmau's Bat (Monophyllus Redmanii), in wliich tlie bead and body measure about two inches and
one-sbcth in length. The expanse of wing is about twelve inches ; the fur, which is thick, soft, and
glossy, is gi-eyish-brown above with the tips of the hairs slightly hoary, and dusky grey tipped with
grevish-white on the lower surface. The membranes are dark brown. This species occurs in Jamaica
and Culja.

It was found by Mr. Osburn at Cairo, in Jamaica. He describes it as exceedingly fierce, drawing
blood readily from the back of the hand of its captor. Its activity was bej'ond anything he had seen
in Chiroptera. It ran round the box in which it was placed by a series of little jumps, with almost the
quickness of a Mouse, and jumped with the agility of a bird. " On placing it mider a glass," he says,
"after its first efforts had a little subsided, I sa,w its tongue projected very rapidly to the board. It
seemed to me to be using an additional sense to ascertain the nature of the unusual substance on
which it was resting. It frequently sti-etched its neck and head upwards, the nose-leaf and round ears
iir motion, as if trying to ascertain whether there was an aperture above, its bright little eyes jiiercing
with eagerness, and pant^ng like a Mouse." Mr. Osburn's observations on the specimens which lie
had in captivity seem to lead to the conclusion that this Bat feeds on soft fruits, and that its long and
peculiar tongue is employed in sucking up their pulp.

Ischnofjlossa nivalis has the incisors in pairs and no tail. The described specimen was obtained
near the snow line on tlie Pic d'Oi'izaba, in Mexico.

SKZEKOEN'S LEAr BAT.*

The genus to wliich this Bat belongs is distinguished from all the preceding ones in the gi'oup of
GlossophiKjii by the absence or imperfection of the zygomatic arch in the skull. In its dentition it
resembles (,7i,^siiji/i,i;/,i . The interfemoral membrane Ls merely a narro\v border round the legs, and the
calcaneal spurs an- ^ery short, or altogether wanting. There is a very short tail, which, however,
projects bej'ond the interfemoral membrane ; the nose-leaf is extremely short, or, indeed, almost
rudimentary ; and the tongue is veiy long, pointed, and armed at the sides towards the tip with acute
spines turned backwards. This species was discovered in Cuba ; it occurs also in Jamaica.t

In the latter island 3Ir. Osljum fouml it inhabiting a cave in immense numbers, flying about
and swarming on th^ roof and walls like Bees in a hive. The floor of the cavern was covered \N'itli
bread-nut kernels and munched berries of the clanimj' cherry (Conlia coUocasia). The Bat chii-jjs and
squeaks like a bird.

Mr. Osbum describes its manners in confinement as follows : — At first the Bats were restless and
fierce, liitiug violently. When exliausted and quiet he gave them water, which " th.ey drank eagerly,
protruding the tongue — the lip hollowed spoon-shape, and the bristles evidently taking up a great
quantity." The fruit of the clammy chen-y being ofiered to them, they took no notice of it until Mr.
Osburn thought of bi-eaking the skin, when the one he presented it to at last seemed to understand the
position of affairs, and licked at it vigorously. " The tongue/' says Mr. Osbum, " was rapidly pro-
traded and drawn in again, and the juice and softer pulp cleared away with great rapidity. I noticed
that he was very particular in cleaning out the bit of loose skin of the berry, and licked my fingere of the
juice spilt on them, carefully cleaning out any that had collected under the nail. The sensation was
not at all unpleasant, the tongue feeling soft and spongy, with a slight scratching from the bristles. I
then got another berry. The Bat was hanging from the edge of the box, its ventral surface against the
side ; and as I held the berry a little off, so as to see the action of the tongue, it had, whilst feeding,
to bend the neck, so as to raise the head a little. This seemed to fatigue it. It therefore raised itself
on one wrist, and turned round, so that its back was against the box's side ; but as it did not change

the position of the feet, of coui-se the legs crossed In this odd position it seemed perfectly

at ease, and went on licking at a fresh berry with gi-eat relish It seized it with its teeth

savagely, and then shifted it to one side of the mouth, so that the long sharp canines of one side and the

blunt molars held the berry This left room for the tongue still to be protraded ; for from

the an-angement of the minute lower incisors in a concave, the molars can be nearly closed, so as to

* PhtjUoniKtcris Sezekornii. t Poey's Leaf Bat (Phylloni/cteris Poei/i) is a second .species inhabiting Cuba.

3:iG NATi'liAL Ul.SlUIcy.

hold an object, and the tongue still have room for protrusion. The little body trembled v/ith tho
eagerness of his actions. As the pulp and juics it could thus reach became exhausted, I expected it.
would drop it; but, to my surprise, it brought up the wrists to the muzzle, took the berry between
them, gave it two or three energetic bites, and then held the berry oft". So I now understood what the
long thumbs were for ; for they applied themselves dexterously to the berry, held it firmly, and then, as
it appeared to me, by a reverse action of the two wrists, the berry was turned round, a fresh hold taken
by the teeth, and the same licking process renewed, till the seed iji the centre was cleaned of the pulp,
all but the little bit which served for the last tooth-hold. It was then dropped, and the eager littlt?
muzzle raised for more. I supplied another, and soon I had a little heap of seeds, exactly like those I
found in the cave." This account is particidarly interesting, and gives us a clear idea of the proceedings
of these curious Bats. Mr. Csburn remarks that the Bats when holding the berries greatly reniindeil
liim of Monkeys, and on placing them among the twigs of tb^ cherry, their climbing habits seem to
have increased the resemblance.*

THE SPECTACLED STENODERlI.t

A pecidiar group of this family is formed by the genus Stenoderiiia and its allies. In these Bats
the muzzle is short, and the molar teeth do not show the W-like pattern characteristic of the preceding
fonns, but generally have some sharp points and a cutting edge on the outside. The tail, when
present, is very short, and the Lnterfemoral membrane is deeply cut out behind, so much so in many-
cases as to form a mere narrow border to the legs. The nasal appendages consist of a lance-shapetl
leaf springing from the middle of a regular horseshoe ; and the ears are separate, and furnished with a.
tragus. The Stenoderms have been divided by authors into several genera, but the characters upon
which these are founded are for the most part so minute and uncertain that it wo.dd be a mere waste
of time to attemjjt to give them here.

The Spectacled Stenoderm (see p. 264) is one of the beat-known species of this group, and inhabits
the larger islands of the West Indies, such as Cuba, St. Domingo, and Jamaica, as well as the con-
tinental regions of Guiana and Brazil. It is a large species, measuring from four inches to four inche.s
and a half in length, and from sixteen inches to twenty inches in expanse of wing. Its fur is brown,
and there is a whitish arch above each eye. The nose-leaf, although lance-shaped, is somewhat oblong;
in its form, having the sides neai-ly parallel for some distance ; and tiie wing-membranes are black.
There is no tail. The species belongs to the sub-genus Artlbeus.

This species usually inhabits caves and recesses in the rocks, in the former case generally keeping
near the mouth of the cave ; but when the geological structure of a district is unfavourable for the
formation of caves, it takes uj) its abode during the day under the fronds of the cocoa-nut palm. At
Aquatta Vale, in Jamaica, Mr. Osburn found these Bats clustering on the cocoa-nut trees so thickly,
and in such numbers, that a single shot brought down twenty-two, while many othei-s flew off, and
took refuge in neighbouring trees. The food of this species consists of various fruits, the seeds and
kernels of which are seen in abundance on the floors of the places where they repo.se during the day.
Mr. Osburn mentions the bread-nut (Brosimum), the negro-cherry (Cordia callococca), the mango, and
the rose-apple {Eugenia jamhos), as fruits upon which it feeds in Jamaica. He also obtained from thw
intestines of several specimens numerous small seeds, which he believed to be those of the fustic
(Moras tinctoria). The same observer noticed a curious Tiabit of the species when alarmed — the little;

• The rest of the si>eoies forming the group Glosmphnga have three premolars on each side in each jaw, and the inner
upper incisors smaller than the outer ones. The lower incisors .ite more or less deciduous, and sometimes altogether wanting-
in the adult. Lonchoylossa caudifera has a well-developed zygomatic arch, and the interfemoral membrane, tail, and spurs
very short. It is from AVesteru Brazil and Surinam. The tail in this species is liable to be withdrawn, or lost in preparing;
the skin of the animal, and hence it has been described under the rather contradictory names of cai^difera and ecaudata, and
a distinct genus (Anura) was ^clablished upon the apparently tailless specimens. In Glosaonyctcns lasiopi/tia the zygomatic:
orcli is deficient, and the tail is wanting ; the spurs and interfemoral membrane are very short, and the latter is covered witlv
hair. It is an inhabitant of Mexico. Clmronycteris mexicana, from Mexico, and C. minor, from Surinam, have a well-
developed interfemoral membrane enclosing a very short tail. 1 he anterior molars are very narrow, and the &st upper pre-
molar is deciduous.

"t" Steiiodcrma perspicillatv/.:\

TRE JAMAICAX STEXOBERJT. y37

round ears were kept iu a state of rajiid motion, but alternately, so as to produce an effect like that
of 11 person roiling his eyes different ways. The nose-leaf was also slightly moved.

THE JAMAICAN STENODERM.*

This is \e\-y nearly allied to the preceding species, from which it differ.s in its smaller size,
being only about two inches and a half long, and in the form of the nose-leaf, which is lance-
shaped, with regularly curved margins. It varies considerably in colour, but is usually of various
shades of brown.

Mr. Gosse observed the habits of this and the jH-eceding Bat in Jamaica, and describes them as
exhibiting a special partiality for the fruit of the Achras sapota, called in Jamaica the naseberry, a
preference already observed by Mr. A. Ricord in the case of the Spectacled Stenoderm. Mr. Gosse
says : — •" About a quarter of an hour after the sun has disappeared, and while the western horizon is
yet glowing with those effulgent peak-like clouds which only a tropical sunset displays, we discover,
)>y attenti\ely watching the tree, the Bats begin to visit it. First one comes, takes a rapid flight
jiround the tree, darts once or twice through the dense foliage, and winging away is lost in the light of
the sky. Another and another comes immediately, and perfoi'ms the same evolutions ; and as the
glor)' of the west fades away to a warm ruddy brown, like the blush of a mulatto girl, many dusky
forms are discerned flitting round and round. By carefully following the flight of an individual with
the eye, we perceive that now and then he alights for a moment on some object at the extremity of a
bunch of leaves ; but no sooner has the eye rested on the spot than the sooty wings are again spread,
and he is pursuing his giddy course with his fellows. The object of his attention is a ripe nasebeny,
nestled in the midst of that rosette of leaves. Occasionally the weight of the suspended Bat dislodges
the lipe fruit, and it falls to the ground, splitting with the .shock. On picking it up, we see that
it lias Ix'cu just bitten, not gnawed, as by the rodent incisors of a Mouse, but nibbled in a ragged
manner. Though the Vampires often eat the fruit on the tree in this manner, detaching minute
morsels, and again and again returning for more, it appears that not seldom they succeed in tearing out
a large piece, which they carry away ; for fragments of naseberry of considerable size, partly eaten
by a Bat, are frequently found at the distance of half a mile from the nearest naseberry tree, dropped
on the high road." Mr. Gosse adds that this Bat also feeds on the rose-apple, and Mr. Osburn
describes it as consuming all the same fruits as the preceding species.t

THE DESMODUS.t
The Desmodonts are in some respects among the most remarkable foims of Bats ; indeed, their
characters are so peculiar that it may be a question whether they ought not to form a distinct family
in the order Chiroptera. By some zoologists, indeed, this course has been adopted, but as they agree

+ r« tlii^ifL M leim- lie lefeired to^ifiiuc by Proft T 11 11/,

1 t! f 1 s 11 I I t tl 1 \ e five moUi teeth n the upper jaw tl I

III tl IP I t 1 „eiius X>(.)ma«u)a with onlj four niol i

\ I I n t f 1 s Vi 1 iL I and A tolkeum from Mexico 1 1 j 1 I

11 I / y I fi I 1 1 1 \e five molars on each side m both j-iwo md the [alite ii. dee) Ij tut out bi.t«ccn the

111 1 1 Ii I j I I t 1 1 tttntas both South Ameiican species the nimber of mollis is also h\e but the pahte

iM t 1 |lv t Tl c t I I 1 1 Lie of the „enus Sfenorfe; ?Ha 5 ) Mr«)K resembles this but has only foui mol us uii eicli

1 i 1 1 ( 1 \ 1 t tl 11 \ he due to the youth of the specmitn Pn I i I il il nl i m'

I 111 ml the hindmost of these is ^tiysmUl T,, the Uttei the fxct

1 1 1 / n the cont iry ha\e the fouithoi lunlmo t ni 1 1 Ui„ei than any

tl ! 1 1 ^ 1 1 1 il hs uie which ruas m fioin the ipertuie of the n sl Iu tl l sjace be

t 1 /(i/itHsi* hive fi\e molars on each sid-" anl no interfemoral membrine The former

It 1 I ]| froniChih BuuA /p/( /?fa caiemm ««i a cuuous Bat fiom cavts in the islands of St

^ l( I I occur m South Carolina has an oval nose leaf sun ounded behind by a pit a tumguhi

»i I itaiy tvd, and th- s ngular genus Cental lo including .wo species (C senex an!

1 1 and Cent-al America has a big Bull dog like head and a flat face covired mtii

I I CraHo/i lesemble those of the Spectacled Stenodeim 1 here is no tail, ant' the

« ^ 1 I 1 1 1 1 slucent patches

328 NATURAL HISTORY.

with the Phyllostomidw in the presence of nasal appendages, and in the possession of three phalanges
in the middle finger, we have jn'eferred to leave them in that family, at the s?me time indicating their
striking divergences from all its other members.

The dentition in these Bats is most singular, and as we shall see, its peculiarities are so associated
with the excepitional habits of the animal, as to have far greater weight in the question of classification
than we have accorded to the dental characters in other families. In fact these peculiarities, in
combination with certain points of internal anatomy, are so remarkable that Professor Huxley has
suggested the formation for the Desmodonts of a distinct gi-oup {Hcematophilina) of the Microchiroptera,
which he apparently regards as equivalent in classificational value to aU
the rest of the sub-order taken together. ■ • •

The remarkable conformation of the teeth will be easUy seen by

reference to the annexed figure. The upper incisor teeth, four * in.

number in the young animal, becoriie reduced to two in the adult, but

these are of enormous size, prominent, triangular, and very sharp. The

lower incisors, on the contrai-y, are small and have a two-lobed crown.

The canines of the upper jaw are nearly of the same foi^m as the incisors,

but rather smaller ; those of the lower jaw present no remarkable

SKILL OF DESMODvs. peculiarity. The molar series of teeth, however, are most peculiar —

there ai-e two in the upper and three in the lower jaw, but the whole of

them are small, compressed, shaii>edged, and furnished with only a single root, thus presenting the

characters of in-emolars, as which, indeed, they are regarded by some writers. If this view of theii-

nature be correct the Desmodonts have no true molars.

In general characters these Bats approach the Stenoderms. The tail is entirely deficient ; the
intei-femoral membrane forms a mere border to the legs ; the ears are of moderate size and furnished
with a small tragus; and the nasal appendage consists only of the part analogous to the horseshoe in
other genera, the upper leaf being absent. The thumb is very long and strong. The only species of
the genus Desmodm (B. ru/iis) measures about four inches in length, and some fifteen or sixteen inches
in expanse of wing. The fur varies considerably in colour, but generally shows various tints of brown,
from a reddish-brown, as in the specimen originally described by Prince Maximilian, through a plaui
brown, to ashy-brown and mouse-colour, variations which have induced zoologists to describe several
distinct species, now, however, generally regarded as identical. This species in its various forms
seems to be very generally distributed in all the warmer parts of South America, from Chili to
Guiana. As already stated, it appears to be the only species that has been detected in the act of
blood-sucking ; and by some of the most recent authoi-ities it and its near ally, Diphi/lla ecaudata,
are believed to be the only South American Bats which are really guilty of that atrocity.

Dr. Hensel, who has discussed this matter at some length, in connection with his observations on
the Bats of Brazil, remarks that the teeth of most of the Phyllostomidse are like those of the true Car-
nivora, and the wounds inflicted by them, as may easily be observed by the captor of one of them, are
of the same kind as those produced by the teeth of a small Carnivore. In the latter, as he says, there
is no loss of substance ; the bite coneists usually of four punctures, where the canine teeth have pierced
the skin, and severe bleeding occurs only when these teeth have penetrated to some depth, and injured
one or more of the larger vessels.

But the wounds obsei-ved on Horses or Mules that have been bitten by blood-sucking Bats are,
as already stated, of quite a different charactei-. They form small oval surfaces, which are but slightly
sunken, the surface of the cut not being perpendicular to that of the spot bitten, as would be the case
in wounds produced by long canine teeth, but in a general way parallel to it. A similar wound would
be produced by lifting a small portion of skin by means of a pair of forceps, and then passing a knife
along the surface of the skin, as if to shave it, but so as to cut away the raised portion. By a cut or
bite of this kind, notwithstanding its being so superficial, a portion of substance is always lost, a gi-eat
number of fine cutaneous vessels are cut through, and an abundant and long-continued bleeding is

* According to Professor Gervais ; some zoologists make the number of incisors in the first dentition six. The fii'st teeth
differ entirely in character from those of the .adult animal.

THE DESMODVS. S39

caused.* Such wouiuls, says Dr. Hensel, can be produced only by large, iicculiarly shovel-like, and
very sharp incisor teeth, and such teeth occur only in the allied genera DcsmoJus and DtphijUa. Witii
the latter he had no acquaintance, but he obtained Desmodus ni/iis in abundance. He says it usually
lives in cavities in the rocks, but sometimes in large hollow trees. " In capturing these animals," he
adds, " I have often had the opportunity of observing the wounds that they inflicted on the noses of
my Dogs which tried to seize them, or on my own hands, and found that they pei-fectly resembled those
of the Horses bitten by the blood-suckers. The creatures bite with the rapidity of lightning, and
even when they seem merely to touch the skin, a piece of it is found to be deficient. They cannot
therefore hold fast with theii- teeth, as all other Phyllostomida; do, for these, when they are captured,
ill their rage seize with their teeth any object within their reach, and hold it for some time." It
would appear, especially from the rudimentary state of their molar teeth, that these Bats cannot be
supposed to prey upon insects, no remains of which have ever been found in their stomachs, and

their excrements consist solely of a black, pitch-like paste, evidently tligested blood. This is
e\'acuated near the entrance of the caves in which the creatures live, an<! while they are waiting
until the darkness outside is sufficient for them to start on their piratical excursions. The floor at
such a place is found covered with a layer of the above-mentioned black nmss, which may attain a.
thickness of a foot or more. Dr. Hensel mentions that a large Dog, after paying a visit to one ot
the caverns haunted by these Bats, looked as if he had got long black boots on. The same writer is
of opinion that the Bats must obtain the greater part of their food by capturing and sucking the 1 ilood
of the smaller warm-blooded animals. As the large domestic animals are not indigenous to America, it
is probable that they only furnish an occasional meal to some of the great swarms of these Bats that
infest the country.

That the Desmodus is specially organised for a peculiar diet is shown by the extraordinary
.structure of its stomach, which, as described by Professor Huxley, whose ob.servations are confinned
by Professor Petei-s, difiers from that of any other Mammal. The gullet (g in figure) is exceedingly
naiTow, and opens into a transversely elongated tubular stomach, which passes directly on the right side
into the intestine (/), the duodenum and stomach not being separated by any pyloric constriction, and

* Tlie wound is, in fact, very much like that which many of our readers must occasionally havo inflicted on themselves
in sha\-ing ; and those who are experienced in such matters will know how long it takes to stop tlic bleeding thus
produced.

NATURAL mSTURY.

the limit of tlie stomacli in this direction being indicated solely by the insertion of the gall-ducts at a
point only one-fifth of an inch from the opening of the gullet. The other, or cardiac division of the

stomach, on the contrary, is enormously de-
veloped, forming an elongated and convoluted
Cfecum (c) several inches long, and becoming
considerably wider than at its origin. In one
specimen examined, the body of the Bat
measured only tliree inches and one-fifth in
length ; the intestine, from the pylorus to its
termination. wa.s eleven inches long; while
the above-mentioned caecal portion, when
straightened out, was six inches and a half in
length, or t^vice as long as the body, and nearly
two-thirds the length of the intestine. Pro-
fessor Peters describes the cardiac ctecum in the
specimen examined by him as only from one to
two inches long. It may, perhaps, have be-
longed to a distinct species. The stomach in
the Frugivorous Pteropidae is elongated and
quantity of vegetable food which they require to
In the ordinary Insectivorous Bats the organ is

STO.MACH OF DESMOnr!

tubulai

no doubt for the reception of the Lii-<

support their existence

small and globular, with the pj'loric

and cardiac orifices near each other,

the nourishment afibrded by their

usual diet being in a tolerably con-
centrated form and firm condition.

The extraordinary CEecum of the

blood-suckers, no doubt, serves as a

reservoir for their fluid nutriment,

in which it may be stored for a time

almost unchanged, and gradually subjected to the process of digestion.
The second species of blood-sucking Bat mentioned in the earlier jiart of this article, DiphyUa
ecuudata, agi-ees with the Desmodus in its dentition and general characters, but is entii-ely destitute
of interfemoral membrane, and has the lower incisors pectinate.

lON'G-EAUED

STOMACH OF PTEHOPVS.

The following table of the classification of Bats here adopted
prehension of the information given in the preceding pages : —

assist the reader

SoB-Oni
:uily I.— Pteko
Group l.^P

I.— MEGACHIEOPTEEA.

Tongue moderate ; molars well de-
vfloreil. Generu.— Pteropus, Cyncptems, Cyuonyctei-is,
Harj-yia, Epainoiihorus, HypsigTiatliws, and Ceplia-
lotes. Group 2.— Macroafossi— Tongue very long;
molars very small. Genera. — Macroglossus, Eonycteris,
and Notopteris.

Scd-Oedek II.— MICROCHIEOPTERA.
A.— Tisijicrtilioiitiie Alliance.
Family 11.— RhikolophidjE.

Suli-tamily 1. — Eliinoloiihinffi. — Tii-st, toe with two. re-
mainder vnth tliree phalanges. Geuus. — Rhiiiolophus.
Snh-Family 2.— Phyllorhininse. Toes eqiial, each of two
phalanges. Genera.— Coelops, Phyllorhina, Ehinouyc-
teris, and Triseuops.

-Nasal apparatus concealed ; tail
long. Genus.— Nycteris.
Sub-family 2. — Megaderuiiuse. — Nose-leaf distinc; tail
slv)rt. Geuus. — Megaderma.

icily IV,— VESPEKTILIOKtDffi.

Group l.—rcsnfr(;(ione.«.— Crown of head flat, or nearlr
30; upper incisors close to canines; ears moderate,

"^a;

lerally un ted
Otonyc er
Group 3

phY's
: eatly

I opten s and Thyropfcera

Fan J V

&ul f miiy

1 weak Group 1
o vex Ceue t

te s nnd En b 11
bones with on

Gro p 4

M
Group 5

M
b
hn w h til e

CONCLUDIXG liEJ/AUKS 0.\ BATS. 34 1

Family yi.-Pin-LLOSToaiDi-. .,.,,, v^i''^^- Group a.-Gioaoj.hdja-.-Like the Tiimpyri

Sub-faimJy 1.— LobostommiE. — Nojlnls m front of muzzle; but tongue very luui,', aud lower l;p divi'k-d 1,\ a .leep

chin with erect cutaneous ridges. Genera.— Cbilonyc- groove. Genera.— Glossopbaga, Munniilivllu^ ' isiliuo-

teris, Pteronetus, Mc .-mops. glossa, Phyllonyeteris, LonclioglusMi, (jl.issi'.iiv.tens

Snb-family 2.— Phyllostomiufie. — Nostrils on upper sui-face Group 3.— i)(fHodcrm«(rt.— Muzzle sliort ■ mohiVs witli

of muzzle ; chin with wart* Group l.—Vam-pyri.— a cutting outer edge ; tour upper incisor's Oeucra —

Molai-s with W-shaiiei cusps; four upper incisoi-s ; Stenoderma, Artibeus, Phyllops, Vampyrops Pygo-

muzzle long; tongue moderate. Genera.— Mocrotus, derma, Ametrida, Chiroderma, Stumira.Brachyphvlla

LDUchorhina. Macrophyllum, Vampyrus, Scbizostoma, Centurio. Group. 4.— Bcsmodoiifcs,- No tTuen'olius •

Lophostoma, Trachyopa, Phyllostoma, CaroUia, Ehino- two upper incisors. Genera.— Desmodus, Diphylla. '

We have already remaikeJ tliat of these feiniJies the Vespertilionitise may be regarded a.s the
ivjies of the whole order ; tliey realise all the notions that we form in our minds when we speak of " si
Bat," and this witli the greatest simplicity, or with the smallest amount of complication from subordi-
nate charactei-s. Next ti.i them in this respect come some of the Emballoniiridse. The other families
gi-oiip them.sehes round these, or the whole of the other jVIierochiroptera may be said to snrround
the Vespertilionidaa. Mr. Dobson, accepting the notion of the origin of organic forms by a process
of evolution, assumes an unknown group of ancestral forms {Falaochiroptera) from which in the
iiret place the Vespertilionidaj and Emballonuridie diverge, forming the roots of his two " alliances."
Prom the Emballonund* proceed the Phyllostomidoe, and from the Vespertilionidie the Nycteridaj
and Rhinolophida;. From this point of view these Bats may be regarded as allied to the Insectivora
through some unknown common ancestors ; but what these may have been, or by ■« hat stag%s the
Bat-type originated from the ordinary quadruped, it is vei-y difficult to imagine. The facts of geo-
graphical distribution go fn-, however, to confirm the viev.^ that the Yespertilionida> and Emballo-
nuridse are the central and oldest types of Bats ; theii distribution is world-wide, and even .some
nearly allied forms are found in very distant jiarts of the world. The other families are more re-
stricted in their i-ange, the Nycteridse and Ehinolophidse being confined to the Eastern, and the
Phyllostomid* to the Western hemisphere, and chiefly to the warmer zones, whereas the Vesperti-
lionidw extend much further to the north.

The Pteropidie, or Frugivorous Bats, however, cannot well be brought into this scheme of
descent. Tliey stand completely isolated from the rest of the order, and their peculiar distribution
would almost seem to indicate that theii- origin and relationships were distinct from those of the other
Bats. Their range, which sweeps round the shores of the Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope
to Australia, and extends, perhaps somewhat exceptionally, into the i.slands of the Pacific, although it
cannot be said to coincide with that of the Lemuroids, being so much wider, at least includes the whole
of the localities in which the latter are met with ; and if the Lemuroids are really, as seems p-obable,
segregated descendants of a great fauna which inhabited the supposed sunken continent of " Lemuria,"
the same origLa may faii-Iy be ascribed to the Pteropida?, and their wider distribution may be accounted
for by their much greater power of locomotion. In connection \vith this it is interesting to note the
strong Lemurian resemblances presented by many of the Pteropidse ; and further, the sort of common
point of junction between the Lemuroids, the Pteropids, and the Insectivora, furnished by that curious
animal the Galeopitliecus, or Flying Lemur, which is also still an inhabitant of a region haunted by
Lemuroids and Pteropine Bats. The Pteropidie thus seem to stand quite apart from the other Bats.
From a genealogical point of view, which indeed is that which we always take of the relationships of
animals, whether we believe in the doctrine of descent or not, we may ask whether the two sub-orders
of Bats have not been realised in their present form through two quite different series of modifications.
The ap])eal to fossil evidence, which in some cases leads to satisfactory results, gives us no clue to
the origin of the difi"erent gro.ips of Bats. Of the Pteropidse no fossil remains are knowni. Of the other
families the most ancient remains are, as might be expected, those of the Vespertilionidfe, several species of
■^\hich have been found in Miocene beds at Mayence and in the south of France, and even in the Eocene
g}13sum deposits of the Paris basin. Other bones identical with those of species now living in the
.same localities have been detected in bone-caves in various parts of Europe. Bones of a Rhinolophns
have occurred in the cr.vem of " Kent's Hole," near Torquay ; and the celebrated bone-caves of Braz'l
have furnished numerous remains of Bats, all of which, however, are referable to the peculiarly South
American family Phyl!ostomid». Tluis, so far as we are acquainted with them, the fossil remains ot
Bats, even the most ancient, indicate only forms more or less nearly related to those still existing in
tl)e same localities, and furnish us with no means even of speculating upon the course cf events by
vhich, so ta speak, the type of the Chiroptera wa.s evolved. W. S. Dallas.

'W

ORDER INSECTIVORA.

CHAPTER I.

-BASGSRIN

-HEDGEHOGS— TAXRECS— RIVER SHREWS

Fuuctions of the Insect-eaters in the Order of Nature— Tlieir leading Peculiarities— Classifi-
cation—ConGOS— Various Opinions regarding theii- Place— CoLUGO, OR Flvixg Lemur
—The /'((;nr/i»»i— Parachute-like Membrane— Dentition— Offspring — Diet— Ban'gs-
RiNGS— Tana— Ferri-ginoi-s Baxgsring— Horsfield's Bangsrisg— Low's Ptilo-
CERQUE— Short-tailed Bangsring — Jumping Shrews— Elephant Shrew— Algerian
Jumping Shrew — Petrodrome—Rhynchocyon— Hedgehog— Characteristics— Distri-
bution—Diet— Attacks Snakes and Vipers— Taste for Eggs and Game— Its " Spiny-
Skin " — " Rolled up "— Enemies —Female and Young— Long-eared Hedgehog— Col-
lared Hedgehog— Bulad—Tanrecis—Tanrec-Tendbac— Telfair's Tendrac—
Rice Tendrac— Eared Earth Shrew- Agouta--Almiqui— West African River
Shrew.

In tlie grand economy of nature small things play sometimes very considerable
parts ; and the innumerable hosts of insects, making up by their numbers for
their individual insignificance, are of very great importance in a gi-eat vai'iety
of fashions. One of their most striking functions is undoubtedly the checking
of vegetable growth. They attack plants in all parts — in the roots, the stem,
the bi-anehes, the leaves, and the flowers and fniit — in tliis way, while merely
obeying their own appetites, imposing a constant check upon the increase of
vegetation ;. and being for the most part specially confined to particular plants
or gi-oups of plants, they assist materially in preserving the balance of power in
the vegetable woi-ld. At the same time, it must be bome in mind that there
is the same tendency in insects, as in any other group of organisms, to inordinate increase. The
checkers thus need a check in their turn, and the number of other creatures whose business it seems to
be to keep down the \mdue multiplication of insects is exceedingly great.

We have seen that among the Mammalia the Bats for the most part have this duty imposed upon
them. They attack the winged armies of perfect insects in the air, and must cut oft' an enormous
number of potential parents of plant-eating larvae. But there are a gi-eat many insects which

THE IXSECTIVORA.

or never rise into tlie air, and the l;i
necessity confined to the ground or the

'v» of those which are aeri
\'egetation growing on it

I in their perfect state are of
these are not without their

OF SHUEW.

Mammalian enemies. Many Mammals of the Cai-nivorous and Marsupial orders feed wholly or ijartially
uijon insects ; but there is one order most of the species of which are exclvisively, or almost exclusively,
confined to a diet of terrestrial insects, worms and " such small deer," and whicli has consequently
received the name of Insectivora, or " the insect-eaters." On trees, on the groinid, and t-wn Ijeneath
its surface, and in the water, these animals chase insects and their larvse ; and if tlu-}- divei-sify their
diet with womis and other invei"tebrates, or by attacking and devourin_g frogs, fishes, and small
birds and Mammalia, or even in some cases feed chiefly upon such
articles, or on fruit, the ju'edominating taste for insects among
members of the order may justify the name.

The Insectivora are in many respects related to the Bats, and in
some cases show a sort of affinity to the lower Quadrumana. In appear-
ance many of them show analogy to different families of Rodents, or
gnawdng Mammals, the Shi-ews especially being exceedingly mousedike
in theii- aspect ; but, as might be expected from the difference in the
habits, and especially in the diet of the animals, the simple inspection
of the teeth is always s.ifficient to distinguish the members of these two
orders.

The leading peculiarities of the Insectivora may be briefly indicated,
with reference to the groups which apjii'oach them most closely in certain

points of structure. The limbs are all organised for walking or digging, the fore limbs never being
modified, as in the Bats, into organs of flight, and the two bones of the fore-arm {rcuiius and ubia)
are always more or less distinct. There is no opposable thumb, either on the fore or the hind feet.
The teeth, which are always encased in enamel, are of the usual three kinds — incisors, canines, and
molars* — and the dentition generally resembles that of the strictly Insectivorous Bats, the molai-s

k^^S^-^

■CTITION OF HEUGEHOG.

* Tliere is sometimes a difficulty in distiiiaiiisliing bjtween canines antl premolars, and it will be seen, liereafter,
that ill some cases the canines are supposed to be wanting ; but no Insectivore possesses two chisel-like, constantly-growing
incisors in each jaw, sejjarated by a long interval from the molars, as in the Rodents, or Gnawing Mammals.

.344 NArVRAL HISTORY.

especially being similiiriy furiiislied with sevenil sharp cusps or points, v/hicli are regarded as
characteristic of Insect-eating Mammals. All the teeth are implanted in the jaws by roots.

In the development of the tail, and the nature of the covering of the skin, the Insectivora present
considerable diversities, which will be referred to hereafter. Their feet generally consist of five toes,
all armed with claws, and nearly all are plantigrade — that is to say, they apply the whole, or nearly
the whole, of the sole of the foot to the gi-ound in walking. With a single exception {Potaviogale,
which is rather anomalous in some other respects), all the Insectivora are provided with complete
■clavicles, or collar bones — a character which serves to distinguish them from the Carnivora, in wliich
the collar-bones are either deficient or imperfectly developed. The teats are generally numerous, and
situated on the abdomen, the only exceptions being the anomalous Colugo, or so-called Flying Lemur,
*nd the Golden Moles, in which the teats are situated on the breast.

Zoologists are now pretty well agreed as to the classification of these animals, although there are
.•still differences of opinion as to the best arrangement of the families, and some minor points. The
■cliissification hei-e adopted is founded upon that proposed by Professor Mivart in 1871, and afterwards
TOodLtied by Professor Theodore Gill. In this the whole order is divided into nine families, the first of
■which is so anomalous, and so divergent from all the rest in its characters, as to have led to its being
iireated as constituting a distinct sub-order (Dermoptera).

FAMILY I.— GALEOPITHECID-E, OR COLUGOS.
The animals which constitute this family, now regarded as constituting only two species (although
the right even of one of these to specific rank is somewhat doubtful), are in truth amongst the most
anomalous of Mammals. In their charactere they present the most singular resemblances to at least
three orders of Mammalia, in which they have been successively placed by various zoologists. Dis-
covered by the Dutch voyagers of the seventeenth century in the luxuriant forests of the Eastern
islands, their general Lemur-like aspect led the naturalists of those days to class them with those
creatures, and Camelli, the distinguished botanist, gave them the name of Galeopithecus, which became
in Petiver's hands, " Cato-simius volam," or the Flying Cat-Monkey. Seba left out the Monkey, and
•called the animal simply the Flying Cat of Ternate (Felis volam terimtea) ; whilst Bontius, laying undue
weight on its so-called flying powers, regarded it as a Bat, and gave it the name of Vesjiertilio admira-
iilis. LinniBus accepted the Lemur hypothesis, and placed the animal in his genus Lemur, under the
name of Lemur volans, or the Flying Lemur, and this position it continued to hold for a very long
time, although Pallas separated it from the true Lemurs under Camelli's name of Galeopithecus. No
■one ever reverted to the notion that the Colugo was a Bat, but from time to time various naturalists
Lave pointed out that in many of its characters it approached the Insectivora ; and of late years the
•evidence in favour of its belonging to that order has been put forward so strongly, that nowadays
jiearly all zoologists regard it as an exceedingly aberrant member of the group, with more or le.ss
•distinct tendencies towards the Bats and the Lemurs, and perhaps with some feint trace of the Mar-
:supial about it. Mr. Wallace, speaking, of couise, from the standpoint of the theory of evolution, says
that " this animal seems, in fact, to be a lateral offshoot of some low form, which has survived during
the process of development of the Insectivoiva, the Lemuroidea, and the Marsupials, from an ancestral
type." There is no doubt that the beast is sufiiciently dissimilar from all other known Mammals to
^ive a considerable air of probability to the assumption of its being a survivor from some earlier
period of the earth's history ; but as it is here we must do the best we can with it, and its natural
position is certainly between the true Insectivora and the Lemurs. As the characters of the family
are founded virtually upon a single species, one description will serve.

THE COLUGO, OR FLYING LEMUR.*
The species known to the older naturalists is found in Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, where it
inhabits the foreists, climbing the trees like a SquJn-el by the aid of its claws, and passing through the
*ir from one tree to another by means of a membi-ane {patagium), which extends along the sides of the

* Galeopithecus volavs.

TI'E COLVGO, OK FI.YIXG LEMUR.

JOT OF COLIC

body, and can be stretclied by the extension of the limbs to which it is attadied so as to act as i ^oit
of pai-achute, which supports its owner after the same fasliicn as the very siiiiihir fold of skni that
exists in the same position in the so called Flying Sc]uiiTels and Flying Opossums. In the C'oJ'ig( ,
however^ tliis curious arrangement is carried further than
in the other groups of Mammals just mentioned ; for, as in
the Bats, there is a distinct antebrachial membrane, stretch-
ing along the front of the arms from the wrists to the
sides of the neck ; and the space between the hind limbs
is occupied by an ample triangular membrane, down the
middle of which the long tail passes, and which is also
stretched by the extension of the limbs. Even the toes are
joined by membranes as far as the base of the claws, and
this great development of the skin must be regarded as to
a certain extent approximating the creature to the Bats.
The whole of this fold of skin is clothed both above and
beneath with hair; and although some observei-s have
described the animal as moving its expanded membranes
during flight, no approach to the peculiar action of the
Bat's wing can ever be made by it. The most striking point
in which it exceeds the other parachiite-beariiig Mammals is

the development of the membrane between the hind limbs, and this, by the action of the tail, may be
made to exert a powerfid influence upon the course of the animal during its so-called flights. Mr.
Wallace, who had the opportunity of observing the Colugo in its native haunts, describes its flight a.s-
follows : — " Once, in a bright twilight," he says, " I saw one of these animals run up a trunk in a rather
open place, and then glide obliquely through the air to another tree, on which it alighted near its base,
and immediately began to ascend. I paced the distance from the one tree to the other, and found it tO'
be seventy yards, and the amount of descent I estimated at not more than
thirty-five or forty feet, or less than one in five. This, I think, proves that
the animal must have some power of guiding itself through the air, other-
wise in so long a distance it would have little chance of alighting exactly
u))on the trunk." In a .subsequent work, following other writera, he lefeis
power to the agency of the tail, and even thinks that the animal may-
rise over obstacles in its course by the elevatory action of that organ,
Tlie tail is of considerable length, and according to some writers its ex-
tremity has a slight prehensile action which is of assistance to the animal
in climbing. The membranes, when not in use, as when the Colugo is
walking or climbing, fall in gi-eat folds at the sides of the body.

Passing now, by a natural transition, from the jiaraclmte-like mem-
liranes to the limbs which traverse and serve to extend them, we find that
these exhibit certain peculiarities of structure which are amongst th-^
iinomalies of this singular creature. The bones of both fore and hind
limbs are elongated and slender — a character which contrasts strongly
with the general state of things in the Insectivora — and the ulna, whicli;
is pai-ticularly slender, is united to the radius tov.ards tlie extremity.
The feet consist of five digits, and they are specially adapted to enable the
animal to climb readily upon the bark of the ti-unks and branches of trees. In the hind feet
especially part of the tarsal bones (the navicular and cuboides) are constiiicted so that they can easily
turn upon the astragalus and calcaneum, and thus the sole is turned inwards, an airangement which
facilitates the clasping action of the feet. Tlie inner digits in all the feet possess considerable power of
independent mctiDn, although they are never converted into ojjposable thumbs ; and this arrangement,
combined with the presence of sharp strong claws upon all the toes, must greatly favour the peculiar
mode of life of the animal. It is to be remarked that the structure of the hind feet presents some
analogy to that prevailing in Bats, and that in repose the Colugo suspends itself from a branch by

<ES OF HIND FOOT
COLVGO.

NATVIiAL HISTORY.

lians-'inn- downwanls, wliich Ls also a habit somewliat

e eves are placetl more

tlie fore ami liiml feet, with the body an

reminding us of the Chiroptera.

The head in the Galeopithems is tolerably broad and a little flattened ;

laterally than in the Lemurs, and the orbits containing them form a bony

ring which is interrupted behind.

The teeth are very peculiar. In the upper jaw there are on each side

two incisors, those of one side .separated from those of the other by a veiy

■wide space. The foremost of these incisoi-s on each side has a single root

and a notched crown; the hinder one is pomted and implanted by two

roots. The canine which follows also possesses two roots ; and this is

followed by a molar seiies of five teeth, each inserted into the maxiUary

bone by thi-ee roots, and havmg a crown with three, four, or five cusps.

In the lower jaw, which has the condyle curiously produced outwards, we

find again on each side a series of five molar teeth, and in front of these

a long canine with two roots ; but the whole fore part of the jaw is occupied by six sLngle-fanged

incisors ; the crowns of these are nearly horizontal, broad, flat, and notched, the notching of the two

middle pairs being so deep as to form a regular comb. This structure is exceedingly remarkable, and

occurs in no other animals, the nearest approach to it being the slightly pectinated teeth in the

Desmodont Bats.

The teats in the Galeopithems are situated on the sides of the breast, in the neighbourhood of the

armpits. There is a pair on each side, placed close together, and on the same level. The female

produces only a single young
one at a birth, ar.d the little
creature, described by Mr.
Wallace as at fii-st verjf
small, blind, and naked,
clings closely to the breast
of the mother, which is
quite bare and very much
wrinkled. Mr. Wallace sees
in this adaptation of the
region of the teats to the
wants of an exceedingly
incomplete ofl'spring, some
trace of a remote relation
to the peculiarities of the
Marsupials. The stomach
in this curious animal is o\
considerable size ; and th?
intestine is furnished with
a sacculated csecum as long
as the stomach.

The Colugo varies con-
siderably in colour, but is
usually of an olive, brown,
"'i-'^'"'- or blackish colour, mottled

with whitish sjiots and

blotches,, which are said by Mr. Wallace to give it a resemblance to the colour of mottled bark,

sufficient to render it difficalt of observation. The lower surface of the body and membrane is of a
tawny grey colour, and the whole of the fur which clothes the body and membranes is, although shorti,
most exquisitely soft h\ texture. The length of the animal is about eighteen or twenty inches. •

The brain in the Galeopithecus is very small, and Mr. Wallace found it to possess such a
remarkable tenacity of life that it w.as killed with difiiculty by any ordinary means. He describes it

THE HJXGSSIXGS. 347

as sldggi.sli in its liuljits, at least iluring the day, ^^-hen it generally rests clinging to the trunks of treesi
anil at this tinie, if it has occasion to move, it goes up the tree by. short runs of a few feet, and then
stops a moment as if it found the action difficult and fatiguing. We have already quoted Mr.
Wallace's description of the flight of the animal as witnessed by him early in the evening, and no
doubt it is active enough during tli;.' dark hours.

Tlie regular food of the C'(.'lui;.) a]i]»ars to consist of vegetable substances, but authors difter
somewhat in their statements upon tlii> sulijrct. By most zoologists it is said to feed on fruits ; but
i\Ir. Wallace says that " like the cuscus of the Moluccas, the
Guleopitltecus feeds chiefly on leaves." From the statements of
some naturalists it would seem that it occasionally or habitually
adds insects to its diet, and also that it fi-equently captures and
devours small birds. In all probability the truth is that it eats
almost anything that comes in its way.

Some five or six supposed species of Galeojnthecus have been

described by various authors, but most of these are now admitted

Mvi LI, ui KPLn.o. ^Q Ijg founded upon young animals, or upon mere varieties. The

Colugo of the Philippine Islands is, however, generally regarded

as a distinct species, although even as to this there is some doubt." It was described by Mr.

Waterhouse as Galeopithecus 2}hilippinensis, and presents a close general resemblance to the species

above described, but is smaller, has a shorter head, and shows certain slight differences in the teetk.

FAMILY 11.— TUPAIID.E, OR BANC4SEINGS.

The preceding family, as already stated, is regarded by Mr. Gill as constituting an actual sub-
order of Insectivora, and we have seen that its characters are really of a very singular kind.
The remainder of the order is treated by him as forming a single great group, characterised by the
absence of parachute membranes, the shoi-tness and robu.stne.ss of the limbs, and by the want of
that peculiar comb-like structure of the incisor teeth which distinguishes the Galeopitheci from all
other Mammals. Moreover the condylar i3rocess of the lower jaw is never extended outwards. This
group Mr. Gill proposes to name Bestice or Insectivora vera.

The Bangsrings, or Sinsrings, form the fli-st family, called Tupaiida;, from the name of the
most characteristic and best known genus Tupala, which again \\-as drriMil l,y its discoverer and first
describer. Sir ,Stanifoi-d Raffles, from the native name for a S.iimiivI. wiiii whirli these animals are
confounded by the Malays of Sumatra. The Bangsrings have eithrr foui- or six incisors in the upper,
and always six in the lower jaw ; and three or four premolars, and four true molars on each side in
1)0th jaws. The canines are situated far Ijack, and have a single root. In the skull the orbit iii
usually complete, or nearly so, and there is a complete zygomatic arch, with a small slit or aperture
beneath the orbit. The bones of the shank are separate; the intestine has a large caecum; and the
feet are furnished with five toes, armed with strongly curved claws. The upper molar teeth are. farmed
of two nearly equal parts, anterior and posterior, each of which represents a triangular prism narrowed
inwards.

The Bangsrings live in and about trees, where their activity and general appearance give them a
considerable resemblance to small Squirrels or Lemurs. They also remind one considerably of some of
the smaller Marsupials. Their fur is exceedingly fine and soft ; tlieir tail generally long and well-
clothed with hair (except in Hylohiys) ; and their food consists partly of fruits and partly of insects.
The species inhabit South-eastern Asia and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago.

THE TANA.*
In tiie genus Tiipaia (or Cladobaies) from which the present family takes its name, there are four
small incisor teeth separated from each other in the upper jaw ; and six incisors, the middle four of
which are close together, long, and much inclined forwards in the lower jaw. The upper canines are at

NATURAL mSTOSY.

some distancR from the limdmost incisors, the lower ones close to them (see figure). Behind the
canines there are on each si<le in both jaws three premolars, which increase in .size backwards.
These are followed by three true molars. The bony orbit is a complete ring, and the zygomatic arch
is also complete, but perforated by an elongated aperture.
The ears are of moderate size, and rounded ; the eyes large
and prominent ; and the tail long, and well clothed -with
hair throughout its whole length ; in fact in most species
N - .,^^ '^^ ^- "^^^^^■^-v it is a busily organ like that of many Squirrels.

I _^ ,_~ ~ - ~-l_ CZ^^^ 111 the Tana (Tupaia taiui) the arrangement of the

~~ hair on the tail in two rows, something after the fashion of

the barbs of a feather on the shaft, which is more or less
recognisable throughout this genus, is especially remark-

able ; and as the hair is veiy long, the tail is rendered

^^•^""^CS^^^^i*^^ particularly bushy. This animal is one of the larger

""^^f)^^^^ species, the body measuring fi'om eight to nine inches in

length, and its colour is rather variable, although usually
exhibiting various shades of reddish - brown, becoming
darker or blackish on the hinder part of the back, where,
moreover, the gi'eater part of the haii-s are of uniform tint and not grizzled. The colour of the tail
appears to be especially liable to vary — thus, according to Dr. Giuitlier, in the ordinary foi-m of the
species the tail is black above, with the basal half of each hair rusty brown, and dark brown below ;
in another variety, described by Wagner as a distinct species under the name of T. speciosa, the tail
Ls bi-ownish-red above, and bright rusty-red below ; whilst in the beautiful form from which our

FEUUVGIXOVS BANGSKIXG.

illustration is taken the whole organ is of a reddish golden-yellow colour. Tliis is Dr. Giinther''^
viriety, chrysura (golden taii).

The Tana is an inhabitant of the for&sts of Sumatra and Borneo. Accoi-ding to Sir Stamfurtl
Raffles, the animal is known to the country people of Sumatra under the name of Tupai tana, and he
was informed that it was always found on or near the ground. A nearly allied but much smaller
species (T. spleruHdula of Dr. Gray) occui-s wit.h it in the last-named island; and another larger one
{T. nkohatlca) is found in the Nicobar Islands.

\HE FERHrGIXOrs BAXGSRiya.

THE FERRITGINOUS BANGSEING.'

This species, the I'ujxd Press of the Malays of Siimutra, and tlie Kehkes of tlie Sundanese in
Java, is more w-idely distributed than tlie preceding, being found not only in the two islands above
mentioned, but also m Borneo, Penaug, and Singapore. It was first described by Sir Stamford Raffles.
It is one of the larger species, the head and body measuring about eight inches, and the tail bemg
fully of equal length. The colour of its fur is almost eutu-ely a rusty red, becoming darker, however,
on the tail and the hinder part of the back, whei-e the hairs are more or less grizzled with white. The
tail is not so bushy as that of the Tana. The apertiu'e under the orbits is of an elongated oval form.

Sir Stamford Raffles, in his original account of this animal, describes it as being vei-y lively and
playful in its habits, and as feeding on fruits. He fir.st saw it tame in the house of a gentleman in
Penang, and states that this individual " was suffered to go about in perfect liberty, ranged in freedom
o-ser the whole house, and never failed to present himself on the breakfast and dinner table, where he
jtai'took of fruit and milk." Dr. Cantor, in his " Catalogue of the Mammalia inliabiting the Malayan
Peninsula and Islands," gives the following interesting account of tliis Bangsring : — " The young of
this very numerous species in hilly jungle," he says, "Ls easily found, and becomes famOiar with its
feeder, though towards strangere it retains its original mistrust, which, in mature age, is scarcely
reclaimable. In a state of nature it lives singly or in paii-s, fiercely attacking mtrudei-s of its own
species. When several ai-e confined togrther, they fight each other, or jointly attack and destroy the
weakest. The natural food is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous. In confinement individuals may
be fed exclusively on either, though preference is evinced for insects ; and eggs, fish, and earth- worms
are equally relished. A short, peculiar, tremulous whistling sound, often heard by calls and answers
in the Malayan jungle, marks their pleasiu'able emotions ; as, for instance, on the appearance of food ;
while the contraiy is expressed by shrill protracted cries. Their disposition is very restless, and their
gi-eat agility enables them to perform the most extraordinary bounds in all dii-ections, in which exer-
cise they spend the day, till night sends them to sleep in their rudely-constracted laii-s in the highest
branches of trees. At times they will sit on theu" haunches, holding their food between the fore-legs ;
and after feeding they smooth the head and face with both fore-paws, and lick the lips and palms.
They are also fond of water, both to ch-ink and to bathe in. The female usually produces one young."
Dr. Cantor also states that " the lateral raised lines of the palms and soles, the posterior pai-t of the
fu-st phalanges and the third phalanx, which Ls widened into a small soft disc, in fact, all the j'ouits
which Test on the ground, ai-e studded with little transversely -curved ridges, or duislications, similar to
those obsei-ved under the toes of some Geckotidse [Wall-Lizards], which fully accounts for the precision
with which these animals perform the most astoimding leaps from below, barely touching with then- soles
the point d'appui above. In a cage," he adds, " the Tiqtaia will continue for houi-s vaultmg from
below, back downwards, poise itself for an instant, continuing back downwards under the horizontal
roof, and regain the point of starting, and thus describe a circle, the diameter of which niaj- be three
or four times the length of the animal, in far shorter time than is required for the description."

Allied to the Ferj-ugmous Bangsring, and of neai-ly the same size, are two species which must be
refen-ed to on account of their geogi-aphical distribution, which carries this type of animals much
f^irther to the west than we should expect. These are Elliot's Bangsrmg {T. Elliott), a species with
unusually short and harsh fiu-, specimens of which have been obtainetl from Madras, Bengal, and
Bombay ; and Belanger's Bangsring (T. Belangeri), oiiginally procured in Pegu, but which also occui-s
in Burmah and Sikkim.

Horsfield's Bangsring (7'ujmia javanica) is a smaller animal than the preceding, an adult
specimen measuring only about thirteen inches long, of which about one-half goes to the tail. Tlie
colour of its fur is gi-eyish-brown, grizzled on the back, and -with a whitish line on each shoulder.
ft inhabits Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Arracan. Tlie Little Bangsi-ing (?'. minor) is a still smaller
species, measuring only five inches and one-third in length of body, but closely resembling the pre-
cedmg in its characters. It is described by Dr. Gunther from Bornean specimens. The Murine
Bangsring {T. murina), which forms the genus Dmdrogale of the late Dr. Gray, has also only been

13

Tupaia ferrugiiica.

SoO NATURAL IHSTORY.

found ill Borneo. It is a small species allied to the preceding, but has the tail moi-e rat-like, ;uicl
clothed only ^^'ith comparatively short hairs, those of the lower surface especially being very short.

LOW'S PTILOCERQUE.*

Besides the true Bangsxings formiirg the genus Tu/jaiu, tliis family includes two other small
animals, one of which, Low's Ptilocerque, is a very elegant little creature. The specimen oiiginaUy
described by Dr. Gray in 1848 was captured by Mr. Low in Eajah Brooke's house in Borneo. It has
a rather shorter head than the true Bangsrings, but its dentition is nearly the same ; the aperture
under the orbit is round, and the circle of the bony orbit is not qnite complete behind. The most
distinctive chai-acter of the animal is, however, to be found in its tail, which is an exceedingly
peculiar organ. The tail itself is long and slender, arid instead of being thickly clothed with bushy
haii-s, as in the Bangsrings, it has the basal portion hairy ; then a long piece naked, covered with
rings of broad, square scales, among which there are only a few short, scattered hairs ; and, finally,
about a third of its length is furnished with long hairs arranged on the two sides of the tail, so as
to produce the appearance of the two wings of a dart or arrow (see figure, p. 342).

The Ptilocerque, which is an inhabitant of Borneo and Sarawak, is between five and six
inches long, with a tail rather longer than the body. Its general colour is blackish-brown above,
minutely grizzled by the yellowish tips of the haii-s ; the lower parts and the cheeks are yellowish,
and there is a black streak on each side of the face, enclosing the eyes. The tail is black, with the
long hairs of the tip white, except a few towards the base. The habits of the animal are probably
the same as those of the Tupaias.

THE SHORT-TAILED BANGSKING.f

A curious little animal belonging to this family was discovered in Sumatra by Dr. S. Miiller. It
has its muzzle prudwccil into a long, mo\'able snout, and the tail veiy short and naked. The skull
is flatter than in tlic- true lianu'srinj^s ; the orbit is incomplete ; the sub-orbital aperture is in the
form of a little tissurc ; and the dentition is different, there being six incisors in the upper as well as
in the lower jaw, and four pi'emolars on each side in both jaws. Tlie total number of teeth is thus
forty-four instead of thiity-eight. This animal has been found in Java and Sumatra.

The same, or a very nearly allied species, has been obtained in Pegu, and described by Mr. Blytli
under the name of Hylomys peguensis. Professor Gill regards these animals as most nearly related to
Gymniira \n the family Erinaceidse.

FAMILY III.— JIACEOSCELIDID.E, OR .lUMPIXG SHREWS.

Some curious little creatures, peculiar to Africa and its islands, in which, as in the Jerboas and
Kangaroos, the hind legs are more developed than the fore limbs, enabling the animals to advance in
a biped fashion by a succession of leaps, are regarded by most zoologists as nearly related to the
Bangsrings ; in fact, both Professor Mivart and Mi-. Gill .make these two families form a distinct tribe
of Insectivora. They both have the same kind of molar teeth, and the intestine furnished with a large
caecum. But whilst the Bangsi-ings are squirrel-like animals, with feet adapted for a life in trees, the
Jumping Shrews are mouse-like creatui-es, of teiTestrial jumping habits, and furnished with a long,
thin, proboscis-like muzzle, which has procured for them the name of Elephant Sinews. They have
large eyes, and ears of a moderate size and i-ather widely separated ; their hind limbs are considerably
elongated, especially the shank and the metatarsus, or poi-tion forming the foot, which has a naked sole
that is applied to the ground ; the two bones of the shank (tibia and fibula), and in general those of
the forearm (radius and ulna), are attached to each other at the lower end ; and the first or inner toe
is either jilaced further back than the others, or altogether deficient. The sides of the muzzle are
usually furnished with A'eiy long whiskei-s. The tail is long, and more or less rat-like, but covered
with short hairs.

In two of the three genera into which the family is divided the number of teeth is forty, namely.

* PUloccrcus LokU. t HyJomiis suUlua.

THE EI.ErUANT SUREJV.

on eacli side, incisors, j|, canines, -J, jirciuolars, |, and molars, I, tlie incisors being s
upper canines furnished with two roots. In the exceptional genus Rhynchocijoii,
which includes only a single species, there is only one incisor in the upper jaw, and
even this falls out as the animal grows old.

The species of this family ai-e peculiar to Africa, where they are found in Algeria
and Barbary, along the east coast, and at the Cape of Good Hope.

THE ELEPHANT SHREW.*
This appears to be the commonest species in Southern Africa, where its habits were
observed by the late Sir Andrew Smith, who founded for it the genus Mi(fr,isr,/i,/rs, It
is about five inches long, with a tail of about three inches, and its ciilnin is :i tawny
brown, becoming whitish on the limbs. It is diiu'nal in its habits, and very active, '^'•'^'"'"^>''' »•"
hunting for its insect prey among the scanty herbage and stunted shrubs, which alone
flourish in the dry rocky spots which it chooses for its place of habitation. It resides in buiTOW.^

the gi'Ound, and when disturbed immediately rushes to take shelt-er in its home,
bouring rock or stone.

Sir Andrew Smith described seviial nt
obtained on the Mozambique coast. lu llicit-
mentioned animal.

ith African species, and at least one has been
re and general habits they agree with the abo\ e-

THE ALGEKIAN JUMPING SHEEW.f
Besides these southern species, however, the French naturalists have discovered a species of this-
genus in Algeria, and it is also found to inhabit Barbary. It is knowni to the French colonists in Algeria
by the name of the " Bat a trompe." This animal is of the same size as the preceding — tliat is to say,
about five inches long; its tail measures four inches, and its lonfr slender snout about half an inch. It ha.s
a soft tawny fur on the back and sides, and the lower surfac'i; is whitish. The Algerian Jumping Shrew
is said to feed not only upon insects, but also upon vegetable matters. It is gentle and inoflensive^
and may be easily tamed, when its gambols are said to be very sprightly and amusing.

Macroscdides typkus.

+ Macroscdkks Rozeti.

NA TURJ-L niSTOR Y.

THE rETHODUOlIE.--
Tlie Mozambique coast produces another species of this family, agreeing with those just noticed
early all its characters, but of much lai-ger size, and further distinguished from them by having
only four toes on each hind foot. The first toe, which is pushed fai- back, and consider-
ably reduced in size in the Elephant Shi-ews, is entirely deficient in the Petrodrome.

While the Macroscelides generally live in the plains, among grass and under
bushes, the Petrodrome, as its name implies, prefers localities among the hills, where
cavities and fissures in the rocks furnish it with a secure refuge. In three places where
Professor Peters found it, this was the ease. It lives on insects. In captivity it soon
becomes familiar, although at first shy, but never Lucluied to bite. The natives at
Tette call it Sdro.

THE KHYNCHOCYOX.t
Besides the species of Macroscelides already mentioned, and the Petrodrome, the
coast of Mozambique has another animal « liich is leferred to this family, although it
])resents several characters which sej)aratf it \-(r\- decidedly from all the rest. It was
fii'st described by Professor Peters under the name of lihynchocyon, which means
" beaked dog," although it must be confessed that there is nothing very dog-like about
it. The name is in allusion to the large size of the canine teeth.

The Rhynchocyon, which is a veiy rare animal in collections, apjjears from the

description and figui-e of Professor Peters to be a qiieei'-looking beast. It measures

inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which is rather long, tapering, and rat-like, being

a ringed skin, and furnished with only a few scattered hairs. The muzzle is produced

PETEODROME

about eight
covered witl

into a veiy long movable snout. The fur is of a rusty-brown colour, with a blacki.sh tinge about t!i:
ears and the back of the head, and some light reddish spots on the hinder pai-t of the back.

Tliis animal, which is called Mutdu by the natives, lives in holes in the ground, from which i

* Petrodromus tetradacti/his.

t Ehiinchocyon Cernei.

THE HEDGEHOG. 353

issues at night in seai-cli of the insects on which it feeds, anil is chiefly interesting to the zoologist for
the strnctunvl chai-acters which it presents. Tlius, whilst agreeing with the ordinary members of tlie
present family sufficiently to warrant its being classified with them, and to prevent its going anywlieie
else, it differs from them in some exceedingly important particulars, which might almost justify its
being placed in a famUy by itself. Although the hind legs are more developed than the fore limbs, the
disproportion between them is hardly so great as in the true Jumping Shrews; and further, all the feet
are reduced to the same four-toed condition as the hind feet in the Petrodrome, and the outer toe
is shorter than the rest. But it is in the dentition that the anomaly is the greatest. The Rhynchocyon
never has more than one small incisor tooth on each side in the upper jaw, and even this drops out as
the creature advances Ln age; and the upper canine is a simple tooth with a single root. In the lower
jaw there are three incisoi-s on each side, and in both jaws the canines are followed by three premolars
and three molai's. In the hind legs the two shank-bone.s are united near the extremity as in the pre-
ceding species, but the two bones of the fore-arm (radius and ulna) ai-e separate.

FAMILV IV.-ERINACEID.E, OR HEDGEHOGS.

We pass now from groups of insect-eating animals the membei'S of which must be sought in
f;u- distant countries, to a family represented in England by a very well-known species. Our Common
Hedgehog, in fact, may serve as an excellent example of the family to which it belongs, although this
certainly includes one species which presents rather anomalous characters.

All the Ei-inaceidse have the two molar teeth broad, as in the precedmg families; in fact, here the
hinder ones are nearly square, and the tubercles fomiing then- upper surface are rounded in form. The
skull has a complete zygomatic arch, and the tpnpanic bone forms a bubble-like swellmg on each side
of the back of the skull. The back is clothed with hairs, among which there are a number of strong
spines or bristles. The legs are short, and formed exclusively for walking, and the hind legs have tlie
two bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) united. The mtestine has no caecum.

These animals are confined to the Old World, in nearly all parts of which some of the species are
to be found. They feed chiefly upon insects and other small animals ; mo.st of them have the power of
rolling themselves up into a ball, when the pricklis a\ itli w liich the back is armed constitute a most
fomiidable defensive armour; and in cold count lies tiny ]iass the winter in a state of torpidity-.
Several fossil species have been found in Tertiary deposits in Europe.

THE HEDGEHOG.*
Our Common English Hedgehog may serve as the type of this family ; all the species of which,
with only a single exception, belong to the same genus, and pi-esent a very close i-esemblance to eati,
other, both in appearance and habits. All the Hedgehogs, in fact, are small animals of robust form,
with very short tails, and the greater part of the hairs of the upper surface converted into sharp spines.
The muzzle is conical, and the jaws contain thirty-six teeth, twenty of which are in the upper ana
sixteen in the lower jaw (see figure, p. .343). Tlie arrangement of these teetli is peculiar. There are
three incisors on each side, of which the inner one is considerably larger than the rest, and in the upper
jaw these are separated by a small space from the next tooth, which is generally regarded as a premolar,
in which ca.se the animals have no canines. Behind this, in the ujiper jaw, are three premolars,
gi-adually increasing in size until the third has very much the appearance of a true molar, but furnished
with a cutting edge ; and then three molar teeth, two of which are large and broad, nearly square, and
crowned with very strong tubercles, admirably adapted for crushing the hard skins of the insects on
which the Hedgehogs principally feed. The hindmost molar is a small tooth. In the lower jaw the
innermost incisor is veiy large, and projects almost horizontally forward, and it is followed by three
small teeth, the nature of which has been a matter of dispute. Two of them, however, are generally
considered to be incisore, and the third a premolar, but by M. F. Cuvier they were all described as pre-
molars, making, with another and larger tooth which follows them, four premolars in the lower as in
the upper jaw. This last premolar is a carnassial or cutting tooth, corresponding to that in the upper

* Erinaceus cul^opa^lS.

354 KATUKAL UISTUHI.

jaiV. It is separated by a small space from tlie last of tlie smaller anterior teeth, and is followed by-
three true molars, two of which are large, and furnished with four or five sharp tubercles, while the
tliii-d is small, and shows only one strong point.

In the Common Hedgehog, as in most species of the genus Erinaceii-s, the feet are all composed of
five toes ; the legs are short, so that the animal runs along with its belly nearly touching the ground ;
the spines, with which the whole upper surface is covered, are hard, sharp, round, about an inch in
length, of a dirty-white colour, with a dark-brown or nearly black i-ing a little above the middle ; the
nose is black, and the unspined parts of the body are clothed \vith coarse yellowish-white hair. The
ears are small and rounded. The total length of the adult Hedgehog is usually about ten inches.

The Hedgehog inhabits the whole of Europe except Scandinavia and the north of Russia. It is
found in the Caucasus, but does not appear to extend further into Asia. It lives both in the low
country and in the mountains, ascending, in the Alps and Carpathians, to an elevation of above 0,000
feet. It may be met with in almost all situations, in forests, woods, fields, gardens, and orchards,

■where it takes up its abode in thickets, in hedge-bottoms, and even in holes in walls. In such
situations it jiasses its days in sleep, for it is, .strictly speaking, a nocturnal animal, although on rare
occasions it may be seen abroad in the day-time. In similar situations it passes the whole winter in a
profound slumber, forming a nest for itself of moss or leaves, sometimes nnder the smaller growth of
woods and gardens, sometimes in a hedge-bank, in the hollows and among the bare roots of trees, and
in holes among rocks or in walls. The nest most commonly consists in whole or in part of withered
leaves, which appear to be useful in keeping out the wet, an i as the innermost leaves are impaled iijion
the animal's spines, it retains a thin coat of leaves when turned out of its winter-nest.

As the spring advances, the Hedgehog rouses itself from its long sleeji, and proceeds to make up
for the enforced abstinence from food which it has undergone for so many weeks. It comes forth in
the evening, and runs about pretty quickly, but with a curious shufiiing gait, in search of the insects
and other small animals which constitute its usual prey. Insects, and particularly Beetles, appear to
form the greater part of its diet, and its teetli are admirably adapted for pounding up the hard skins of
these creature.s. In consequence of their predilection for insect food, great numbers of Hedgehogs are
brought to London and other great towns, to be kept in houses for the purpose of destro}dng the Cock-
roaches (Blackbeetles, as they are commonly called) which are such disagreeable inmates of most
kitchen.s. In the pursuit of these insects the Hedgehog shows much activity, and Mr. Bell saj's that
he has " seen a Hedgehog, in a London kitchen, push its way beneath a piece of carpet in all directions,
and heard it at intervals crushing up the Cockroaches which it met with. In a short time it freed the
place of theso pests." Sometimes, however, this consummation is not quite so easilj' attained, and we

TUE HEDGEHOG. 355

ha/e heard cf moi-e than one instance in wliich tlie first Hedgeliog bronglit into the house as a Beetle-
killer actually died of overfeeding, and at least one other had to be procured before the plague of
"Cockroaches was got rid of.

Besides insects, the Hedgehog feeds on earthworms, slugs, and snails, and in destroying the latter
it may certaiidy be regarded as a friend to the gardener. The consumption of earthworms is performed
in a rather curious manner. These animals are seized when they are enjoying the damp freshness of
the aiv out of their holes in summer evenings, and slowly passed into the mouth of their enemy from
one end to the other apparently by the simple process of mastication -vvitli the molar teeth, the uncon-
sumed portion of the worm being constantly ti-ansferred from one side of the mouth to the other, so
that both sides of the jaw may come into play. This must be an uni)leasant operation for the womi,
much as its captor may enjoy it. It is uncertain whether the larger snails are eaten by the Hedgehog,
no fragments of their shells having been found in the stomachs of specimens examined, but the smaller
species, belonging to the genera Vitrina a,nA Zouitis. certainly form a portion of its diet. Mr. Bell
says that " the small Slug, Liniax agrestis, is a fa\ourite moi-sel with the Hedgehog, and is often
■scratched out and eaten in the summer months when concealed in the day in crevices, or amongst the
roots of grass or other close herbage."

The Hedgehog does not, however, confine itself exclusively to the consumption of invertebrate
prey ; Frogs and Toads, Mice, and even Snakes, are not exempt from its attacks. Mr. Broderin many
years ago published in the " Zoological Journal" an interesting account of an experiment made by
Professor Buckland to ascertain how the Hedgehog deals with a prey apparently so formidable as a Snake.
He says : — " The Professor procured a common Snake, and also a Hedgehog, and put them into a box
together. Whether or not the former recognised its enemy was not apparent ; it did not dart from
the Hedgehog, but kept creeping gently round the box ; the Hedgehog was rolled up, and did not appear
to see the Snake. The Professor then laid the Hedgehog on the Snake, with that part of the ball where
the head and tail meet downwards, and touching it. The Snake proceeded to crawl ; the Hedgehog
started, opened slightly, and seeing what was under it, gave the Snake a hard bite, and instantly rolled
itself up again. It soon opened a second and again a third time, repeating the bite ; and by the third
bite the back of the Snake was broken. This done, the Hedgehog stood by the Snake's side, and passed
the whole body of the Snake successively through its jaws, cracking it, and breaking the bones at
intervals of half an inch or more, by which operation the Snake was rendered motionless. The Hedge-
hog then placed itself at the tip of the Snake's tail, and began to eat upwards, as one would eat a
radish, without intermission, but slowly, till half the Snake was devoured. The following morning the
remaining half was also completely eaten up." According to the statements of some observei-s, the
Hedgehog will destroy not only the harmless common Snake, biit also the Viper, and Professor Lenz has
■ilescribed in gi-eat detail the mode in which the Hedgehog disposes of this formidable antagonist. The
strange jjart of his account is that the Hedgehog pursues the Viper for some time, smelling at it and
licking it, and submitting to repeated bites from the venomous reptile before proceeding to extremities.
It then kills the Viper by crushing its head, and proceeds to devour it from that end, without
showing any signs of being injured by the poison of the Snake. This curious immunity is said to
vcxtend also to other poisons, some of which are at least doubtful ; but it seems certain that the Hedge-
hog will devour the ordinary Blister Beetles (Cantharides) without inconvenience, although a very
.r.mall dose of them would destroy much larger animals. Tschudi, however, has remarked that the
acrid liquid secreted by the sldn of Toads is disagreeable to the Hedgehog ; in eating a Toad he rubs
Siis muzzle on the gi'Oimd after each bite.

From the nanow point of view of usefulness to man, we may up to this point have a very
favourable opinion of the Hedgehog, but he has some other peculiarities which may perhajis be regarded
■as drawbacks. One of these is his attacking young game, and another his fondness for eggs. One
of the editors of Bell's " British Quadrupeds" mentions an instance of the capture of a young Hare
by a Hedgehog. A Hedgehog has also been caught in the act of worrying a young Rook which had
fallen from the nest ; and the general testimony of sportsmen and gamekeepers is to the effect that
no small and young animals will come amiss to the Hedgehog. There is also no doubt that the
"Hedgehog will feed on the eggs of birds wherever it finds them ; and it is even stated that it will make
its way into a fowl-house, tm-n the hen off her eggs, and devour the latter.

356 NATURAL mUTOItY.

The diet of the Hedgehog does not appear to be exclusively of an animal nature ; in confinement
it will feed readily on soaked bread and on cooked vegetables, and in a natural state it is said to eat
the roots of plants and the fruits that fall from the trees in gardens and orchards. Gilbert White

says : " The manner in which they eat the roots of the plantain in my garden is very curious ; with

their upper mandible, wliich is much longer tlian their lower, they bore under the jilant, and so eat
the root off upwards, leaving the tuft of leaves untouched." Some writei-s have believed that the
Hedgehog is so fond of fruit as actually to climb the trees, knock off apples and pears, and then
throwing itself down upon them so that they may stick to its spines, walk off quietly with its booty
to some quiet retreat. According to ^lian, the ancient Greek Hedgehogs played a somewhat
similar trick with figs.

With all this, we have not quite done with the diet, real or supposed, of this curious little
anmial' It is a common belief in most parts of Engh;nd that the Hedgehogs will visit the Cow.s
during the night and suck then- milk, leaving but a scanty supply for the milkmaid in the morning.
There seems, however, to be no satisfactory evidence of the commission of this crime.

Wlien disturbed in its excursions the Hedgehog has the habit of rolling itself up into a ball, with
the head and legs tucked carefully away under the belly, and the whole exposed surface completely
enclosed by the spiny skin of the back. This is effected by the contraction of a most complicated
system of cutaneous muscles, the most important of which, called the orbicularis panniculi, forming a.
broad band encircling the body, draws together the edges of the spiny part of the skin towards the
centre of the ventral side of the body, thus forming a sort of prickly bag within which the whole body
and limbs of tlie animal are enclosed. Wlien thus arranged, by the action of the cutaneous muscles
the whole of the spines of the upper surface are strongly and firmly erected, making a fence which
suffices to protect the Hedgehog from the attacks of nearly all his enemies. Scarcely any Dogs can be
found with pluck enough to make a successful attack upon a rolled-up Hedgehog, although it is said
that some Dogs and Foxes have a trick by which to get at him, founded on the fact that a jet of water
poured into the small aperture within which the head of the animal is concealed will cause him to
rmroU himself at once. The same power of contraction serves the Hedgehog m good stead in protect-
ing him from other perils. If he finds himself falluig down a precipice or from the top of a wall, or
down a veiy steep .slope, he immediately makes himself into a ball, and in this form will fall iroiw
veiy considerable heights (eighteen or twenty feet) without receiving the least injury ; indeed.
Hedgehogs have been observed more than once voluntarily to thi-ow themselves down considerable
distances, contracting in this fashion. On reaching the bottom they simply opened themselves, and
walked off none the worse for the fall.

The voice of the Hedgehog is a sound intermediate between a grunt and a squeak ; Shakespeare, as
is well known, calls it " whining.' When kept in houses for destroying insects, it is said frequently
to make itself disagreeable by its noise at night. In many places, both in England and on tlie Con-
tinent, the Hedgehog is eaten, but chiefly, it is said, by gijisies and tramps. The mode of cooking
adopted, we believe, is roasting the animal in lils skin, and the flesh is generally said to be excellent.
According to M. Cherblanc, the French gipsies envelop the Hedgehogs in a sort of pa.ste of clay, and
then cook them over the fire, turning them from time to time luitil the clay is quite dry and hard,
when the roast is considered to be perfect. This earthen envelope is then broken and removed,
carrying the spines with it.

Notwithstanding their formidable armour, the Hedgehogs have other enemies besides man. Dogs
will attack them, but not often with success, unless we may believe in then- emploj-ing the nise already
alluded to, wliich is also said to have suggested itself to the cunning mind of Reynard. But the Foxes
are said to adopt another mode of dealing with their wished-for prey. When they meet with a rolled-
up Hedgehog they will, it is said, roll him along till they come to some water, into wliich they drop
the unfortunate little animal, and then seize him during his struggles to escape drownirg. On the
continent of Europe the Great Horned Owl or Eagle Owl [Buho rmuximus) is described as an inveterate
enemy of the Hedgehog.

The female Hedgehog goes with young about seven weeks. Before bringing her progeny into
the world, she selects some more or less sheltered situation in a hedge-bottom or thicket, or sometimes
in a corn-field, in which she constructs a nest of moss and leaves, so well put together, that even

THE LOXG-.EAMED IIEDGEUOG. 357

when otherwise unprotected, its roof suffices to throw off the rain. The young, whicli vary in number
from three to seven or eight, are, wlien first born, about three inches long, white, blind, and quits
naked, except that they already possess the rudiments of their spines, which are then quite soft and
flexible. In about four-and-twenty hours the spines have gi-own to a length cf one-sixth of an inch,
and acquired some hardness. The young animals, according to Gilbei-t White, have little hanging
ears, and he adds that " they can in part draw their skin down over their faces, but are not able to
contract themselves into a ball." In about a month the young have acquired nearly the colour of
their parents, and are then taken out by the mother to feed, although she still suckles them for
a time.

In captivity, if kmdly treated, the Hedgehog soon becomes familiar. He takes readily to almost
any diet, and, accordmg to Dr. Ball, he will even partake of intoxicating liquors, which, curiously
enough, seem to have the effect of making him immediately quite tame, after passing thiough
a period of inebriety, during which his gestures and proceedings liave a most ludicrous resemblance to
those of a drunken man.

THE LONG-EARED HEDGEHOG.*

This sjjecies has the ears much larger and the muzzle longer than in the Common Hedgehog, and
its legs also are longer and not so stout. The tail is very short. The spmes, which are marked with
from twenty to twenty-two little fuirows, are white at the base, brown in the middle, and yellowish
at the tip; the head is covered wth hair of a dirty wliitisli colour ; and on each side of the mouth
there ai-e four rows of long brown whiskers. This ani.iiul is (.uly about two-thii'ds tlie size of the
European Hedgehog. It is found in the western jiait '•! \-\:\\\i- Kussia, especially about the t'aspian.
in Tartary, and Siberia. It does not occur in Persia, necurJi:ig to Mr. Blanford, although included by
Schmarda in his list of the animals of Mesopotamia. It inhabits the pi-ovince of Astrakhan, in south
Russia, which makes it a European species. Very little is known of the liabits of the Long-eared
Hedgehog, but from that little it would appear to agree in most, if not all respects, with its Eurojoean
relative.

Several other species of Hedgehogs have been described, the majority of them from the Asiatic
continent, reaching even to the district of the Amoor, xi-iim v.liich Sclireuck described one under the
name of Erinaceus amurensis, which is sujiposed by Mr. JSell tn be a variety of t\iv Common Hedgehog.
Mr. Blanford describes a peculiar Persian species with large ears and long spines {E. macro canthus).
and Mr. BIyth another from Candahar [E. meyalotis). Several Indian species are noticed by various
authors, and some of these seem to be widely distributed, such as

THE COLLARED HEDGEHOG,t
whose range extends from Madras to Candahar and Afghanistan. It is about eight or nme inches
long, and has the spines irregularly interwoven, ringed with white and black, with the tips yellow, or
simply white and black, or black with a white ring in the middle ; the ears, which are tolerably large,
and the chin, are white ; and the belly and legs pale brown.

Of this, and two other species observed by him in Candahar, Captain Hutton says : — "They are
nocturnal, and during the day conceal themselves in holes, or in tlie tufts of high jiingle grass. Theiv
food consists of insects, chiefly of a small Beetle, which is abundant on the sandy tracts of Bhawlpore,
and belongs to the genus Blaps. They also feed on Lizards and Snails. When touched they have the
habit of suddenly jerking up the back with some force, so as to prick the fingers or mouth of the
assailant, and at the same time emitting a blowmg sound, not unlike the noise produced wher
blowing upon a flame with a pair of bellows." They have as complete a power of rolling themselves
into a ball as the European Hedgehog.

One species of the genus, the Concolorous Hedgehog (E. roncolor), ajipears to be peculiar to Asia
Minor ; othei's are found in Egypt, Algeria, the Sahara, and other parts of North Africa ; and two are
recorded from the Cape of Good Hope.

« Erinaceus auritus. t Erinaceus coUarit.

AUTL-JIAL MI.sT<jS\.

THE BULAU.

We shall find, as we advance with onr examination of the Insectivorous Mammals, that the
characters piesented by these creatures, especially in their anatomical structure, are in many instances
so curiously combined that it becomes a matter of considerable difficulty to decide to wliat particular
family a given animal should be referred, the external and structural peculiarities often pointing in two
different directions, but generally tending in a remarkable manner in these anomalous forms towards
the gi-eat family of the Shrews, which may be regarded as the central types of the whole order. This
is the case with the Bulau {Gi/mnura Rafflesii), a curious animal which was originally discovei-ed iu
Sumatra by Sir Stamford Raffles, and described by him as a Civet, under the name of Vimrra gymnura.
Vigoi-s and Horsfield in England, and Lesson iu France, recognised its distinctness from the Civets,
and formed it into a separate genus under the name of Gi/iiuwra, designating the species after

its discoverer, and this name has been generally adopted, altliougli De Blrtin\-ille afterwards proposed
to call the genus Echinosorex, and to retain Raffles' specific name.

De Blairiville's name may be taken to express in general terms the iiocidiar characters of the
animal, which is a Hedgehog-like Shrew, or a Shrew -like Hedgehog, the latter being the more correct
term. The Bulau, as Professor Gervais says, is " a Hedgehog, with the body, and especially the head,
more elongated than in those already described, with flexible hairs, and furnished with a tail which is
nearly naked, and as long as the body." It has also a larger number of teeth, there being foi-ty-four
in all, namel}-, on each side, in each jaw, three incisors, one canine (that in the upper jaw with two
roots), and seven premolai-s and molars which closely resemble those of the tnie Hedgehogs. On the
back a few stiff bristles are mingled with the softer hairs, as if to give a sort of indication of the
animal's relationship to the Hedgehogs ; but it has no power of rolling itself up into a ball.

The Bulau has a long, round, tapering, scaly tail, almo.st like that of a Rat, but with a greater
raimber of scattered stiff hairs among the scales. Its head is long, and its muzzle pi-oduced into a short
proboscis. Its legs are rather short, and its feet, which ai-e adapted to plantigrade progression, are
furnished with fi\-e toes, each armed with a curved and pointed claw. The general colour of the body
and limbs is black or greyish-black, with the head and neck pale or whitish, and with a black streak

Gy.ummi Rafflesii.

THE TAXREC. 359

over eaeli ej-e ; the tail is blackish at tlie base, wliitish at the tip. The length of the Bulau is about
twenty-six inches, of which the tail occupies twelve. Besides Sumatra, this curious animal, which may
be regarded as a connecting link between tlie Hedgehogs and the Shrews, has been met with in the
peninsula of Malacca, and in Borneo, and the neighbouring island of Sarawak. The specimens from
Sarawak and the mainland of Borneo opposite Labuan are said by Dr. Uiinther to be all white, with
only a portion of the longest and strongest hairs on the body black. Of the habits of the Bulati
nothing appears to be recorded.

Professor Gill is inclined to place that almost equally curious animal, liijlomys suillus (see p. 350),
in juxtaposition with the Bulau.

FAiriTA' v.— CENTETID^E, OR TANKECS.

The animals of this family usually have the back more or less armed with fine spines or bristles
among the softer hail', the legs short, the feet five-toed, plantigrade, and the tail very short or altogether
■wanting, except in one anomalous genus. They are all furnished with external ears. The skull is
rather elongated, ajjproximately cylindrical, and has no zygomatic arches. The tympanic bone does
not form a bubble-like protuberance ; and the molar teeth are narrow, and form more or less regular
triangular prisms. The number of teeth is variable. The clavicles (collar-bones) are well developed ;
the two bones of the shank {tibia &nA fibula) are separate ; and the intestine has no caecum.

With the single exception of the curious genus Solenodon, the position of which was long regarded
as very doubtful, but which is now placed in this family, the Centetidffi are confined to the Madagascar
region, which bears so many other j)eculiar types of animals. Their food appears to consist chiefly of
worms and insects, but doubtless, like their relations the Hedgehogs, they will seize upon any small
animal that ccmes in their way. The species are not numerous.

THE TANEEC*

The Tanrec, or Tangue, which is the best-known species of the family, is entirely destitute of
tail. It has a long, pointed muzzle, small ears, and short legs ; the tive-to<;d feet are armed with strong
claws, and the body is not capable of being contracted
into a ball ; the angle of the lower jaw is slightly bent
inwards ) and the teeth are forty in number, there
being on each side, in each jaw, three incisors, one
canine, three premolars, and three true molars. The
canines, both above and below, are of exceedingly large
.size ; those of the lower jaw are i-eceived into deep pits
in the sides of the intermaxillary bone ; while those of
the upper jaw project downwards on each side of the
lower jaw. These are the characters of the genus
Centetes.

The Tanrec (its figure will be seen in Plate 11)
measures about fifteen or sixteen inches in length, of
■which nearly one-third is made up by the elongated head. Its body is covered with a mixture of bristles,
hairs, and more or less flexible spmes, the latter being especially strong about the nape and sides of the
neck, where they measui-e about one-fifth of an inch in length, and form a sort of crest or collar. The
spines are longer and more flexible on the body, where they are mixed with bristles, which prevail espe-
cially on the back, and these measure sometimes as much as two inches lo}ig. The belly and limos are
clothed with short hair. All these dermal appendages ai-e yello^wish, with the middle brown, giving
the animal a genei-al ta\vny colour, which is paler or yellowish on the limbs. The face is brownish, and
the long whiskers which spring from each side of the muzzle are of a dark brown colour. This is the
genex-al coloration of the species, which, however, varies occasionally. ■ The young are said to be brown
w ith yellow longitudinal streaks, which disappear with ago.

* Centetes ecaudalus.

S60 yATCEAL BISTORT.

This animal occurs abundantly not only in Madagascar, but also in the small islands of Nossi-falie,
Nossi-be, and St. Marie, and it has been introduced into Mayotte, Reunion, and the INIauritius. It
passes one-half of the year in a state of torpidity, and this not in the hot season, as has been supposed,
but in the colder part of the year. About May or June the Tanrecs dig themselves holes, in which
they sleep untO December, with their heads comfortably tucked away between the hind legs. Their
burrows are generally betrayed by the presence of a small heap of earth or moss thrown up at the
entrance, and as the animals are at this time very fat, and regarded as great delicacies by the natives
of Madagascar and the Creoles of Reunion, they are then pursued with gi-eat avidity. Then- flesh is
said by some people to be preferable to Sucking-pig; but others complain that it has a musky-
flavour. In Madagascar the inhabitants hunt the Tanrecs with Dogs trained expressly for the
purpose.

The numbei- destroyed for food seems to be very great ; but the fecundity of the animal is such as
to compensate even for this violent persecution. The female is said to produce from twelve to sixteen
yoiing at a birth, and she is described as taking the greatest care of her progeny. As soon as the
young Tanrecs can run about, she takes them with her in search of food, and will then defend them
bravely against every danger, allowing herself to be kUled rather than be separated from her family.

The Tanrecs — or Tangues, as they are called by M. Pollen — live chiefly in the mountains, in
places covered with mosses, ferns, and bushes. Their food consists principally of earthworms, which they
rout out by means of their feet and pointed snouts, using the" latter after the fashion of a Pig. Insects;
also form a part of their diet; and, like the Hedgehog, they are said to feed upon cei-tain fruits and roots.
In captivity they will eat raw meat, and are also said to be fond of bananas. Their habits aie
nocturnal ; they sleep nearly all the day, and come forth in full activity only at night.

Sevei-al other supposed species of this genus have been described, but only one of them appears to
be really distinct, namely, the Streaked Tanrec {C. semispinosus^, which is described as about the size of
a Mole, and streaked with black and yellow. It also inhabits Madagascai-. It forms the genus
Hemicente.tes of Professor Mivart.

THE TENDEAC*

An animal much more like a Hedgehog than the preceding, having the body covered with spines;
almost as formidable as those of the Common Hedgehog, and also possessing the power of rolliug itself
into a ball, is the Tendrac of Madagascar (its figure will be seen in Plate 11). It has been formed
into a separate genus {Ericulus), distinguished by the abo^'e peculiarities, by the presence of only two
pairs of incisor teeth in each jaw, by its canine teeth possessing two roots and a second small cusp to
the crown, and by its possession of a short tail like that of the Hedgehog. The total number of teeth
is thirty-six. The Tendrac is about one-third less than our Common Hedgehog, which it closely rc-
Sdmbles in appearance, and in the form of its muzzle, ears, tail, and feet. Its general tint is blackish^
its spines being black, with the tips white or reddish. In its habits it resembles the Tanrec.

Telfair's Tendrac {Echbiops I'elfairi) is another little Hedgehog-like inhabitant of Madagascar,
where, according to Mr. Telfair, its discoverer, it goes by the native name of Sokinah (its figure will
be seen in Plate 11). In its general characters it closely resembles Ericulus, but has only two
premolars on each side in each jaw, and the two intei-mediate upper incisors are much longer than the
others. It is the only known species of its genus. Its length is about five inches ; it has a short,
pointed snout, a veiy short tail, and ears of moderate .size, and rounded ; its colour above is brownish,,
and beneath dingy white, and the upper surface is thickly covered ^^'ith sharp spines, which are-
whitish at tlie base, pnd chestnut brown at the tips. All the fi^et are five-toed.

THE KICE TEXDEAC.t
In 1870, M. Grandidier described a small Tendrac wliich he had oljtained at AnKaye an(l
Antsianak in Madagascar, and which he says inflicts enormous injury upon the rice-crops, by
burrowing in the earth, and rooting up the young plants. The native name, " valavou fontsi," is saiti

* Erkuhis spiiiosus, t Oiyzorides hova.

THE AGOVIA. 331

to refer to tins destructive Labit of the animal, anJ, we pi-esume, has the same meaning as the nanu)
given by M. Grandidier to the genus which he establislied for it.

The Eice Tendi-ac has the snout produced into a short trunk, at the extremity of which the
nostrils ai-e situated. The eyes are very small, and the ears rounded and of moderate size. The teeth
are forty in number, as in the Tanrec. The animal is phuitigrade; the hind feet have five, and the fore
feet four toes, and those of the latter are armed with very strong curved claws, which are doubtless of
gi'eat service in the burrowing operations alluded to above.

The Rice Tendrac is of a greyish-brown colour. Its tail is short, clothed with long hairs at the
base, but naked in the last two thii-ds, which exhibit a ringed appearance. It must be abundant in
Madagascar, but M. Grandidier records nothing of its liabits beyond the charge he makes of injury to
the rice-crops. This is no doubt efiected by the animal when burrowijig in pursuit of insects and
worms.

THE EARED EARTH SHREW.*

The curious series of animals included under the family C'entetid;« is united in a remarkable
manner by the intervention of a little creature about the size of a Mouse, discovered in Madagascar,
and described by MM. A. Milue-Edwards and Grandidier under the name of Geoyak aurita. At the
tii-st glance it might be taken for a true Shrew. It has a long head, although the snout is not
prolonged, the nostrils open at the sides of the nose ; the mouth is large, the ears are of large size,
membranous, and naked, and apparently capable of folding up at the will of the animal so as to close
the aperture of the ear, and the tail, which is shorter than the body, is covered with a finely-ringed
skin, over which are scattered very short brownish hairs. These characters, as is remarked by the
describers, give the animal somewhat the aspect of a little Opossum. The teeth are tJiirty-four in
number ; there appear to be six incisors in each jaw ; the canines are very small, ami the molars
especially resemble those of Solciwdoii.

This little animal has the upper part of the body and head rather thinly covered with short
gi-eyish haii-s, and the lower parts greyish-white. The .sides of the muzzle bear lojig, brownish
mou.staches. Specimens were obtained in two localities in Madagascar (Mouroundava and Tullear),
and in both cases they were found in the ground disturbed by pulling up the posts of a palisade, so
that it may be inferred that this species hunts worms and larvse in the earth, an operation in which the
faculty of folding the external ears over theii- orifice woidd certainly be useful to it.

THE AGOfTA.t

Several years ago (in 183.".) Professor Brandt, of St. Petersburg, described a singular animal
from St. Domingo, which was iiarticularly intei'esting, both as being the only knomi representative of
the Insectivorous Mammalia in the tropical regions of America, and also on account of its own
extraordinary character. It was an animal of about the size of a small Rabbit, the head and body
measuring about a foot in length, but the muzzle was drawn out into a sort of trunk or proboscis, at
the sides of which, near the tip, the nostrils were situated ; the body terminated behind in a naked,
ratjlike tail, rather more than eight inches in length ; whilst the feet, which were decidedly plantigi-ade,
and each furnished with five toes, had the latter ai-med with curved, compre.ssed claws of formidable
dimensions, especially on the fore feet. The dentition clearly showed the animal to be insectivorous,
but its characters were so peculiar that Brandt seems to have regarded it as a sort of intermediate
form between the Shrews and the Marsupial Opossums.

Subsequent investigations have shown that, odd as this animal may be, its place is undoubtedly
among the true Insectivora ; and Professor Peters, of Berlin, by a consideration of its characters,
and esjiecially of those of the skeleton amved at the conclusion that it is most nearly related to
the Tanrecs of Madagascar, widely separated as that land is from the We.st Indian home of the Agouta.

Professor Brandt established a distinct genus for the reception of the animal described by him,
which he called Solenodon paradoxus — the generic name referring to tlie ])eculiar channelletl •structure of

• Geogalc aurita. + fMcmdun panmoxus. .

3(j2 NATURAL SISTOSY.

tlie outer incisors in the lower jaw — the specific name to the paradoxical nature of the animal itself
Professor Peters' interpretation of the dentition, which was long a subject of doubt, is now generally
accepted, and according to this, there are in the front of the upper jaw two large, acute incisors, with
a smaller one placed a little further back on each side ; and in the middle of the lower jaw two very
small incisors, with immediately on each side of them one of the large canine-like teeth, with a deep
groove or channel on the inner surface, which have already been alluded to. Behind these teeth come
in each jaw a canine, four premolars, and three true molars, so that the dental formula, according to this
view, is — incisors, '-^=f^, canines, tj, premolars, '^;^, and molars, |£?, making forty teeth in all.

The premaxillary bones extend some little distance in front of the roots of the up])er incisor teeth,
but the nose itself is prolonged considerably beyond them, forming a long, -slender proboscis. The eyes
are small, and the eare of moderate size, and rounded ; the body is covered with rather stifl' hairs,
■which, however, leave the hinder part, from the root of the tail downwards, almost naked ; the tail ia

long, tapering, and ringed, with a few scattered, very short hairs ; the legs are of moderate length, and
the feet, all of which have live toes, are nearly naked, or covered only with short hair.

The Agouta, or Solenodon of St. Domingo, has the ftice, head, and upper parts brown, becoming
blackish behind and on the thi^lis ; thi- sides of the head and i^eck lighter brown, with a mixture
of red and grey; the belly and toet tav ny brown; the breast bright rust colour; and the tail
greyish towards the base, and white towards the tip.

Of the habits of this animal, long supposed to be the only species of its genus, nothing is
recorded ; but its teeth very clearly indicate a carnivorous or insectivorous diet, and its habits, in all
probability, resemble those of the following species.

THE ALMIQUI. *

In 1838, or nearly five years after the publication of Professor Brandt's description of the
preceding animal, Profes.sor Poey, of Havana, detected the existence of a Solenodon in some cf the
mountainous parts of the island of Cuba. He identified it with Brandt's species, and noticed it imder

Sohnodon Cuban

THE WEST AFKICAX RIVER SHREW.

the name of Sohnodon i>arwloxu>t, iii his " Nutui-al History of Cuba," which appeared iu 1851. Later,
liowever, Professor Petere, having procured a specimen from Cuba, and compared it with the one from
St. Domingo in the museum at St. Petei-sburg, found that the two animals were quite distinct, and
described the Almiqui of Professor Poey under tlie name of Solenodon cubanus.

The Cuban animal is of nearly the same size as that from St. Domingo, measuring in a straight
line from the point of the nose to tlie root of the tail a little more than eleven inches. Of this the
head makes about 4| inches. The stout, scaly tail is 7^^ inches in length. The hau-s of the general
surface of the body are very long, and form a sort of cloak for the animal, leaving its hinder
part bare in a very singular manner. The colours are rather different in the Cuban species. The
whole of the Lead, the neck, the chest, and the sides of the belly ai-e tawny or yellowish, and the rest
of the body, a streak on the nape of the neck, and another in the middle of the belly, are brown or
blackish-brown. The legs are clothed with hair like that on the body, but shorter ; and the upper
surface of the feet has a scanty covering of short haii-s which allow the skin to appear through them,
and even this ceases towards the extremities of the toes. The teats in both species are situated on the
groin.

The Cuban Soleiiouon is found in the mountains near Triiiidad and Bayamo, in the southern and
western parts of the island of Cuba, It is a nocturnal animal, coming forth late in the afternoon or
in the evening, and amusing itself with various gambols during the night. It appears to be a predaceous
animal, and in captivity shows signs of great excitement when a fowl or other animal passes by its
cage. According to one observer, it will tear a chicken to pieces in a moment with its strong claws.
At siglit of a possible prey the long hair of its body stands on end. When sleeping during the day it
seeks some corner in which it can .stow away its head, and seems then to think that it is in a place of
security, for when pursued it takes refuge in a shelter of the same kind, and will i-emain there initil it
is captured by seizing its tail. When disturbed in its repose it expresses its displeasure by grunting ;
and its ordinary voice, which is said to be very penetrating, is described as something between the
grant of a Pig and the cry of a bird. When enjoying itself at niglit it sometimes hoots like an Owl.

The occurrence of these two animals in the large West Indian islands is an exceedingly remark-
able fact in the geogi-aphical distribution of animals, when we consider that in the general opinion of
zoologists their nearest relations are the Tanrecs of Madagascar, and the rotamogale or River Shrew
of some West African rivers. Professor Peters indeed remarks that the circumstance is the less sur-
prising, as a certain type of Iguanidw, other\vi.se peculiar to America, is represented in Madagascar,
where also are found species belonging to two American genera of Snakes. But this does not explain
the phenomenon. Mr. Andrew Murray maintains that the relationship of Solenodon is rather with
the Shrews than with the present family, and, in fact, that they are peculiar and gigantic Shrews,
which would certainly lessen the difficulty, seeing that there are plenty of Shrews in North America ;
but his arguments are by no means conclusive. Mr.
Wallace, alluding to the occurrence in Europe of
fossil remains referred to the Centetidfe, legards
this as a case of a type formerly very widely
distributed being now broken up, and repi-esented onh
at or near the two extremities of its greatest lange

FAMILY Vr.— POTAMOGALID.E.
This family includes only a single species, so tli it
its characters may be indicated as part of the liesciip
tion of the animal itself, namely :—

THE WEST AFRICAN RIVER SHREW.*

VI'PEU

This was originally described by its discoverer,
M. Du Chaillu, as a Carnivore, \mder the name of
Cynogale velox, but as its characters were very doubtful, the name Pol

* Potamogale velox.

oijah was suggested for it

364

KA T UliA L MIS TOR T.

case of its proving to belong to a distinct genus. Tlie iate Dr
Gray described it as a Rodent under the name of Mythomys.
Some years later Professor Allraan and Professor Barboza d«
Bocage procured perfect specimens, and proved the animal to be-
long to the Insectivora, the latter naturalist describing it under
the new name of Bayonia velox. Thus within a few years it
received no less than three different names.

When the Insectivorous nature of Du Chaillu's Eiver Shrew
was ascertained, it was found to be most nearly allied to the
Centetidie or Tanrecs, with special affinities to the West Indian.
Solenodons. It is, however, generally regarded as constituting
a distinct family, characterised among other tilings by the less
cylindrical skull, the absence of clavicles, the union of the
two bones of the shank towards the extremity, the presence
of anal glands, and the compressed form of the tail. The teeth,
as in the true Tanrecs, are forty in number, b\it the molars
differ considerably in form, as will be seen from the annexed
figures.

This little beast, that has given rise to so much discussion
among zoologists, and received so many names, is only a little
larger than our common Stoat, measuring about nine inches in
length, exclusive of the powerful tail, which is of about the
same length. In its appearance it very much reminds one of a
miniature Otter, from which, however, it differs considerably in the form of the head, which terminates

in a bi'oad flattened muzzle, having its sides furnished with a most luxuriant crop of stiS' bristle-like
whiskers. The hair cf the upper part of the body and limbs is brown and soft, althougli rather coarse

TSE GOLDEN MOLES. 365

and that of the lower smface yellowish ; and the coat consists of two kinds of haii-s, namely, an iiiner
coat of very fine short silky hairs, through which longer hairs of a very peculiar structure project. Tnese
long hairs are very thin at the bulb, and increase very gradually in thickness for about one-third of
then- leugtli, when they suddenly contract a little, and then expand into a flat lance-shaped blade,
which terminates in a very fine point. This coarser fur covers the whole body, the thick root of the
tail, and the upper part of the limbs ; the rest of the tail, the under side of the muzzle, and the upper
surface of the feet are clothed with short, close hairs. The ears are of moderate size, the eyes very
small, and the toes on all the feet five in number, armed with small sharp claws, and without webs,.
but the second and thii-d toes on the hind feet are united as far as the end of the first phalanx.

The most remarkable peculiarity of the animal is its tail, which presents a most unusual develop-
ment for an Insectivorous Mammal. Professor AUman says, " It is so thick at its base that the trjink
seems uninterruptedly continued into it ; but it soon becomes laterally compressed, and then grows

gradually thinner and narrower towards the tip Its lower edge is rounded, and its

upper is continued into a membranous crest about one-eighth of an inch in height, and clothed witK
the same shoi-t, stifi", appressed hairs " as the rest of the tail.

This gi-eat development of the tail might of itself convince us that this organ is of great service to
its owner, and such, from the account of the habits of the animal given by its discoverer, is evidently
the case. M. Du Chaillu says : — " This extraoi-dinary animal is found in tiie mountains of the interior,
or in the hUly country explored by me north and south of the equator. It is found along the watei-
coui-ses of limpid and clear streams, where fish are abundant. It hides under rocks along these streams,
lying in wait for fish. It swims through the water with a rapidity which astonished me ; before the
fish has time to move it is caught. On account of the rapidity of its movements, I have given it the
specific name of velox. The animal returns to land with its prey almost as rapicUy as it started from
its place of concealment. The great motive power of the animal in the water seems to be in its tail"

CHAPTER II.

GOLDEN MOLES— MOLES — DESMAXS— SHREWS.

General Description of the Golden Mole Family— Theii- Points of difference from the True Mole -The Cape Golden MoLir- -
Its Varieties— The Family of True Moles— The Common Mole— Described— Distribution— Teeth — Fore-limbs— BreasS-
bone— Not a Miserable Creature— Extreme Voracity — Diet — His Blindness a Popular Error— A Thirsty Soul — Hia
Fortress — The Roads leading to it— Speed of a Frightened Mole — " Mole -hiUs"— A- wooing — His Strong Family Affec-
tions—His Persecution a Doubtful Benefit— The Blind Mole— Several Allied Species— The Star-nosed Mole— Its
Snout— The Cojimon Shrew Mole— Other Species in the United States— The Family of Desmans— The Desman— Its
Otter dike Habits— Its Trunk— The Pyrenean Desman— The Hairy-tailed Mole-Shrew — The Family of Shrews —
The Common Shrew— Or Shrcw-Mouse— Superstitions about it— Dekay's Shrew— The Garden Shrew — Thb
Ti-scAN Shrew— The Pat-tailed Shrew— The AVatek Shrew— Essentially Aquatic— Its Prey— Allied Species—
The Tibetan Water Shrew— The Tailless Shrew — Concluding Eemaiks— Classification — Distribution— Aftinitie&.

FAMILY VII.— CHRYSOCHLORID.E, OR GOLDEN MOLES.

A FEW species of lusectivora, which, in their general form and habits more or less resemble our

Common Moles, but difier from them in several important points of structure, form the family of the
Chrysochloiidre, or Golden Moles. They are
peculiar to the southern and eastern paits of
Africa, ranging from the Cape to the Mozam-
bique Coast.

These animals have a cylindrical body,
clothed with a fine, close fur, usually exhibit-
ing a metallic lustre which has been compared

io that presented by the feathers of some of the most brilliant

birds. They have a conical head, short limbs, a very short,

almost rudimentary tail, minute eyes, actually covered by the

skin, and no external ears. From the fonu of the body, the

texture of the hair, and the structure of the limbs, they are as

evidently oi'ganised for burrowing undergi-oui.d as the Moles, with

J olden mole.

rhjch they hivv-e generally been

NATURAL EISTOm:

.M OF GOLDEN MOLE.

•which the fore limbs

associated; but the structure of the mechanism by which their burrowing is effected is so different that,
taken in conjunction with certain otlier characters, it has led modern zoologists to regard the Golden Moles,
notwithstanding their scanty numbers, as constituting a perfectly distinct family of the Insectivora.

The skull is shorter, more wedge-shaped, and more elevated at the back than in the true Moles,
and the premaxillary bones form a process which is curiously turned outwards (see figure, p. 365), but
this does not ran to the extremity of the snout, which is supported by car-
tilages. The dentition is very peculiar. The total number of teeth is either
thirty-six or forty, one species Jiaving two molars less in each jaw than the
others ; the front upper pair are large and pyramidal in form, presenting some
resemblance to the corr-esponding teeth in the Desmans ; these are followed
on each side by three minute teeth, and these again by five or six true molars,
of prismatic fonn. In the lower jaw there are two pairs of front teeth,
followed on each side by three small pointed teeth (premolars), and by four
or five tiiie molars.

The structure of the anterior limb, and of the i)arts which support it, is
peculiar and characteristic, differing materially from that which obtains in
the true Moles. In the sternum there are seven similar pieces, which
receive the extremities of ribs, and behind these a semi-cartilaginous piece,
called the ensiform (or sword-like) appendage. In front of the rib-receiving
pieces is a large bone (the manubrium), excavated on each side behind to
receive the ends of the collar-bones, and furnished along its lower surface
with a ridge serving for the attachment of a part of the powerful muscles by
re moved. The foi-m of this part is very difierent from
that of the corresponding piece in the Mole (see p. 368). The form and mode
of articulation of the collar-bones (clavicles) is also very different. In the True
Moles the clavicle is a short, thick bone, almost resembling the vertebra of a
fish ; in the Golden Moles it is a longer and more slender bone, of ordinary
form, and articulated after an ordinary fashion, both with the sternum and the
shoulder-blade. The latter bone is larger than in the Mole, and ha.s a very strong
spine, which projects far beyond the articulation of the humerus (arm-bone). The
humei-us itself is a more slender bone than in the Mole, and more of the ordinary
form, although it has a very strong tuberosity near the lower extremity ;
one of the carpal bones (the pisifoi-m) is most unusually developed, passing up
alongside of the bones of the fore-arm (radius and ulna), until it reaches the
humerus. The fore foot is quite diffei-ent in its construction from that of the Mole.
The latter consists of five toes, anned with large flat claws, and forms a shovel-like
organ, turned outwards in a peculiar manner. The fore foot of the Golden Mole has
only four digits, of which the inner and outer ones (I. and IV. in figure) are small,
while the second and third toes (II. and III.) are large and armed with very large claws ; the claw-
joint of the tliii-d, especially, being of enormous size, and cleft nearly to its base. With this powerful
instrament the Golden Mole digs his way very readily through the ground, using his hind feet, which
have five toes, and much resemble those of ordinary Moles, to push him forward in his burrows.

THE CAPE GOLDEN MOLE.*

The Cape Golden Mole is about the size of our Common Mole, or a little more than five inches in
length. The colour of its fur is brown, but according as the light falls upon it it shows brilliant golden
and iridescent green and pui-ple reflections ; a patch round the eye and a streak from the eye to the
angle of the mouth are yellowish-brown ; and the throat has a greenish tinge. The claws are of a
light brown colour.

The Golden Mole inhabits the Cape of Good Hope and Caffraria, where it feeds, like our British
Mole, upon insects and wonns, which it captures by burrowing through the groimd. In the settled
districts it is as much disliked as the Mole in Europe, on accouirt of the damage which it does in fields

* CliKusochl&i-is capensis.

FOOT OF GOLDEN
MOLE.

{After Omti.)

THE MOLE.

3fi7

and gardens by its subterranean activity. Sevei-al South African forms, nearly related to the above,
but differing more or le.ss in the colour and texture of the hail-, have been described as distinct species
by various zoologists ; but these are now regarded as mei-e varieties of C'hrysochloris capensis, which
has also received the names of aurea and inaurata. Besides these, Dr. Giinther has described
a species from Caffraria, under the name of C. Trevelyani, which has the fur brownish and not
lustrous, and also presents some minor differences of structure. The Blunt-nosed Golden Mole
(C obtmkostris) of Professor Peters, from Mozambique and Caffraria, which has a lustrous coat, has
one molar less on each side in each jaw, so that the whole number of teeth is only thirty-six, and
hence, and from some peculiai'ities in the structure of the lower molars, and the absence of a bladder -
like enlargement in the temporal fossa, which occurs in the other species. Professor Mivart has placed
it in a distinct genus, under the name of Cludcochloris.

FAMILY Till.— TALPID^, OR MOLES.

The True Moles con.stitute a very distinct family of Insectivora, characterised more especially by
their complete oi-ganisatiou for a subterranean life. They have a more or less cylindrical body, with
short limbs, of which the front pau- are converted into most powerful digging organs, the construction
of which will be noticed in the description of our common British species. The head is small, with
the muzzle produced and genei-ally pointed, and the eyes and eai-s concealed, the former being generally
almost covered by a membrane ; the skull is elongated, rather flat, with a distinct, thin zygomatic
arch ; the bones of the shank {tibia and fihula) are united ; the wrist has a sickle-shaped bone on the
inside, which passes to and helps to support the first digit ; and the intestine has no csecum. The
teeth vary somewhat in number.

The Moles usually form a subterranean dwelling which exhibits considerable ingenuity in its
construction, and live upon worms, the larvte of insects, and othe'- small animals which they capture
whilst making their way beneath the surface of the ground. They inhabit the northern half of both
hemispheres, not a single species being known to occur south of the Equator. The best known species,
whose history may serve as a type of that of the family, is

THE COMJION jrOLE.*

The Connnon Mole of Great Britain, although an animal not \cry often seen, is yet so well
known as regards its general appeal ancp
that we need hardly describe it. It has
a plump, nearly cylindrical body, ^Mth
very short limbs, a short tail, and a
long, pointed muzzle. The e3'es aie so
minute as to escape observation , the
external ears are wanting; the body
is covered with a velvet-like coat of
hau's of a black or blackish 1 n i w 1 1
colour, with more or less of a wlutisli
tinge in certain lights ; and the It i (
which are naked, are fiesh-colouied
The total length of the animal is
usually about six inches, of which nc (
more than half an inch is made uj) 1>\
the tail.

The Common Mole occurs not only
in the British Islands, but across the
whole of the central and southern parts

of the continent of Europe, extending northwards as far as the southern shore of the Baltic and
throughout Denmark, thus justifying Shakspere's allusion to it in "Hamlet." It also stretches

* Talpa europcca.

•^^

KATUMAL HISTORY.

DENTITION OF COMMON MOLE.

i-LIMHS OF COMMON

across Central Asia to the confines of China, and according to some writers extends through Persia
iato India. It ia subject to much variation, which may be due to diflerences of soil or climate.
Thus Mr. Bell records Moles " of a deep black colour, of a
mouse-grey, dark olive-brown, pied, yellowish-white, and wholly
or partially orange;" and mentions specimens fi'om Benie "of
the usual dark colour, but having a well-defined lozenge-shaped
patch of orange on the breast."

The Common Mole is the type of the restricted genus
Talpa, the species of which are entirely confined to Europe and
Asia. In these animals the elongated muzzle projects con-
siderably beyond the opening of the mouth, and contains a pair
of long tubular nostrils ; it is supported by cartilage, and
further strengthened by a small bone at the extreme tij). The
teeth with which the jaws are ai'med are of formidable characters
and plainly indicate the predaceous habits of the animal. There are always three true molars on
each side in each jaw, and these are armed with se\-eral strong points united by ridges, but the
number of the other teeth is slightly variable (the total
number of teeth ranging between forty and fortj-four),
and even the determination of their precise nature is
somewhat obscure. The dentition of the Common Mole
(see figure) is now, however, generally regarded as
follows : In the upper jaw, on each side, three incisors,
one large canine provided with two roots, and four
premolars, of which the hindmost is of large size ; in
the lower jaw, on each side, four incisor-like teeth, the
hindmost of which is probably a canine, and four j>re-
molars, the foremost of which is very like a canine.
The variation in number is caused by the absence of some of the premolars and incisors of the lower jaw.
The structure; of the fore-liuibs, and the bones supporting them, in the Mole and its allies, is not
only to be regarded as their most distinctive charactei-, but
also as furnishing a most striking example of the adaptation
of means to ends. The Moles are condemned to live almost
constantly underground, and their veiy existence depends on
the facility with which they can make their way through
the earth. The fore-feet, by means of which they dig, are
accordingly converted into strong, broad, shovel-like organs,
armed with broad, flat claws. The five toes of wliich these
feet are composed consist each of two short joints and a long
one, the latter making nearly half the length of the organ :
and these long joints, which support the claws, are cleft at
the tip and grooved underneath to receive an internal
process of the nail, which serves to add to its strength and
firmness. The bones of the wrist are short and firmly
packed together, and from the scaphoid bone springs a long
c-urved falciform bone (/ in figure), which runs from the
wrist to tlie first toe, which it helj)s materially to stiflTen and
support. The arm wliich supports thLs powerful hand is
also of peculiar construction. In the forearm (a) the radius
and ulna are distinct, but the acromion (or elbow) process of
the latter is very long, and widened at the extremity, giving
great power to the action of the limb. The humerus (b) is quite
different from anything to be met with elsewhere in the Mammalia, being a short and very stout bone,
id most irregular in its outline by the development of gi-eat crests and processes. It not only

M OF COMMON MOLE.

rende

TUE MOLE. 3C9

articulates with the sliouUer-bhidc, but ha« a st^parate surface for the reception of tlie extremity of the
•collar-boue (i"), which is a short bone resembling the vertebra of a fish. The shoulder-blade ((7) is long
and nan-ow, but stout and triangular in its form.

The sternum, or breast-bone, upon which all these parts rest, is scarcely less singular in its
structure (see figure). The body of the .sternum consists of four short pieces, which receive the ends
of the ribs. Behind these is a slender ensiform process (e), and in front of them a manubrium (?«),
•or presternum, of peculiar form, and quite as long as the whole middle part of the sternvim. This
part is widened in part of its length, receives a single pair of ribs in its liinder division, has a strong
keel for the attachment of the pectoral muscles along its lower surface, and is much thickened at its
front extremity, to the sides of which the collar-bones (c) are articulated. By this arrangement the
■whole fore-limb is throw/i forward close to the head, and placed in the most favourable position for
livcilitatiiig the burrowing operations of the animal, which are effected by bringing forward the fore-
feet to the level of the nose, and then separating them and pushing backward, with an action that
might almost be styled swimming through the ground. The hind feet, which are much smaller than
those just described, are perfectly plantigrade in their structure. They also contain five toes, armed
with small sliarp claws, and ai-e used only for the purpose of progression.

When we consider the structure of the Mole, and its perfect adajitation to its mode of life, we
may agree with Mr. Bell in the belief that although suiicrtirial ciliservers may regard it as a miserable
<;reature, such a notion is an absolute mistake. It is tnu- tliat the Mole, like so many of our own
race, is condemned to almost perpetual exertion ; Ijut in tlii' case of human beings we find that
•physical exertion at any rate is of itself so little of an aliscjlutt- exil tliat many of our favourite?
jimusements involve no small amount of it, and moral writtis are rather fond of dwelling on the
jjleasure of earning one's dinner before eating it. Now this is no mure than our friend tlie jMole has
to do, so that he can hardly be looked upon as an object either of pity or contempt ; and in fact, in
his own quiet way, he probably manages to enjoy his life as much as liis neighljours. In going
iibout in his subterranean galleries the Mole is constantly enyageil in Luikiiig mit for suitable
food, a very large supply of which is necessary for his eoniturtaMe I'xisteiiee. y\. (ieofiroy St.
Hilaire says that the appetite of hunger in the Mole is a sort nf livuzy. the animal wlieu in view of
its prey becoming violently agitateil, ami throwing itself on its \ietini as if nualdeiieil \%itli rage.
Vegetable substances constitute no part ef its diet, although it is said suuietinies to unaw tlie roots of
plants in search of the insects and larv;e which feed upon them. It.s favourite food consists ui earth-
worms, in pursuit of which it sometimes comes to the surface so eagei-ly as t<_i throw itself out of its
buiTow. It is in search of these animals, and especially of the larvaj of various insects which feed
tipon the roots of grasses and other plants, that the Mole makes its most superficial galleries.

The Mole appears not to be particular in its tastes in the matter of food, and will readily make a
meal upon animals much larger and higher in the scale of organisation than those above mentioned,
should they happen to come in its way. Mice, small birds. Lizards, and Frogs, if placed within its
reach, it will seize and hold with the ferocity and tenacity of a thoroughbred Bull-dog, and evea
weaker individuals of its own species are killed and devoured. According to M. Geoffroy, in
attacking birds it makes use of a good deal of stratagem to get unobserved within reach of its prey,
iind then by a sudden and violent attack seizes the bird by the belly, tears it open with its povrerful
-claws, and thrusts its muzzle among the imfortunate creature's entrails, with every appearance of
intense enjoyment. M. Flourens gives a similar account of its proceedings. Professor Lenz also
<lescribes the voracity of the Mole, and its determined mode of destroying lai-ger animals than one
would suppose it capable of managing. A Mole in his possession destroyed and devoured, in the
-course of twenty-foiu- hours, a large Slowworm, a large Snail, two Chrysalids, and a Snake about thirty-
two inches long. Of the reptiles he left nothing but the skin and the bones.

It is probably by the sense of smell chiefly that the Mole is guided in its search for prey. Brehm
found that when he had got a Mole buried in some earth in a box, and placed a few fragments of
chopped meat on the surface, in a few minutes the earth rose, the muzzle of the Mole appeared, aiid
the meat was devoured. The sense of sight is perhaps in general of little use to the annual; but
there are times in its life when to see is an advantage ; and time-honoured as the belief may be, tnero
is no doubt that the supposition that the Mole is blind is merely a popular error. It has uideed long

NATURAL HISTORY.

been known to naturalists not only that the Mole had eyes, but that these were sufficiently open to
enable him to see, and at one time considerable obloquy was heaped ujjon the memory of Aiustotle for
having given origin to a statement to the contrary. It would appear, however, that Aristotle's
statement was approximately correct with respect to the southern Eurojieau species upon which his
observations were probably made, and the error was that of those naturalists who applied tlie
assertions of the Greek pliilosopher to a different animal.

Like other gi'eat gormandisers, the Mole is an exceedingly thirsty creature. " Where a colony of
Moles exists," says Mr. Bell, " a run is always made towards the nearest ditch or pond;" and the same
writer states, on the authority of Mr. Jackson, an intelligent Mole-catcher, that where water cannot
conveniently be reached, " the. animal sinks deep, perpendicular shafts, at the bottom of which water
is always found, to which the Mole has easy access. Sometimes, also iwcording to the observations of
Mr. Ja«kson, these wells are full to the brim." These statements are confirmed by a German Mole-
catcher, cited by Brehm.

We have already seen that the essential conditions of the Mole's life consist in continual burrow-
ing. Hence, not unnaturally, the animal shows a marked prefei-ence for light soils, and through these
he makes his way with remarkable ease and rapidity. Oken says of a Mole, which he kept for sLx;

months, that when put into a box of sand, it
t — ' would make its way through the sand almost as

quickly as a fish through the water. In its
natural mode of life, however, it by no means
confines itself to such vagai-ious proceedings, but
constructs a most complex habitation, which is
formed with wonderful art.

Each Mole has his own encampment,
frequently entirely separate from those of his
fellows, but sometimes the animals evince a
iy rather more sociable disposition, and condescend

%^--i ^ to make use of a common passage. But in his

encampment, each Mole always has his own
dwelling, which has been, not inappropriately,
-H^3-^: styled his fortress, and this certamly displays
Sp- gi-eat ingenuity and skill in its design and con-
struction (see figure). It is formed under a
liLlloek of earth, in a situation which afibrds
some protection to the little domicile. Its roof is a firm dome, the earth composing it being pressed
into a solid mass by the Mole while excavating the internal passages and chambens. Beneath this
there are two circular galleries, one above the other, the lower one considerably larger than the upper,
with which it communicates by five nearly equi-distant passages, running slantingly upwards. Within
the lower circular gallery is situated the actual dwelling-place or chamber, to which access is obtained
by three passages descending from the upper gallery, so that when within his house the Mole has t>
go both up and down stairs to reach his bedroom. But the chamber has another issue by a passage
which at first descends for a short distance, and then rises again to lead into the high road running to
and from the fortress, which is always .single ; and, on the other hand, the lower and larger gallery
gives off about nine other passages, which either terminate at a short distance from the fortress, or,
after makmg a detour, return into the high road. So cautious is the Mole, that the apertures of these
passages are said seldom to be made opposite to those which lead from the lower to the upper cii-eular
gallery. With these aiTangements it mu.st be confessed that the Mole has provided admirably fcr •
being " not at home" to unwelcome visitors.

The same caution that prompts the Mole to the formation of so complicated a castle leads him to
take equal care in the construction of the road leading into it. This usually runs in a direct line from
one end of the animal's camping-ground to the other, and forms a highway by which he can go quickly
about his business. It is large enough to enable him to pass through it easily, but in making it he is
careful not to throw out the earth as he does in his ordinary runs, and the whole j)assag§ appears to be

r =i\

TEE MOLE. 271

chiefly formed by compression of the earth by the little engineer. By his constant passing to and fro,
its walls become singularly smooth and compact. Occasionally a Mole will form two or more high
roads leading from his fortress, probably when supplies fall short and it is necessary to open up new
gi-ound ; and sometimes several Moles share the same highway, perhaps in localities where worms and
grubs are pecidiai-ly fat and abundant. But in the latter case, as there is not room in the little tunnel
for one Mole to pass another, if two of them meet bj' accident one must give way or retire into a
side alley, otherwise a \ioleiit combat ensues, when the weaker is ruthlessly killed and devoured.
The road varies in its depth from the surface according to the nature of the soil and other circum-
stances ; in safe localities it is usuaJl}^ at a depth of four or five inches.

It is through this well-beaten path that the Mole goes out to his hunting-grounds, and by it also
that he is obliged to return. The Mole-catchers are well aware of this peculiarity in the habits of the
animal, and one of their most successful devices for its capture consists in placing traps in the course
of the high road at a time when the Mole is sure to be out on a foraging expedition, so as to intercept
him on his way home. The rapidity of its motion along the high road, esjjecially when alarmed, was
demonstrated by an amusing experiment shown to M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire by M. Le Couit. The
latter, having ascertained the direction of a Mole's road, and found that the animal was hunting at its
furthest extremity, placed all along the line at certain distances pieces of straw, passing one end of
each into the little tumiel, and attaching little paper flags to the other. He then inserted a horn close
to the extremity of the tunnel, and, blowing into it, produced a frightful noise, upon hearing which
the Mole naturally made the best of his way home to hLs fortress, indicating his progress by throwing
off the little flags as he passed the successive straws. It was estimated that the speed of the frightened
animal was equal to that of a Horse at full trot.

The extreme voracity of the Mole has already been mentioned, but it may be urged in his excuse
that the hard labour he has to perform rendei-s a considerable amount of good nourishment absolutely
essential to him. Mr. Bell says that his activity in seai-ch of food is principally in the morning and
evening, and that he sleeps the greater part of the day. In seeking his food, the course adopted by him
in making hLs highway would not answer : he must now dig through the gi-ound to see what it contains,
and in doing this he is of course embarrassed by the loose stuff that he dislodges. To get rid of this he
makes his way to the surface from time to time, breaks through, arid pushes the troublesome rubbish
out with his nose, producing those well-known " Mole-hills " of loose earth which so commonly betray
his progress in our fields and meadows. The depth at which the Mole works in his hunting-grounds
depends very much upon circumstances. In light and newly-worked soils, after rain, when the earth-
worms especially come to the surface, the Mole will travel along in a sort of shallow trench in pursuit
of his prey. In winter we have the reverse of this picture, for then the Moles are compelled to go
far down in piu-suit of the worms, which have been driven from the surface by the frost.

It must not be supposed, however, that eating and sleeping make up the whole life-history of the
Mole. Very early in the year a time comes when he feels strange emotions stii-ring within him, and
then he goes off gallantly, in his velvet coat, in search of a partner in hLs lonely encampment.
That he will not be allowed to bring home his bride without many an appeal to his weapons
is almost a matter of necessity, for by some singular dispensation the number of male Moles
is very much gi-eater than that of the opposite sex, a disproportion which, as might be expected,
gives rise to a good deal of jealousy and its natural consequences among such fierce and nntamed
spirits. As the male goes on his wooing he makes numeroiis Vjut verj- shallow tracks in all
dii-ections. Tliese have received the elegant name of traces d'amour from the French naturali.sts.
The lady having been found, the next business is to secure possession of her, and this is attended
with considerable difficulties, both from the impertinent intrusion of other males, and from a
tendency on the part of the lady herself to run away from the proffered happiness. The intendmg
bridegroom must have rather a hard time of it. But at length the bride's coyness and the assiduities
of rivals are got rid of, and the pair settle down to uilial)it for a time the same encampment, and to
bring up their little family. It would appear that the affection of the male for his mate continues to be
of a very wai-m kind, at least M. Le Court states that he several times found a female caught in a trap
with the male lying dead beside her. The possession of strong family affections by the Mole would
seem further to be proved by an observation communicated to M. Le Court, according to which, when

j,72 NATUSAL HIS TOST.

the Mole's nest is invaded by a sudden flood, both parents may be seen struggling bravely, and risking
their own lives to save their young, and mutually assistmg and protecting each other while thus
engaged.

The period of gestation in the Mole does not appear to be very accurately known, but it is sup-
posed to be about two months. The young are brought forth eai-lier or later, according to the seasot,
hut most commonly in April. There are generally four or five, but sometimes only three, and occa-
sionally six or even seven in a litter. They are produced in a nest lined with grass, fine roots, dried
Jeaves, and similar materials collected in a sort of chamber, which is formed by the enlargement of the
point of junction of three or four of the ordinary passages, always separate from the fortress, and often
at a considerable distance from it. Only a single brood is produced in the year.

We have devoted so much space to the natui-al history of the Mole because, whilst it is really the
oiost interesting, from this point of view, of all our British Mammals, there is no other which is
exposed to such constant and severe persecution. In all parts of the country we find professional
Mole-catchers, who make it theu" business to ascertain the habits of the animals, and taking advantage
of this knowledge, capture them in great numbers. We shall not attempt to describe the various con-
trivances used to effect these massacres. It wUl suffice to state that the pmiciple on which most of
them are worked is the insertion into the ascertained run of the Mole of a trap of some kind, which
matches him as he is passing. The grounds npon which this war of extermination is waged against
the Mole are chiefly the mischiefs which it causes by means of its runs and burrows in fields and
pastures ; but it may be questioned whether the Mole does not more than compensate for any
ilamage thus produced by the destruction of many insects and other noxious animals.

THE BLIND MOLE.*

We have already mentioned a southern European species which may have given origin to
Aristotle's statements as to the blindness of the Mole. This is an inhabitant of Italy, Dalmatia, and
Oreece, and is said to occur rarely in. the south of France, in Switzerland, and in some other parts of
Europe. It closely reseml)les the common species, but has the eyes covered by a membrane jiierced
only by a minute hole, so that the animal's sole visual consciousness must be limited to a mere
perception of light. Its fur is of a deep greyish-black colour ; and it differs chiefly from the common
European Mole in having the middle upper incisor teeth larger than the rest. In its general habits the
Blind Mole agrees with our British species, but it is said to make its runs less extensive and nearer to
the surface. Its nest also is said to be made in the chamber within the fortress.

Besides these, several nearly allied species of Time Moles are found in northern India, chiefly among
the hois, such as the Short-tailed Mole {Talpa micrura), in which the tail is exceedingly short, the
liong-tailed Mole {T. inacrura), and the White-tailed Mole (T. leucura). The fij-st-named species
inliabits Nepaul and Darjeling, and at the latter place, according to Mr. Jerdon, it is not uncommon, and
jnany of the roads and pathways are intersected by its runs, which often proceed from the base of one
gi'eat oak-tree to that of another. If the runs are broken into they are generally repaii-ed during the
night, and no Mole-liills are thi-own up like those of the European Mole. The White-tailed Mole differs
from the other species in having only three premolars on each side in each jaw, making forty teeth m
all. Upon this ground Mr. GOl establishes the genus Parascaptor for it.

Still further east, in Japan, we find the Woogura Mole {Talpa looogura), which resembles the
European Mole in general form and habits, but has the fur of a dingy tawny colour, and the nose
unusually produced. In this species there are two incisors less in tiie lower jaw than in T. euToycva,
and M. Pomel forms for it the genus Mogera.

The Abbe Armand David, during his travels in Chinese Mongolia, discovered a Mole closely resem-
bling the European species in its general appearance and characters, which has been called the Musky
Mole {Scaptochirus moschatus). It was found, however, to possess one premolar less on each side in each
jaw than the True Moles (Talpa) ; and from certain peculiarities in the form of the teeth M. Milne-
Edwards infers that the animal is less exclusively insectivorous than the Common Mole. It is remark-
able for the strong musky odour which it diff"uses. The Jlusky Mole has fur even softer than that of
•the European Mole, of a bright gi-eyi,sh-brown colour with a tawny tinge, and presenting a brilliant

* Talpa cwca.

THE STAE-yOSED MOLE. 373

lustre. The muzzle is shorter than iu the European Mole, and no trace either oi" ears or e3'es caa
Ije detected externally. The tail is nearly naked, but almost concealed in the hairs of the body.
Nothing seems to have been ascertained about the habits of this animal.

The Soaptonyx {Scaptonyx fusicaudatus) is another of the curious Eastern forms which so
remarkably unite to each other diflerent types of these small Mammals. In its external cliaracteis it
resembles Urotrichus, but it has the dentition of the genus Talpa, wid the nosti-Ds are not elongated
into a proboscis. Its length is about two inches and a half, and the length of its tail about one ineli
iind two-fifths. The fur is thick and soft, and the hairs are blue-black at the base, with a lirownish
tint towards the tip. The single sj)ecimen described was obtained on the borders of Kokonoor and
Setchouan, but nothing is recorded of its luibits.

THE bXAK-NOSED MOLE.*
Be.?ides the Eastern forms to which we have just referred, there are a few American species of this
fiimily, which differ rather more decidedly from the ordinary Moles. Perhaps the most remarkable of
them is the Star-nosed Mole, an inhabitant of Canada and the United States, extending from South
Carolina to Hudson's Bay, and stretching right across the continent, from ocean to ocean.

The most striking characteristic of this animal, which constitutes the genus Comlylura, is the
presence at the extremity of its elongated nose of a sort of fringe of about twenty long fleshy processes,
forming a regular star, having the nostrils towai'ds its centre. The
names Rhinastei- and Astromycter, both meaning " Star-nose," have
been given to the genus by different writers. The name Condylura
is founded on a mistake, the tail having been supposed to have a
knob or knot. The tail is nearly as long as the body, the general
appearance of which h mole-like, but the shouldei-s are stouter and
hea\ier in proportion to the lund-quarters than in our Common
Mole, although the digging hands are hardly so powerful. The
last phalanges of the fingers arc not cleft, as in the Mole. The
skull is elongated, and the jaws contaiii in all forty-four teeili — namely, besides canines, three
incisors, four premolars, and three true molars on each side in each jaw. The arrangement of the
teeth in the long jaws is rather peculiar. In the upper jaw the two middle and the
two outer incisors are of large size, and the latter are quite like canines ; between
them is a third minute tooth on eacli side. The true canine is very small ; the first
three premolars are thin and sharp, and the fourth much larger than the rest. In the
lower jaw we find four projecting incisors, and behind the outer ones on each side a
much smaller one, followed at an interval by a small canine with two roots. The eyes
are very minute, and there are no external ears.

This curious little animal, which measures about five inches in length, and has a
tail about three inches long, is of a brownish-black colour, a little paler beneath, but
appearing in certain lights perfectly black throughout. The naked, or nearly naked parts, such as
the nose, with its singular appendages, and the feet, are generally of a flesh-colour, the tips of the
fringes and of the claws being, in fact, quite rosy. The tail is well covered with hair.

The Star-nosed Mole, like the other members of its family, lives beneath the surface of the ground,
where it is able to burrow rapidly in soft earth. It prefers the vicinity of brooks or swampy places.
The galleries do not run so near the surface as those of the Common Shrew Mole of America. The ne.st
is composed of dried grass, and placed in an excavation made under some protective object, such as a
fitump or the root of a tree. The young show scarcely any trace of the nasal appendages. The precise
use of these curious organs in the adult does not .seem to be ascei-tained ; probably they aid as sensory
organs in the discovery of the woitqs and lai-vse of insects on which the creature feeds.

IIEW OF
OVT OF STAR-
iSED MOLE.

THE COMMON SHREW MOLE.f
The Shrew Mole, which is often called simply the :Mole iu the United States, is another very
widely-distributed species in North America, throughout the whole eastern part of which it is found

* Comh/lura crUiat<i. \ Scalops aquc.ticus.

S71 KJTVEAL IIISTORY.

abundantly. Like the other species of its genus, which inhabit the territories farther west, the
Common Shi-ew Mole has an elongated, slender snout, which is cut off obliquely at the end, so that
the nostrils, wliich are situated in this sloping surface, ai-e turned forwards and upwards, and are not
visible from below ; a short and nearly naked tail ; and only tliirty-six teeth, which present the
follp\vdng characters : — In the up23er jaw there are on each side three incisors, of which the foremost is
very large and pyi-amidal, whilst the other two are very small ; then four compressed teeth, gradually
increasing in size, of which the first may be regarded as a canine and the rest as premolars ; and
beyond these three large, true molars, each having the crown furnished with strong cusps, and dis-
tinctly divided into two parts. The lower jaw has only four instead of six incisors, and these are
neai-ly horizontal, and the two inner ones are much smaller than the outer ; these are followed imme-
diately by thi-ee simple, gi-adually increasing teeth, regarded as premolars ; and these again by thi-ee
lai-ge true molars. According to this interpretation there are no lower canines. The feet are like
those of the Mole, but the toes of the hind feet are webbed.

Two other species of Scalops are found in the western parts of the United States. One of them,
the Prairie Mole, or the SUvery Shrew Mole (<S'. atyentatus), which is about seven inches long, and
has the haii-s annulated with white and lead colour, giving it a silvery appearance, inhabits the western
pi-aii-ies, advancing sis far to the eastward as Ohio and Michigan ; the other, the Texan Shrew Mole
(S. latimanus), which is .still larger, and has the fore feet broader than in any other species, and the
black hail- longer, thinner, and slightly crisped, is a native of Mexico and Texas.

Two other Shrew Moles have been formed into a distinct genus (Scapanus) by M. Pomel. They
resemble the preceding in general characters, but agi-ee with the Star-nosed Mole in having forty-four
teeth. These are Brewer's Shrew Mole (Scapanus Brewerii), a black species, about six inches long,
which inhabits the eastern United States, and is supposed to have given the foundation for the reports
of the existence of the Common Mole in North America ; and the Oregon Mole (Scapanus Townsendii),
a considerably larger species, which is said to extend all along the Pacific coast, from California to 47"
10' N. lat. In theii- habits these animals seem to agree closely with the Star-nosed Mole. The western
sjjecies occiu-s abundantly in the banks of rivers.

FA5ULY IX.— MYOGALID.E.— THE DESMANS.
Some very curious and interesting animals, placed with the Shrews by some zoologists, and with
the Moles by others, may, perhaps, for our piirpose, be best placed as a distinct family. The De.smans
are, in fact. Shrew-like animals, with some important points of resemblance to the Moles. Thus, the
teeth in the true Desmans are forty-four in number, and the large upper front incisor is pyramidal, and
rather resembles that of some Moles than that of the Slirews ; the general character of the skull is
Mole-like, especially the presence of a slender zygomatic arch, which does not exist in the Shrews ; the
shoulder-blade is long, narrow, and strong, the collar-bone short and stout, and the front portion of
the sternum is slightly keeled. Many other slight osteological peculiarities point to an alliance with
the Moles ; but on the other hand. Shrew-like chai-acters are not wanting, and the general structm-e of
the body and limbs is that of the Slirews, the tail being well developed, and the limbs all formed for
walking. In the true Desmans the hind limbs are considerably larger than the fore-limbs, and all the
feet are palmated, or have theii- toes united by webs.

THE DESMAN.*

The Desman in general form resembles a big Eat, but with a long snout formed by the no.strils,
which are produced in a tubular form, and united in the middle, producing a regular trunk, provided
with muscles which enable it to be turned in various directions, and employed as an organ of touch.
The tail is comjjressed, scaly, and nearly naked.

In the arrangement of the teeth we see a considerable resemblance to the Shrew Moles. Thus, in
the upper jaw we have the same gigantic front incisors, larger here than in any other species, and
these are followed on each side by a series of seven teeth, gi-adually increasing in size, the first of which
is an incisor, the second a canine, and the remaining five premolar's. In the lower jaw, there are four
projecting incisors, the outer much larger than the inner ones, as in the Shrew Moles, then, on each

* Myogale moschata.

TEE DESilAIf. S75

^ids we have six gradually enlarging teeth, a canine, and fi\-e premolars.' The tnie molars are three in
number ou each side in both jaws. Thej- are In-oad, powerful teeth, with strong acute tuliercles,
and crowns divided transversely into two jiarts. The eyes are
sniall, and there are no visible eai\s.

Another peculiarity of these animals is the presence, under
the root of the tail, of a large gland, which secretes a substance
of a strong musky odour, whence they are sometimes called
Mxisk Shrews. This gland is composed of from twenty to forty
lobes, each having a dilated upper part, and a narrow lower
portion, and containing in their walls a great number of small
secreting sacs.

The. Desman, or Wychnchol of the Russians, is an
inhabitant of Southern Russia, where' it lives in the banks of
.streams and iiools, in the region between the Don and the

.^.*,., ° . . , DENTITIOX OF DESMAN.

V olga. It IS also «aid to occur m some parts of south-western

Asia. Its body is about ten inches long, and its tail measures about seven inches and a half. Tlie
latter organ is narrowed at the root, and then nearly cylindrical for some distance, and finally com-
pressed from near the middle to the extremity, thus forming a most powerful swimming oi-gan, by
means of which, aided by the broad webbed feet, the Desman makes its way through the water with
gi-eat rapidity. The siirfaoe c^ the tail is scaly, with a scanty s--prinkling of short hairs, and with a
i^'reat number of small follicles, which secrete a greasy material.

The body of the Desman is covered with a dense fur, comjiosed of a thick coat of fine downy liaii-s
next the skin, and of longer smooth hairs, which form the outermost coat. It is reddish-brown on the
back, ashy-grey on the belly, and shows a silvery lustre in certain lights. The feet are naked and
scaly above, and fringed with haii-s at the sides. At the eye, and over the auditoiy aperture, there are
whitish spots.

In its habits the Desman is described as greatly resembling an Otter on a small scale. It lives
by preference about standing waters and slow streams, especially when these, as is so commonly the
case in Russia, are confined by steep banks of considerable height. In these banks it makes its
residence, which is something like that of the Otter, consisting of a passage running obliquely
upwards from below the surface of the water, often to a length of twenty feet or more, and then
terminating in a sort of foi'tress-chamber, three or four feet above the water level. But this
retreat Ls only occupied by the animal as a resting place ; the greater part of its time, both in summer
and winter, being passed in the water. Here it disports itself with an agility of which its rather
heavy and clumsy figure would hardly appear to give promise ; swimming and diving readily, making its
way among the water-plants, and seeking constantly for the animals which constitute its food.
These are chiefly leeches, worms, and aquatic mollusca and larvse of insects, but in all probability no
small aquatic animal woidd come gi'eatly amiss. The curious movable trunk with which the animal
is endowed ls brought actively into play during the search for provisions. It is turned and twisted in
various directions, toxiching the various objects that come in the way, and is used to feel about for prey,
vihich it Ls said to seize and convey to the neighbouring mouth after the same fashion a-s the trunk
of an elephant. The animal is said frequently to put its trunk into its mouth, and then to cry like a
duck ; when irritated or threatened, it hisses, and tries to bite. The Desman is supposed to produce
more than one litter in the course of the year. It is pursued for the sake of its skin, which somewhat
resembles that of the Beaver and Ondatra in its qualities ; and gi-eat numbers are taken by means of
nets, esj)ecially in the autumn. Its fle.sh is uneatable, on account of its strong musky flavour, which
is communicated even to that of the carnivorous fishes, such as the Pike, which, being less nice in their
tastes, do not object to an occasional Desman.

THE PYRENEAN DESM.\N.*
The only other species of Desman is found in the small streams of the Pyrenees both in France and
Spain, where it lives after the same fashion as its Russian relative, but is said to feed principally upon
* Myogale pyrenaica.

S76 NATURAL BISTORT.

trout. It is much smallei than the preceding species, being only ten or eleven inches in total length,
nearly one-half of which is occupied by the long tail. The fur is chestnut^brown on the back, greyish-
brown on the sides, and silvery grey on the belly ; the upper lip beai-s some pectinated whiskei-s, the
sides of the trunk arc covered with white and the fore-feet with brownish haii-s ; while the hind-feet
are naked and scaly. This animal also diffuses a strong musky odour.

THE HAIRY-TAILED MOLE-SHREW.*

Besides the true Desmans this group is considered to include two or three singular little creatures
which lead directly towards the true Moles. One of these is a Japanese species, discovered
by Professor Siebold, and described by Professor Temminck under the name of Urotrichus tcdpoides,
which we may call the Haii-y-tailed Mole-Slu-ew. It differs from the Desmans, and agrees with the
true Shrews in ha^nug only two incisor teeth in the lower jaw. There are thirty-eight teeth in all.
It is about the size of the common Water Shrew, with the nose gi-eatly elongated, not into a flexible
proliascis, but into a snout with the nostrils placed at the sides of the tip ; the tail is about an inch
long, stout, scaly, and covered with long haii'.s, which form a tuft ; the fur is brown and velvety, and
the snout and feet flesh-coloured, and nearlj' naked.

This animal is common at elevations of from ] ,000 to 1,200 feet in the mountains of the southerrt
and eastern pai-ts of Japan, but becomes more rare towards the north. In its habits it resembles the
Moles, digging out galleries in the earth, but going down deeper, and rarely if ever formiiag heaps of
loose earth at the sui-face.

A nearly allied species, Gibbs' Mole Slu-ew {Urotrichus Gihbsii), is foimd in North America.

Another species, leading more towards the Shrews, was discovered in eastern Tibet by the
Abb6 David, and described by M. A. Milne-Edwards under the name of Uropsilus sorkipes, or the
Shrew-footed Uropsila The general characters of the animal are very like those of Urotrichus, but it
has one premolar less on each side in each jaw, making the total number of teeth only thii-ty-four.
The tail is naked and scaly ; and the fur is of a slate-colour, with a slight brownish tinge.

FAMILY X.— S0RICID.5:, OR THE SHREWS.

A great number of small mouse-like and rat-like animals, presenting shades of character which
render their classitication almost insuperably difficult, constitute the family of the Shrews, which, as we
have already stated, may bs regarded as representing the generalised or central idea of the Insectivorous-
Mammal. On all sides the other families include anomalous .species, and the characters VN'hich dis-
tinguish these from their immediate fellows generally tend in the direction of the Shrews.

In these creatures we find a mouse-like body, terminated in front by a small head, with a long^
pointed muzzle, and behind by a nearly naked, scaly tail of variable length. The eyes are small, as;
also are generally the ears ; the limbs are shoi-t, and nearly equal in size ; the skull is long and
narrow, and has on each side of its base a space not filled up with bone ; the teeth are from twenty-
eight to thirty-two in number, and the middle incisors in both jaws are very large ; the skull has no
zygomatic arch or tympanic bony bubble ; the bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) are united ; and
the intestme has no casoum. On the sides of the body or at the root of the tail the Shrews possess
peculiar glandf^, which secrete a fluid of strong odour, serving no doubt to protect them from many
enemies.

The Shrews are distributed over all parts of the Old World and in North Amei-ica. They live
generally on the ground, although some take freely to the water, and they feed upon worms, insects,
and other small animals such sis they can overcome. The difficulty of chissifying these animals t&
which we have already alluded has led to their being divided into an infinity of generic groups, of
which we shall endeavour to illustrate those which are now most generally accepted.

THE COiniON SHREW.t

The Common Shrew, or Shrew-mouse, as it is often called, may be noticed first, as being the

species most likely to be met with by our readers, in England at any rate. It is one of the species

for which the Linnean generic name Sorex has been retained, the groi.i) as restricted including Shrews

• Urotrichus talpoides. • f fcrcx vulgaris.

]. I'K.MV .silKE'V. i. CUM.MuX SIIIIEW. 3 AND 4. WATER SURKW,

THE COMMOX SHJlEir. 377

witli from thirty to thirty-two teeth, there being four or tive premolars in the upper and only two iu
the lower jaw; with a basal tubercle to the upper inner incisors; with ears of moderate size directed
l)ackwards, a long tail, and the feet not fringed with hairs.

Our Common Shrew is a pretty little mouse-like creature (its figure will be seen in Plate 1 2), mea-
suring about two inches and three-qunrtei-s in length, with a tail rather more than an inch and a half long.
Its fur is generally of a reddish-grey colour above, and gi-eyish beneath ; but the colour varies consider-
ably, being sometimes lilackish or chestnut above, and tinged with yellow
teneath. The fore teeth are of a rich brown colour. The tail is foiu--
sided,* with the angles rounded ofi", and is nearly of equal thickness
throughout ; it is covered with shoi-t, close, stiffish hail's. Mr. Bell
states that the Shrew sometimes occurs sjwtted with white, and that
he possesses one specimen " which is beautifully pied, having a broad
white band over the loins, which extends all round the animal."

The food of the Common Shrew consists cliieflj- of insects and worms,

. UEXTITION Ol- COMMO.N bUKLW.

but it also eats the smaller mollusca, and even the common Slug [Littia.c

ayreatis), according to Mr. Bell, who says that he ha,s not only found the remains of that animal in its
stomach, but has also fed it upon slugs in confuiement. Like its &\\y, the Mole, it is very pugnacious,
and two Shrews i-arely come together without a battle, when the weaker one is killed and eaten. The
breeding season of the Shrew is in the spring, when the female makes a comfortable nest of soft dry
herb;ige in some convenient hole in the ground, and there brings forth from live to seven young ones.
Theii- increase is checked to a certam extent by natui-al enemies. Tlius, the Mole is said to kill and
eat them when they come in his way ; and Cats, Weasels, Owls, and some other animals, will also kill
them ; and some at least do not disdain to make a meal upon them. The Bai-n Owl especially seems
to make great havoc among the Shrews.

All sorts of evil qualities were attributed to the Shrew by oiu" ancestors, some of wliich ai"e
still believed in. One old writer says that the Shrew-mouse is " a kind of Field-mouse of the big-
ness of a Eat and colom- of a Weasel, very mischievous to cattel ; wliich, going over a' beast's back,
will make it lame in the chme ; and the bite of it causes the beast to swell at the heart and die." The
running of a Shrew over the leg of a beast was generally believed to cause the latter great pain, and
to i)roduce lameness. The proper ciu-e for these imaginary ills was on a par with the mischief; the
remedy was the application to the part affected of a branch or twig of a shrew-ash, which, says Gilbert
AVhite, " was made thus : into the bod}' of the tree a deep hole was bored with an auger, and a poor
devoted Shrew-mouse was thi'ust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt with several quaint incantations
since forgotten."

There is one circumstance in the natural history of the Shrew that must have struck everybody,
although it is still entii-ely unexplained. This is the death of great numbers of these animals in
autumn without any apparent cause. Ee.sidents in the country will know that at that season Shrews
may be seen lying dead on almost every footpath ; in fact, the observation is so general as to have
given rise to another superetition, namely, that a Shrew cannot cross a public path without pajing the
penalty of death. The individuals thus found dead are of both sexes, and of various ages.

The Common Shrew occurs not only in the British Islands, but also over the whole contment of
Em-ope, from Sweden and Russia to the shores of the Mediterranean.

The Lesser Shrew {Sorex pugnHfus, whose figure will be seen in Plate 12) is a second British
species nearly allied to the preceding, but smaller, measuring rather less than two inches in length,
and with a proportionately longer tail. The lower parts of the body are also whiter. It is the
smallest of British Mammals.t

DEKAY'S SHREW.t

Some small .species of American Shrews agi-ee with the restricted genus Sorex in the number of

• Hence the species was called S. tetra;ioi(iirus, by Hei-mann.

+ Two or thi-ee other Old 'World species belong to this group, among which may be mentioned the Alpine Shrew (.S".
aJpinus), which appears to range from the Alps to India ; and the Blackish Shi'ew (S. nuii-csccns), a very common species in
Sikkim and Nepaul. At Darjaling Mr. Jerdon found many specimens lying dead in the roads without apparent injury.
Several allied species also inhabit Xorth America, such as Forster's Shi-ew [S. Frn'skrii), the Long-nosed Shi-ew {S.
longiroslris), &c. % Blarina Dckatii,

378 SATVKAL HJVTOHT.

teetli, but have no lobe at tlie base of the upper incisors ; the external ear is small, turned forwanl,
and the tail short, usually not longer than the head. These form the genus Blarina.

Dekay's Shrew is about four inches and a half long, and the tail about an inch. Its fur is. of a
rusty yellow-grey colour above, j^aler beneath ; the nose and feet are reddish-brown, and the front
incisoi-s black. From Dr. Bachman's description it would appear that this animal burrows rather
deeply in the giound, after the fashion of the Mole. It is found in the northern United States.

THE GAKDEN SHKEW.*

A very considerable number of Shrews, distributed in all paiis of the Old World, and includiu'j;
two or three well-known European species, have been formed into the genus Vrocidura, which in its
turn has been divided again and again by means of characters generally of very slight importance.

The Crocidurm have from twenty-eight to tliirty teeth, all white, or with white tips ; the lower
incisoi-s are not toothed ; the teeth between the incisors and the molars in the upper jaw gradually
decrease in size ; and the taU is covered with short hairs, among which there are a good many longer ones.

The Garden Shrew (C'focidura uranea) is a small species, usually measuring a little over four inches
in total length, of which the tail occupies about an inch and a third. It has twenty-eight teeth which
are all white. The fur is of a mouse-grey colour, shading off into whitish ash on the lov/er sm-facs ;
the feet are light ashy, with the toes flesh-coloured, as is also the tip of the snout ; and the ears,
which are well exposed, are ash-coloured above and whitish below. The fur occasionally has a reddish-
brown tinge ; and, as in the Common Shrew, sijecimens spotted with white, and even albinos, sometimes
occur. This is a common species almost all over Europe, but does not occur in Sweden or in the British
Islando. It lives in woods and plantations, in the fields and in gardens, and in the winter approaches
closa to the houses, sheltering itself under stones and other objects, and sometimes even entsring stablts
and othgr outbuildings. Like the other species, it feeds upon insects, worms, and other small animals,
and like them also it has the reputation of injuring domestic animals by walking over them.

The Tuscan Shrew (C'rocidura etrusca) is another well-known European species, but its distribution
is much more limited than that of the Garden Shrew. It is found generally in the extreme south of
Europe, from France to the Black Sea, and also in the north of Africa, but does not appear to extend
north of the Alps. Like the Garden Shrew, it frequents gardens, and not imfrequently comes into
houses and outbuildings. In the open country it selects dry and warm situations.

The total length of the Tuscan Shrew is from two inches and a half to two inches and three-
quarters, and as the tail is nearly an inch long, the head and body may measure little moi-e than an
inch and a half It is the smallest of living Mammals. The teeth are thirty in number. The
colour of the fur is ashy with a reddish tinge above, light ashy beneath ; the tail is clothed with short
hairs, and with a series of rings of longer white haira ; and the ears are of moderate size, projecting
distinctly from the fur. In its habits it agrees with the other species.

THE RAT-TAILED SHEEW.f
Amongst a number of Indian species, some of which are of doubtful distinctness, we may notice
one which seems to be widely distributed in the East, and well known in India and elsewhere, under
the name of the Musk Shrew, or Musk Rat. It is usually of a dark brown or even blackish colour
above, and much paler beneath, but it varies considerably in this respect, and thus has probably given
origin to several so-called species. The ears are of considerable size, and the tail, which is about three-
fourths the length of the body, is thickened towards the root — a character of the sub-genus Pachi/ura.
The animal is about six inches long. It is a veiy common Indian species, and frequents houses at night,
hunting round the rooms in search of the Cockroaches and other insects which abound there. From
time to time it utters a sharp, shrill ciy. Its musky odour is exceedingly strong, and is said to
impregnate ever}'thmg that the animal passes over ; in fact, the popular belief in India is that in
ninning over a bottle of wine or beer, it is capable of infecting the contents ! This, however, is rather
more than doubtful. Mr. Jerdon distin.guishes two species— an Indian one which he calls Sorex cce.ru-
lescens, which is usually of a bluish ash colour, and a somewhat smaller species, cliiefly inhabiting
Further India and China, to which he gives the Linnean name of Sorex murinus. If they are distinct, it
* CrockUira amnca. f CrociJiiru mmsiira.

rUE rrATER SIIUKIV.

zn

is probablj' to tlie latter that Mr. Hwuihoc' refers in liis notes on Chinese Mammals under tlie name al
the " Musk Eat." He says that it is found throughout Cliina, Fox-niosa, and Hainan, in houses in
large towns, being carried about in junks with the cargo. It has an unpleasant musky odour, and
makes a peculiar chattering noise, which sounds like the chinking of money, and, he adds, often dis-
turbed him in his room at night. Such a sound heard in the dark in a strange place would certainly
be rather alarming to any one who had money to lose.

The " Musk Eat " of Ceylon is a reddish species, described by Kehxai-t as Sorex kandiamis, and
by Mr. Jerdon as iS'. serpenhirius. It is rather smaller than the preceding, but takes its place in the
houses of Ceylon and Southern India, and renders itself equally offensive by its strong musky odour.
Several other Indian species are referred to C'rocidum, one of which, C. Perroteti, is said to be

K\r TAILCl SHKEW

even smaller than the Tuscan Shrew. Others occur in Africa, in Egypt, Mozambique, and Madagascar,
and in the neighbourhood of the Cape.

THE WATER SHREW.*

Our British Water Shrew is the type of a di.stinct genus, all the species of which appear to haunt
the margins of water. They have thirty teeth, all of which are tipped with brown or red. The upper
front teeth are large and curved, and have a basal cusp behind ; the lower ones are nearly horizontal,
and have a single tubercle and no notch at the tip. Behind these teeth there are on each sitle in
the upper jaw four small teeth, the last of ^^hich is very minute ; and in the lower jaw two small
teeth. The molai-s are four on each side in the upper, and three in the lower jaw. The snout is
pointed, and furnished with very long whiskers ; the eyes small ; the ears of moderate size, and
valvular ; and the feet and lower surface of the tail fringed with stiff haii's.

Our Water Shrew (its figure will be seen in Plati- 1"2), whirli measures about three inches and
one-third in length, and has a tail rather more than tw.. im-li.s Iohl;, is generally nearly black on tlie
upper surface and white beneath, the colours being usually separated by a distinct line of demarcation.
The bail's fringing the feet and the lower surface of the tail are white. There is, however, consider-
able variation in the colour of different specimens, some of which have been described as distinct species.
One especially, in which the whole of the fur is of a black colour, has been called the Oared Shi-ew
(Sorex ciliatus or remi/er), but the existence of intermediate steps has led to the recognition cf the
identity of even this with the Common Water Slu-ew. Mr. Bell is of opinion that the differences of
* Crossojjiis Jodiens.

380 NATURAL UIHTUKl',

coloration depend on the season and the age of the specimen. Tlie tail is slender, four-sided, and com-
pressed towards the tij). The Water Shrew is distributed over the whole continent of Europe, as far
north as the shores of the Baltic. It is foiuid in many localities in England and in Scotland, but Is not
known to occur in Ireland.

The Water Shrew is one of the jn-ettiest of our British Mammals. Its movements, especially in
the water, are very agile ; and although, from its swimming by alternate strokes of its hind feet, its
course is of a somewhat wriggling character, the peculiar mode in which it flattens its body so as to
show a narrow white Viorder on each side, and the silvery lustre of the coat of air-bubbles which
adheres to its back, give it a very elegant appeai-ance when thus engaged. It is found chiefly about
the rivulets of mountainous and hilly countries, generally showing a preference for those quieter
parts where the water flows smoothly over a sandy bottom, but it will also make its way tlu-ough
more broken water, in shallow parts full of stones. Clear water seems to be the great desideratum,
and if this can be secured the Water Shrew will put up with a lake or pond. It is not, however,
absolutely confined to the water-.side, but will at times wander about the fields, sheltering itself under
haycocks, and other heaps of dxied pkuts, and even making its way into houses, barns, and outbuildings.

Nevertheless, as may be judged from the fringed tail and feet, it is essentially au aquatic animal,
and its regular habitation seems to be always constructed in the immediate vicinity of water. Here
the Water Shrew burrows into the soft ground of the bank, and forms a subterranean dwelling,
usually with several openings, one of which is situated beneath the surfaee of tlie water, to give the
little creature an opportunity of slipping quietly and unperceived into or out of its house. Its food is
principally obtained in the water, and consists of aquatic insects, worms, mollusca, and ciiistacea,
which it sna})s up in its rapid flittings to and fro. In Bell's " British Quadru])eds " the pursuit of the
Freshwater Slu-imp {Gmwmanis jndex) in a shallow but rapid streamlet by the Water Shrew is
described. The little animal was seen busily pushing about among the stones at the bottom of the
water, sometimes poking its nose under them, sometimes turning them over in a fashion which might
be thought beyond its strength. The result was the same in either case ; the Shrew captured some
small article of food, with which it made off to the side of the stream, where it was heard crunching
the crustaceans between its teeth.

Besides this small prey, the Water Shrew is said by Continental writei-s to attack almost any
small animal that comes in its way — frogs, fishes, and even small birds and quadrupeds are described
as among its victims. It is also said to feed on the spawn of fishes, and, according to Brehm's
testimony, will even destroy lai-ge fish, such as Carp, by eating out their eyes and brains. Carrion
and dead animals will also furnish it with a meal. One of Mr. Bell's editors gives a striking instance
of this. A steel rat-trap had been set, and in the morning contained a large Rat, " on which was
perched a small black object, which proved on closer approach to be a Water Shrew. The Rat was
dead, and the Shrew was devouring it. Although the slender snout and projecting and comparatively
weak teeth of the Shi-ew wei-e but ill adapted, one would have thought, for devouring prey of the size
of a full-grown Rat, yet the animal had succeeded in making a small hole through the skin, and this
it was most enei-getically employed, by means of both teeth and claws, in enlarging. So ferocious were
its actions, that it might very properly be said to hejiyhtiny the Rat ; and so intent was it on its woi'k
as to suffer itself to be captured by the observer, who laid the loading-rod of his gun across its back."

The breeding season begins in April or May, when the courtship of the little creature.s
commences by a persevering pursuit of his intended partner by the male. Tlie lady exhibits a
becoming coyness, leading her suitor a long chase through the water ; but while thus engaged both
parties keep the main chance in view, and seize everything eatable that comes in their way. The
young are brovight forth in a chamber in the bank, and are from five to seven or eight in number.

A nearly allied, but larger species, the Himalayan Water Shrew (Crossopus himalaicus), occurs
in the streams of the Himalayas. Mr. Jerdon, who obtained it from the Little Rungeet River at
Darjeling, describes it as fi^e or six inches long, dark brown or blackish above, paler beneath, and
with a bunch of haii-s at the tip of the tail. It was said to kill small fish, tadpoles, aquatic insects,
i:c. Another species {C. plalj/cephalus) iiihabits Japan.

The Mar.sli Shrew (Somx patnstrls), of North America, has been refeiTed to this genus by some
authors ; but it has a long slender, cylindrical tail, with a pencil of hair.i at the tip. and Professor

THE TAILLESS SUltEir. 381

Baii-d refers it to the genus Sore.v. Tlie teeth are the same in number as in Crossopus, and likewise
have their tips reddish-t>rown. This species inhabits tlie northern parts of North America up to
Hudson's Bay Territory.

THE TEBETAX -WATER «HRE\V.»

This is another of the Mannuals for the Ivnowledgc of which we are indebted to tiie Abbe David,
and it is one of the most curious species of this family, presenting a combination of charactei's peculiar
to itself with those of the True Shrews and the Desmans. " Its head and skull," says M. A. Milne-
Edwards, "refer this animal to the Sorkklce, whilst its palmated feet and compressed tail indicate close
afiiuities with the Mi/ocjulidce ; but the sucking discs with which the lower surfaces of its feet are
furnished belong to itself alone, and nothing of the same kind is to be found in the allied groups."

In some respects the Tibetan species is allied to the European Water Shrew, but it has only
twenty-eight instead of thii-ty teeth, namely, incisors, J^^, canines, [-=!, molars, ^=j ; the skull iji
flattened ; the body robust, and supported on short limbs; ; the muzzle short, broad, and conical, with
large whiskers at the sides, and the nostrils opening laterally near the extremity ; the eyes exceedingly
small ; and the ears entirely concealed by the hair and quite destitute of a conch. The tail is stout,
longer than the body, quadrangular at the base, then triangular, and finally flattened at the sides ; and
the feet are large and broadly palmated, so as to form vigorous swimming organs, very closely
resemblmg those of the Desmans. As in the latter animals, the feet are fringed with stiff hairs of
peculiar construction ; but the naUs, which in the Desmans are strong, are here small and weak. The
sucking discs, already mentioned as peculiar to this animal, are certainly among its mast remarkable
characteristics. They occur upon the feet of both pairs, and consist of large pads, dejjressed in the
middle to form cups, which are doubtless of service to the animal in its aquatic mode of life.

The Tibetan Water Shrew is rather a large species, measuring, when adult, nearly eight inches in
total length, more than half of which, however, is occupied by the tail. It is thus much larger than
the British Water Shrew. Its body is covered with hair of two kinds. Close to the skin is a very
thick soft down of a slaty grey colour, through which pass numerous longer hairs, which are grey at the
base and white at the extremity', causing the animal to vary considerably in appearance, according as
these longer hairs are raised or laid flat. The lower parts of the body are white.

In its compressed-tail and largely webbed feet this Shrew possesses most admirable instruments
for progression in the water ; in fact, it nuist be regai-ded as the most thoroughly aquatic of all the
family of the Shrews. According to its discoverer, it lives habitually on the banks of the imi)etuous
torrents which descend from the mountains of Moupin in Tibet ; and notwithstanding the rapidity of
these streams, it swims and dives in them with the greatest facility, chasing the small fishes which
constitute its principal food. Although not uncommon in its native region, its activity in the water
renders its capture exceedingly difficult. In order to procure specimens, it is necessary to diveit the
course of a stream, and then pursue the animals into the holes in which they take refuge.

TIIE TAILLESS SHREW.f

Another curious little Mammal, brought from Tibet by the Abbe David, is described by M. A.
Milne-Edwards as forming a distinct genus, under the name of Anurosorex, or the TaUless Shrew. It
has only twenty-six teeth in all, namely, incisors, ?^, canines, i^^, and molars, ^. The tail is remark-
ably short, scarcely passing beyond the haii-s of the body, slender, slightly flattened, of the same
thickness throughout, and- covered with, small scales, from between which project a few very short
hairs. The general form of the body is mole-like, the head is large, the muzzle conical, flesh-coloured,
liavijig the nostrils on each side near its extremity, and furnished -ivith long whiskers. The eyes are
scarcely perceptible, and the ears are entirely concealed beneath the hairs. The feet are short and
scaly, whence the name given to the species, and the fore-feet are broader and stronger than the hind-
feet, thus furnishing an additional indication of affinity to the Moles.

This species was found abundantly both in the plains and mountains of Setchouan and Tibet,

3S2 y.lTUll.iL HISIURY.

where it lives in bm-fows wliieh it digs in the earth. Its total length is little more than four inches,
and its fur, which is very sUky and thick, is of a grey colour with a greenish brown tinge. The feet
are whitish and the nails white.

In the preceding .sketch of the Insectivorous order of Mammals, we have followed in general the
classification proposed by Professor Mivart, and slightly modified by Mr. Gill. The following summary
of the arrangement will be useful for reference ; —

Sii)-oHi)Eii I.— DEKMOPTERA. Family 6. Potamogaliu.b.

Family 1. G.iLEoriTiiEciD.t;. lienus— Potamogale.

tienus-Galeopithecus. ; j^,^^_^^j,^. . CnKvsocHLouiD.,..

Slh-oudeu II.— IXSECTIVORA VERA. * Genera— Chrysochloris, C'halcochloris.

Family 2. Tvp.\iid.t2. ' Family 8. Talpid.h.

Genera— Tupaia, Ptilocercus, Hylomys. Genera-Talpa, Pai-ascaptor, Mogora, SoaptocHiua,

Family 3. JIacuoscelidid.b. ' Scaptony.x, Condylura, Scalops, Scapanus.

Genera-Macroscelides, Potrodi-omu.s, Rhynchoryon. ^ ^ Mvooalid.i..

Family 4. Euinaceid.k. I , tt . ■ i, tt -i

Genera-Erinaceus, Gymnura. \ Genera-llyogale, Urotnchus, Uropsilus.

Family 5. Ce.ntetid.t.. ; -Family 10. Soricid-e.

Genera— Centetes, Hcmicentetes, Ericulus, Echi- i Genera— Sorex, Blaiina, Crocidura, Crossopus,

nops, Oryzorictcs, Solunodon. ^ Nfctogale, Anurosore.x.

Only in one i-espect have we thought it desirable to depart from Professor Mivai-t's .system, namely,
in raising the Desmans {Myogalidie) to the rank of a distinct family. Tliis course was adopted for the
sake of simplicity in the cla.ssification, as the combination of characters presented by those animals
places them so remarkably between the Moles and the Shrews, that from a zoological point of view
they cannot satisfactorily be referred to either.

One thing that will strike the reader at once is the great number of family types, for the most
part strongly characterised, that can be distinguished in so small an order. Mr. Wallace estimates the
total number of species of Insectivora at 135, and of these about 65, or nearly one-half, belong to the
single family of the Shrews, leaving about 70 species for all the other families ; and of these 34 species,
or again nearly one-half, are referred to the two mdely distril)uted groups the Hedgehogs and the
Moles.

Considering these facts, and the clear differentiation of most of the forms, notwithstanding the
existence of those .types already alluded to, which in several of the families seem to lead towards the
Soricidce, we can' hardly avoid agreeing ^vith Mr. Wallace in regarding the existing Insectivora as
" the detached fragments of a much more extensive group of animals, now almost extinct," a view
which is strongly corroborated by the geogi-aphical distribution of the animals.

Curiously enough several of the smaller and more peculiar families are limited mnch in the same
way as the Pteropine Bats and Lemurs, chiefly to the countries surrounding the great Indian ocean,
beneath which, as we have already stated, the hypothetical continent of Lemuria is very probably
submerged. The Galeopithecidffi and Tupaiidie are almost confined to the Malayan region, and the
Centetidse (with the exception of the anomalous genus Soleaodon) are peculiar to Madagascar ; the
MacroscelididiB have their home on the eastern coast of Africa, except a single species which occurs in
the northern part of that continent ; the Chrysochloridfe are exclusively South African ; and the
curious Potamogale inhabits some of the We.st African rivers. Thus, except in the case of 6'olenodou,
the whole of these groups are now represented solely within the region inhabited by the Pteropine
Bats. Does this point to a " Lemurian " origin, or at any rate to a gi-eat former development in the
Lemurian land, of the Insectivorous Mammalia ?

Of the more widely distributed families, the Eriuaceida; occur chiefly in the northern temperate
regions of the Eastern hemisjihere, stretching away continuously tVom Europe and the North African

FOSSIL SFMAIXS OF IXSECTIVORA. 3S3

Jeserts, through Asia Minor and Persia, aud across Central Asia to tlie PiUiific Coast, whilst one or
two species occur in South Africa, and one very aberrant form, the Bulau (Gymnura), is found in tlie
Malayan region, along with the Bangsrings, to which it is allied through the genus Hylomys. The
true Moles and the Slu-ews occur in the northern parts of both heniLspheres, and the latter family,
indeed, is represented in all parts of the world except South Anierica and the Austrahan region. The
Desmans, which stand in so peculiar a position between the Shrews and the Moles, present a curious
instance of what has been called "discontinuous distribution," the two nearly allied species being
found only in two localities, separated froni each other by the whole breadth of the European con-
tment. The entire absence of Insectivora from the South American continent, and the presence of
the Solenodons, which seem to be most nearly related to the Centetidie of Madagascar, in Cuba and
St. Domingo, are further remarkable facts in the geogi-ajjiical distribution of these animals. Scarcely
less sLngtilar is the distribution of the two species of Urotrichm, one of which occurs in Japai^, and
the other on the Pacific coast of North Anierica.

The evidence derived from the fossil remains of Insectivora, as to the former Iiistoiy of the order,
in its bearing upon the present geographical distribution of its members, is verj' inconclusive ; but the
principal facts to be gathered from it is that from Miocene times to the present day the representatives
of the order in different localities, so far as these are known, have generally belonged to the same
types, and no undoubted remains of Insectivora are known from earlier formations than the Miocene.
At one time, indeed, some of the beautiful Mammalian fossils of the Stonestield slate (Lower Oolite)
of Oxfordshire weie regai-ded as probably representing Insectivora, but their Marsujnal character is
now generally recognised ; and tins Ls the case also with tlie Dromotherhtm from the Trias of North
Carolina, which was at one time believed to carry the jjresent order so far back in time.

Species of the existing genera Erinacaus, Sorej:,'Myo<jale, and Talpa, and of se^'eral nearly-allied
extinct genera, have been determined from Miocene and subsequent deposits in various parts of Europe,
and especially from the lacustrine beds of the Auvergne ; and in North America also a few species have
been found and referred to genera foi the most part almost identical with those still living on that
continent. In some instances even the Miocene species appear to be nearly identical with those now
iiiliabiting the same regions.

The principal apparent exceptions to this rule are to be found in a fossil species from the Miocene
of the Auvergne, described by M. Pomel under the name of Echinogale Laiirillardi (Centetidaj), and
two forms described by Hei-mann von Meyer, as forming a new genus {Oxygonij>Mn^), allied to the
Bangsrings, from the Tertiary basin of Weisenau, in Southern Germany. But the true jwsition of
these fossils is, to say the least of it, exceedingly doubtfid ; and this is still more strikingly the case
with the Eocene American genus Oinomys, supposed to be an animal allied to the Hedgehogs and the
Bangsrings, but which Professor Leidy liimself, in describing it, compares with nearly all the types of
true Insectivora and with the Opossums.

This last comparison leads us, perhaps, towards the origin of the Insectivora. In the East, the
Bangsrings, and notably the beautiful little Ptilocerque, and the cm-ious genus Hylomys, which, again,
seems to unite the Bangsrings with the Hedgehogs through the anomalous genus Gymma-a, present
manifest relationships with the Phalangers, some of which abound in the islands further to the east.
From these animals to the true Shrews, many of whicli abound in the east, is no great step. On the
other hand, we have already seen that Brandt recognised Opossum-like characters in his Solenodon,
but it must be confessed that these are almost exclusively external. Professor Leidy describes,
besides Omomys above referred to, some other fossils from the Eocene of Wyoming, which he seems
to regard as Insectivorous in habit, but Marsupial in structure ; and the Stonesfield Mammals,
altlio\igh plainly Mai-supial, have Insectivorous tendencies, so that the derivation of the type Insecti-
vora from the Marsupials, or at all events the near affinit}- of the two orders, perhaps at several points
of contact, may be looked upon as established.

In the other dii-ection the affinities of the order would seem to be through the Shrews, Hedgehogs,
and Centetidie with the Carnivora, towards which also the curious West African Potamoijale seems
clearly to point. The Bangsrings, again, show some traces of an affinity to the Lemurs ; and
Galeopithecus seems almost to constitute a central point of alliances, uniting the Insectivora with the
Lemurs aud Bats, and further exhibiting, as Mr. Widlace tlmiks, certain peculiarities which smack

384 NATURAL HISTORY.

strongly of direct Marsupinl relations. The relationship of the Insectivora to the Rodeutia can
hardly be regarded as a true affinity, although the analogies between different types in the two ordei-s
are among the most striking phenomena of the kind with which we are acquainted. The type of the
Mice and Rats is reproduced by the Shrews, the Scpiirrels by the Bangsrings, the Porcupines by the
Hedgehogs and Tanrecs, the Jerboas by the Jumping Shrews, and the Ondatra by the Desmans ;
whilst even the highly .specialised Moles are reflected among the Rodents by the various species of
Mole-Rats. But none of these resemblances indicate ;p,ffinity, and the Rodent type may be regarded
as differentiated from the old probably Marsupial ancestral forms quite independently of the
Iiisectivora.

W. S. Dallas.

C'assell & Co

26i

CASSELL'S

NATURAL HISTORY

EDITED BY

P. MARTIN DUl^CAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.

PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KINo's COLLEGE, LONPON ;
CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA

Vol. II.

I L LUSTRA TED

CASSELL AND COMPANY, Limited

LONDON, PARIS S- MELBOVRNE

1896

THE LAND CARNIVORA,

PROFESSOR W. KITCHEN PAEKEE, I'.E.S., F.L.S., &c., and PROFESSOR T. JEFFEEY PARKER

THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIVORA.

JAJIES MtRIE, M.11., LL.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.

CETACEA.

JAJIES MURIE, M.D., LL.D.

SIRENIA.

JAMES MURIE, M.D., LL.D.

PEOBOSCmEA.

PROFESSOR WILLIAM BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., &c., and H. W. OAKLEY.

HYRACOIDEA.

PROFESSOR WILLIAM BOYD DAWKINS, M.A., F.R.S., and H. W. OAKLEl.

UNGULATA :—

PERISSODAGTYLA :

EQUID^,

TAPIEID^,

EHINOCEEOTID^,
ARTIODACTYLA :

SUID^,

HIPPOPOTAJIID^.

PROFESSOR WILLIAJI BOYD DAAVKINS, M.A., F.Px.S., 11. W. OAKLEY, anq
PROFESSOR A. H. GARROD, M.A., F.R.S.

CONTENTS.

THE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTEK I.

IXTROlirCTORY KEMAKKS — THE CAT FAMILY. PAGE

The Carnivora— Division into Ten-estrial (Fissi]iedia) and Aquatic (Pinnipedia)— IntroJuctory Remarks on the Fissi-
PEDIA— Theii- Relations to Miin and to other Animals —Their Distribution over the Surface of the Globe— Their
Structure— The Diversity of their Form and Habits— Their Division into Lesser Groups— THE Cat Family— Their
Geographical and Gliionological Distribution— Their Skeleton— The Peculiarities of their Skull, Teeth, kc. . . ]

CHAPTER II.

THE CAT FAMILY — THE LION.

The Linx— Its Geographical Distribution at the Present Day and in Ancient Times— Its Haunts— Varieties of the Lion
— Distinction between the Lion and other Cats— Its Courage, Speed, and Strength — Its Roar — Its Supposed Mag-
nanimity—Its Habits — Man-eating— Occasional resort to Vegetable Diet Love-making— The Lion-cubs and

their Education — Old Age— Breeding in Captivity — Lion Hunting hi

CHAPTEE III.

THE CAT FAMILY — THE TIOER AND THF LEOPARD.

The Tiger— Its Colour, Size, &c.— Geographical Distribution— Mention of the Tiger by Ancient "Writers— Habits of the
Tiger — Its Destructiveness — Native Superstitions— Tiger-hunting — The Leopard — Historical Account— External
Characters— Size — Geographical Distribution— Varieties— Habits— Love of Dog-meat— Clay-eating Proj.iensities —
Attracted by SmaU-pox Patients : 30

CHAPTER IV.

THE C.IT FAMILY — THE JAGFAR — THE SMALLER WILD CITS — THE DO.MESTIC CAT.

The .I.iGUAR— Its Character, Distribution, and Habits— Fondness for Negroes— The Puma— Its Character, Geographical
Range, and Habits— Mode of Hunting the Puma— The Ounce— The Clouded Tiger— The Character of its Fur,
&c.— Its Habits— The Ocelot— The Marbled Tiger-Cat— The Viverrine Cat— The Pampas Cat— The Long-
tailed Tiger-Cat— The Margat— The Colocolo— The Jaguarondi— The Eyr.i— The Serval— The Rcsty-
Si'DTTEi) Cat— The Leopard Cat— The Bay Cat— The Spotted AVild Cat— The Mancl— The Egyptian Cat
-The CiiMMoN AViLi) Cat— The Domestic Cat— Historical Sketch— Characters of Skin, &c.— Connection be-
tween Whiteness and Blindness— Habits— Use of 'Whiskers-Diet— Poaching Propensities— Fondness for Offspring
—For Foster children— Mailness in Cats- Varieties -The Angora Cat, Jlanx Cat, Persian Cat, and Chinese Cat . 41

CHAPTER V.

THE CAT FAMILY THE HY.T-.NA FAMILY THE CRYPTOPROCTA FAMILY THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY.

The Common Jungle Cat— The Common Lynx— Historical Sketch— Geographical Distribution— Distinctive Characters
—Habits— Uses-TuE Pardine Lynx— The Canadian Lynx— The Red Lynx-The Caracal— The ChEetah—
Distinctive Characters— Geographical Distribution— EmiJoyment in Hunting— The Hy.ena Family— External
Characters -Skull and Teeth— The Spotted Hyjjna- Geographical Distribution— Habits-Laughing Propensities
—The Brown Hv.ena- The Striped Hy,ena— The Cryptoprocta Family— Characteristics of the Cptpiopkocta
-Its Occurrence and Habits— The Aard-Wolf Family— Characters and Habits of the Aard-AVou' . . . 70

iv XATUE.IL llIsTdKY.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CIVET FAMILY. ' PiOE

General Characteristics of the Civet Family— Their Scent, Skull, anil Teeth— The Akric.vn Civet— Its Characters
aiul Habits— The ASIATIC Civet— The Lessee Civet— The Genette— The Munuoos, or Ichneumon— Curiou.s
Sui)erstition regarding it— The Ceab Mungoos— The Pakadoxure— The Bintukonu 87

CHAPTER VII.

the dog family THE DOME.ITIC DOG.

Section Ciinoidea — Geographical Distribution— Skull of Dog— Teeth— Legs— Walk— Claws— Internal Anatomy— The
Cfecum, or "Cul tie sac" of the Intestine— Size— The Domestio Dog— Its Fidelity and Love — Differences be-
tween the Domesticated and Natural Species of the Family — Barking a Ci^olised Habit— Antiquity of the Dog—
The Dog among the Hebrews and Egyptians — The Dog in the Bible— "Dog " as a Term of Reproach — Venerated
by many Ancient Nations— The Dog among the Greeks and Romans— Pre'-historic Dogs — Dogs in the New World
— PeruWan Dogs — Superstitions about the Dog — The Dog as an article of Diet— Origin of the Dog — Identity of
Structure of "Wild and Domestic Dogs — The independent Training of "Wild Canidiv by Savages in many parts of
the World— Voice— Results of the whole question as to Origin— Anecdotes about Instinct, Reason, Docility —
Muscles of Dog's Head— Consociation of Dogs— Anecdotes of Sense of Right, Wrong, Duty, Conscience —
Sensitiveness, Honesty, Theft, Cunning, Quarrelsomeness, Magnanimity, the reverse. Revenge, Hatred— Conjugal
Affection— Devotion to Man— Fickleness -Despaii'-Rabies and Hydrophobia— Wonderfnl A''ariety of Breed . . 96

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOG FAMILY — DOGS OF S.\VAGES — DOGS OF CIVILISED NATIONS — WILD DOGS.

The Hare Indian Dog — Its Characters, Disposition, &c. — The Eskimo Dog— The Dependence of the Greenlanders on
its E.tistence- The Probability of its Speedy Extinction — Its Characters and Savage Disposition— Its Uses—
Domestic Dogs of other Savage Tribes — African Breeds— South American Breeds— The Dalmatian Dog—
The Greyhound- The Scotch Greyhound— The Deerhound— The Turkish Greyhound— The Grecian
Greyhound— The Persian Greythound— The Italian Greyhound— The Cocker -The Springer— The King
CH,uiLEs's Spaniel— The Blenheim Spaniel— The Chinese Pug-Dog— The Water-Spaniel— The Poodle
—The Maltese Dog— The Lion-Dog— The Turkish Dog— The St. Bernard Dog— The Newfoundland Dog
— The Sheep-Dog — The Pomeranian Dog — The Cur— The Lurcher— The Beagle— The Harrier- The
Foxhound— The Staghound— The Bloodhound— The Setter— The Pointer — The Retriever- The Ottee-
HouND— The Turn.spit— The Dachshound— The Bull-Dog— The Bull-Terrier— The Mastiff — The Cuban
Mastiff— The Tibet Dog — The English Terrier — The Scotch Terrier— Pariah Dogs — The Indian Wild
Dog— The Dingo 127

CHAPTER IX.

the DOG Family — wolves — jackals— foxes, etc.

The Wolf— Historical Account — Geogi-aphical Distribution— Characteristics— Habits — Destructiveness — Tame Wolves
—Varieties of the Wolf— The Prairie Wolf— The Red Wolf- The Jackal— Its Character— Habits -" Jackal's
Horn "—OccmTence— The Black-backed Jackal — The Senegal Jackal— The Aguara— The Common Fox —
Characters distinguishing it from the true Dogs— Its Habits — Cunning— Occurrence— The Arctic Fox — Its sup-
posed Change of Colour according to Season— Its Habits— The Value of its Skin— The Fennec— The Long-eared
Fox— Why made a Distinct Genus— The Racoon Dog— The HY;ENA Dog— Its Character and Habits . . .149

CHAPTER X.

THE BEAR FAMILY' — THE REARS.

Characters of the Ursid.e— Their Mode of Progiession— Teeth— Skull— Geographical Distribution— The Brown Be,yr—
Its Occurrence— Char;ictc-r—H;ibit of Hilierrating— Diet — Moral Characteristics— Bear-baiting— Varieties— The
American Black I!k.vk— Its Habits -.Sii|.ei\stitions of the Indians regarding it— The Grizzly Bear— The Syrian
Bear— The Himalayan ];eah-The Hi x Kear— The Sloth Bear— Its Ant-and Bee-eating Propensities— The
Spectacled Be.ui— The P..i..\r Beak -Its Size— Characteristics— Habits— Method of Hunting— The supposed
Poisonous Properties, of its Liver ................ 16.3

CHAPTER XI.

the racoon family — the panda family — the weasel family — FOSSIL CARNIVORA.

The Racoon Family- Characters of their Skull, Teuth, &c.— Geographical Distribution- The Racoon— Its Habit of
Washing its Food— Its E.xternal Characters and Habits— Racoon Hunting— The Crab-eatuig Racoon— THE CoATI

COXTEXTH. V

—The Kixkajdl'— Its Lemur-like Appeai;ince, Prehensile Tail, &c.— The Cacomixle— The Panda Family— The
Panda— Its Character and Habits— The Ailiuopus— The Weasel Family— Anatomical Characters— Tail-glands—
Division of the Family into Three Sub-families— Importance of the Mustelidse as Fm--producing Animals — The
Glctton— Its Characters— Superstitions Kegavding it— Its Cunning— The Marten- The Pekan— The Sable—
The Weasel— The Stoat, ok Ermine- The Difference between its Winter and Summer Dress, and the manner
in wliich the Change takes place— The Polecat -The Ferret- The Mink— The Grison— The Tayra— The
Ratel— The Common Badger— Its Habits— Burrowing— The American Badger -The Teledu— The Cape
Zorilla— The Common Skunk— Its Noxious Secretion— Hydroi.linliiii ]inhli, ,J 1,\ SKink Bite— The Little
Striped Skunk— The "ttTiite-backed Skunk— The Common Otter -TIi. A^iij.: i - < ture to Aquatic Life
— I'se of Tame Ottei-s for Fishing— The Canadian Otter— The M;ir,iii. .1 ' I ni: Sea Otter— Its
Affinities with the Seals— How it is Hunted— General Relations of uil I.\m i . i: , i\ ,1, v -Fossil Carnitora
—The Tendency of these to bridge over Existing Groups— Appendix to Cliuptfi- \'l. (Civet Family)- The
Cynogale— The Cynictis— The Mangue— The Suricate 177

THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION — THE WALKVS, OR MORSE.

Pinnipedia distinctly Aquatic—The Thi-ee Famihes— Th.ii ( '.n, m ( 'Ii imcteristics— Skeleton— Mobility of Figure— Feet

— Dentition— SkuU— Tongue— Stomach— Intestiiii 1 i • i - i^ition of Blood-vessels of Liver— Lungs— Sense

of Smell— Lai7nx— Brain— Sense of Hearing— Tip A I 1 ily— Characteristics— The Walrus, OR MoHSE—

Geographical Distribution — Fossil Forms— Weight Ni. Aji. nance in Old Age — Mode of Walk — Habits — On
Guard— In the Water— Attacked— Tusks— Dentition of the Young— Uses of the Tusks— Food-Long Fasts— Stoiy
of "Jamie," aTame_Walru3—The Young— Maternal Affection— Massacre- Walrus as an Article of Diet . . 209

CHAPTER II.

II. — THE SEA LION FAMILY (oTARIID.'e).

Various Xames— Peculiarities of Distribution— Chai-acterisfics of the Family — Dentition — Skull — Fossil Remains— Dis-
tinction between Fur and Hair Seals— Preparation of the Seal-skin— The Northern Fur Seal— History— The
Pribyloff Islands— Male, Female, Y'oung — " Hauling-grounds " — Wintering— Males at the Islands in Spring —
Desperate Battles for Seaward Positions— Approach of the Females— Struggles for Wives— The Y'oung — Absti-
nence from Food, Water, and Sleep for more than Two Months— Neutral Ground in the "Rookeries" — Habits
of the Young— Food— Annual Slaughter— Estimated Numbers— Mode of Killing— Steller's Sea LioS—
Gilliespie's Hair Seal— Hooker's Sea Bear— The Wreck of the eca/to)(— Musgrave's NaiTative— Sufferings
of the Castaways— Their Experiences among the Sea Bears— The White-necked Otary— Distribution— Descrip-
tion—" Counsellor Seal " — The Patagonian Sea Lion— Historical Associations— Impetus to the Study of the
Family— Francois Lecomte— Its Docility and Intelligence— Its various Performances— Voracity-Lecomte's Obser-
vations— Habits— The Falkland Island Fir Seal— Habitat— The Hunter's Boats— Driven from theii- Haunts-
Captain Weddell's Observations— Great Wariness and Speed— Size —Habits— The South African, or Cape Fur
Seal— The New Zealand Fur Seal— The Ash-coloured Otary— Peron's Services to Science . . . .216

CHAPTER III.

III. — THE EARLESS SEAL FAMILY (pHOCID-'e).

General Characteristics — Peculiar Formation of the Hind Legs— Dentition— Swimming— The Common Seal — Range —
Fight between a Seal and Salmon — Colour — Appearance — Annual Catch — Use of Skins in Greenland — Habits^
The Ringed Seal— Appearance— Various Names— Odour—Flesh—Skin Clothes— Ha mts— Modes of Capture—
Range— The Greenland, or Saddleback Se.vl— Habits— Appearance— Names— Range— Migrations— " Seals'
Weddings" — Five Stages of Colour— Females — Weight— Seal Fisheries— Hunting — Implements of Slaughter —
Various Operations— The Sealers— Oil, Skins, &c.— The Bearded Seal— The Grey Seal— The Monk Seal— The
Crested or Bladder-Nose Seal— Range— Size— Ferocity— Character of the so-called Crest— Dentition— Colour
—The Elephant Seal— Peculiar Range— Proboscis— Scammon's Account— Habits— Hunting— Hardships of the
Hunters— Recreations of the Men— Blubber, Oil, and Skins— Ross's Laege-eyed Seal— The Sea Leopard—
Weddell's Seal— The Crab-eating Seal— Concluding Remarks— The Slaughter of Seals— Remedies . . .231

ORDER CETACEA.— AYHALES.

Whales— Vulgar Notions — Characteristics External and Internal- Larynx — Tail — Skeleton — Classification— THE
TOOTHED WHALES -Zeuglodons—Squalodons—Phocodons— River Dolphins— Susu, or Gangktic Dol-
phin—Description— Habits— Teeth— In ia—Pontoporia—Ziphtoid Whales— Cuvier's Whale— Van Beneden's

KATUEAl HISTORY.

TAGB

Whale— Sowerby's Wh.u.e^New Zealand Eerakdius— Bottlehead, or Common Beaked Whale— Sperm
Whales, or Cachalots— Sperm Whale— Description— Range— Fishery— Incidents of the Chase- Habits—
Harpooned— Treatment of the Carcass— Short-headed Whale, or Snub-nosed Cachalot— Dolphins— Carving,
OR Pilot Whale— Bisso's Grampus- Common Torpuise- Killer Whale, or Orca— Ferocity— True Dolphins
—Common Dolphin— Bottle-nose Dolphin-White Whale— Narwhal— THE WHALEBONE WHALES—
Whalebone— Greenland, oe Right Whale— Biscay Whale— J.vpan Whale— Cape Whale— South Pacific
AVh ALE— Description of the Greenland Whale— Their Food and Mode of Feeding— Habits— Hunting— Treatment
of Carcass— HuMP-BAOKED 'Whales— Fin Whales, or Rorquals— Sibbald's Rorqual— Sulphur-bottom
Whale— Common Rorqual, oh Razor-back— Lesser Rorqual— Concluding Remarks 245

ORDER SIRENIA (THE MANATEES).

Introductoi7 Remarks— Mermaids- Position — General Characteristics of the Order— Steller's Bhytina— Habits-
Extinct— Dugong— Range— Habits— Uses— Teeth— HLvnatee— Distribution— Peculiar Mouth— Mode of Feeding-
Story of " Patcheley," a Tame Manatee— Halitherium and other Fossil Forms

ORDER PROBOSCIDEA (ELEPHANTS).

Order Proboscidea- Anti(]uity of tlie Elephant— Referred to iu the Bible— Mentioned in the Apocrypha— War Elephants
— Their Accoutrements- Hannibal's Elepliants— Elepli.ants amongst the Romans— Skull — Dentition— Vertebras-
Odd Delusion about its Legs -Proboscis— Specie.s— The Indian Elephant— Size— Range— Habits— Various Modes
of Capture— Kedd.ah— Used as a Lahom-er or Nurse— Sagacity— Wliite Elephants— THE AFRICAN Elephant—
Characteristics —Range— Habits and H.aunts— Hunting— Pitfalls — Aggageers Chasing — Elephant-Shooting — How
the Natives Cut it up— Fossil Elephants and their Allies— Absurd Stories— Mammoth— How it was first
Found— Stoi-y of the Fourth or Benkendorf's Discovery— Bange-MASTODON-DlNOTHERIUM . . . .273

ORDER HTRACOIDEA (CONIES).

What is the Coney ? -Mention in the Bible— General Appearance— Real Place— Range —Varieties— Coney of the Bible-
Cape Coney— Ashkoko of Abys.sinia— Mr. Winwood Reade's Account of the Habits of the Cape Coney— Skidl,
Dentition, Ribs, &c 292

ORDER UNGULATA (HOOFED QUADRUPEDS).
CHAI'TER I.

iLA — THE EQVID.Ti, OR HOUSE FAMILY.

Order UlfG ULA TA- Divisions— PBRISSODACTYL.V— Characteristics— Equidj:— Species— Descent— First Domestic
Horses in Europe— Used for Food— Mention of the Hoi-se in the Bible— War-Chariots— the Horse among the
Greeks and Romans— in Britain— Attempts to Improve the Breed — Colour — Teeth— " The Mark"— the Foot —
Skull— Disease from the Gad-fly — Race-Horse— Trotting Horse of America — Dray Hi irse— Shetland Pony-
Arab AND Barb — Persian Horse — Wild Horses in America— Habits — Byron's " Jhizeppn "—Capture and
Breaking in— WiLD Horses in Australia— The Ass— Species— Stripes— Characteristics— Mule axd Hinny—
Wild Ass of Tibet — Onager — Wild Ass of Abyssinia — Zebras — Burchell's Zebra — Quagga — Fossil
EQUID.E— Distribution— HiPPARiOK 1

CHAPTER II.

PEEISSODACTTLA THE TAPIR AND RHINOCEROS FAMILIES.

Introductory Remarks on the Tapirs— Foot — Anatomical Features— Skull— Compared with that of Hog — SkuU of Asiatic
Tapir— Proboscis— Dentition— Species of Tapir— The American Tapir— Habits— Colour— Modes of Hunting—
Docility— The Hairy Tapir— The Malayan T.iPiB— Fossil Tapirs -The Rhinoceroses— General Character-
istics-Is it the Refem of the Bible ?— Ludicrous Ideas respecting it— At Rome— First Rhinoceroses in Europe—
Skeletou—Skull—Horns— Curious Dental Law— Fore and Hind Limbs— Dentition — African Rhinoceroses —
"White" Rhinoceros— Oswell's Rhinoceros- Black Rhinoceros— Keitloa— Rhinoceros Bicornis Minor
—Hunting — Sir Samuel Baker's Extraordinary Chase— Gordon Cumming's Account of the Characteristics and
Habits of the Bl.ack and Wliite South African Rhinoceroses— Rhinoceros Birds— The Asiatic Rhinoceroses—
Clonnectiou between Dentition and Horns— The Indian Rhinoceros— An Inveter,ate Enemy of the Elephant—
The .Tavan Rhinoceros— The Sumatran Rhinoceros— The Hairy-Eared Rhinoceros— How a Specimen,
"BeguL>T."'wasC!aptured— The Fossil Rhinoceroses— The Extinct Families Pal»otherid;e and M.icraucheniadie 31?

CHAPTER Iir.

AETIODACTVLA — THE PIO OU HOG FAMILY. PAdE

Introductory Remarks on the Artiodactyla— Character of their Feet— The Wanting Digit— Comparison of the Bones of
the Fore Feet of Representative Animals— Other Characters in the Artiodactyla— Classification— SUIDjE, OR
HOG FAMILY — Groups of the Family— Snout— Sense of Smell — Libels— Mention in the Bible — Among the Jews
—Range— Teeth— The Wild Boar— General Featiu-es-Habits— Historical Mention— The Indian Hog— Habits
—A Wild Boar Hunt— A Noble Foe— The DoiMESTic Hog— The "Irish Greyhound Pig"— Effects of Domesti-
cation—The Solid-hoofed Breed of Pigs— Description of the Bones of Foot— Masked Pig— Bush Hog -
Babirusa-The Wart Hogs— ^Elian's Wart Hog— The Ethiopian Wart Hog— Peccaries -Habits— Dentition
—Feet— Species— The Fossil Hogs 335

CHAPTER IV.

artiodactyla- the HIPPOPOTAMI'S FAMILY.

Present Representatives— Two Species— The Common River Horse— (ieneral Appearance— Characteristics : Skin, Head,
Nostiils, Eyes, Ears, Legs, Tail, Mouth, Tusks, Denlition, Sktht.jn, St.jumch— Habits— Food— Under Water-
Behemoth of the Bible -Used in the Roman Sports— As described by the Ancient Naturalists — As portrayed
by the Ancient Artists— The First Hippopotamus in England— Subsequent Inmates of the Zoological Gardens
— Herds of Hippopotami— Harjioon for Hunting— Sir Samuel Baker's Accounts of Hippopotamus Hunts —
Various Methods of Capture —Occasional Fits of Bhnd Fury— A Night Attack upon a Diahbeeah— Uses of the
Hippopotamus- The Llberian HiPPoPor.,VMos— Fossil Forms— The Ahoplothebes ...... 348

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PIGE

The Queen's Lion Frontispiece.

Lion of Guzerat ....... 1

Upper View of Lion's Skull -t

Skeleton of Lion— Skeleton of Polar Bear . . o
Stomach of Lion— Brain of Dog — Longitudinal

Section through a Dog's Nose, showing the

Spongy Bones 7

Side View of Lion's Skull — Under View of Lion's

Skull 11

Tendons and Ligaments of a Cat's Toe— Lion's

Claw, Sheathed and Unsheathed . . . 1'2

Permanent Teeth of Lion— Milk Teeth of Lion . 13

Lion of Senegal , Ifi

Lion of Barbary 17

Lion and Lioness Attacking an Elephant . . 20

The Kiss of Peace .26

In the Jungle 32

The Tiger . .... To face patje 33

The Dying JLan-eater 33

A Tiger Hunt 37

The Leopard -11

The Jaguar .45

The Snow Leopard 48

The Ounce 49

The Clouded Tiger .50

The Ocelot 51

The Marbled Tiger-Cat ...... 52

Skull of Viverrine Cat . . . . . .53

The Long-tailed Tiger-Cat 54

The Margay ...... .55

The Jaguarondi 56

TheEyra 57

The Bay Cat 58

The Egyptian Cat 60

The Common Wild Cat 61

Teeth of Domestic Cat — Mummy of Egyptian Cat

— Skeleton of Domestic Cat . . . .62

The Domestic Cat 64

Angora Kittens . 65

Domestic Cats : a Study 69

The Common Lynx 72

The Canadian Lynx 73

The Caracal 74

Skull of Cheetah 76

The Cheetah 77

Skull of Hya;na— Teeth of Hvs'nn- Lower Jaw of

Hya.na ...:.... 79

Skeleton of Hysena 80

Teeth of Spotted Hyana 81

Hyfenas in an Arabian Cemetery . . . .83

Striped Hyasnas and Jackals . . To face p«ge 83

The Aard-Wolf 85

Skull of Aard-Wolf

Skeleton of Civet .

Teeth of Civet

The -African Civet .

The Lesser Civet .

Ichneumons .

The Common Paradoxure

The Binturong

Side View of Wolf's SkuU

Upper View of Wolf's Skull — Under View of

WoU's Skull— Teeth of Wolf-
Skeleton of Wolf .

Greyhounds [From an Egyptian Monuineiit)
Skull of Domestic Dog— Skull of Young Dog
Hare Indian Dog .
Eskimo Dogs ....
The Mastiff ....
The Black Retriever
Muscles of Dog's Head .
The Italian Greyhound .
The Greyhound ...
The Colley, or Sheep Dog
Newfoundland Dogs
The Pomeranian Dog
King Charles's Spaniels .

Poodles

St. Bernard Dogs .
Foxhounds ....
Head of Bloodhound

Pointers

Dachshounds, or Badgor-Dogs

The Bull Dog

The Tibet Dog

The Dingo ....

The Common Wolf .

Young Wolves

Coyote, or Prairie WoH .

The Jackal ....

The Jackal of Senegal .

The Common Fox .

Fennecs and Jerboas

TheHysenaDog .

Teeth of Polar Bear

Feet of Bear — Under View of Bear

The Common Brown Bear

The Grizzly Bear .

The Isabeliine, or Indian White Bear

The Malayan Sun Bear .

Polar Bears ....

The Sloth Bear

Polar Bears

Skull of Racoon-Half of Skull of Racoon

To fa,

page 135
. 136

. 137

To fa.

Tofae

Skull

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Racoon

The Coati— Skull of Kinkajou ....
SkuU of Cacomixlo — The Cucomixle

The Panda

Skeleton of Weasel .......

The Glutton

The Sable

The Common Weasel

The Weasel and the Ermine in their Winter

. Clothing

Skull of Polecat— The Polecat— The Ferret .

The Grison

The Eatcl

The Badger To face page

The Skunk

Under View of Skull of Common Otter— Side View

of Skull of Common Otter ....

Common Otters

Side View of Skull of Sea Otter— Under View of

Skidl of Sea Otter

Female Sea Otter Swimming on her Back with

Young in her Arms

The Sea Otter

SkuU of Maeha^rodus

SkuU of Arctocyon — Lower Jaw of Hyienodou
SkuU of Proviverra — The Cynogale

The Slangue

The Suricate

Skeleton of Otaria in the Attitude of Walking
t'liper Surface of Brain of Otaria — Tongue and

Parts Back of Mouth of Otaria
Head of Walrus— Skull and Dentition of Walrus .

Walruses on the lee

Sea Lion Tu fncc page

Ear of Otaria— Teeth of Otaria . . " .
Diagram of a Vertical Section of ' the Skin of the

Fur Seal

" Rookery " of Fur Seals

A Seal Fight

Sea Lions on the Farallone Islands

Palate of Hooker's Sea Bear — Palate of Patagonian

Sea Lion

Sea Lion Dozing on his Back — Sea Lion Fast

Asleep — Sea Lion Climbing — Sea Lion in

Watchful Attitude — Sea Lion Licking his Leg

— Sea Lion Scratching with Hind Foot .
The FaUsland Island Fur Seal ....
Left Fore and Hind Flipper of New Zi-aland Fur Seal
Hind Flippers of Ringed Seal ....

Teeth of Common Seal— Skileton of Seal

The Ringed Seal

Eskimo Hunters at an Atluk, waiting for a Seal

Saddle-backs on the Ice

The Crested Seal

Teeth of the Crested Seal

The Elephant Seal

Sea Leopard Seals

Teeth of the Sea Leopard

Stomach of Pilot Whale— Upper Surface of the

Brain of the Porpoise

Interior View of Larj-nx of Risso's Grampus —

Skeleton of Sperm Whale
Restoration of SkuU and Tooth of Zeuglodon .

Side and Upper Views of SkuU; Rearward and

Forward Tooth of Young of Gangetio Dolphin 248
The Gangetic Dolphin— FUpper of G^ngetic Dol-
phin 249

Headof Mesoploduiv . . . . . .2.51

A Tooth of the Sperm Whale 2.32

The Sperm Whale 253

The Caaing, or Pilot Whale 255

Risso's Grampus 256

Shoal of Porpoises . . . . . .257

The KiUer Whale, or Orea— The Bottle-Nose Dol-
phin 258

Dolphins Pui-suing a Boat . . . . . 259

The Narwhal 260

Narwhal with the two Tusks Developed . . .261
Median Section showing Inside Left Half of SkuU

of Whalebone Whale, with Baleen in Position 262
The Greenland or Right \^^lale . To face page 26S
Views to illustrate Position and Structure of Baleen 263

Hai-poon 265

Hump-back Whale Suckling her Young . . 266

Conunon Rorqual ....... 267

Skeleton of Manatee 268

Manatees .271

Mounted Skeleton of Halithcrium .... 272

Skeleton of Indian Elephant 273

Section of SkuU of Indian Elephant . . .275
Side View of Molar Tooth of Indian Elephant-
Last Lower Tooth of African Elephant — Last
Lower Tooth of Indian Elephant . .276

Trunk or Proboscis of Elephant . . . .277

The Indian Elephant 279

Elephant in the Zoological Gardens, London . . 281

The African Elephant 283

Aggageers Hunting an Elephant .... 285

Skeleton of Mammoth 288

The JIammoth (/et-iioiW) 291

Conies 293

SkuU of Coney — Dentition of Coney . . . 294
The Kiang, or Wild Ass of Tibet .... 295
The Tarpan ....... 290

Wild Horse of Tartary 297

Dentition of Horse — Vertical Section of Incisor of

Horse 300

Incisors and Canines of Horse and Mare — Bones of

Fore and Hind Limbs of Horse . . .301

Skeleton of Horse 302

Brain of Horse 303

The English Race-Horse 304

Shetland Ponies 305

English Dray Horse, from the Stud of Jlessrs.

Barclay, Perkins, & Co. . . To face page 307

The Arab Horse 307

The Domestic Ass 310

The Onager 311

The Wild Ass of Abyssinia 312

Zebra 313

BureheU's Zebra 314

The Quagga 315

Fore and" Hind Foot of Tapir— SkuU of American

T.apir 317

Head of Malayan Tapir, showing Muscles of Short

Trunk and Face— Teeth of Malayan Tapir .318

NA TURA L HIHTOR Y.

American Tapirs 319

The Malayan Tapir 320

Skeleton of the Rhinoceros 323

Femur of Rhinoceros— Dentition of Rhinoceros . 324

The " White " Rhinoceros 325

The Keitloa 326

The Rhinoceros Hunt 328

Rhinoceros To face pay e 329

Front and Side Views of Head of Sumatran

Rhinoceros 330

The Indian Rhinoceros ... ... 331

The Hairy-eared Rhinoceros 333

Skull of Fossil Rhinoceros 334

Bones of the Left Fore Limb of Common Pig,
African Deerlet, Javan Deerlet, Roebuck,
Common Sheep, and Camel .... 335

Dentition of WUd Boar 338

The Wild Boar 339

Domestic Sow and Young 341

Head of Domestic Pig— Head of Wild Boar

— Slilk Dentition of Pig — Irish Greyhound

rig . ■ 342

Bones of Pig's Foot— Foot of Solid-hoofed Pig . 343
The Masked Pig— The Bush Hog . . . .344

The Babirusa 34.5

Skull of the Ethiopian Wart Hog— The Ethiopian

Wart Hog 34C

The Peccary — Dentition of Peccary . . 347

Hippopotami in a Meadow by the Senegal . . 348
Base of Skull of Hippopotamus — Lower Jaw of

Hippopotamus — Stomach of Hippopotamus . 349

The Common Hippopotamus 352

The Hiijpopotamus . . . To fucf pa(je 'ibZ
Hunting Hippopotami with the Harpoon . . 353
Hippopotami at the Falls of the River Senegal . 356
The Anoplothere Restored 360

CASSELL'S NATURAL HISTORY.

THE CARNIVORA.
CHAPTER I.

INTBODUCTORY REMARKS — THE CAT FAMILY.

Carnivora— Division into Terrestrial (Fissipedia) and Aquatic (Pinnipeilia)— Introductory Remarks on the Fisstf £Di a —
Theii- Relations to Man and to other Animals— Their Distribution over the Surface of the Globe—Theii- Stnictrire—
The Diversity of their Fonn and Habits— Their Division into Lesser Groups— The Cat Family— Their Geogiaphical
and Chronological Distribution -Their Skeleton— The Peculiarities of their Skull, Teeth, &c.

THE Carnivora, or flesh-eating Mammals, form a fourtli order of the MammaUa, and are di\ided
into two gi-eat gi'oups, or sub-orders as they are called by zoologists, one terrestrial, and the
Other aquatic. The first is the group of the Fissipedia, or " split-feet," so called from the fact that
the feet are divided into well-marked toes ; the second is the gi-oup of the Pinnipedia, or " fin-feet "
(Seals, ifce.), so called from the fact that the toes are bound together by skin, fonning fins or
fii[>pej-s rather than feet.

THE LAND CARNIVORA.*
This gi-oup, which comprises all the gi-eat " beasts of prey," is one of the most compact, as well as
one of the most interesting among the Mammalia. So many of the animals contained in it have

I4b

■ Fissipcdii

2 NATURAL UISTORY.

become " familiar in our mouths as household words," bearing as thej' do an important part in fable, in
travel, and even in history : so many of them are of such wonderful beauty, so many of such terrilile
ferocity, that no one can fail to be interested in them, even apart from the fact likely to influence us
more in theii^/avour than any other — that the two home pets which of all others are the commonest
and the most interesting belong to the group.

No one who has had a Dog friend, no one who has watched the wonderful instance of maternal
love afforded by a Cat with her kittens, no one who loves riding across country after a Fox, no
lady with a taste for handsome furs, no boy who has read of Lion and Tiger hunts, and has longed
to emulate the doughty deeds of the hunter, can fiiil to be interested in an assemblage which furnishes
animals at once so useful, so beautiful, and so destructive.

It must not be supposed from the name of this group that all its member.^ are exclusively flesh-
eaters— and, indeed^it will be hardly necessary to warn the reader against falling into this mistake, as
there are few people who have never given a Dog a biscuit, or a Bear a bun. Still, both the Dog and
several kinds of Bears prefef flesh-meat when they can get it ; but there are some Bears which live
almost exclusively on fruit, and are therefore in strictness not carnivorous at all. The name must,
however; be taken as a sort of general title for a certain set of animals which have certain charactera
in common, and which differ from all other animals in pai-ticular ways.

Comparatively few of the flesh-eaters are of direct use to man, at any rate while alive, yet one
member of the group — the Dog — is the most useful of all domestic quadrupeds, though derived from
one of the most savage of all — the Wolf The Ferret, the Cheetah and the Cat are also more or less
domesticated ; but they come far below the Dog ill amiable qualities, and in value to man. Below
their value in service comes the use of their nio.st beautiful skins : and still lower down the scent,
derivabl? from a few species. Yet from these two last soiu'ces our ftiir ones seek to derive new charms,
not heeding the poet Cowley's quaint objurgation :— - _

"The adorning tliee with so muth art
la but a dangerous skill ;
Like to the poisoning of a dart.
Too apt, before, to Icill."

Most of the Carnivora may be looked upon as man's natural enemies, for he has no chance of
making headway unless he can keep " the beast of the field " from " increasing upon him." Amongst
primaeval men, the tribes who made the best weapons to keep off" these, the destroyers of their families,
were certain to succeed best in the struggle for existence, so that the act of sharpening a flint-stone
to repel the attack of some wild beast may be said to have prepared the way for civilisation, for flint
knives led to Ijronze hatchets, bronze hatchets to axes and hammers of iron, and when once iron-
working was understood and appreciated, civilisation went on with gigantic strides.

Besides acting as one of the severest of schoolmasters in the hard school of adversity in which
man has been trained, the flesh-eaters serve to keep in check, and indirectly to bring to perfection, the
grass-eating tribes. Upon these — the Oxen, Antelopes, Wild Asses, tfec^the large Carnivora delight to
■prey ; in so doing they have to put forth all their powers, their agility, strength, and cunning, while
the Herbivores, at the same time, have acquired caution and swiftness of foot in the highest degi-ee, in
order to escape from their ruthless and implacable destroyers.

While the lai-ger beasts of prey keep in check the troops of great hoofed animals, the smaller
kinds, such as Cats and Ferrets, have a most important office in thinning the constantly multi-
plying ranks of gnawing animals, such as Rats and Mice, which would otherwise prove a plague
of tlie worst description. Indirectly, too, our Carnivora may even influence largely the spread
of certain kinds of vegetation : for instance, as Mr. Darwin has shown, where there are no
Cats there is no clover ! This seems strange, not to say fabulous, but it is known that clover
will only flourish when there are plenty of Humble-bees, the only insects able to carry the fer-
tilising pollen from flower to flower, and so ensure a good supply of seed for the next crop. Now,
Field Mice are particularly hostile to Humble-bees, knowing quite well where to find their nests and
combs, and how to get at their honey, of which they are very fond. Thus, where Field Mice exist in
great numbers. Humble-bees will be comparatively few. But Mice are chiefly kept down by Cats, and

GEXEUAl HEMAKKS OX THE LANV VAliXlVUKA. 3

SO the end of this biological " house that Jack built " is that to ensure a good crop of clover it is
advisable to have plent}' of Cats about !

The conceptiou of the fearful struggle for existence going on between beast and beast luis been
caught by Shakspere in a wonderful passage in his " Timon of Athens." Apemantus would " give
the world to the beasts to be rid of the men," whereupon Timon asks him whether he would have
himself " fall in the confusion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts." Apemantus answers in
the affirmative, and Timon's rejoinder is as follows : " A beastly ambition, which the gods grant
thee to attain to ! If thou wert the Lion, the Fox would beguile thee : if thou wert the Lamb,
the Fox would eat thee : if thou wert the Fox, the Lion would suspect thee, when, peradventure, thou
wert accused by the Ass : if thou wert the Ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and still thou
livedst but as a breakfast to the Wolf : if thou wert the "Wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft
thou shouldst hazard thy life for thy diiuier : wert thou the Unicorn, pride and wrath would confound
thee, and make thine own self the conquest of thy fury : wert thou a Bear, thou wouldst be killed by
the Horse : wert thou a Horse, thou wouldst be seized by the Leopard : wert thou a Leopard, thou wert
german to the Lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life : all thy safety were remotion,
and thy defence, absence." To learn the tinith of these words, one has only to turn to any liook of travel
in Africa or India, where one is certain to read of a wholesale destruction which it is melancholy to think of.
In Great Britain this conflict is a thing of the past ; but two terrible enemies of man even there
have been extirpnted within the historic period — namely, the Wolf and the Bear ; of these and of
their extirpation ^^ e shall speak when we come to describe those types. Now, happily, these greedy
C'arnivora are ■' scattered and peeled — meted out and trodden down." Far in the north of the island
there is tiie wild Oat , the two Martens are becoming scarcer and scarcer ; the Badger is found here
am! there ; the Polecat is rare ; so tliat the Fox, the Stoat, and the Weasel — the last being the very
least and meanest of the order — alone are common.

But in the later geological epoch — prehistoric as to us — the nobler types abounded, and Great
Britain wa3 then as much the land of savage beasts as Africa and India are now.

The Carnivora are fotind all over the world, from the equator to the poles : in most parts of the
globe they are abundant, the great exception being the Australian region of zoological geogi-aphy,
namely, the immense island of Au.stralia, which can only boast of a Dog, doubtfully native, and New
Zealand and the adjacent Polynesian Islands, which are quite devoid of members of the group, the
native Dog of New Zealand having probably been recently introduced.

Many forms have become extinct, and, as we shall see when we come to speak of these Iiygone
creatures, the lower we dig in the strata which compose the rocks of which our earth is made, the
lower do the tyi)es become, that is to say, among the extinct Carnivora we have no animals so perfectly
constructed for flesh-eating as the Cat family, for instance, but the various kinds get nearer and nearer,
the lower we go, to what may be called the general plan of Mammalian structure, and farther and
farther from the special type of structure found m the higher Cai-nivores of the present day.

There i.s considerable range of size among the various members of the group, the Lion and Tiger
being the lai'gest, the Weasel and Suricate the smallest. As to their habits, the Carnivora are very
varied ; lea^dng out as we do for the present the fin-footed Seals, Sea Bears, and Walruses, we yet have
the semi-aquatic Otter and the Enhydra, or Sea Otter, both at home in the watery element, and most
expert swimmers and divers ; but for the most part the flesh-eaters are inhabitants of the copse, the
jungle, and the forest. Many are nimble climbers, some are arboreal in their habits, living entirely
in trees, and most are crepuscular, that is, hunt their prey after dusk.

As to their diet, we mentioned above that they are by no means all flesh-eaters ; in fact there is
every gradation from those which live exclusively on animal food, such as the Lion, Tiger, <tc., to the
purely herbivorous kinds of Bear. Some again, such as the Cat family, seem to prefer flesh-meat, others,
such as the Otter, adopt a Lenten diet, and feed on fish or eggs. This matter, however, is, of course,
largely determined by the habitat of the animal, those whose habitation is inland being compelled
to devour land animals, whUe those living by the sea or by river-banks usually take to fish either
occasionally or as a regular thing.

Turning to the stnioture of the group, one of the first tilings that .strikes us is the looseness of
their skin, which, instead of being stretched on the body as tightly as a drum parchment, as it is in

NATURAL HISTORY.

grass-eaters — for instance, the Ox or Hippopotamus — is quite " baggj," lia-\iug between it and tlie flesh
of the beast a hiyer of the loosest possible tibre^s. It is for tliLs reason that the skin of "any but a very
fat Dog can be pinched up so readily, while of a Herbivore it may be said, in the words of eulogy uttered
by Mr. Squeers of his son Wackford, " Here's firmness, here's solidness ! why j^ou can hardly get up
enougli of him between your fingers and thumb to pinch him anywheres." In consequence of this the
operation of skiiniing a Lion or Bear is a comparative!}- ea.sy one. After the first cut the beast may bo
pulled out of his skin, almost without further use of the knife ; whOe with an Antelope or an Ox the
skin has to be cut away carefully and laboriously from the underlying flesh.

The use of this loose skin will be very evident to any one who will take the trouble to watch
the great Cats playing together at the Zoological Gardens. They are continually scratching one
another, but the loose skin is dragged round by the claws which, in consequence, can get no hold,
and do no harm ; with a tight skin, on the other hand, the slightest sci-atch of such a claw as a Tiger's
would cause a serious wound. The looseness of the skin is very evident in the Puma and Jaguar, in
which it hangs in a fold along the middle of the belly, like a gi-eat dewlap.

In the Carnivora the skeleton, or bony framework of the body, attains its utmost perfection, both
as a tissue and as machinery. Its tissue is, dense, white, and ivory-like, every bone is exquisitely
moulded and polished, so that there are few more beautiful objects of study than a well-prepared Cat's
skeleton, and almost none more instructive or better calculated to give an idea of the perfection of
" animal mechanics." The flexibility and strength of the spine, the exquisite fitting of its joints, the

small head capable of being turned in
almost any direction in the search for
prey or the avoidance of danger, the
wonderful ari'angement of levers afforded
by the limbs, which exhibit at once the
gi-eatest amount of strength and the
greatest amount of elasticity, all combine
to fill the mind with wonder and admii-a-
tion, as great as that excited by the most
perfect work of art or the most stupendous
phenomenon of inanimate nature.

The skull of nearly all Carnivora is
distinguished from that of most other
Mammals by its immense strength, and
its evident adaptation to the habits of its
])Ossessor — to the effective seizing and
viTEK VIEW OF i.iun's SKILL. dcvouriug of livlug prcy. It is remark-

able for the immense rougliened bony
ridges, developed in many parts of it, which serve for the attachment of the mighty jaw-muscles,
the great size of which causes an increase in the width of the bony jurjal arch extending from
under the eye to just in front of the ear. Another point worthy of notice is the gi-eat .shortening
of the jaws, or of the facial in relation to the cranial portions of the .skull. In this respect
Carnivores, especially the most typical forms, the Cats, are very markedly distinguished from
Herbivores, in which the brain-ease is small and the face immensely prolonged. This has to do
with the tlifferent kind of food used by the two gi'oups — that of vegetable-eaters requii-ing long
grinding, that of flesh-eaters powerful mincing. Connected also with this same function of masti-
cation is the fonn of the con/hjle, or bony projection of the lower jaw, by which it moves on
the skull, and of the smooth sui-face of the latter which receives it. These are in Carnivora greatly
elongated transversely, and narrowed from before backwards, so that no motion from side to side, but
only an up-and-down motion, is possible. The liigher Carnivora, therefore, cannot chew or gi-iixl theii-
food, but only mince it, their sharp teeth acting exactly like scissor-blades. In the interior of the skuli
Khould be noticed a large plate of bone which extends inwards and separates the great brain, or
cerebnim, from the lesser brain, or cerebellum, and prevents the jaiTing of that important organ
likely to arise from the animal's vigorous movements.

SKELETON OF THE LAXD CARXIVVRA.

In the spine, or vertebral column, there is not much to notice beyond the great size of the first
two vertebras, or those which support the head, and the development of strong spines or processes for
the attachment of muscles.

In the limbs there are certain points of considerable interest and importance. If a Bear and a
Lion be watched while walking, a great difference will be obser\ed in their gait : the Bear's movements
are far clumsier and less spi-iiigy than those of the Lion. A little further observation will show that
this is due, chiefly, to the mamier in which their feet are set on the limbs, for it will be seen that the
Bear keeps the sole of his foot flat on the ground, and, as his foot is very large, he has something of
the awkward, sprawling movement of a man walking in shoes too big for him. The Lion, on the other
hand, has his wrist and his heel lifted well above the gi'ound, and so walks, not on the sole of his foot,
but on his toes, the under surfaces of which are furnished with beautifully soft leathery pads, so as to
ensure a soft, silent footstei>. Then what looks like the knee of a Lion, Cat, or Dog is really his wrist.

SKELETON Or T(JL

G yATVUAL HISTORY.

and what looks like a backward turned knee in Lis liind leg is his heel, the trae elbow and knee bein;^
almost hidden by the skin.

The reason of this arrangement is seen by looking at the skeletons of the two animals. In tin-
Bear the metacarpals and metatarsals, or live long bones extending between the wrist and the
ankle respectively, and the joints of the toes, are kept m a horizontal position, as in ourselves ;
in the Lion, on the contrary, the metacarpals and metatarsals are lifted almost into a vertical
position, the walking surface being now afforded by the under surface of the toe-bones, or pha-
lano-e.s. By reason of this the Lion gets an extra lever in his leg, in addition to the two levers
which the Bear possesses, namely, those afforded by the bones of the arm and fore-ann and of the
thigh and leg respectively ; and consequently his springiness is greatly increased. An animal which
walks like the Bear, on the sole of its foot, is said to be plantiyrade : one which walks on its fingers,
like the Lion, Cat, or Dog, is called digitigrade.

As in all animals in which the fore limbs are used for support, and not for prehension, the
collar-bone, or clavicle, is either wholly absent or quite rudimentary, and the fore limb has there-
fore no bonv connection with the trunk, but is attached simply by muscles and ligaments. The
Carnivores, in leaping or running, often come down with their whole weight upon the fore legs,
and if a large bony clavicle, like that of a Monkey or Bat, were present, it would infallibly Ije
broken.

The bones are all strongly bound together by elastic bauds, or ligaments, and are covered by the
gi-piit tibi'ims masses, or muscles, which, forming as they do the flesh, take the chief share in giving to
eaili .1111111:11 lis characteristic shape. Thesfe muscles are, in most instances, attached to the bones by
stiiinu I 11 Is (11- bands resembling the ligaments, and called tendons. The bones being, in great measm'e,
articulated or jointed to one another by smooth sitrfaces, sometimes flat, sometimes round, sometimes
pulley-like, act as levers. The muscles are usually attached at one end to a fixed at the other to a
movable bone ; when they act, by shortening in length and widening in diameter, they make the more
movable bone to turn upon the other. In this way they cause the limbs to be straightened or bent, the
jaws to be opened or .shut, the claws extended or retracted, and perform all the other movements of which
the animal is capable. The development of the muscles in the larger Carnivora is wonderfully great.
A Lion will kill an Ox with a blow of his paw, and drag it off to his lair as easily as his humble
relation, the Cat, disposes of a Rat or Mouse.

We now have to consider a most important series of organs — the organs of alimentation or nutri-
tion ; those, in fact, which serve the purposes of taking in, preparing, and digesting the food. They
are the mouth with its tongue, teeth, and salivary glands, the gullet, stomach, and intestines, with
the liver, and sweetbread, or pancreas.

We are all familiar in ourselves with four kinds of teeth, namely (1), the " incisors," or cutting
teeth, in front ; (2), the " canines," the pointed eye-teeth that come next ; (3), the "false grmders," or
"premolars ;" and (4), the true grinders, or " molars." Man has a very even and full-mouthed series ;
the Carnivora, on the other hand, posse.ss a most in-egular series, and in this series there are
certain gaps or interspaces. Our own even orderly set is best adapted for a mixed diet, that has for
the most part undergone a great amount of change by cooking. But the Carnivora, in their wild
state, must eat flesh raw, and for the mosb pai't reeking, and this has to be torn from the conquered
prey. So that the teeth have to be applicable to the first, or destructive process, and then to the
tearmg to pieces of the fleshy substance, and the scraping of the bones ; they may even have to cru.sh
the bones themselves, the moi-e spongy parts serving for food ; and, greatest feat of all, to break
the hardest long bones for the succulent marrow.

The mode of feeding and the form and number of the teeth of necessity correspond : tearing aw)
gnawing are processes that need teeth like knives and scissors, while grindiiig or chewing requii-e
teeth like millstones. Both these kinds exist in the Beai-. In the Dog the crushing teeth become
less in size and importance ; in the Lion they are suppressed, and all the teeth have a cutting
character, their number being at the same time much reduced.

The teeth are often all that remains of certain extinct creatures ; they are, therefore, a most
important part of the anatomy of an animal, as well as being of great service in the matter 01
classification or grouping. They are the hardest of all the organs; then- relation to the food of the

lyiEKXAL Ay.iTUMY OF TIIE LAXI) CAUXIVORA.

species, and tbeir necossaiy correljition to the digestive organs, makes tliem serve as a key to the rest

of tlie creature's structure, wliicli structure is in absolute

harmony witli its habits and daily life.

The tongue is covered with horn;/ projections oi

papillte, and in the Cat tribe serves as a rasp to rub ind

scrape off the sraaller fragments of flesh from the bones

The stomach is ahvays simple, that is, consists of a bagpipe

like cavity not divided into compartments, as in the

Ruminants and some other animals. A great difleienee

from herbivorous animals is also seen in the length of the

intestine. As the food is of a highly nourishing nature it

requires less time for its digestion, and a smaller suiface

for its absorption into the blood, and the intestine is theiefoie lemaikablj shoit — not moie than tlnee

times the length of the body in the Lion and Wild Cat, instead of being fifteen to thirty times the

length, as in some vegetable feeders. The Carnivora have, therefore, the manifest advantage of a more

compact and smaller "bawel" than the Herbivora,
and, in consequence, have less weight to carry, and
are slim and slender-waisted.

As might naturally be expected, the organs by
■which the blood, loaded with nourishment from the
digestive canal, is cai-ried to all parts of the body, are
well developed. The heart, if not " as hard as the
nether millstone," is yet compact and strong in the
highest degree : the cu-culation is vigorous, and the
result is seen in great courage and astonishing powers
of endurance.
I'.uAiN 111- ixio. In the lungs, with the wilidpipe and larynx, in

which the multitudinous cries of the group — barks,

howls, roars, and whines — are produced, there is nothing to merit any special mention.

The brain of Camivoi-a is, as a nile, remarkably large and well formed, in conformity with their

high degi-ee of intelligence. Its surface is

thrown into well-marked ridges with inter-
vening depressions, and presents a great con-
trast with the almost smooth brain of a Shrew

or a Hedgehog. From it are given off nerves

to the tongue, teeth, skin, muscles, and other

parts of the head, as well as some to organs

at a considerable distance from the head, as

the heart, lungs, and stomach, and, most

important of all, three pairs of nerves, one

for each of the organs of the higher senses—

the nose, eye, and ear.

The two nerves of smell pass through a

beautifully-perforated bone — hence called the

" sieve-bone," or ethmoid — and proceed one

on each side of a bony and gristly wall
which divides the two nasal chambers from

one another, to a delicate membrane covering

a pail- of bones of wonderful complexity — a

labyi-inth which must he seen to be under-
stood, for the lieautiful manner in which

it enfolds itself can hardly be imagined.

These " spongy-bones," as they are called, the membrane covering

■ nlsal fhaiuber

forms the true orijan of

8 NATURAL HISTOHT.

smell, lie in the upper and hinder part of each nasal canity, but in front of them is a large
scroll of bone, also covered by a membrane of exquisite sensitiveness, but not taking cognisance
of odours. This anti-chamber, as it were, of the nose, is extremely sensitive, and its sensibility is
a safeguard against intrusive dust, and deadly disease-germs. It is the sneexhig region, and is the
natui-al and most careful porter of the gates of the breath.

Tlie way in which the eyes of the Camivoi-a are set in their head indicates their habits of life.
Tliey look straight forward, and are expressive, in the nobler kinds, of the energy and cruelty of their
o^vner's disposition. As in many of the Lemurs, the eye possesses what is called a tapetum, a sort of
reflecting mirror in the bottom of the eye, which redoubles, as it were, the faint rays of evening,
evidently a very important thing for these, mostly nocturnal, animals.

The sense of hearing is as perfect as that of sight ; not, perhaps, in the higher, musical sense of
the word, but for catching the faintest and feeblest undulations of the air. The Mole is supposed to
be most sharp of hearing; but it is a question whether he is quicker of hearing than his cruel
neighbour the Rabbit-killing Weasel. Any one who has watched a Cat sittijig demurely by a Mouse-
hole, or a Terrier on the look out for a Rat, will give these Carnivores credit for the most acute sense
of sound. Anatomy corroborates what simple observation suggests, and the internal as well as
external organs of heai-ing in the Carnivora are most exquisitely perfect.

Many members of the group live in families, that is, a male and female %\-itli their young form a
little coterie by themselves, and associate very little with other families. Very few live in gi-eat
.societies or herds, after the manner of the gi-ass-eating animals, such as Oxen, Antelopes, or Wild
Horses, but an exception to this is afforded by the Wild Dogs of Constantinople, which roam the
streets in great numbers, and by Wolves, which invariably hunt in packs.

The Dogs and Wolves, besides being gi-egarious, resemble the Herbivora in another and far less
amiable characteristic, that is, they do not choose a mate for life or even for a season, but let their
affections run ^vild and practise the most unmitigated polygamy and polyandry. Many of the larger
Cats, on the contraiy — the Lion, for instance — choose a mate, to whom they are wonderfully
faithful.

The young are always born in a comparatively helpless conilition, not able to run about at once
like a new-born Calf or Foal ; they are generally blind for some time after birth, and are entirely
dependent on the mother for food and warmth.

Tlie higher Carnivora are most kind parents, and to the best of their ability, educate their young.
This was well known to the ancients : Ezekiel the prophet (xix. 2, .3) gives this character of the Lioness
in inimitable language : " What is thy mother ] A Lioness : she lay down among Lions, she nou-
rished her whelps among yoimg Lions. And she brought up one of her whelps : it became a young
Lion, an(^ it learned to catch the prey ; it devoured men." All writers bear mtness to the painstakifig
way in which the parent Lion or Tiger trains up its young and practises them for their trade of
slaughter. Sometimes both parents, sometimes only one, go out with theii- offspring, and by example
and precept show them the safest places to hide, the proper moment to spring, the best place to
seize the victim, and so on. And the future tyrants are very apt, they thoroughly enjoy their
.schooling, and make the best possible use of their opportunities ; so much so that the young of the
gi-eat Cats are far more dreaded than the old ones, as they not only kill to satisfy hunger, but commit
wholesale slaughter, simply for practice and to keep their paws in.

The diversity of form and structure in the group of land Carnivora is very great. We find, as
in the groups we have considered previously, many different kinds or species, amongst which are
creatures so different as the great and powerful Lion and the small and insignificant Weasel, the active
Tiger and Jaguar, and the lazy Glutton. Tliese S])ecies, as very little observation shows us, naturally
fall into certain larger gi-oups or genera, having important characteristics in common ; for in.stance, the
Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, Lynx, and all the small Cats, are so much like one another, and so
different from all other animals, as to be put in the one genus Felis, which is distinguished by
having retractile claws, and by being quite devoid of true grinding teeth. Again, the Dog and
Wolf have so many points in common, that they are placed in the single genus Canis, the Dog
being called Canis fainilia,ris, the Wolf Canis Inpus. If a number of genera are found to
agree pretty clo.sely with one another in essential matters, they are grouped into a family ; thus

CLASHIFICATWX OF CARXIVOliA. 9

we have the family Mustefldce, which iucludes not only the Weasel (Mta-tela), but a uuinbei-
of other genera, such as the Otter, Badger, Skunk, and many others. Furthermore, the
families are conveniently grouped into sub-ordert<, accorduig to characters considered to be of
greater impoi"tance than those which determine genera or families. We may roughly compare
this method of grouping to the way in which the soldiers in an army are arranged. Thus, individual
men — corresponding to species — are arranged in companies, which we may take to represent genera ;
several companies are united into a regiment, just as a number of genera are united into a family ; a
greater or less number of regiments go to form a battalion, in the same way as the families go to fonu
a sub-oi-der ; and, lastly, two or three battalions constitute an aiiny, which is the complete assemblage,
and coiTesponds, in our rough illusti-ation, to an orJet:

We supj)Ose that nine persons out of ten, if asked to give three common examples of land
C'ai-uivores, would, almost without hesitation, name the Cat, the Dog, and the Bear. The most
accomplished naturalist would be unable to give a better answer to this question, as those three well-
known animals are types of the thi-ee primary sections into which the whole sub-order is divided,
:ind which may, in fact, be termed respectively the groups of the Cats, Dogs, and Beai-s. It must be
borne in mind, however, that the words are here used in the broadest and most general sense, for the
group of " Cats " includes not only the animals properly so-called, but also the Civets, Ichneumons,
Hysenas, whilst amongst " Bears" are gi-ouped Racoons, Otters, Badger's, Weasels, and many others.

It will, perhaps, be as well to give the scientific names for these three grouj^s which we have,
most unscientifically, called Cats, Dogs, and Bears. We have first the JEliiroidea,* or Cat-like
animals; next the Cjjnoidea,\ or Dog-like animals; and, lastly, the Arctoidea,\ or Bear-like animals.
We also give below a list of the families of land Carnivores aiTanged under their respective sections,
with the most important forms belonging to each famOy ; as such a ILst will, iai all probability,
be useful for reference. §

The siilitting up of our fle.sh-eaters into these sections is not an arbitrai-y matter, but is deter-
mined by certain definite anatomical characters, one of the chief of which is the structure of the base of
the skull. Tliese matters wUl, however, be better discussed under the various families, when we shall
also devote a short time to that very imjiortant branch of anatomy, the form, number, and ariunge-
ment of the teeth.

THE CAT FAMILY. j!

This is the chief of the families of Carnivora, contauiing as it does all the great bea.sts of prey. Its
members are the most perfectly constiticted of animals for a life of rapine ; then- weapons — teeth and
claws — attaui the utmost degree of perfection, and their elegant fonn, silent movements, and often
beautiful colouring, make them in every respect the culminating forms of the flesh-eating group,
and one of the chief of the upper branches of the great Manmialian tree.

* From the Greek, atKovfios, a Cat, and tZoos. form. f From kvuv. a Uog. X From S^ktos, a Bear.

§ Section I. — ^lueoidea (Cat-like animals).
FamUy 1. Felida: (the Cat family).

Examples: Cat, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Jagiiar, Puma, Ocelot, Serval, Lynx, Cheetah, &c.
Family 2. Hyisnidoi (the Hyajna family), contains the Hyaenas only.
Family 3. Crijptoproctida;, the Cryptoprotta only.
Family 4. Protdidce, the Aard-Wolf only.
FamUy 5. Viverridce (the Civet famUy).

Kiamples : Ciret, Genette, Ichneumon, Suricate, Binturong, ic.

Section II.— Cykoidea (Dog-like animals).

Family 6. Canida: (the Dog family).

Examples: Dog, Wolf, Fox.

Section III. -Akctoidea (Bear-like animals).

Family 7. Ursidai (the Bear family).

Examples : The various kinds of Bear.
Family 8. Procyonida: (the Racoon family).

Examples : Eacoon, Coati, Kinkajou, Cacomi.xle.
Family 9. Atlurida, contains the Panda only.
Family 10. Mustelidce (the Weasel family) .

Examples ■ AVeasel, Stoat, Ferret, Badger, Skunk, Ratel, Glutton, Marten, Polecat, Otter.
II Fdidw.

10 NATURAL HISTORY.

Both the Old and New World are well stocked witli Cats. Everywhere tiiey are the con-e-
lates, geographically speaking, of the beautiful forms of the Herbivora, and are their natural check-
mates in the earth-peopling process. Their terrible office is to cull out the surplus number
of Goats, Antelopes, Deer, O.xen, and Shee]3 ; they also are not good neiglibours to the Monkey
tribes, nor to Rats, Cavies, Hares, Squirrels, and other gnawing animals. The smaller Cats also
add feathered game to their diet. Everywhere they are the terror of woodland and of field, of plain
and of forest. All are of the kindred of the Lion, and, like him, all " go about, seeking whom they
may devour."

Man has half tamed one of the smallest — we say ludf tamerl for does not tlie demon that
possesses all Cats still only slumber in the heart of the tamest domestic variety ] As for the Hunting
Leopard, he is deceived in the sei-vices he renders, and, in his own mind, is hunting for himself, and
not for his master.

It is only necessary to mention the animals belonging to this noble family of " gentlemen
caterers " to assure oneself that in it are contained the best known, the most skilled, the most perfectly
armed of all the Carnivorous order. We have the Wild Cats existing under many forms nearly all
over the world, the Lion the great tyrant of Africa, the Tiger the de.spot of India, the Puma and
Jaguar taking their place in America, the Leopard helping the work of the Lion and Tiger in Africa
and Asia, the Lynxes found in both Old and New Worlds, and the Cheetah, or Hunting Leopard of
Asia and Africa. To these need only be added the Wolf, Hyasna, and Bear, to exhaust the list of
" beasts of prey " in the ordinary accejjtation of the term, that is, of beasts which are dangerous to
man, for we " lords of creation " are not sufficiently generous to include under the term beasts of
equal cruelty which prey on the lower animals.

By most naturalists all these animals are grouped together under the single genus Felis, which
is thus said to include a great number of species, as Felis leo (the Lion), Felis tiyris (the Tiger),
Felis catus (the wild Cat), «fec. It is very usual to separate from the rest the Hunting
Leopard, and make it constitute by itself a distinct genus, Cymdurus, or Gueparda, distinguished
from its cousins by its great length of leg, and a slight difierence in the form of its teeth. Some
naturalists separate, in addition, the Lynxes, making of them the genus Lyncus, and others, again,
prefer to make separate genera of all the chief kinds, calling the Lion Leo nobilis, the Tiger Tigris
rejcdis, and so forth. This separation or union is, however, a mere conventional matter, and we prefer
to consider all Felidce as belonging to the one genus Felis, as the simplest and most comprehensible
plan.

The Felid(e are found over almost the whole world, being absent only in Australia, New Zealand,
the south-eastern piu-t of the Malay Archipelago, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, and the
Antilles. In all other parts of the world Cats — using the word in a wide sense — are foiuid, and,
wherever they are found they are feared, for such a compact assemblage of bloodthirsty tyrants and
ruthless destroyers has no parallel in the whole animal kingdom.

Remains of fo.ssil Felid® have been found as far back as the Miocene or even the Eocene epoch, in
the South of England, and Central and South Europe, in North-west India, in Nebraska, in Noi-th
America, and in the caves of Brazil. Of these the best known is the great cave Lion or Tiger, the
Felis spelcea.

Every part of these animals is so altered and specialised from the usual type of Mammalian
structure as to assist in the best possible way the capturing, killing, and devouring of living prey.
Looking merely at the outside, we are struck with the lithe, agile form, the small head, the total
absence of anyiiiing like a " pot-belly," the well-proportioned limbs, the usually close fur, the stealthy,
silent movements, and the eager, restless glance : all characters suited to an animal to which powers of
quiet rapid movement through jungle or long gi-ass, of quick observation, and of great strength and
ability, are of the utmost importance.

In the skeleton there are two points of importance, as relating Ijoth to the habits of the Cat tribe
and to the determining of their systematic position in zoology. These are the chai-acter of the skull,
and the structure and arrangement of the bones of the toes. Both these points furnish characters by
which the Cats may be separated from all other families. To these two points, therefore, we will
proceed at once, as, without going into lesser details, there is nothmg of special importance in the

SKVLI. AXI) CLAWS OF TEE FELID.E.

Terti-'bnil column, large limb boiios, ctt All the pomt'^ mentioneil in the uitiuduction to the
t'l-oup as being characteristic of the C'arnnorous type of skull aie heie earned to tlieir extreme.
The bony ridges for the attachment of the jaw-muscles are immense ; the jaws attain their utmost
limit of structure and strength, and the lo\\er jaw bemg perfectly incapable of motion from side to
.side, the teeth, as we shall see by-and by,
act like scissors and not like millstones.

If the skull of a Cat be examined,
there ■will be seen on its under suiface,
near the hinder end, a pair of rounded
swellings, directed somewhat obliquely.
On looking at the skull from the side,
there is seen to be a rouiidisli aperture,
the- auditory meatus, leading into each of
these swellings, which are found to be
thin-walled lialf globes, stuck on, as it
were, to the under surface of the skull.
Eound the aperture is fixed, in the living
state, the Cat's prominent external eai,
and stretched across it, like the parchment
of a drum, is a thin membrane, which
vibrates with every sound. The rounded
cavity is called the "drum of the eat,"
the membrane stretched across it the
"di-um membrane," or "tympanic iin iii
braiie," and the bony half-globe, wlm h
foi-ms the floor of the drum cavity, is the '■ bulli
Closely pressed against the hinder wall of tl;
the bulla in its place, and running obliquely along the surface of the swelling is an indistinct groove,
corresponding to which, in the interior of the drum, is a bony wall, dividing the drum cavity into an
inner and an outer compartment, the.se two divisions being formed from separate bones, as an

examination of a very young skull will
show

The almost globular form and great
lelative .size of the hulla tympmd; the
absence of any distinct bony passage
lexdmg from its cavity to the interior,
the opening being quite flush with the
\\ ill of the drum ; and the division of the
( iMty into two parts by a bony partition,
lie all very important as distinctive cha-
lactei-s of the Cat family, and also, with
lessei modifications, of the whole ^^luroid
gioup

The power of retra<'ting the claws,
so characteristic a feature of all the tiiie
Cats (which are, without exception, digiti-
grade), is brought about by certain pecu-
liarities of structure of the last two joints of the toes. Of the three phtdanges, or bones which make
up the skeleton of the toe, the first, or that nearest to the wrist or ankle, is of the ordinary shape :
about three times as long as broad, with a regular cylindrical shaft, and pulley-like ends, for articula-
tion with the bone to which it is joined. The .second, or middle 2ihalanx, is pretty much like the first,
except that its shaft is scooped out on one side, so as to make a greater distance between it and the
corresponding bone of the next toe than there would otherwise be. The third and last joint, called

llie i_hum," or hulla tympani.
bulla is a sort of bony clamp, which seems to keep

riEW OF lion's SICVLL.

c s.i:ue signiHcancc as in the>i.lc view.

hATURAl niSTOR-i.

(r«.

phalanx ,
tbefleior

the vn()>iaJ phalanx, from tlie fact of its supporting the claw, lias the regular pulley-surface to ;irticulate
with the preceding joint, but its fartlier end is strongly curved downwards and pointed at the end ; it
has, in fact, the shape of the horny talon of which it forms the supporting core. Further support
is afibrded to the claw by an outgrowth of the phalanx, which commences near its ax-ticular end, and

gi-ows over the end of the claw like a sort of hood, thus
giving the ungual phalanx of the Cat a most peculiar
and unmistakable shape. Between the upper surfaces
of the last phalanx and the last bvit one passes a strong
and very elastic ligament, which so pulls upon the
ungual phalanx as to bend it on its predecessor, and
so cause the two to be almost parallel, the hood of the
claw-bearing bone being received between the preceding
joint of its own toe and that of the next ; hence the
scooping out of the middle phalanges. Thus, by the
action of this ligament, the claw under ordinary cir-
cumstances is pulled back within its covering of
skin, which forms for it a sort of protecting pouch,
and efl'ectually prevents its being worn down by
rubbing against the ground. But when the Cat strikes
its prey, it bends the paw upon the wrist by means
of the strong flexor (or bending) muscles, which are
placed along the under surface of the fore-axm and hand. The end of the string-like tendons of
one of these muscles divides into four slips, one for each toe, and, i-unning along the under surface
of the fii-st two phalanges, is inserted into the corresponding surface of the thii-d, and, this under
surface being bent upwards by the elastic ligament, the tendon is, when the claw is retracted,
put vipon the stretch. But when the flexors tome into play, they pull upon the ungual phalanx,
cau.sing it to turn through a quarter-circle upon its articulation, and thus protrudiiig the claw from
its pouch. Immediately the flexors relax the elastic ligament is again allowed to act, and the
claw springs back into its place of repose.

This an-angement is of great importance, as the Cat family always attack their prey in the first
instance by a stroke of the powerful fore-paw, and not, as do the Dogs, by a grip of the teeth.

Not less characteristic of the Cat family than the points we have just considered are the number
and form of the teeth, which here attain the most perfectly carnivorous character, being so con-
structed as to be wholly incapable of gi-inding, thus making it impossible for their possessor to live
u{X)n any but highly nourishing animal food.

In the front part of the Cat's upper jaw are six small teeth with chisel-like edges — three on
each side of the middle line. These teeth are, in shape, not unlike oni- own front teeth, and, like
them, are single - fanged,
but their- small size, when
compared with those that
follow, is remarkable. They
are borne by a bone quite
distinct in young skulls
from that which can-ies
the other teeth — the pre-
maxillaiy bone — and are,
therefore, classed as incisor

teeth. Con-esponding with them in the lower jaw are six similar teeth — the lower incisors
the incisors of the Cat are said to be |^, that is, three on each side above and below.

Following the last incisor, and separated from it by a short interval, comes on each side
jaws a long, pointed fang, the chief means by which the Cats .seize and hold on to their prey
are the caniiies, or dog-teeth, and correspond to the " eye-teeth " in oiu-selves, those adze-like teeth
immediately following and slightly projecting beyond the last incisor. When the mouth is closed

.SHEATHED

that

. botli
These

TKhTU (I I' 11! E t'ELID^Y.

PEUMAXENI TEETH OF LIDX.
ni, the molars. '

Behind it comes the last of the set, a small

the lower canines aie ;,eeip. to hitc iu front of tlie upper, anil to fit into the space between the latte

and the incisors. The canines of the Cat are written thus, t'.

Following the canines, but sepai-ated from them by a slight inter\al or dwdt'mo, are, iu the u}>pe

jaw four, in the lower three teeth, which correspond to

our " grinders," or molars and premolars. In the

upper jaw the foremost tooth of this set is as small as

one of the incisors, and its crowTi is simple, or uearly

so. The next two teeth are larger and hare sharp,

cutting edges, divided into three points, or cusps. The

.second of these two teeth is much the larger, its edge

is more blade-like, and the front part of its inner edge

sends off a strong blunt pi-ocess, which is supported by

a distinct root, so that this tooth has three roots

instead of two like its predecessor ; it is also of much

greater size than any of those iu front, and, biting like

a scissor-blade against the corresponding tooth of the

lower jaw, is called the sectorial, or carnassial tooth.

tooth with a trausvei-selj'-set, almost flat crown.

In the lower jaw, the grinding series is represented by only three teeth, all more or less resem-
bling the second of the .series iu the upper jaw. Of these the third is the largest, and is called the

lower carnassial, biting, as it does, agahist the ui)j)er tooth of that name. In every case the teeth of

the lower jaw bite within those of the upper, and, the jaws being so articulated as to allow only of up

and down motion, and being incapable of play from side to side, the molars and premolars entirely

lose their character of grinders, and become trencliant, cutting uf) the food, in fact, in precisely the

same manner as a pair- of scissoi-s.

Now comes the question, which of these teeth are premolars, and which molai-s ? This is decided
bv findmg which of them have their place occupied in
the young kitten by its first set of back-teeth, the
deciduous or milk molars, and which, on the other hand,
have no predecessors : those which replace the milk-
molars Ijeing the premolars of the adult, those which
arise as altogether new teeth, and have no representa-
tives in the yoiuig animal, molai-s. The examination of
a young Cat shows that there are, behind the canines,
in the upper jaw three, and in the lower two teeth ;
that is to say, one less on each side of each jaw than
in the adult. As age advances these deciduous or milk
molars all drop out, and are replaced by the permanent
premolars, while behind the last milk molar of each jaw
an entirelv new tooth makes its appearance — the ti-ue

MILK TEETH OF I lOV, EXPOSEIl V\ f I TTING AWAY ' ^ , ~, .^ . V.1 ^ 1 j.1 1 j.

THE ovTEK PORTIONS 01 iioTii JAWS. °'" permanent molar. Thus it is seen that only the last

(Natural Size. From Owen, after Rousseau.) tooth in each jaw Ls a molar, and that the carnassials are

j^^^ (third) premolar, the lower the single molar.

We therefore write the premolars of the Cat I'l, and the molar.s J~J, so that the whole " dental
formula " is as follows : — i., ?=?, c., \^\,})., l^^, ni., J-3j = 30. In the milk dentition, the numljer of incisors
and canines is the same as in the adidt, and, as we have just stated, the molars are absent, so that the
formula is di.,^^, dc, !=1, dm., -t?, = 26, di, dc, dm, standing for deciduous incisors, canines, and molai-s.

The tongue in this family becomes an important adjunct to the teeth, almost losing its character
as a delicate organ of taste. The little elevations or papilte which beset the tongue in all animals —
in ourselves for instance — are fomied into strong horny spines set closely together like the teeth
of a file, and, as may be seen any daj- at feeding-time at the Zoological Gardens, used to rasp the flesh
from the bone.? as effectively as any file would do it. Most people must liave noticed the different

H NATVUAL HlsTOIiY.

texture of a Cat's and a Dog's tongue. In the latter it is as smooth as in ourselves, in the former
it lias more of the texture of a piece of coarse sandi:)aper.

In some Felicia, such as the Domestic Cats, the pupil, or small aperture in front of the eye which
lets in liglit to the sensitive retina beyond, has the round shape it possesses in man, only in the daik,
when it is dilated to receive every ray of light available. In the day, on the other hand, when more
light is to be had than the animal requii'es, the pupil contrasts to an ellipse, or in the .strongest light
to a mere line. This is not the case in the larger Cats, such as the Lion, Tiger, and Leopard, in which
also the eyes themselves and the cavities in the skull for theii- reception are smaller, proportionally,
than in tlie Domestic Cat.

Taking the structui-e of the Cat tribe, all in all, there is nothing whatever to make it the least
difficult to suppose that they all sprang from one stock, and that size and colour, and every other point
in which they now differ from each other, may have been brought about, through long periods of time,
as the result of the influence of their surroundings. It is necessary to presume this, for classifiers
from necessity lay hold on the most minute differences, for the sake of making proper specific
distinctions, although these differences may be merely the outcome of some change of locality, warmer,
or colder, drier, or moister, higher upon the hills, or lower down on the plains. Once developed,
liowever, it becomes hereditary, and then a variety becomes a race, and a race solidifies into a species.
Yet, the result once obtained, however it arose, the profit is great to us who ai'e careful observers and
enthusiastic admii-ers of the infinite fecundity of Nature.

CHAPTER II.

THE CAT FAMILY— THE lion.

The Lion— Its Geographical Distribution at the Present Day and in Ancient Times— Its Haunts— Varieties of the Li.;n--
Distinction between the Lion and other Cats— Its Courage, Speed, and Strength — Its Roar— Its supposed Magna-
nimity—Its Habits— Man-eating— Occasional resort to Vegetable Diet— Love-making— The Lion-cubs and their
Education— Old Age— Breeding in Captivity — Lion-hunting.

THE LION.*
The " King of Beasts " must, of course, be placed at the head of our list of beasts of prey, for
;dtliough he is excelled in size and ferocity by the Tiger, in elegance of form by tjie Leopard and
Jaguar, and in beauty of colouring by most of the gi'eat Cats, yet it would be useless, even if it were
advisable, to depose him from the throne he has, by the univei-sai consent of mankind, so long
occupied. And, truly, who would wish to uncrown him ] He is anything but an amiable bea.st —
cruel and cowardly, greedy, treacherous, noisy, and self-asserting, never forgetful of the " divine right
of kings" to prey upon their subjects; but still he is quite on a level, in the matters of morality and
fitness to reign, with a very large proportion of his brother sovereigns of the genus Homo, with whom
he well deserves a place in that limbo where, according to the mildly-spiteful poet of Olney, dwell " all
that ever reigned " of the kings of men.

The Lion is entirely confined to the Old World, where it ranges through Africa from BarLary to
Cape Colony, and extends into the south-west corner of Asia, where its range just overlaps that of the
Tiger. Exce]it in this " debateable land " the two monarchs keep clear of one another, the Lion
keeping court over Africa and South-west Asia, and the Tiger ruling in Southern and Eastern Asia,
the most important pretender in either kingdom being the Leopard.

With respect to the subject of distribution of the Lion in ancient times, we will quote from
a- late able vmiter. " That Lions were once -found in Europe there can be no doubt. Thus it is

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTJIIBUTIOX OF TEE LION. 15

recovdecl by Herodotus that the baggage camels of the army of Xerxes were attacked by Lions in the
couiitr}^ of the Pieoiuaus and Crestonoei, on their march from Acanthus (near the peninsula of Mount
Atlios) to Therme, afterwards Thessalonica (now Salonika). The camels alone, it is stated, were
attacked, other beasts remaining untouched as well as men. The same historian also observes
that the limits in Europe within which Lions were then found were the Nessus or Nestus,
a Thracian river running to Abdera, and the Achelous, which waters Acarnania. Ai-istotle
mentions Europe as abundant in Lions, and especially in that pai't which is between the Achelous
and Nessus, apparently copying the statement of Herodotus. Pliny does the same, and add.i
that the Lions of Euiope are stronger than those of Africa and Syi'ia. Pausanias copies the
same story as to the attack of the Lions on the Camels of Xerxes ; and he states, moreover, that
Lions often descended into the plains at the foot of Olympus, which separates Macedonia
from Thessaly, and that Polydamas, a celebrated athlete, a contemporary of Darius Nothus, slew
one of them, although he was unarmed. The passage in Oppian, which some have considered as
indicating the existence of Lions up to the banks of the Danube, fails, as an authority, for placing
the Lion in that locality, because, as Cuvier observes, the context shows plainly that the name of Ista
is there applied to an Ai-menian river, either by an eiTor of the author or of the transcribers. "

Nor is Europe the only part of the world from which the form of the Lion has disappeared.
Lions are no longer to be found in Egypt, Palestine, or Syiia, where they were once evidently far
from uncommon. The frequent allusion to the Lion in Scripture, and the various Hebrew
terms there used to distinguish the different ages and the sex of the animal, prove a familiarity with
the habits of the race. Even in Asia generally, with the exception of some countries between
India and Persia, and some districts of Ai-abia, these magnificent beasts have become comparatively
rare ; and this is not to be wondered at. To say nothing of the immense draughts on the race
for the Roman arena — and they were not inconsiderable, for there were a thousand Lions killed at
Rome in the space of forty years — population and civilisation have gradually driven them witJiin
narrower limits, and their destruction has been rapidly worked in modern times since firearms have
been used against them instead of the bow and the spear. The African Lion is annually retiring
liefore the persecution of man fartlier and farther from tiie Cape. Mr. Bennett * says of the Lion :
"His true country is Africa, in tin.' ^ast uml uutrdildni wilds of which, from the immense deserts of
the North to the trackless forests of thi' Soutli, he nijjns supreme and uncontrolled." In the sandy
deserts of Arabia, in some of the wild districts of Persia, and in the jungles of ( luzerat, iii India, he
maintains a precarious footing; but from the classic soil of Greece, as well as frmi] tlic wholf of Asia
Minor, both of which were once exposed to his ravage.s, he has been utterly ilislmlm'd and extirpated.

The fearful custom, so common afterwards among the Romans, of having many encaged Lions, "fierce
with dark keeping," to use Bacon's expression, for judicial as well as sporting purposes, was evidently
an old custom in the East ; for we learn from the book of Daniel that the kings of Babylon kept a
"den of Lions" into which ofienders were thrown alive. Judging, however, from the Biblical
narrative, the Chaldeans had a far less revolting manner of killing criminals than the Romans, for
they seem to have used the Lions simply as executioners ; to have cast in the victim, and then to
have fastened up the entrance of the den, drawing a decent veil on the horrible scene taking
place within. They did not, like the Romans, curry favour with the masses by making the death
of their victims into a spectacle, at which all classes had their love of excitement gratified by the
sight of men and women torn and mangled and devoured by raging beasts, to the accompaniment cf
small talk and flirtation.

As to the foi-mer occun-ence of the Lion in places where it is now absent, we may in.stance its
evident commonness in Palestine. One of the earliest • Lion stories occurs in the history of the
Hebrew Hercules, who, when travelling with his father and mother to Timnath, " came to the
vineyards of Timnath : and, behold, a young Lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord
came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing
in liis hand : but he told not his father or his mother what he liad done."t

Every one will remember David's account of his encounter with the tawny savage in the Syrian

* "Tower Menagerie." t J'.ulges .w-. 5, 6.

NATURAL RlaroMY.

uasture lands. '• Ami Davitl said unto Sanl, Thy servant kejit liis father's sheep, and there came a
Lion, and a Bear, and took a Lamb out of the flock : and I vent out after him, and smote liim,
and delivered it out of liis mouth : and when he arose against me, I caught liim by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear."*

Another Lion-slayer is one of Daxid's " brakes " — Benaiah — '■ He went down also and slew ?.
Lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow."t Now this slight mention of the forest-king is a perfect

l;icture in a few short words. In that land of milk and honey there was snow at cei-tain seasons, and
then that huge, bearded Cat was fahi to hide himself m some cleft of the rock. If, however, the term
" pit " means one in which the Lion has fallen, being entrapped, the short snatch of history loses
none of its interest. The calm courage of this man made him to be " more honourable than the thii-ty
mighty men," in the list of David's captains.

After the deportation of the ten tribes to Babylon, the number of Lions and other beasts of pi-ey
must have increased to a fearful extent in Palestine, for we find the men sent by the King of As.syria
to re-peoi)le the deserted cities, complaining to their monarch of the ravages of these beasts which, as
they put it, had been sent " because they knew not the raanner of the God of the land."

As to the favom-ite haunts of the Lion in the various coimtries where it exists, " that Lions
exist in the desert," says M. Carette, " is a myth popularised bj' the dreams of artists and poets, and
has no foundation but in their imagination. This animal does not quit the mountains where it finds

* 1 Samuel .wii. 34-36. t 2 Samuel xxiii. 20.

VAIilETIES OF TSE LlOyf. 17

shelter, food, and drink. When the traveller questions the natives concerning these wild beasts, which
Europeans suppose to be their companions in the desert, they reply, with imperturbable sangfroid,
• Have you, then, Lions in your country which can drink aii- and eat leaves i We fear only the
vi2)er, and, in humid spots, the innumerable swarms of mosquitos which abound there.' " * But the
sacred writer makes him come up from the " swellings of Jordan ;" and with Homer he is the
Mountain Lion : the " artists and poets " of M. Carette are modems, who know but little of the
subject; not ancients who were familiar with the beast.

When an animal has a wide geogi-aphical distribution it is almost always found that it exhibits, in
tlifferent parts of its range, more or less well-marked varieties, distinguished from one another by

F BARBAKY.

evident though sometimes unimportant characters. This is the case with the Lion, of which five
varieties are usually distinguished, three being found in Africa, and two in Asia. These varieties, or
1 aces, are as follows : —

1. The Lion of Barhary. — The fm* is of a deep yellowish-brown colour, and the mane is more
developed than in any other variety, forming long tresses which cover the neck and shoulders, and are
continued along the belly and the inside of the legs. This variety extends over the whole of Africa
north of the Sahara.

3. The, Lion of Senegal is found in the western part of Africa, south of the Sahara. Its fur is oi" a
lighter colour than that of the Barbary Lion, and the mane is less thick, and hardly at aU. developed
over the breast and insides of the legs.

* Humboldt: " Views of Nature "

li NATVIiAL HlSTOin:

3. The Lion of the Cape ranges over tlie whole of South Africa, anil is said to be found under
two lesser varieties, one yellowish in colour, and the other brown ; tlie latter is considered to )je the
more formidable. The mane is darker than in either of the foregoing kinds.

The Asiatic varieties are smaller than the kinds found in Africa. The mane is variable, and the
form less graceful than in ihe Cape or Bai-bary Lion.

4. The Persian or Aruhian Lion. — This is a paler variety found in Western Asja.

5. The Lion of Guzerat, or so-called "maneless Lion," is usually stated to be the best-marked
variety of all, as its mane, though by no means absent, as the name of the variety would lead us to
suppose, is very much less than in any other kind ; the body also is bulkier and the legs shorter. Some
writers, however, deny altogether the distinctness of the variety, and consider that the mistake of
considering the Guzerat Lion as sucli, has arisen from the fact of young specimens having been described.
The strongest statements we have met with on this head are by Captain Harris, whose words we will
quote, as they show how little reliance is to be placed on the distinction drawn by travellers between
closely-allied varieties or species. Harris says that the South African Lion does not differ " in any
material points from those found in Guzerat, in Western India, measuring between ten and eleven feet
in extreme length, but generally possessing a finer mane, a peculiarity which is attributable to the less
iun"ly character of the country he infests, and to the more advanced age which he is supposed to attain.
Amongst the Cape colonists it is a fashionable belief that there are two distinct species of the Afric-in

Lion the yellow and the black — and that the one is infinitely less ferocious than the other. But I

need scarcely inforia the well-instructed reader that both the colour and the size depend chiefly upon
the animal's age ; the development of the physical powers, and of the mane also, being principally
influenced Ijy a like contingency. That which has been designated the 'maneless Lion of Guzerat'
is nothing more than a young Lion whose mane has not shot forth ; and I give this opmion with less
hesitation, having slain the 'king of beasts ' in every stage fiom whelphood to imbecility."

There has been no attempt to divide the above-named varieties into distinct species. From
LinniEus to Dr. Gray, all zoologists agree in this matter. Hence we see that animals do not vaiy
under domestication only; but viild creatures also have their varieties or races, differing in the
various localities in which they are found.

All these varieties together form a very well-marked species of the genus Felis, and are known
as Felis leo, in zoological language. Some authors, however, as we haye already noticed, prefer to
consider the various kinds of Cat as so many distinct genera, and speak of the Lion as a single genus
and si)ecies {Leo nohilis). The species, or genus — for it matters very little which we call it — is
distinguished from other Cats by its uniform tawny colom-, the tuft'of hair at the end of the tail, and
the flowing mane, which clothes the head, neck, and shoulders of the male. The head of the Lion is
more square than that of the other species of Cats. The mane is entirely absent in the female, which
is, in consequence, a comparatively ordinary-looking animal, as it is only by the grandeur of his hirsute
appendage that the male is compensated for his plain colouring. The addition of the mane, however,
gives him an immense advantage over all other species, adding to his apparent size, especially to that
of the head, increasing almost infinitely the beauty of his form, and altogether making him one of the
most magnificent objects in the animal kingdom. A further distinction between the Lion and other
Cats is to be found in the strong tuft of hair at the end of the tail, which exists in both sexes. Quite
at the extremity of the tail, and hidden by the tuft, is a curious little horny appendage or " thorn."
with which it was supposed that the Ijon, when la.shing his tail, spurred his flanks, and so awoke all
his courage and ferocity !

We have jnst mentioned the uniform tawny colour as characteristic of the Lion. This is .so, in
f;ict, in adult specimens, but the new-born young are invariably spotted, and the spots often persist for a
considerable time. This is the case with Lions born in captivity, as well as with those in a state
of nature, and has often been observed in the Lions born in the Zoological Gardens. lu some
instances the spots are visible during the animal's life. There are grounds for believing that all tlie
great Cats ai-e descended from a spotted ancestor.

One more external character : the snout of the Lion is longer and more Dog-like than that of
any other Cat ; the forehead and nose are almost in the same straight line, instead of making a bold
curve, as they do in the Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, and the smaller Cats. So that the Lion, which is

SIZE A.Xlt AITKAUAXCE OF THE LIOX. 10

lonveutionnlly represented witli ;iu iilmost liumau roiinduess of face, has really a more thoroughly
quadrupedal '• muzzle " than any of his kin.

In the Cape Lion the tail tuft is Idack, the mane brown or black, according to age, and the
handsome appearance of the animal is thus much eulianced. There is also a black spot at each corner
of the mouth.

The size varies slightly in the different varieties. Captain Harris gives the measurements of an
adult male from the Cape as follows : — Extreme length from snout to tip of tail, usually about ten
feet ; tail, three feet ; height at the shoulder, three feet eight inches. The " maneless " Lion is some-
what smaller, as sho\\^l by the following measurements made by Captain Smee : — Length, iiicluding the
tail, eight feet nine inches and a half ; height (at the shoulder, we suppose), three feet six inches ; and
the impression of his paw measured six inches and a half across. A female, killed at the same time,
was eight feet seven inches long, and thi-ee feet four inches high. The weight of the male (excluding
the entrails) was thirty-five stone.

The real size of the Lion is much less than would be supposed before measurement ; and he is
very inferior in size to many kinds of the Herbivorous animals, such as Horses, Oxen, and Bufl'aloer,
and even the larger Antelopes, such as the Eland.

As to the internal stnicture of the Lion, there is really nothing, or almost nothing, to add
to what has already been said under the character of the whole family. Like all the great beasts
of prey, the Tiger, Leopard, etc., the osseous and muscular systems are immensely developed. The
lidges of the bones take on a marvellous size for the attachment of the muscles, and in the skull the
size of the great processes to wliich the muscles of the neck are attached, and the width of the jugal
aiehes, ov bony bridges under which pass the great muscles by which the lower jaw is closed, and the
powerful bite given, ai-e very remai-kable.

It is ciu-ious to see what wonderfully different impressions are prodviced on different writers by
tlie appearance of the Lion in his native haunts. For instance, Captain Harris says, " Those who have
seen the monarch of the forest in crippling captivity only, immured in a cage barely double his own
length, with his sinews relaxed by confinement, have seen but the shadow of that animal which
'clears the desert with his rolling eye.' "

On the other hand, Li\-ingstone speaks in the most disrespectful, not to say contemptuous way,
of the animal's vaunted majesty of bearing : " When a Lion is met in the daytime, a circumstance by
no means uufrequent to traveller's in these parts, if pre-conceived notions do not lead them to expect
something very ' noble ' or ' majestic,' they will see merely an animal somewhat larger than the
biggest Dog the}' ever saw, and partaking very strongly of the canine features. The face is not much
like the usual drawings of a Lion, the nose being prolonged like a Dog's ; not exactly such as our
]iiiintfis make it, though they might learn better at the Zoological CJardens ; their ideas of majesty
being usually shown by making their Lions' faces like old women in nightcaps. Wlien encountered in
the daytime, the Lion stands a second or two gazing, then turns slowly round, and walks as slowly
away for a dozen jiaces, looking over his shoulder ; then begins to trot, and, when he thinks himself
out of sight, bounds off like a Greyhound."

The concludmg sentence of this passage shows that Livingstone considers not only the Lion's
beauty to have been over-rated, but his courage also. The following extract quite bears out this
opinion : —

" On riding briskly along early one morning, I observed, as I thought, a solitary Zebra a few
hundred yards in advance. I instantly alighted, and, leaving ' Spring ' (his horse) to take care ot
himself, I made towards the quarry, gun in hand, under cover of a few small trees. Having proceeded
for some distance, I peeped cautiously from behind a bush, when I found, to my astonishment, that the
.'inimal which I had taken for a Zebra was nothing less than a noble Lion. He was quietly gazing at
me. I must confess I felt a little startled at the imexpected apparition ; but, recovering quickly from
my surprise, I advanced to meet him. He, however, did not think fit to wait tUl I was within proper
range, but turned tail, and fled towards the Swakess. Hoping to be able to come to close quarters
\vith him, I followed at the top of my speed, and was rapidly gaining ground on tli3 brvite, when
siiddenly, with two or three immense bounds, he cleared an open space, and was the next moment
hidden from \-iew among the thick reeds that here lined the lianks of the river. Having no

20 NATURAL HISTUUY.

Dogs mth me, all my efforts to dislodge him from his stronghold proved unavailing. Whilst still
lingering about the place, I came upon the carcase of a Gnu, on which a troop of Lions had, appa-
rentl}', been feasting not many minutes previously. Undoubtedly my somewhat dastardly friend had
been one of the party."

After such rude shocks as these to our faith in the African monarch's courage, it is positively
refreshing to come across instances where the Lion has shown himself capable of very great boldness,
such, for instance, as the following : —

" We were waked up suddenly by hearing one of the Oxen bellowing and the Dogs barking. It

UNO AN ELEIIUVT

was moderately dark, and I seized Clifton's double rifle, and rushed out, not knowing where, when i
saw the driver perched on the top of a temporary hut, made of grass, about six feet high, roaring
lustily for a doppe (cap). I scrambled up just as the poor Ox ceased his cries, and heard the Lions
growling and roaring on the top of him, not more than fourteen yards from where we were, but it was
too dark to see them. I fired, however, in the direction of the sound, and just above the body of the
Ox, which I could distinguish tolerably well, as it was a black one. Diza (the driver) followed my
example ; and, as the Lions did not take the least notice, I fired my second banel, and was just pro-
ceeding to load my own gun, which Jack had brought me, when I was aware, for a single instant
only, that the Lion was coming ; and the same moment I was knocked half-a-dozen somersaults back-
wards off the hut, the brute striking me in the chest with his head. I gathered myself up in a second,
and made a dash at a fence just behina me, and scrambled through it, gun in hand, but the muzzle was

TRE LIOX'S RUNNING I'OWERS. 21

(,-iioke<l witli dirt. I tlien made for the wagon, and got on the Ijox, where I found all the Kaffirs,
wlio could not get inside, sticking like Monkeys, and Diza perched on the top. How he got there
.seemed to me a miracle, as he was alongside me when the brute charged. A minute or two afterwards
one of them marched off a Goat, one of five that were tetliered by the foot to the liut that we had so
speetlily evacuated.

'• Diza, thinking he had a chance, tired from the top of the wagon, and the recoil knocked him
backwards on to the tent, which broke his fall. It was a must ludicrous sight altogether. After that
we were utterly defeated, and the brutes were allowed to eat their meal unmolested, which they
continued to do for some time, gi-owKng fiercely all the while. The Kafiirs said there were five in all.
I tired once again, but without efl'ect ; and we all sat shivering with cold without any clothes on till
near daybreak, when our enemies beat a retreat, and I was not .soriy to turn in again between the
Ijlankets. I was just beguining to get warm again when I wa.s aroused by a double shot, and rushed
out on hearing that the driver and after- rider had shot the Lion. We went to the .spot, and found a
fine Lioness dead, with a bullet through the ribs from the after-rider ; a good shot, as she was at least
1.50 yards ofl'. Another had entered the neck just behind the head, and travelled all along the spine
nearly to the root of the tail I claimed the shot, and forthwith proceeded to skin her. I cut out the
ball ; it proved to be my "shot out of Clifton's rifle. This accounted for her ferocious onslaught. The
after-rider was rather chopfallen at having to give her up to the rightful owner.

" Diza got a claw in his thigh, and the gun which he had in his hand was frightfiilly scratched on
the stock : rather sharp practice. A strong-nerved old Kaffir woman lay in the hut the whole time,
without a door or anything whate^■er between her and the Lions, and kept as still as a INIouse all the
while."

Again: — "The enemy disdainfully surveyed us for several minutes, daring us to approach with an
air of conscious power and pride, which well beseemed his grizzled form. As the rifle balls struck the
ground nearer and nearer at each discharge, his wrath, as indicated by his glistening eyes, increased
i-oar, and impatient switching of the tail, was clearly getting the mastery over his prudence.
Presently a shot broke his leg. Down he came upon the other three with reckless impetuosity, hi.';
tail straight out and whirling on its axis, his mane bristling on end, and his eyeballs flashing rage and
vengeance. Unable, however, to o\ertake our Horses, he shortly retreated under a heavy fire, limping
and discomfited to his stronghold. Again we bombarded him, and again exasperated he rushed into
the plain with headlong fury, the blood now .streaming from his open jaws, and dyeing his mane with
crimson. It was a gallant charge, but it was to be his last. A well-dii'ected shot arresting him in
full career he pitched with violence upon his skull, and throwing a complete somer.sault, subsided
amid a cloud of dust."

The Lion has some excuse for occasionally developing a strong running away propensity. Hip,
pace when going at full speed is wonderfully rapid, considering the length of his legs. As the
following extract shows, he is able to outrun a tirstrate Horse, so that the animals on which he usually
feeds would, if he chose to pursue tliem, have simply no chance whatever against him. As we shall
.see, however, the Lion .seldom pursues his prey, preferring to lie in ambush and to spring upon a passing
herd. This consideration makes the following experience rather remarkable. The Lion probably
pur.sued Mr. Baldwm not to satisfy appetite, but for revenge.

" Now for an adventure with a Lion, which I have reserved for the last. On Friday the old
Masara captain paid me a visit. He had seen a Lion in the path, and left a lot of Masaras to watch
him. I had been working hard all day in the hot sun with an adze, making a dissel-boom for the
wagon, and was tired, lame, and shaky in the arms, and did not feel at all up to the mark for rifle-
.shooting ; but I ordered ' Ferns ' to be saddled, who was also not at all fresh, having had a tremendous
liurst in the morning across a flat after a lean Eland Cow. Just aftei-, I caught sight of about twenty-
five Masaras sitting down, all ai-med to the teeth with shields and assegais. My attention was
attracted to a Kaffir skull, which struck me as a bad omen, and the thought entered my head that it
might be my fate to lay mine to bleach there. I did not, however, suffer this thought to unnerve me,
but proceeded, and found that the Lion had decamped. The Masaras followed liis spoor about
a couple of miles, when he broke cover. I did not see him ,at first, but gave chase in the direction in
^^hich the Masaras pointed, saw him, and followed for about 1,000 yards, as he had a long start, when

22 NATURAL HISTORY.

lie stood in a nasty thorn thicket. I dismounted at about sixty oi- seventy yards, and shot at him. I
could only see his outline, and that very indistinctly, and he dropped so instantaneously that I thought
I had shot him dead. I remounted and i-eloaded, and took a short circle, and stood up in my stirrup
to catch a siglit of him. His eyes glared so savagely, and he lay crouched in so natural a position,
^vith his ears alone erect, the points black as night, that I saw in a moment I had missed him. I was
then about eighty yards from him, and was weighing the chances of getting a shot at him from behind
an immen.se ant-heap, about fifty yards nearer. I had just put the Horse in motion with that
intention when on he came with a tremendous roar, and ' Perns ' whipped round like a top, and away
at full speed. My Horse is a fast one, and has run down the Gemsbok, one of the fleetest Antelopes,
but the way the Lion ran him in was terrific. In an instant I was at my best pace, leaning forward,
rowels deep into my Horse's flanks, looking back over my left shoulder over a hard, flat, excellent
galloping ground. On came the Lion, two strides to my one. I never saw anything like it, and
never want to do so again. To turn in the saddle and shoot darted across my mind when he was
within three strides of me, but on second thoughts I gave a violent jerk on the near rein, and a savage
dig at the same time with the ofl-heel, ai-med with a despei-ate rowel, just in the nick of time, as the
old manikin bounded by me, grazing my right shoulder with his, and all but unhorsing me, but I
managed to right myself by clinging to the near stin-up-leather. He immediately slackened his speed.
As soon as I could pull up, which was not all at once, as ' Ferns' had his mettle up, I jumped off, and
made a very pretty and praiseworthy shot, considering the fierce ordeal I had just passed (though I
say it who ought not), breaking his hind leg at 150 yards ofi", just at the edge of the thicket. Fearful
of losing him, as the Masaras were still flying for bare life over the veldt, with their shields over their
heads, and I knew nothing would prevail on them to take the spoor again, I was in the saddle, and
chasing him like mad in an instant. His broken leg gave me great confidence, though he went hard
on three legs ; and I jumped ofl" forty yards behind him, and gave him the second barrel — a good shot
— just above the root of the tail, breaking his spine, when he lay under a bush roaring furiously, and
I gave him two in the cliest before he cried ' Enough ! ' He was an old manikin, fat and furious,
having only four huge yellow blunt fangs left."

Not only has the Lion the advantage of great courage — at least, except when coming in contact
with those he feels to be his masters — and of great swiftness, but his strength is prodigious. He will
fell an Ox or an Antelope with a single blow of his paw, break its neck with one crunch of his cruel
teeth, and bound ofl" with it to his lair as easily as if he were only carrying a Rabbit. With a Calf in
his mouth he has been known to leap a wall nine feet high. Not an animal of the forest, save the
Rhinoceros, can hope to escape from such terrible perfections as these. Any quarry the Lion may
choose — Ox, Antelope, or Zebra — is bound to succumb.

Tliere is another characteri.stic about the beast which is a valuable accessory weapon, comparable
to the " British cheer," with which our soldiers are always supposed to strike terror into the hearts of
theii' enemies. We mean, of course, the terrible roar — that deafening thunder voice, at sound of which
the Leopard and Hyaena hold their breath in awe, and the doomed flocks tremble and flee. With man
even the noise, when heard for the first time, produces an indescribable feeling, and a firm con^action
that all his courage will be needed to meet such a fearful opponent. Sometimes, however, the Lion
seems to exercise his voice for fun, or for practice, rather than for striking terror into his hearers.

The terror in which the Lion is held by the meaner members of his own fiimily is well shown by
the following passage from Homer. Menelaus and Ajax hear Ulysses calling for help : —

' ' at the voice arrived, they found

TJlj'Sses, Jove-tieloved, compass'd about

By Trojans, as the Lj-nxes in the hills,

Athirst for blood, compass an antler'd Stag

Pierced by an archer ; while the blood is warm

And his limbs pliable, from him he 'scapes ;

But when the feather'd barb hath quell'd his force.

In some dark hollow of the mountain's side,

The hungry troop devour him ; chance, the while,

Conducts a Lion thither, before whom

HABITS OF TEE LIOX. 23

All vanish, and the Lion feeds alone ;

So swarm'd the Trojan powers numerous and hold,

Around Ulysses, who with wary skill

Heroic combated his evil day.

But Ajax came, covered with his broad shield

That seemed a tower, and at Ulysses' side

Stood fast; then fled the Trojans wide-disjjersed."

Shakspere has the same idea, when he says —

" Lions make Leopards tame."

The magnanimity of the Lion is a vex-y well-worn theme. Every one knows all about Androcles
and the Lion ; " the tale is somewhat musty " by this time. All the older poets have something about
it — the writers of the golden age — before natural selection was thought of, and when animals of many
kinds were credited with a vast amount of idyllic amiability, of which, alas ! nobody believes them
capable now.

In the exquisite woodland scenery of "As You Like It," a hungry Lioness that has just suckled
her whelps, is accredited with a nobility to which she, assuredly, had no title. " A green and gilded
Snake " has been frightened from the sleeping Oliver by Orlando —

" it unlinked itself,

And with indented glides did slip away

Into a bush : under which hush's shade

A Lioness, with udders all di-awn dry,

Lay couching, head on ground, with Cat-like watch,

When that the sleeping man should stir, for 'tis

The royal disposition of that beast

To prey on nothing that doth seem as dead."

We are not anxious to know when and how Shakspere gained his knowledge of wild beasts ; we
[)Ossess his descriptions, and that suffices for us. He may make Athenians speak like his fellow
Englishmen ; place Bohemia by the sea-side, and have the forest of Arden peopled with Lions. All
that is of the least importance ; for, may we not say of him, what he makes Helena say to liermia .'-—

" your tongue's sweet air,

[Is] Jlore tuneable than Lark to shepherd's ear,
When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear."

Tlie Lion is a solitary animal, hunting alone, excejit from tlip commencement of the breeding
se;i.son, when his wife goes with him, up to the time when tlir Ualiics are begimiing to know how to
take care of themseh'es. Until they have arrived at monllis ot disrretion, " the Lion tears in pieces
enough for his whelps and strangles for his Lionesses, and fills his holes with prey and his dens with
ravme."

The Lion's den is made by scraping away the surface of the earth in some secluded spot, where
the beast remains as long as game is plentiful, and there is no one to disturb him. When he has used
up one hunting-ground, he departs for " fresh woods and pastures new."

He hunts entirely by night, at which time it is not safe for any one, in a Lion neighbourhood, to
stir out without firearms, for the Lion, with the laziness wliich distinguishes him, will always prefer man-
meat caught at once, to Antelope or Zebra-meat, for which he will have the trouble of looking. In the
daytime he spends most of the time in sleeping off his bloody carouse, and, until nightfall, is always
veiy unwilling to be disturbed, and unless molested hardly at all dangerous, except in the breeding
season. This seems curious, as, from the ferocity of the animal when he is attacked, or when he Ls
catering for Jiimself by night, it savoiu-s of the marvellous to talk of such a savage being harmless
under any cu-cumstances. But there can be no doubt about the fact ; he seems to object to expose his
fctions not onlv to the lio;ht of dav, but also to that of the moon. "For this, we have the testimonv of a

24 NATURAL UIHTOIiY.

ninn whose loss Englishmen have not yet ceased to deplore ; a, man who, by universal consent, va/adie
■prlnceps in the ranks of African explorers : —

" By day there is not, as a rule, the smallest danger of Lions which are not molested attacking
man, nor even on a clear moonlight night, except they possess a breeding o-Topyn (natui-al affection).
This makes them brave almost any danger. And, if a man happens to cross to the windward of them,
both Lion and Lioness will rush at him, in the manner of a bitch with whelps. This does not often "
happen, as I only became aware of two or thi-ee instances of it. In one case a man, passing when the
wind blew from him to the animals, was bitten before he could climb a tree. And, occasionally, a
man on horseback has been caught by the leg under the same circumstances. So general, however, is
the sense of security, on moonlight nights, that we seldom tied up our Oxen, but let them lie loose by
the wagons. While, on a dark, rainy night, if a Lion is in the neighbourhood, he is almost sure to
venture to kill an Ox."*

The following passage shows how unusual it is for a Lion to do any damage by dsvy ; so un-
common that the natives consider a supernatural cause necessary to account for so remarkable
an occurrence : —

"The Bakatla of the village Mabatsa were much troubled by Lions, which leaped into the
cattle-pens by night, and destroyed their Cows. They even attacked the herds in open day.
This was so unusual an occiu-rence that the people believed that they were bewitched ; ' given,'
as they said, ' into the power of the Lions by a neighbouring tribe.' They went once to attack the
animals, but, being rather a cowardly people compared to Bechuanas in gener;\l, on such occasions,
they returned without killing any."

The dai'ker and stormier the night is the better the Lions lilce it, and the more persistent will be
then- attacks. " The new moon brought, if possible, a more abundant sujiply of rain than usual ; nor
did the Lions fail to take advantage of the nocturnal tempest, having twice endeavoured to effect an
entrance into the cattle-fold. It continued, until nine o'clock the next morning, to pour with
such violence, that we were unable to open the canvas curtains of the wagon. Peeping out, however-
to ascertain if there was any prospect of its clearing up, we perceived three Lions squatted within a
hundred yards, in open plain, attentively watching the Oxen. Our rifles were hastily seized, but the
dampness of the atmosphere prevented theu- exploding. One after another, too, the Hottentots
sprang out of the pack-wagons and snapped theii- guns at the luiwelcome intrudere, as they trotted
sulkily away, and took up then- position on a stony eminence at no great distance. Fresh caps and
priming were applied, and a broadside was followed by the instantaneous demise of the largest, whose
cranium was perforated by two bullets at the same instant. Swinging their tails over their backs,
the survivors took warning by the fate of their companion, and dashed into the thicket with a roar."

When a Lion is fortunate enough to live in the neighbourhood of villages, he naturally prefers
the least troublesome course of selecting his supper from the flocks and herds of the inhabitants. It
is said that in Algeria, some thirty years ago, each Lion, in the cour.se of his life, cost the Arabs
upwards of £8,400, as he destroys every year Cattle, Horses, Camels, ifec, to the value of £240, and
the average duration of a Lion's life may be taken at thirty-five years. Thus, Jules Gerard, the
celebrated Lion-killer, remarks, that in one district the Aral> who (laid fi\e francs a-year to the
State, paid fifty to the Lion !

If there are no farms or villages handy, the Lion has to content himself with the more trouble-
some course of catching wild prey. To this end he lies in ambush, in some convenient spot, and
waits patiently or impatiently until a herd of Antelopes or Zebras passes Viy, when he leaps iipon one
of the number, roaring terribly. He usually .strikes the animal down at once, by the immense
weight of his body, the ten-ible blow of his paw, and the fearful giip of his teeth in the neck of
Qiis victim. If he misses his aim, he never pursues the flying herd, but returns dejectedly to his lair
and waits for another opportunity. The Lion's mode of attack is deseriljed with all the marvellou'
accuracy and fire of liis transcendent genius by the gi-eat Grecian : —

" as leaps a famish'd Lion fell

On beeves that graze some marshy nioaJow's Lreadth

TBE LIOX TCRXED IIEIiBlVuRE. 25

A countless liord, tended by one uuskill'd
To cope with savige beasts in their defence,
Beside the foremost kine or with the last
He paces heedless, but the Lion, borne
Impetuous on the hindmost, one devom-s
And scatters all the rest."

" But as the Lion on the mountains bred,
Glorious in strength, when he hath seized the best
And fairest of the herd, with savage fangs
First breaks her neck, then laps the bloody paunch
Torn wide. Meantime, aromid him, but remote,
Dogs stand and swains clamouring, yet by fear
Repress" d, annoy him not or dare approach."

Tlie Lion is said sometimes to develoi) the taste for " man-eating,'' >vhioh makes tlie Tiger so
terrible. This, however, is comparatively rare, exce])t in old animals ; but, whether he eats men by
choice or not his depredations are fearfully extensive, e.specially when he has had a good deal of
experience, knows exactly when to attack a place, and has lost wholly or in part the fear of man,
which usually distinguishes him. Here is an account of the termination of the career of one of these
heroes, a perfect Dick Turpin among Lions, so gi-eat had become his skill in '• lifting " : —

" We had not been many days at that place, when a magnificent Lion suddenly appeared
one night in the midst of a village. A small Dog that had incautiously approached the beast paid
the penalty of its life for its daring. The next day a grand chase was got up, but the Lion,
being on his guard, managed to elude his pursuers. The second day, however, he was killed by
Messrs. Gallon and Bam ; and, on cutting him up, the poor Dog Wiis found, still undigested, in his
stomach, bitten into five pieces. The natives highly rejoiced at the successful termination of the
hunt ; for thu Lion hail proved himself to be one of the most daring and destructive ever known,
having, in a short time, killed upwards of fifty Oxen, Cows, and Horses. When he had previously
been chased he had always escaped unscathed, and every successive attack made upon him only
served to increase his ferocity."

That the Lion does not always " drink the blood of the slain," liut adoi)ts a mild and cooling diet
at times, is shown by a remarkable passage in Dr. 'Livingstone's wgrk. He is speaking of tlie various
vegetable bles.sings in the desert : — " But the most surprising plant of the desert is the ' Kengwe
or Keme ' (Cucumis caffer), the water melon. In yeals when more than the usual quantity of raiii
falls, vast tracts of the country are literally covered with these melons. This was the case annually
when the fall of rain was greater than it is now, and the Bakwains sent trading parties every year to
the Lake. It happens commonly once every ten or eleven years. For the last three years its occurrence
has coincided vnih. an extraordinarily wet season. Then animals of every sort and name, including- "
man, rejoice in the rich supply. The Elephant, true lord of the forest, revels in this fruit, and so do
the different sjjecies of Rhinoceros, although naturally so diverse in their choice of jjasture. Tlie
various kinds of Antelopes feed on them with equal avidity ; and Lions, Hyaenas, Jackals, and Mice,
all seem to know and appreciate the common blessing."

This is a very curious circumstance when we consider hosv jiurely carnivorous the Lion, in
common with the other Fdhhf, is under ordinary circumstances. But Dr. Livingstone's is not the only
evidence to show that the bloodthirsty creature occasionally likes a " relish '' of green-meat with its
flesh. We are informed by Dr. Huggins, F.R.S., that in the Zoological Gardens at Dublin a Liones.s
had had several litters, but the young ones invariably languished and died after a short time, until
the expedient was hit upon of suppljdng the Lioness with live Goats. Thin seems horrible enough,
but in fact it was not so. The Goat was put into the cage in the evening, and instead of manifesting
the extreme terror one would have expected, it seemed to feel no fear at all, but ate grass placed in
the den witli perfect content, and, when night came, and it had eaten its fill, lay down by its terrible
companion, cuddling up close to her, chewing the cud, and seeming to enjoy the wariiitli, and to be
delighted with its new bedfellow. The Lioness showed no hostility to the confiding beast until
towards the morning, when she suddenly smashed its head with one blo\'»''of her paw, rijiped it open,

15

26 NATURAL UUSIORI'.

iiiui :it once began feeding with avidity on tlie panncli, witli its contents of softened and half-digested
grass, always completely finishing this " hevbaceous treat " before setting to work on the flesh. It
is also stated [vide infra) that very old Lions take to-eating grass, thus giving a literal significance
to the favourite '" Lion and Lamb " illustration, used bv poets of all ages to express the change by
wliich tlie "natural man" is converted into the "spiritual man," the savage civilised, and the
'• Philistine " cultured — " The Lion shall eat straw like the (_)x."

" Aud now Ijoside thee, bleating Lainb,
I can lie tlow-n and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee aud nceii."

The Lion en|o\
to his spuuie, dthoi

the honoui ible distmction of being
,li lepoit M\s thxt sh" IS b\ no nn

unlike most C'mii\oii, strictly faithful
IS so Mituous, but only cleaves to her
mate until a stronger
*nd handsomer one
turns up. Let us hope
this Ls a calumnj'.
At the breeding
season each Lioness
IS usually followed by
X number of Lions,
>\ ho try all means in
then- power to gain
hei affections, and
fight the most terrible
battles with one
mother. In these
hghts the mane is of
1,1 eat use', for its
kngth and thickiiesi
pi event the com-
batants taking a fii-ni
gup of one another's
neck. Thus, the Lion
^ ith the finest mane
Ills the best chance
iif succeeding in life
111 two ways. The
I loness is more likelj.-
to take a fancy to
him tli.iu to X less fi\uui(d suitoi foi most of the lowei inim ds -s well xs ou'selves, appreciate
]n'rs(>ii;il adornment \eiy stiongh ind he hxs also the best possible piotection m the tournament in
wliieli he is obliged to txke put fighting, a ou'taiiie, against all comers

When the battle is over, and the "queen of love aud beauty" has bestowed the prize —
herself — on the victor, the happy pair live together until the young are able to take care of themselves.
The male often hunts for his mate, and allows her to take as much as she wants of the prey before
sxtisfyiiig his own hunger. He cares for her in the same way all the time she is suckling, and for the
litter from the time when they are weaned till they are able to hunt for them.selves.

The Lioness goes with young about fifteen or sixteen weeks, and produces from two to six at a
litter. The cubs are delightful little creatures, about as big as a moderate-sized Cat, blind at first, mth
pretty, innocent faCss, and delightfully playful way.s. The mother is devoted to them ; thinks, no
doubt, like C'elia Chettam, in " .Middlemarch," that where there are babies "things are right enough,
and that error, in general, is a mere lack of that ceiitr;),! posing fo:ce."

liMEEUIXG OF rilK LlaX IX CAfTiriri: 27

Wlieii the cubs urc ;il)Out eight to twelve months old they begin hunting fnr themselves, by
attacking smaller animals, such as Sheep and Goats, luidei- theii- parents' direction. Tlio period
between the ages of one and two yejii-s is the worst part of the Lion's existence, as far as the iu!;;ibi-
tants of the district are concenied, for they '■ kill not only to support themselves, but also in order to
learn how to kill."

At the age of three the young Lion's education is complete: he leaves his father's house, and
begin.s to think of getting a house and a wife for himself, and then in her company he '• roars after his
prey and seeks his meat from God " for the rest of liLs career. He is not full-gi-own until the age of
eight, when he may be considered as quite adult ; and for many yeai-s to come revels in the coixscious-
ness of unconquerable strength and power, and oppresses all inferior creatures to his heart's content.

But even to king Leo '• life is not all beer and skittles ;" there is suffering and work to be borne
and done. The lower creivtures " gi-oan and travail " with us ; and we find disease where we should
least expect to find it, namely, in the wild creatui-es that at their will freely roam the desert.
"The Carnivora, too, become diseased and mangy. Lions become lean, and perish miserably by
reason of tlie decay of the teeth. When a Lion becomes too old to catch game, he frequently takes to
killing Goats in the villages. A woman or child hai>pening to go out at night falls a prey too ; and as
this is hLs oidy source of subsistence now, he continues it. From this circumstance has arisen the idea
that the Lion, when he has once tasted human flesh, loves it better than any other. A man-eater is,
invariably, an old Lion. And, when he overcomes Ms fear of man so far as to come to villages for
Goats, the people remark, ' His teeth are worn, he will soon kill men.' They at once acknowledge
the necessity of instant action, and tiu-n out to kill him. When living far away from population, oi-
when, a.s is the case in some parts, he entertains a wholesome dread of the Bushmen and Bakalahari.
as soon as either disease or old age overtakes him, he begins to catch Mice and other small Eodents,
and even to eat gi-ass. The natives, observing undigested vegetable matter in his droppings, follow up
his trail in the certainty of finding him, scarcely able to move, under some tree, and desptitch him
■\\-ithout ilitKcultj'. The grass may have been eaten as medicine, iis Ls observed in Dogs."

Before leaving the subject of the life and death of our gi'eat Carnivore, it will be as well to
;uld a few words as to its breeding in captivity. It is stated by a naturalist who probably knows
more about the matter than any other man,* that •' the Lion appears to breed more freely than an^-
other species of Felis, and the number of young at a birth is gi-eater, not unfrequently four, and some-
times five, being produced in a litter. It is remarkable that these animals bi-eed more freely izi
travelling collections (wild-beast shows) than in zoological gardens. Probably the constant excite-
ment and irritation prodiiced by moving from i)lace to place, or change of air, may have considerable
influence in the matter.

" A very extraordinary malformation, or defect, has frequently occurred among the Lions pro-
duced during the li.st thirty years, in the Regent's Park. This imperfection, consists in the roof
of the mouth being open. The palatal bones do not meet ; the animal, is, therefore, unable to suck,
and consequently always dies. This abnormal condition has not been confined to the yotmg of any
one pair of Lions, but many Lions that have died in the Zoological Gardens, and not in anv way
related to each other, have, from time to time, i)roduced those malformed young, the cause of which
appeai-s to me quite unaccountable."

Lion-hunting has not yet become, like Tiger-hunting, a regularly organised sport, entered upon at
a particular season by large parties of Europeans, who think far more of the fun of the thing than
of ridding the world of destroying beasts. The sj)ort of Lion-hunting, on the other hand, is only
luidertaken by an individual traveller, now and then, who has to take nearly the whole of the
danger on his o\^^l shoulders, and is quite without the extraneous aids afforded by regiments of
Elephant-mounted fellow-hunters, and armies of beatei-s. The rest of the Lion-killing is done, not
for sport, but for use, to get rid of a bea.st which has decimated flocks, and put friends and neighbours
to a cruel death. In all parts where the Lion is found, the natives have one or more ways of trying i-
to get rid of him : sometimes meetiog him in open fight, sometimes destroying him in a more
underhand manner, by pitfalls, or the like.

* Jlr. Bartlett. the able Suiicriutendent of the Zoological Carilens.

23 XATUILIL lIISTUUr.

Of all methotlH, that wliicli is attended with the least danger is the ditch, or jjitfoll, of the AraLs
of Algeria. This is a pit four or five yards broad, and ten deep, dug in the middle of the douar, or
small encampnjent of from ten to twenty tents, in which the Arabs live during the winter. The-
whole douar is surrounded by a hedge, two or three yards in height, and a lesser hedge is placed round
the pit to prevent the cattle falling into it ; the latter being kept loose witliin the encampment to'
attract Lions by their scent and their cries, ^yhen the desii-able effect is attained, and a Lion has
made up his mind to take toll from the flock he hears bleating within the enclosure, he ieajis the hedge-
■with one of his tremendous bounds, and, the ditch being a less distance from the hedge than the
horizontal range of his leap, falls headlong into the trap prepared for him, from which, o^^ong to its-
depth, and the fact that it is made narrower above than below, his most frantic efforts can ne\ei-
succeed in extricating him.

As soon as the Arabs hear Ids roars, and know that they have their enemy a prisonei-, they
prepare a great feast, summon all the inhabitants of the neighbouring douars, and, proceeding to tho
pit's mouth, every one hurls stones at the poor animal, calling him at the same time by all the
opprobrious names in the Arabic vocabulary, and, finally, fire upon him until he is dead. When this-
is the case, they haul up the carcase with ropes ; and, having got their prey on level ground, " the
mothers take each a small piece of the animal's heart and give it to theii- male children to eat, in
order to render them strong and courageous. They take away as much as possible of the mane iix
order to make amulets of it, which are supposed to have the same effect. Then, when the skin,
lias been removed and the fle.sh di\ided, each family goes back to its respective douar, where, iix
the evening, beneath the tents, the event of the day ^vill, for a long time, be the favourite story
with every one."

Besides the pitfall, the Arabs construct ambushes, which are of two kinds. " In the fii'st a
hole is dug, about a yard deep, and tlu-ee or four wide. After placing trunks of trees over it, and
covering them with heavy stones, the whole is strewed over with the earth dug out of the ground,
except in a few places on one side, where holes are left for the men to shoot through, and an
opening on the other, which forms the door of the cavern, and which is closed from the inside
by means of a piece of rock." A pit of this sort is made in some place frequented by Lions.
The carcase of an animal is put on the ground opposite the loopholes, and the Arabs get inside
luid wait \intil the Lion begins to try conclusions with the bait, when he is promptly peppered,
by his hidden enemies.

In the second kmd of ambush, the hunters conceal themselves in a tree instead of in a jnt.
Otherwise the mode of procedure is tlie same.

All these methods of Lion-slaying are safe and sure, but scarcely heroic. Often, however,
the Arabs organise regular hunting pai-ties, and compass the death of theii- foe in a far more
legitimate and sportsman-like manner. A party of about fifty iisually take part in the hunt ; they
proceed, after a good deal of talking over the plan of operations, to the Lion's lair, and by the foot-
marks it is determined whether the animal in question is young or old, male or female. Five or six
experienced Arabs act as watchmen to observe the movements of the game, and signal to their
comi-ades. The modus operatuli varies with the age and sex of the Lion. Jules Gerard describes-
the method when a full-gi-own male, of course the worst of all to have to do with, is diagnosed.

'■ Wlien the hunters have succeeded in getting ^vithin gunshot of the supposed laii-, they
' turn ' it, so as to command it from the high gi'ound, and stop directly they command the posi-
tion, observing throughout their operations the greatest silence. As the Lion's sense of hearing i&
vei-y delicate, it sometimes happens that he hears the steps of the huntei-s, or the rolling of some
stone which has been displaced from the side of the mountain. In this case he rises and walks in the
direction of the sound. If one of the ' men of the watch ' perceive him, he takes the skii-t of liis
burnous in his right hand, and hoists it before him, which means ' I see him.' One of the huntsmen
from the gi-oup then stands forward, and puts himself in communication with him, shaking his
burnous from right to left, which .signifies ' Where is he V and ' What is he doing ? ' If the Lion is still,,
the 'man of the watch' raises the .skirts of his burnous to his head, then lets them fall, and walks a
few steps forwards, repeating the same signal, which may be translated by ' He is motionless, in front
of you, and at some distance.' If the Lion walks to tho right or left, the man walks in the same

ME. A.WI-JiSSOy ASD THE LIOX. 29

direction, sliaking liis buiTioiis either from left to re^lit, or from right to left. Finally, if the auiimil
jiroceei-ls in the direction of the liunters, the ' nuiu of the watch' places himself exactly opposite them,
shakes his burnous violently, and cries with all his might, ' Aoii likoum !' (■ Take care ' ') At this
signal the hunters draw them.selves iip in a line, if possible against a rock, so that their position
may not be turned. Woe to him who has not lieard the cry of ' Aoti llkouin .'■' in sufficient time, and
has stopped at some distance from his comrades."

When a Lieu actually comes in sight, all concealment is, of coui-se, at an end. The Arabs get as
jnear as po.s.sible, to fire, and as soou as tlieii- guns are discharged rush upon the wounded beast with
their pistols and swords. As might naturally be expected the casualties in this mode of wai-fiire are
fearful ; liardly a hunt takes place unmarked by the death of one or more of the hunters.

One of the most daring single combats of which we ever remember to have read was one
•between a great black-maned Lion and Mr. C. J. Anderssou, who had all the real part of the tight
entirely to himself. The account is also interesting as showing — like, perhaps, most descriptions of
the same kind — how very tenacious of life the Lion is, for the animal in question, although it had
received the contents of both Mr. Andersson's barrels, one of which completely smashed its shoulder,
Jiad a sufficient number of its nine lives left to enable it to get clear ofl", and cheat its gallant destroyer
of his lawful spoil — the skin.

•• One day, when eating my humble dinner, I was interrupted l>y the arrival of several nati\e5,
who, in breathless haste, related that an Ongeanm, or Lion, hail just killed one of their Goats close
to the mission station (Richterfeldt), and begged of me to lend them a hand in destroying the beast.
They had so often cried ' Wolf ! ' that I did not give much heed to their statements ; but, as they
[jersisted in their story, I at last determined to ascertain its truth. Having strapped to my waist
I shooting-belt containing the several requisites of a hunter — such as bullets, caps, knife, kc. — I
shouldered my trusty double-barrelled gvui (;ifter loading it with steei-pointed Ijalls), and followed
the men.

" In a short time we reached the spot where the Lion was Ijelieved to have taken refuge. Tliis
was in a dense taniilrisk brake of some considerable extent, situated partially on and below the
sloping banks of the Swakop, near to its junction with the Omutenna, one of its tributaries.

" On the rising ground above the brake in question were drawn up in battle array a number of
Damaras and Namaquas, some armed with assegais, and a few with guns. Others of the party were
an the brake itself, endeavouring to oust the Lion.

"But as it seemed to me that the 'beaters' were timid, and moreover somewhat slow in their
■ movements, I called them back, and, accompanied by only one or two persons, as also a few worthless
Dogs, entered the brake myself. It was rather a dangerous proceeding, for in places the cover was so
thick and tangled as to oblige me to creep on my hands and knees, and the Lion in consequence might
easily have pounced upon me without a moment's warning. At that time, however, I had not
obtained any experimental knowledge of the old saying, ' A burnt child dreads the fire,' and therefore
felt little or no apprehension. '

" Thus I had proceeded for some time when suddenly, and within a few paces of where I stood, I
heard a low, angry growl, which caused the Dogs, with hail- erect in the manner of Hogs' bristles, and
Avith their tails between their legs, to slink behind my heels. Immediately afterwards, a tremendous
shout of ' Ongeama, Ongeama !' was raised by the natives on the banlt above, followed by a discharge
uf firearms. Presently, however, all was still again, for the Lion, as I subsequentl}- learnt, after
showing himself on the outskirts of the brake, had retreated into it.

" Once more I attempted to dislodge the beast ; but finding the enemy awaiting him in the
more open country, he was very loth to leave his stronghold. Again, however, I .succeeded in
■driving him to the edge of the brake, where, as in the first instance, he was received with a
■volley ; but a broomstick would have been equally efficacious as a gun in the hands of these people,
-Lfor, out of a gi-eat number of shots that were fired, not one seemed to have taken effect.

"Worn out at length by my exertions, and disgusted beyond measure at the way in which
vthe natives bungled the aflair, I left the tamarisk brake, and, rejoining them on the bank abo^e,
offered to change places with them. But my proposal, as I expected, was forthwith declined.

" As the day, however, was now fast drawing to a close, I determined to make one other effort

3U y.lTLUAl. UlsTVRV.

to destroy tli? Lion, ami should that prove unsuccessful, to give up the chase. Accordingly, iicccni-
j)anied by only a singls native, I agiin entered the brake in question, which I examined for some
time without sesing anything ; but on arriving at that part of the cover we had at first searched,
and v.hen in a si)ot oompaiati\ely free from buslies, up suddenly sprang the beast within a few
pacco of me. It was a black-maued Lion, and one of the largest I ever remember to have en-
CLiuntered in Africa. But his movements were so rapid, so silent, and smooth withal, that it was
not until he had pai-tially entered the thick cover (at which time lis might liave been about thirty
paces distant) that I could fire. On receiving the ball he wheeled short about, and with a terrific
roar, bounded towards me. When within a few paces he crouched as if about to spring, having his
head embedded, so to say, between his fore-paws.

'• Drawing a large hunting-knife, and slipping it over the wrist of my right hand, I dropped on one
knee, and, thus prepared, awaited his onset. It wivs an awful moment of suspense, and my situation
was critical in the exti-eme. Still my presence of mind never for a moment forsook me — indeed, I felt
that nothing but the most perfect coolness and absolute self-command would be of any avail.

" I would now have become the ;issaihuit; but as — owing to the intervening bushes, and clouds of
(lust raised by the Lion's lashing his tail against the ground — I was unable to see his head, while to aim
at any other part would have been madness, I refrained from firing. Whilst intently watching his
every motion, he suddenly bounded .towai-ds me; but whether it w;is owing to his not perceiving
me — partially concealed as I was in the, long grass — or to my instinctively throwing my body on one
side, or to his mis-calculating the distancs in making his last spring, he went clear over mo, and
alighted on th? gi-ound three or four paces beyond. Instantly, and without rising, I wheeled round on
my knee, and tlischarged my second barrel, and as his bi'oadside was then towards me, lodged a ball in
his shoulder, which it completely smashed. On receiving my second tire he made another and more
determined rush at me ; but owing to his disabled state, I happily avoided him. It was, however,
only by a hair's breadth, for he passed me within arm's length. He afterwards scrambled into the
tliick cover beyond, where, as night was then approaching, I did not deem it prudent to pursue him.

" At an early hour on the next morning, however, we followed his ' spoor,' and soon came to the
spot where \w had passed the night. The sand here was one patch of blood, and the bushes imme-
diately abo'.it were broken and beaten down by his weight, as he had staggered to and fro in his eflbrt
to get on his legs again. Strange to say, however, we here lost all clue to the beast. A large troop
of Lions that had been feasting on a Giraffe in the early morning had obliterated his tracks ; and it
was not until so;r,c days afterwards, and when the carcase wa-s in a state of decomposition, that his
death was a.^eertained. He breathed his last very near to where we were 'at fault,' but in prosecuting
tlie search wc had unfortunately taken exactly the opposite direction."

CHAPTER III.

THE CAT F.\MILY — the tiger and the LEor.uii).

The TlcrR— Its Colour, Size, &c.— Geographical Distribution— Mention of the Tiger by Ancient Writers— Habits of the Tiger
—Its Destructiveness— Native Superstitions — Tiger-hunting— The Leopard— Historical Account— External Characters
— Size— Geogiaphical Distribution— Varieties— Habits— Love of Dog-meat— Clay-eating Propensities— Attracted by
Small-pox Patients.

THE TIGEK.*
As the Lion is king of beasts in Central Africii, so the Tiger reigns supreme on a large jiorlion of
Southern Asia, where it is the most dreadt^d foe of the native, and the noblest game of the English
sportsman. Its great size, its wonderful activity and strength, its glorious colouring, make it, in many
respects, the most striking of all the great t-'arnivora. The marvellous .symmetry of its form, making
it almost as much a " line of bsaut}' in perpetual motion " as the Greyhound ; the flame-like bands of
orange-yellow, with inter.spersed black shadows, v.inding over its lithe sides and terrible countenance;

fllARACTERS OF THE TIG En. -U

the ferocity of its disposition, and its seeming uselessness for anytliing but (lestr\iction, lia\p been the
theme of one of the weii'dest, most wonderful melodies of the artist-poet Blake, -w lio sings ef it thus : —

•■ Tiger, tigvr, bui-ning bright
In the forests of tlie night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry ?

'' lu what distant deeps or sides
Burnt the fire of thine eyes ?
(til what wings dare he aspire ? -
What the hand dare seize the fire ':

" Aud what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heait 'i
And when thy heart began to beat,
AVhat dread hand ': and what dread fout ?

" What the hammer ? What the chain l-"
In what furnace was thy brain ?
What the anvil ? WTiat dread grasp
Daro its deadly terrors clasp ;'

" When the stai-s threw do-rni their spears.
And writer'd hfaven with their tears.

" Tiger, tiger, bm-ning bright
In the forests of the night.
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame tliy fearful symmetry : "

A recent writer* is very anxious to depose the Lion from the post of honour usually assigned
to him, that tlie "Royal Tiger" may reigii in his stead. And, although Englishmen will never
feel quite happy to see the " Emperor of India " put even on an equality with the " British Lion,'
we can hardly help thinking that an unpi-ejudiced person would consider the flowing mane and tufted
tail of the Lion more than counterbalanced by the brilliant colour, more perfect form, aiid superior size
of the Tiger.

The anatomical characters are so similar to those of the other Cats, that it is needless to dwell
upon them ; they are, indeed, for the most part so exactly like those of the Lion, that even the illtts-
trious Cuvier is said to have been completely worsted in an attempt to separate the mingled bones of
the two species. In the skull, however, the muzzle is. shorter than in the Lion, and forms a bolder
curve with the forehead, a character very well seen iirthe living animal, and making tlie Tiger's face
much rounder, and more like that of the Domestic Cat than the Lion's. In the skeleton, as in that of
other Cats, the flexibility of the spinal column is very noticeable, as also is tlie arranu'eiueiit of the
limb bonas, especially those of the hind limb, which are so disposed :i^ to tonu a sort .it dduMe C-spring.
(See the figiu-e of the Lion's skeleton on p. 5.) When a Tiger leaps, he first ermulies down, bending
the backbone into a strong downward curve by means of the great niuseles whi. li lie beneath it, at
the same time contracting the flexor muscles of the limbs, more partieiihirly ni tlie liiml limbs, so
as to make their three divisions — thigh, leg, and foot — set at an acute angle to one another. He then
brings into play the immense extensor muscles, which are especially well developed in all leaphig
animals, the back and limbs are straightened, and the animal, weighty as it is, fc projected forwards
with immense force.

The pupil of the eye is round. The tail is long, and devoid of a terminal tuft, and there is no
mane like the Lion's, although the cheeks.bear large whisker-like tufts of stiff hairs. Similar bristles
occur on the chin, lips, and eyebrows, those on the cheek being especially large, and coiistititting the
sensitive vihrissce which are so noticeable in most Cats, as well as in many other animals. All these

* Sir .Jo.sepl. Fayrer : "The RoyAl Tiger of Bengal : liis life and death.''

32 XATVUAl niSTOIlY.

hirsute appemlnges are capabli- of being erected when the auiniLil is angry. For this purpose the Lull
like ends of tlieui, wdiich are imbedded in the skin, are covered with slips of muscular tilne from tl
great cutaneous muscle — that by which quadrupeds are enabled to "shiver" their skins— and tliet

hair muscles are provided with an abundant supply of nerves. "When the muscles contract, they make
the hairs " stand ou end," j)roduciag a sort of magnified " goose-skin." The vibrissse are especially sen-
sitive, and are of great a.ssistance to the Tiger as he makes his way through the jungle in the dark. '

The great distinctive charactei' is, of course, the colour. Of this, and of the main points
of difference between the two sexes, Sir J. Fayrer writes as follows : — " The colour of a full-grov.'u

EXTEMNAL CHARACTERS OF THE TIGER. 33

Tiger in gooU lieiilth is exceedingly beautiful. The ground is of a rufous or tawny-yellow, shadeil
into white on the ventral surface. This is varied with vertical black stripes, or elongated ovals or
brindlings. On the face and on the back of the ears the white markings are peculiaHy well delined,
and present an appearance as remarkable as beautiful. The depth of shade of the ground colour,
and the intensity of the black markings, vary according to the age and condition of the animal.
In old Tigers the ground becomes more tawny, of a lighter shade, and the black markings better
defined. The young are more dusky in the ground .-..lourin- l]i:in the n.iddlr-ane.l m- old

Tigeis. The depth of colour is also affected by locality and climate. Those found in fore.sts are
often of a deeper shade than Tigei's found in more open localities. It is said that in more northern
latitudes they are of a Tghter colour, almost white. The circular white patches on the back of the
ears, and the white and black about the face, are vei-y conspicuous in the Tiger, rushing through the
grass or jungle when disturbed. Brilliant as is the general colour, it is remarkable how well it
harmonises with the gi-ass or bush among which he prowls, and for which, indeed, until his charge, and
the short deep gi-owls or barkings which accompany it, reveal hLs presence, he may be mistaken. Tlie
Tigress differs from the Tiger ; the head, as well as the whole body, is snialler and narrower. The neck
is lighter, and is devoid of any crest, which, though very much snna\ler ^han the voluminous mane of
the Lion, undoubtedly exists in large and old males. The Tigress is lither, moi-e active, and when
accompanied by her offspring, far more savage and bloodthirsty than the male ; she will then attack,
even when unprovoked ; and in defence of her young, of whioJi .she is proverbially fond, is as courageous

us she is viciou.-.. , Most of the accidents that liave befallen sjiortsmen ami others who have encountei-erl
these animals have been due tu Tigresses. J. have seen a Tigress, acconii>anied by her young, charge,
unprovoked, a line of Elephants, and inflict severe injuries before she was despatched. The only well-
aiithenticated ease in which a sportsman was taken out of a lioudah was one in which a Tigress, in
one bound, reached the sportsman, her hind feet resting on the Elephant's head, the fore feet on the rail
of the houdah. The occupant, who had mortally wounded her as she sprang, was .seized, and, after a
short struggle, dragged or thrown to the gi'ouud. Tlie Tigress then received another bullet, and died
where she fell ; the sportsman, severely wounded, was carried into camp, and slowly recovered."
As to the size of adult animals, the same author has the following remarks : —
'• It is generally admitted that the Tiger attains the greatest size in India, and there can be no

doubt that he is really the largest of the existing Fdidce -The size of the Tiger

varies ; some individuals attain great bulk and weight, though they are shorter than others which
are of a slighter and more elongated form. The statements as to the length they attain are con-
flicting and often exaggerated ; errors are apt to arise fiom measurements taken from the skin after
it is stretched, when it may be ten or twelve inches longer than before removal from the body. The
Tiger should be measured froni the nose along the spine to the tip of the tail as he lies dead on the spot
where he fell before the skin is removed. One that is ten feet by this measurement Ls large, aud the
full-grown male does not often exceed this, though no doubt larger individuals (males) are occasionally
seen, and I have been ■ informed by Intlian sportsmen of reliability that they have seen and killed
Tigers over twelve feet in length. The full-gi-owu male Indian Tiger, therefore, may be said to be
from nine to twelve feet, or twelve feet two inches, the Tigress from eight to ten, or perhaps, in very
rare instances, eleven feet in length, the height being from three to three and a half, or, veiy rarely,
fom- feet at the shoulder. But we must look with doubt on Buffou's statement that one had attained
a length of fifteen feet ; and with even greater hesitation can we accept the recorded statement that
Hyder Ally jiresented a Tiger to the Nawab of Arcot that measured eighteen feet."

The Tiger is entirely confined to Asia, where its range is very wide, extending from the Caspian to the
Sea of Okhotsk, and from latitude 50'-^ southwards. It has been found in the Elburz Mountains, Bokhara,
China, Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and Bali. It is known about Ceylon and fi-om the great table-
land of Tibet. Its head-quarters are North India, wliere great numbers are killed annually. From what
has been said, it will be evident that the Tiger is by no means, as one is very ajit to imagine, an alto
gether tropical animal ; the Caucasus, the western limit of its range, is far from being a warm region,
and its eastern limit, the island of Saghalien, is as far north as Kamtchatka. It has been found also at a
heiglit of 8,000 feet above sea-level. It is an interesting circumstance that the Tigers found amongst
the snows of Mantchuria and Corea have the " body covered with long softish hairs," and a shaggy rufl'
romid the neck. Thus, as is so constantly the- case, a definite vai'iety is produced solely by the action
of surrounding conditions. Certain Tigers find it advantageous to live farther north than the generality
of theii- kind, so as to have a freer field for their depredations than would be afforded to them by the
nuire southern districts, and, to .suit themselves to the vigoi-ous climate, acquire long warm fur, such as
would be quite out of place on the back of a denizen of the Bengal jungles.

It is a somewhat remarkable circumstance, considering the nearness of Palestine to the Caucasus
and Elburz Mountains, that the Tiger is not once mentioned in the Bible. It was, however, well
known to the Greeks aud Romans, and, like the Lion, was a regular performer at the amphitheatre.
The district called Hyi-cania, a tract of land lying to the south-east of the Caspian Sea, seems to have
been the most noted spot for Tigers. In the "JEneid." Dido, in her magnificent declamation against
the perfidy of /Eneas, is made to say- -

" Nee tibi Diva pai-cns, genius nee Dardanus auilov,

Pei-fide, sed duris genuit tc cautibus fion-ens
■ Caucasus, Hyi-cana-qiic admurunt ubera tigres."
" (■Pt-rtdious monster ! boast thy birth no more ;

No hero got thee, and no goddess bore :

No ! thou wert brought by Scythian roeks to day.

By Tigers nm-s'd and savages of pri'v.) "
raid Shakspere uses the same expression : —

" The rugged PyiTluis, like the IIiirctiDtiin beast."

THE TIGERS RAVAUES. 35

In disposition tlie Tiger differs Imt little from the otlier wild Fid'tdtf. Altboiigji possessed of siioli
immense strength and ferocity, lie often shows himself a very coward. Like most animals he scarcely
ever attacks an armed man nnless provoked, that is, unless he (or she) be a confirmed " man-eater,"
although often seizing upon women and cliihlreu. He slures with our Domestic Cat a love of cruelty
for its own sake. The author of " Rambles in the Mirzapore District " says of this essentially feline
character : — " It is sometimes an interesting sight to witness the demeanour of a Tiger towards liis teiTified
prey {i.e., when a victim is tied up for him, and the sportsman waits to shoot him in the tree above
it). When not raging with hungei', he appears to derive the same pleasure from playing with liis
victim as a Cat in tormenting a Mouse. He gambols around the Buffalo as if enjoying his alarm ;
and when the affrighted animal, in mad despair, feebly attempts to butt at his remorseless foe, the
Tiger bounds lightly over his head, and recommences liis gambols at the other side. At last, as if he
had succeeded in creating an appetite for dinner, he ciiishes the skull of his victim with one blow of
his powerful fore-paw, iind soon commences his bloody meal. "

Another point in which the Tiger resembles the Cat is the devotion of the feuudi; to hei- offsjiring,
and the remarkably lively and skittish disposition of the " kittens," of which from two to five are
usually produced at a birth. These are at first about half the size of our Domestic Cat. The mother
goes with young about 10.3 days, the breeding season being in the early part of the year, but varying
slightly according to locality. She is a most affectionate and attached mother, and generally guards
and trains her young with the most watchful solicitude. They remain with her until nearly full
grown, or about the second year, when they are able to cater for themselves. Whilst they remain
with her she is peculiarly vicious and aggressive, defending them with the greatest courage and
energy, and when robbed of them Ls terrible in her rage ; she has nevertheless been known to desert
them when pi-essed, and even to eat them when starved.

As soon as they begin to I'eqiiire other food than her mUk she kills for them, aiid teaches them to do
so for themselves by practising on small animals, such as Deer, and young Calves and Pigs. At these
times she is wanton and extravagant in her cruelty, killing apparently for the gi-atification of her
ferocious and bloodthii'sty nature, and, perhaps, to excite and instruct the young ones, and it is not
until they are thoroughly capable of providing their own food that she separates from them.

The young Tigers are far more destructive than the old. They will kill three or four Cows at a
time, whilst the elder and more experienced i-arely kill more than one, and tliis at intervals of from
three or four days to a week. For this purpose the Tiger will leave its retreat in the d<>nse jungle,
proceed to the neighbourhood of a village, and during the night will steal towards the herds
and strike down a Bullock, drag it into a secluded place, and then remain near the " miUTie," or
kill, for several days, \intil it has eaten it, when it will proceed in search of a fui-ther supply. When
it has once found good hunting-ground in the vicinity of a village, it continues its ravages, destroy-
ing one or two Cows or Buffaloes a week. It is very fond of the ordinary domestic cattle which,
in the plains of India, are generally weak, half-starved, under-sized creatures. One of these is easily
struck down and carried or dragged off. The smaller Buffaloes are also easily disposed of, but the
Buffalo Bulls, and especially the wild ones, are formidable antagonists, and have often been known to
beat the Tiger off, and even to wound him seriously with their horns.

Some notion of the fearful damages committed by Tigers in India will be gained from llio follow-
ing extract : — " Cattle killed in my district are numberless. As regards human beings, oni? Tiger in
1867-8-9, killed, respectively, twenty-seven, thirty-four, forty-seven people. I have known it attack
a party and kill four or five at a time. Once it killed a father, mother, and three children ; and the
week before it wa.s shot it killed seven people. It wandered over a tract of twenty miles, never re-
maining in the same spot two consecutive days, and at last was destroyed by a bullet from a spring
gun, when returning to feed on the body of one of its victims — a woman. At Nynee Tal, in Kumaon,
in 1856-7-8, there wa.s a Tiger that prowled about within a circle, say, of twenty miles, and it killed,

en an average, about eighty men per annum. The haunts were well known at all sea.sons

This Tiger was afterwards shot while devom-ing the body of an aged person it had killed." It is
also stated in a Government report that " in one instance, in the Central Provinces, a single
Tigress caused the desertion of thirteen villages, and two hundred and fifty square miles of counti-y
were thrown out of cultivation. This state of tilings would, undouljtedly, have continued, but for the

gg ]S\iTUKAL MISTOJiY.

timely arrival of a geutleniaii who, happily, was fortunate enough, with the aid of liis gun, to put an
end to her eventful career." Again, it is reported, "that one Tigress, in 1869, killed 127 people, and
stopped a jniblic road for many weeks, and was filially killed by the opportune arrival of an English
sportsman."

As might naturally be expected, an enemy so dreadful is sure to have supernatural power
ascribed to it by the credulous natives, whose property is destroyed, and whose lives are endan-
gered by the ravages of this terrible beast. People iii the state of civilisation of the ordinary
Indian villages are sure to think there is something more than natural in an animal capable of
such wholesale destruction, so wantonly cruel, of such fearful strength and such terrible beauty ;
and the following passages will give some idea of the prowess ascribed to the Tiger by those who
are the greatest sufferers from his bloody disposition : —

" The natives of India, especially the Hindoos, hold the Tiger, as they do the Cobra, in super-
stitious awe. Many would not kill him if they could, for they fear that he will haunt them or
do them mischief after death. Some they regard as being the tenement of a spirit, which not only
renders them immortal, but confers increased powers of mischief. In many parts of India the
peasants will hardly mention the Tiger by name. They either call him, as in Purneali, Giahur
(Jackal), Jan war (the beast), or they will not name him at all ; and it is the same in the case of the
Wolf. But though they will not always themselves destroy him, they are quite willing that others
should do so, for they will point out bis whereabouts, and be present at his death ; and the delight
evinced thereat is intense, for it often relieves a whole -vdllage from an incubus of no slight weight,
and saves the herdsman from his weekly loss of cattle. The conversation and remarks made by these
villagers round the fallen Tiger are often very amusing and characteristic.

"All kinds of jjower and influence are ascribed to portions of him when dead ; the fangs, the
claws, the whiskers, are potent channs, medicines, love-philtres, or prophylactics against disease, the
evil eye, or magic. They are in such demand that the natives will take them ; and we have known
whiskers, claws, and even fangs, extracted and carried away during the night, even when the dead
Tiger has been placed under the surveillance of a guard. The fat, also, is in great demand, for its
many potent virtues in relieving rheumatism and other ailments. The liver, the heart, and the flesh
iU-e taken away and dried, to be eaten as tonics or invigorating remedies that give strength and
courage. Tliere is also a popular delusion that a new lobe is added to the liver every year of his life.
A Tiger's skin with its whiskers preserved is a rarity ; you cannot keep them. The domestic, who
would preserve any other valuable as a most sacred trust, will fail under this temptation ! The
whiskers, besides other wonderful powers, are said to possess that of being a slow poison when
administered with the food. Such is the belief, which you may tiy in vain to disturb ! The clavicles,
too — little curved bones like tiny ribs — are also much valued ; but they ai-e generally lost or over-
looked when the Tiger is cut up, lying buried in the powerful muscles near the shouldei-s."

It is a very common opinion that the wounds made by a Tiger's claw or teeth are poisonous, and
consequently highly dangerous. It is, however, hardly necessary to state that the Tiger's venom is of
quite the same nature as that of the Frog and Newt, which so many country people believe in devoutly
to this day. The huge jagged canines, and the carefully sharpened claws make wounds which are
certainly ugly enough, but their danger arises merely from their depth, and from their liability to
fester in a hot climate.

Of course Tiger-hunting is, pai- excellence, the '• royal sport of India ;" the game calling forth more
courage and address from the sportsman than any other, and the " spice of danger " so necessary to
the true sportsman being at its maximum. Usually, a hunt is made up of a considerable number of
sjiortsmen, accompanied by a crowd of beaters. The Elephant upon which each hunter rides is
provided with a houdah of light wood and basket work, and consisting of two compartments, a front
one in which the sportsman himself sits, and a hinder one occupied by his servant, who is in readiness
with spare guns. The driver, or mahout, sits on a cushion on the Elejihant's neck, armed with a
pointed ii'on rod, or (jujbar/, to every touch of which the docile animal answers.

On aniving at a portion of the jungle where Tigers are known to exist, the sportsmen hold
themselves in readiness with loaded rifles, while the beaters, on foot, encircle the jungle,
and endea\our, with .shouts and gesticulations, to drive the game from their lurking-place to the

TWEK-nrN^Trxo. ;-,•

destruction whicli awaits them. As soon as a Tiger appears every piece is IcvelleJ at liini, and, in
many cases, he is despatched at once ; b>it often he is either entii'ely missed, or only slightly wound(;(i ,
and then he at once makes for the nearest Elephant, and often succeeds in making Elephant, or
mahout, or even sportsman, feel his cruel teeth and claws, befoi-e the couj) de grace is given. A Tiger
i.-i at no time the easiest thing to kill ; like its humble kinsman, the Cat, it has '• nine Mvq"-, " to part
with, and these lives are much more tenacious than in the case of poor puss. A Tiger, holding on

with tooth and claw to a ^v^■ithing Elephant in sulIi x position that x mis diiectf d shot may kill nvin
or Elephant instead of Tiger, i.s an extiemely a^vkw xid bexst iiidee I to dexl wit^ and is often enabled
to sell his life very dearly. "When the (H\ s s])oit is o\ei the Tigoi-s aie Cithti earned into camp on
pad Elephants, or skinned where they h" tin nitnes possessing themselves of the flesh, and evevy-
thing else of which they can lay hold.

The foregoing is the legitimate method of keeping dowai the Tiger race, but many others are
employed. "They are snared in pitfalls and traps, shot by .spring-gun.s and arrows, occasiona-ily
poisoned, and it is said that bird-lime has been used in their destruction. I have read of this, but
know of no authenticated case in which it luis been practissd. The bird-lime, it is said, is spread
on t.ie fallen leaves ; these adhering to the Tiger's jiav.s r.rc soon jilaotered all over him, including
hi.; face and eye.3. Blinded and stupefied by rage and fear, lie fails an easy prey to the villagers,

.H X AURAL HISTORY.

wlij then eitlier slioot or stab liini to death with sjiear.s. Another mode of effecting his death is to lay
a bait, by tying up a Cow or Goat in some spot the Tiger is wont to frequent. Neai- tliis, on a machan,
or on the branch of a tree, or from behind some extemporised screen, the shikarie waits his approach
at night, and when the bait is seized takes aim, and often succeeds in destroying him, though it not
unfrequently happens that in the uncertain light he misses altogether, or only wounds, in wliich ease
a second chance is seldom obtained."

The perils of Tiger-hunting are great and varied. In the following instance related by Sir Joseph
Fayrer a large comic element was introduced, although the fun is probably more striking to us to I'ead
of than it was to the hunter and his mahout who took part in it : —

" A ratlier curious Tiger-hunt, in which the Tiger seemed to think that he should have his share
of the sport as well as the ' shikarie,' occurred some short time ago in the Dhoon. A gentleman,
well known in Dehra, an enthusiastic though rather inexperienced sportsman, they say, went out
about a month ago, into tlie Eastern Dhoon, for a day or two's shooting. Arrived on the ground, he
was seated in his houdah on the Elephant, looking out anxiously for game of some sort, when the
mahout suddenly cried, ' Sher, Sahib ; burra, Sher !' for a Tiger had made his appearance unexpectedly
close to the Elephant. The gentleman hurriedly fired, and planted a ball from his rifle, not in th&
Tiger's shoiddei-. but in his al)domen. This mistake must have been due to surprise at the Tiger's
sudden !id\i-iit mi tlic sicui-, nml tlic (•ons('i|uently hurried shot; otherwise such a want of knowledge-
of anatomy as was i\-iiic(Ml iu seeking a vital spot in the abdomen would be unpardonable. The con-
sequences of the mistake were serious ; for the Tiger, resenting the sudden disturbance in the region,
where the remains of his last kill were peacefully reposing, charged the Elephant, and, by a spring,
succeeded in planting his fore-paws on lier head, while his hind legs clawed and scratched vigorously
for a footing on her trunk.

"Imagine the feelings of the mahout, with a Tiger within six inches of his nose 1 the Elephant
trumpeting, shaking, and rolling with rage and pain, till he was barely able to maintain his seat on
her neck at all ; and the occupant of the houdah, too, tumbled from top to bottom, and from side tO'
side of it, as if he weve a solitaiy pill in a pillbox too lai'ge for him. Of course, in this predicament,,
he was utterly unable to use his rifle to rid the Elephant of the unwelcome head-dress she was,,
perforce, wearing. The attempt to fire, in all that shaking, would probably have resulted in his
blowing out the mahout's brains instead of the Tiger's, or in his shooting himself. Meanwhile the
mahout, with the courage of despair, slipped out of' the r/addela, or cushion, on which he sat, and,
rolling it round his left arm, and taking the iron <j"jl>('ij in his right, assailed the Tiger manfully about
the ear.s. But, being thick-headed, he did not seem to mind the gujbag at all ; for, after taking a bite-
at the Elephant's forehead, he calmly continued his struggles for a footing on the reluctant and ever-
dodging trunk, heedless of the rain of blows on his thick skull, and, no doubt, promising himself to.
square accounts ])resently by swallowing the mahout, gujhag, and all. But the Elephant wa.s.
beginning to see that she couldn't shake the Tiger off, so she tried another plan ; and, making ani
extempore battering-ram of hei'self, \vith the Tiger a.s a buffer, she charged straight at a .sal-tree,,
thinking to make a Tiger-pancake on the spot. But the sal-tree, alas I was a small one, and gave way
under the shock, and away went tree, Tiger, and Elephant into an old and half filled-up ohi, or Elephant
])it, which happened to be conveniently placed to receive them just on the other side of the fallen tree.
The Tiger and the mahout were both knocked off by the shock and fall ; but the latter, luckily for
himself, fell out of the pit, the former into it, under the Elephant. The Elephant now had her share of
the sport, and gave the Tiger such a kicking while he lay under her, making a kind of shuttlecock of
him between her fore ami bind legs, that the breath must have been almost kicked out of him ; theru
deeming she had done enough for honour and glory, and that she couldn't eat the Tiger if she did kilt
him, she commenced climbing out of the pit, whose crumbled and sloping sides luckily made the-
scramble out practicable. The mahout, who had by this time picked himself and his scattered wit.s-.
up, rushed round and caught her by the ear just as she reached the level, and was preparing for a bolt,,
and scrambling rapidly up to his perch on her neck, succeeded in stopping her and turning her face to-
the foe once more. The Elephant being now under command, our sportsman at length resumed his
proper share in the proceedings, and the Tiger being still at the bottom of the pit, brer.thless, if not
senseless, from the kicking he had undei-gone, by a well-directed shot i>ut him finally liors de combat.

ADVESTVRE TFITir A TIGER. 39

and had the satisfaction of carryiiii; him into the station in triumph, where kis skin is preserved as a.
witness of this strange Tiger-hunt. The Elephant, though it got one nasty bite, and was badly
scratched about the trunk and fore-legs, is now none the worse for its single combat with the monarcK
of the Indian forests."

We mentioned aliove that the Tiger rarely attacks man unless provoked. When, however, he is.
hard pressed for a meal, he will often visit inhabited spots, and then is as likely to choose human a.s
bovine food. Imagine the sensation likely to arise in a small village, inhabited only liy a few unarmed,
or at least but poorly armed men, with their waives and children, by such an occurrence as the
following, related by an English traveller : —

" On the 11th of November of the same year I chanced to meet a Tiger myself. I was on the
shore of the mainland opposite Amoy, in the afternoon, looking out for small birds, in company wit'i
a friend. I carried a gun, but had only small shot and one cartridge. Some villagers came running
to us crying ' Go and shoot the Tiger ! ' I thought they were making game of us, until some of them
assured us that there really was a Tiger in a neighbouring village, and that they would be much
obliged if we would kUl it. They led us to a village at the foot of a hill near the shore, where we-
found men, women, and children huddled outside in great alarm. Many of the men were armed with
matchlocks. They desired us to take off our boots, and one of the men guided us over the roofs of the-
houses to the last house near the hill, and, pointing to a large rock, he made us listen. We could
distinctly hear growls, and peeriiig over I sa%\ the lips and feet of the Tiger under the overhanging-
rock. The house on which we stood presented a wall facing the rock, and about two yards distant.
We went inside, and I persuaded the owner to make a hole in the wall. I had no means of drawing
the charge of my gun, so I rammed down a cartridge on the top of the small shot in one barrel, and a
few hollow buttons into the other. lu the hurry and excitement no bullets or iron nails were foi-th-
coming. The Tiger noticed the hole in the wall, but only giowled. I tired the button baixel first,
aimed at its neck, but he only answered by a growl, and I saw that the buttons had done no more
than turn up the skin without penetrating. His jaw was full towards me, and I gave him the
cartridge right between hLs eyes. He gave a furious roar, and bounded into the garden, where he
stood for some seconds bleeding from the nose, and with his tongue lolling from his mouth. I had no
more cartridges with me, so I loaded again with the metal-edged buttons which the villagers tore ofi"
their coats for me. The Tiger had moved away, and I tracked him by his blood into a dilapidated
temple. I looked in at the window, and there stretched beside a coffin sat the noble beast. He
turned Iris head and growled as he saw me, and, without a moment's thought I i-aised the ban-els and
lired another shower of buttons in his face. I turned and fled ; but a roar followed wliich I shall
never forget, and I found myself, breathless, at the bottom of a precipice, with my gun upraised,
expecting to see the angry creature upon me ; but strange enough he did not follow. The villagers,
who were assembled two hundred yards away, all ran when I ran ; but seeing the Tiger did not pursue,
one of them came forward and put me on his knees, and patting me on the back, helped to bring back
my breath, which I had lost by the fall. We crept up to the window again. Every one of the
thick wooden bare had been knocked out by the force of the leap ; but from the blood only splash-
ing the outside of the window, it was evident the Tiger had not come out of the building. We looked
in at the window, and just below, outstretched on the floor in a pool of blood, lay the Tiger. I threw
up my hand and .shouted to my friend, who watched the proceedings at a distance, that the Tiger was
dead. At the noise, the Tiger raised his head and growled. He was a Cat, of course, and had the usual
nine lives. I went to the villagers and proposed a joint attack, but they would not consent. Some of them
ascended the hills behind and fired on to the roof of the house in which the Tiger was sheltered. It was
gettmg dark, so breathless and hurt I took boat and returned to Amoy. A few hoiirs after the Tiger
is said to have moved away ; but whether he died or recovered his wounds I could never satisfactorily
learn, so contradictory were the stories told."

Mr. Thomson recounts a tale of a planter in this province, who, returning home after a carouse,
a little too much under the influence of Scotch whisky, was sorely bested by a Tiger. " It was.
rather dark, and vei-ging on the small hours of morning when MacNab, mounting on his tnisty
steed, set his face towards home. Feeling at peace with all men, and even with the bea-sts of prey, he
cantered along a road bordered with mangro-\ es, admiring the fitful gleams of the tire-flies that were

40 NATURAL HISTORY.

lighting their midnight hunps among the tret-.s. But soon the road became darker, and Donald, th.e
pony, pricked liis ears uneasily as he turned into a jungle-path which led towards the stream. Donald
. snuffed the air, and soon redoubled Lis pace, with ears set close back, nostrils dilated, and bristling
mane. Onward he sped, and at last the angry growl of a Tiger in full chase behind roused MacNab
to the full peril of his position, and chilled his blood with the thought that his pursuer was fast gainuig
ground, and that at any moment lie might feel the clutch of his hungiy and relentless claws. Here
was a dilemma, the cold creek before him, and the hot breath of the Tiger in the rear. A moment or
two were gained by tossing his hat bshind him, and then Donald cleared the stream at a bound. The
Tiger lost his scent, and Mr. MacNab reached home in safety, by what he delighted to describe us a
miraculous escape."

To us, who " live at home at ease," life would seem to be hardly bearable in a place when one is
liable, any day, to meet with such an adventure as this — with eveiy chaiice, too, of a less pleasant
termination. But it is astonishing liow indifierent to the presence of wild beasts the inhabitants of
these countries become. E\en Europeans soon acquire the same fearlessness, or, rather, apathj'. Of
this Mr. Thomson gives a striking illustration : — " In these sparse settlements of Malays and
C'hinese, Roman Catholic missionaries are at work. I once fell in with one of these priests, shod
with straw sandals, and walking alone towards Bukit, Mer-tangrim (the pointed hill), to visit a sick
convert who had a clearing upon the mountainside. His path lay through a region infested with
wild animals; and when I inquired if he had no dread of Tigers, he pointed to his Chinese
umbrella, his only weapon, and assured me that with a similar instrument a friend of his had
driven off the attack of a Tiger not very far from where we stood. But tlie nervous shock which
followed that triumph had co.st the courageous missionary his life."

THE LEOPAED.^

The Leopard, or Panther, is undoubtedly the third in importance and interest of the great Cats.
From a historical point of view it is more interesting than the Tiger, and would naturally come
immediately after the Lion, but its size, ferocity, and beauty are so very inferior to the Tiger's that
it must needs yield to the glorious Bengalee. In the matter of beauty alone it is eclipsed by the
Jaguar, but the fact of its having been known from very ancient times, and that of its occurrence
in our own hemisphere, must decide us, in the. absence of any important eliaracters. anatomical or
otherwise, to give it the precedence of its veiy nearly related American cousin.

The Leopard was the only one of tiie greater feline aniuial.s, except the Lion and Tiger, that
seems to have been known to the ancients. It is always represented as drawing the cliariot of
Bacchus, and the forlorn Ariadne is sculptured as riding on one of the spotted steeds of her divine lover.
The Panther was also constantly used in the barbarous sports of the amphitheatre, and, in common
with the Lion and Tiger, has been both executioner and grave to many a bold-hearted martyr.

The Leopard's skin was a favourite mantle in the olden times in Greece. In the " Iliad," Homer,
."^peaking of Menelaus, says —

" With a Pard's spotted hide his shoulders hroad
He mantled o'er."

and the Leopard, or Panther, is given in the " Odyssey " as one of the forms assumed by Proteus, " the
Ancient of the Deep."

A curious ancient superstition about the Leopard is embodied in its name. It was thought not
to be actually the same animal as the Panther or Pard, but to be a mongrel or hybrid between
the male Pard and the Lioness : hence it was called the Lion-panther, or Leopardus. Tliis error, as
Archbishop Trench tells us, " lias lasted into modern times ; thus Fuller, ' Leopards and Mules are
properly no creatures.' " Another woi-d-combination was made by the Romans when wishing to find
a name for the Giraffe. It is " a creature combining, though with infinitely more grace, yet some of
the height and even the proportions of a Ccmel, with the spotted skin of the Pard." They called it
" Camelopardus," the Camel-panther.

Some authors give it as their opinion that the Leopard outshines all the gi-eat beasts of prey

* F,ih pardus.

EXTERXAL CUAILlCTErjJ OF THE LEOPARD.

in beauty and elegance, and, indeed, called it the Carnivore j^ar excellence. Unfortunately, most
English people have no means of forming a true opinion on a matter of this soi-t, as we see the
animals only in menageries ; Ijut judging from the specimens we have seen in confinement, we should
incline to the belief that it is far behind both the Lion and Tiger, and is even beaten by the Jaguar in
tue matter of colouring, although the surly look of the latter makes him, on the whole, a far less at-
tractive beast. The adulfc Leopard in the London Zoological Gardens is perhaps the clumsiest brute
in the whole Lion-house— fat, bull-necked, and stupid-lookiiig. Stupid-looking, and even clumsy, that
is, when lying lazily asleep on the floor of his den ; but watch him when four o'clock comes, and the
meat-barrow ijoes round, and tlien where will voti find more marvellous agilitv? All the Cats are

C_

*^K

'X

alike in this ; they are very lazy at times, but when tliey Jo begin to move, there is no more complete
example of perfectly graceful movement, and one feels as if he could watch them " on and off for days
and days," as Alice's frog-footman puts it.

The chai-acters of the hide are so characteristic that they must be given in some detail, especially
as the spots must be distinguished from those of the Jaguar, the gi-eat spotted Cat of the New World.
The skin is described as follows : — " On an orange-yellow ground, passing below into white, are sjwts
of deep or brownish-black, sometimes distinc-t, sometimes composed of two, three, or even four points
disposed in a circle, and surrounding a space, always somewhat darkei' than the gi-ound-colour, and
sliading into it below. On the medio-dorsal line, in the hinder part of the body, the spots are so
arranged as to produce three or even four regular jiarallel bands. On the side of the body, also, bands
are found, but they are indefinite in number, and irregularly disposed. On the head and legs, the
cu-cular spots pass by degrees into mere points. The belly is stremi with great double ])oints,
irregularly disposed, and on tlie legs the i>oints. also double, unite and form bands. The tail is

42 XJ TUBAL HISTORY.

covered over tlie greater part of its length witli annular spots. On the hinder part of the ears w
a clear spot."

It must not be supposed, however, that all Leopards have exactly the kind of marking here
described, for it varies according to habitat, ag6, sex, and season. Still, tlie skin-markings are defi-
nite enough to enable one to tell the true Leopard, either from the Hunting Leopard (Cheetah)^
the Jaguar, or the Clouded Tiger, the only animals with which there is any possibility of con-
founding it.

In size the Leopard is decidedly inferior to either the Lion or Tiger ; being not more than
some seven feet six inches from snout to tip of tail, and two feet seven inches high at the shoulder.
The tail itself Ls about three feet eight inches long. The female is somewhat smaller than the
male, to which the above measurements apply. The whiskers are strong and white, and the eye.su
yellow.

The head-quarters of the Leopard are the African continent, where its range is almost co-
extensive with the Lion's, as it occurs from Algeria in the north to Cape Colony in the south.
In the latter locality it is known by the settlers as the Tiger, biit this is quite a misnomer. The
Tiger of the Cape colonists is a spotted, not a striped Cat, and is iiideed nothing but the African
variety of the Panther. Like the Lion, the Leopai-d extends into Asia, penetrating, however, much
farther into that continent than the king of beasts. In the western parts of Asia it occurs, amongst
other places, in Palestine, where " it is found all rmmd the Dead Sea, in Gilead, and Bashan, and
occasionally in the few wooded districts in the West." Leopards ai-e found in Ceylon, whei-e they
are the only great Carnivores, but where they are neither very numerous nor very dangerous, as they
seldom attack man. By the Europeans the Ceylon Leopard is erroneously called a Cheetah, but the
true " Cheetah " (Felisjubata), the Hunting Leopard of India, does not exist in the island.

The Leopard is found at its extreme easterly range in Japan, where it occurs \mder a distinct
variety, known as the " Northern Leopard," the skin of which is " much like that of a fine-coloured
Hunting Leopard, but it is at once distinguished by the comparatively shorter legs, by the larger size
and brown centre of the black spots, and from all the varieties of the Leopard by the linear spots on
the nape and the spots on the back not being formed of roses or gi-oups of spots. The skin in its
tanned state is four feet six inches, and the tail two feet ten inches long."

Another variety from Fonnosa is distiuguLshed by the shortness of its tail, which is not more
than a foot and three-quarters long, or about half the length of that of its African brother. Some
naturalists propose to consider both these varieties as distinct species, but such charactei-s as the length
of the tail and the form and disposition of the spots are eminently vai-iable, and when we consider
that another Leopard from Formosa has been de.scribed ^\•ith a tail one foot one inch long, and
another whose caudal appendage was two feet seven inches in length, we shall certainly be justified
in concluding that such slight difference must have been produced by the innate tendency of all
animals to vary in unimportant particulars, and by the influence of surrounding conditions, and we
may safely put all these various kinds of Leopard imder the common label Felis jjardus.

There is, however, one very interesting character about the " Northern Leopard" which, although
by no means entitling it to rank as a species, yet makes it a very instructing instance of the way
in which a breed or race is pi-oduced by the modifying influence of climate. The animal in question
is found not only in Japan, but in Mantchuria, " extending probably to Corea, and the Island of
Saghalien," and is remarkable from the fact that its hair is long and shaggy, a condition of things,
evidently brought about Vjy the cold climate it has to endure. Hence we see that the Bi'itish climate
need not have diflered from its present condition to have been the home, as indeed it once was, of the
larger beasts of prey.

Perhaps the most interestiag variety of this species is the Black Leopard of Java. It ha*
exactly the appearance of an ordinary Leopard painted black, the pai]it, however, not being laid ou
sufficiently thick to hide the spots, which are of a more intense black than the rest of the hide.
The Black Leojiard is sometimes described as a distinct species, and is called Leopardus melas, but
there can be very little doubt that it is, in reality, a mere variety, differing only in colour — the most
variable of characters — from the common kind. It is, however, so singular as to require the special
notice which we have aiven it.

M.ixxi:!:.'^ A.vii crsToM.s of tub leotard. 43

" Let-liards freijuent tlie viciuitNfcof i)a;stiire-luiiils in quest of tlie Deer aud other peaceful auinm'is
^vhicli resort to tlieni ; and the vilhigers often complain of the destruction of their cattle by these
formidable maraudei-s. In relation to them the natives have a curious but firm con\dction that
when a Bullock is killed by a Leopard, and, in exph-ing, falls so that its right side is undermost,
the Leopai-d will not return to devour it. I have been told by English sportsmen (some of whom
share in the popular belief), that sometimes, when they have proposed to watch by the carcase of
a Bullock recently killed by a Leopard, in the kope of shooting the spoiler on his return- in search
of his prey, the native owner of the slaughtered animal, though earnestly desiring to be avenged,
has assured them that it would be in vain, as, the beast having fallen on its right side, the Leopard
would not return.

" The Singhalese hunt them for the sake of their extremely beautiful skins, but jirefer taking
them in traps and pitfalls, and occasionally in spring cages formed of poles ch-iven firmly into the
ground, within which a Kid is generally fastened as a bait, the door being held open by a sapling
bent down by the united force of several men, and so arranged as to act as a spring, to which a noose
is ingeniously attached, formed of plaited Deer's hide. The cries of the Kid attract the Leopard,
Avhich, being tempted to enter, is enclosed by tha libsration of the spring, and grasped firmly round
the body by the noose."*

There is a Scottish adage which says that " Hawks will not peck out hawks' een ; " but the Leopard,
a Carnivore, has a confirmed liking for the flesh of the flesh-eating Dog. This fact has been observed
\>\ a wi'iter who states that the Leopard has quite a mania for that sort of diet, and will not hesitate
to penetrate into a tent at night in quest of his favoiirite game.

There is a rather curious habit of the Leopards which we have observed at the Zoological Gardens,
though whether it holds good with all Leopards we are not prepared to say, ne^'er having seen the
circumstance mentioned. The Lion and Tiger, when devouring their reeking bones at their four o'clock
dinner, at Regent's Park, lie down at full length, aud hold the meat between their fore-paws, in
this way steadying it while they take theii- tremendous bites. The Leopards, on the other hand, do
not lie down, but squat on their haimches, the fore-iegs being kept almost vertical, and the head, of
com-se, correspondingly bent down to reach the food. The paws are rarely used to steady the piece of
meat, and only, in fact, when the beast comes across a particularly fractious morsel which he finds it
impossible to manage with his teeth alone. For this reason, a Leopard in the act of feeding is a far more
awkward-looking beast than the Lion or Tiger, both of which hold theii- food in quite a civilised way.

In connection with the Leopard's mode of feeding, we may mention a curious tale about its diet.
I'here can be little doubt that it is a mere "yam," or rather a piece of folk-lore, but still it is
interesting, especially when we think of the many tales of clay-eating men : — " The natives [of Ceylon]
assert that it devours the kaolin clay, called by them kiri mattee, in a very peculiar way. They say
that the Cheetah [Leopard] i)laces it in lumps beside lum, and then gazes intently on the sun,
till, on turning his eyes on the clav. every piece appears of a red colour like flesh, when he instantly
devours it."

As a rule, the Leopard seems to be f;u- more cowardly than the Lion or Tiger. Jules Gerard, the
Lion-killer, holds the beast in the greatest contempt for its pusillanimity. Still, it often shows a good
deal of pluck, chiefly, however, when in want of food. As to this matter, the actual experience of
those who have observed the animal in its native land wdll convey a truer idea than any summing
up of its good and bad points. " One night I was suddenly awoke by a furious barking of our
Dogs, accompanied by cries of distress. Suspecting that some beast of prey had seized upon one of
them, I leaped, undre.ssed, out of my bed, and, gini in hand, hurried to the spot whence the cries
proceeded. Tlie night was pitchy dark, however, and I could distinguish nothing; yet, in the hope of
frightening the intruder away, I shouted at the top of my voice. In a few moments a torch was
lighted, and we then discovered the marks of a Leopard, and also large patches of blood. On counting
the Dogs, I found that ' Summer,' the best and fleetest of our kennel, was missing. As it was m vain
that I called and searched for him, I concluded that the Tiger [Leopard] had carried him away ; and,
AS nothing further could be done that night, I again retired to rest ; but the fate of the poor animal

* Sir James Emerson Tennent, '■ Sketches of the Xatm-al History of Ceylon."

j4 XATVA.IL HISTORY.

continued to Imunt iiic, iiml Jiove sleep away. I liai! seated myself ou tlic front chest of the w'agoii,
when suddenly the melancholy cries were reiieated, and on rushing to the spot, I discovered
' Summer ' stretched at full length in the middle of a bush. Though the poor creature had several
deep wounds about his thimt and chest, he at once recognised me, and, wagging his tail, looked
wistfully in my face. The sight sickened me as I carried him into the house, where, in time, however,
he recovered. The very next day ' Summer ' was revenged in a very unexpected manner. Some of
the servants had gone into the bed of the riveij to chase away a Jackal, when they suddenly
encountered a Leopard in the act of springing at our Goats, which were grazing, imconscious of danger,
on the river's bank. On finding himself discovered, he immediately took refuge in a tree, when he
was at once attacked by the men. It was, however, not until he had received upwards of sixteen

v.'ounds some of which were inflicted by poisoned an-ows — that life became extinct. I arrived at the

ssene of conflict only to see him die. During the" whole afiFaii-, the men had stationed themselves at
.lie foot of the tree, to the branches of which the Leopard was pertinaciously clinging,_and, having
expended all their ammunition, one of them pi-oposed, and the suggestion was taken into serious
consideration, that they should pull him down by the tail."

One of the most remarkable circumstances related about the Leopard is the way in which it is
attracted by persons suffering from small-j)0x ; the odour attending that disease seems to have an
irresistible fascination for them. Sir Emerson Tennent says that the medictvl oflicers at small-pox
hospitals have to take special precautions against Leopards, which invariably haimt the spot.

• As with the other FeUdie, the only value of the dead Leopard is the price of its .skin, no truly
carnivorous animal being good eating; although it is related that one of the South African trilies
will eat the flesh, not only of the Leopard, but even of the Hya'na, when they are hard pressed for food.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CAT FAMILY : ti^e .iahar. tue sm.iller wild o.its, the do.mestic cat.
The Jagiab— Its Character, Distribution, and Habits— Fondness for Nearoes— The Plma— Its Character, CJeographicivl
Kange, and Habits— Mode of Hunting the Puma— The Ovnce— The Clouded TlGEK~Thc Character of its Fur, &c.—
Its Habits— The Ocelot— The Marbled Tiger-Cat— The Viverrine Cat— The Pampas Cat— The Lonc-tailed
Tigeh-Cat— TheMabgay- The( Mi.ot.jiji The .TAr.rAr.oxni The Etra— The Serval— The Eusty-spotted Cat
—The Leopard Cat— The Ww i'at The siMnFn Wiiii (at— The M.o-cl— The Egyptian Cat— The Common
Wild Cat — The Domestic (at Historiml skitch ( luiuctiis of Skin, &c. — Connection between Whiteness and
JSlindue.ss — Habits — Use of 'Wliiskfrs — Diut- I'oacliiiig J'roiiuiisities — Fondness for Offspring— Foster-Cliildren-
Madness in Cats— Varieties— Tlie Angora Cat, Manx Cat, Persian Cat, and Chinese Cat.

THE JAGUAR.*
The Jaguar takes tlie place of the Leopard in America, where it is the most formidable of beasts
of prey. It extends across the whole of the central part of the continent : its northern limit being
the south-west boundary of the United States.

It is a slightly larger animal than the Leopard, fierce and sulky in expression, but more elegant
in form, and far handsomer as to its skin. The spots arc arranged in larger and moi'c definite groups,
each group consisting of a ring of well-defined black spots enclosing a space of a somewhat darker
tawny than the ground-colour, in which lesser spots often occur.

The Jaguar is jjerhaps the fiercest-looking of all the great Cats, having an extremely ferocious expres-
.sion and a horrid habit of showing its great fangs. Some time ago we were taken over the fine Liou-
house in the Zoological Gardens by the Superintendent, Mr. Bartlett, to whose practical genius for
everything that relates to the comfort of the animals under his charge most of the perfections of
that structure are due. The little sleeping apartments at the back of the den open by iron doors into
a long corridor, and in each of the doors is a small hole about tiie size of a penny, through which the
keeper can look-. Mr. Bartlett blew sharply through the hole in the den of the Jaguar's cage, and
th?n allowed us to look through, and there was something terrible in the way the savage beast

UAlllTS OF TEE JAGV.-LR.

ree Tom Cat. Even the
; prevent us from .starting

rnsl.fj ..^ tlic door, growling and "swearing" like a very large and
knowledge of the strong ii-on door between us and the Jaguar could
back, there was something so suggcotive, in the beast's locks, of being tcru to pieces and devoured.

Tlie Jaguar is found iu North and South America, extending from the Southern regions of the
Unitetl St:>tes, tlu'ough Mexico, Central Amei-ica, and Brazil, as far south as Paraguay. Of its
habits, occurrenc:?, &c., t!i3 following interesting account is given by Mr. Darwin :* —

" Tlie wooded banks of the great rivers appy.ir t:> be ths favourite haunts of the Jaguar; but

south of the Plata, I was told that they frequented the re?ds bordering lakes. Wherever they are,
they seem to i-etjuire water. Their common prey is tlie Capybara, so that it is generally said,
where Capybaras are numerous there is little danger from the Jaguar. Falconer states that near
the southern side of the mouth of the Plata there arc many Jaguar.^, and that they chiefly live
on lish. This account I have heard repeated. On the Parana they have killed iiriny wood-cutters,
and have even entered vessels at night. There is a man now living in Rnjada, who, coming
up from below when it was dark, was seized on the deck ; lie cscuiMd, lidwcvn-, with the loss of
the use of one arm. When the floods drive these auinuds fioni the isLimls, they are most
dangerous. I was told that, a few years since, a vei-y large one found its way into a church at
Santa Fe : two padres entering one after the other were killed, and a third, who came to see what
was the. matter, escaped with difficult}'. The beast was destroyed by being shot from a corner of
the building, which was unroofed. They commit also at these times great ravages among Horses and

* "Naturalist's Voyn^e.'

4fl KATVRAL UISTORi:

cattle. It is suid that they kill their prey by breiikiiig their necks. If driven from the carcas.s, they
seldom return to it. The Gauchos .say that the Jaguar, when wandering about at night, is much
tormented by the Foxes yelping as they follow him. This is a curious coincidence with the fact which
is trenerally affirmed of the Jackals accompanying, in a similarly officious manner, the East Indian
Ticer. The Ja<'uar is a noisy animal, roaring much by night, and especially before bad weather.
One day, when hunting on the banks of the Uruguay, I was shown certain trees to which these animals
constantly recur for the purpose, as it is said, of sharpening their claws. I saw three well-known trees ;
in front, the bark was worn smooth as if by the breast of the animal, smd on each side there were deej)
scratches, or rather grooves, extending in an oblique line, nearly a yard in length. The scars were of
different ages. A common method of ascertaining if a Jaguar is in the neighbourhood is to examine
these trees. I imagine this habit of the Jaguar is exactly similar to one which may any day be seen
in the common Cat, as with outstretched legs and exserted claws it scrapes the leg of a chair ; and I
have heard of young fruit-trees in an orchard in England having been thus much injured. Some such
habit mtvst also be common to the Puma, for on the bare hard soil of Patagonia I have frequently seen
.scores so deep that no other animal could have made them. The object of this practice is, I believe,
to tear off the ragged points of their claws, and not, as the Gauchos think, to sharpen them. The
Jaguar is killed, without much difficulty, by the aid of Dogs baying and driving him up a tree, where
he is despatched with bullets."

It has been stated that great contests take place between the Jaguars and the Alligators which
frequent the rivers of the regions in which the great Cat lives. It is said that the Jaguar is fully a
match for the Alligator on land, while in the water the reptile has usually the best of it. The tale
must, however, be taken mtn grano sails. A very curious fact is mentioned by Brehni, namely, that
the Jaguar always attacks Negroes and Indians in preference to whites, and that a white man, obliged
to sleep in the open air in a dangerous locality, always feels perfectly safe if accompanied by natives.
It is thought that this is probably due to the strong odour which characterises the skin of the Negro
and oth(^r dark races. As tending to confirm this extraordinary statement, we may mention an
anecdote told us by the late Prof. P. M. Duncan, F.Pv.S., of the behaviour of the great Felidce at
the Zoological Gardens towards coloured people. Every one must have noticed the calm, supercilious,
way in which those grand creatures regard the visitors to their abode, seeming to look on them
as bemgs of an inferior race come to pay rightful homage to strength and beauty ; except at
feeding-time, they seem hardly to give a thought to the admii-ing crowds in their house of
reception, but pace regularly up and down their dens, or sit with paws thitist out between the
bars, stolidly gazing. Several years ago, however, when the Prince of Wales's Indian animals
were exliibited at the Gardens, a little black boy,' one of the attendants attached to the collection,
often passed through the Lion-house ; and when he did so, every Cat in the place started to its
feet, and rushed to the bars of its cage with great demonstrations of anger and ferocity. They
evidently felt that here, at least, was one of the black, two-legged animals on which their fathers and
grandfathers luut fcil from time immemorial, and that now was then- time to strike for a pleasant
■chann-e of diet, after the monotony of beef bones, ignominiousl}' cut up and parcelled out to them.

THE PIT3IA.*
The Fuma, or " South American Lion," is the second great American Carnivore. It occurs far
more widely siu-ead in the continent than the Jaguar, ranging from the cold regions of the Strait of
Magellan uji to 50" or 60" north latitude. In appearance iti»is not unlike a small Lioness, hsiving a
tint somewhat similar to the charactei-istic tawny colour of the monarch of Africa, but darker, gi-eyer,
and less rich ; the mane, too, is absent. Its head is proportionally, as well as absolutely, much smaller
than that of the Lion ; its face is rounder, and it is altogether a much smaller beast : its average size
being about thir-ty-nine or forty inches from the snout to the root of the thick, strong tail, the latter
again being some twenty-five or twenty-six inches long, and the height about the same. Indistinct
spots occur, as in the Lion, on the belly and the inside of the legs. The liind-quarters are very
large, and are kejit higher than the shoulders in walking. The skin beneath the belly is remarkably
loose iind peiululous.

* Fdis concolor.

21ADITS OF THE PVMA. 47

Uiililce the Ja^'iiar, tlie Puma avoid; watv-r, although well able to swim when necessary. It is as
muaii at hj;iK> in trees as on solid grauiul, and is a terror to the Capuchin and other Monkeys which
abound in the forests of South America. It is, however, a far more cowardly animal than the Jiiguar,
and is not feared by the natives to anything like the same degree. Mr. Darwin, who had ample
opportunity of ■obs3rving its habits, writes thus of it in his "Naturalist's Voyage" : —

"This animal has a wide geogi-aphicul range, beinj;; found from the equatorial forests, throughout
the deserts of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cnl.l hititudes (5.3° to 54") of Tierra del Fuego.
I have seen its footsteps in the Cordillera of Central Chili, at au clcxation of at least 10,000 feet. In
La Plata the Puma preys chiefly on Deer, Ostriches, Bizcacha, and other quadrupeds. It there rarely
sittacks cattle or Horses, and most rarely man. In Chili, however, it destroys other quadrupeds. I
lieai-d, likewise, of two men and a woman who had been thus killed. It i.s asserted that the Puma
always kills its prey by sprmging on the shoulders, and then drawing back the head with one of its
paws until the vertebroe break. I have seen, in Patagonia, the skeletons of Guauacos, with their necks
thus dislocated.

" The Puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass with many large bushes, and lies down to
watch it. This habit is often the cause of its being discovered ; for the Condor.s, wheeling in the air,
every now and then descend to partake of the feast ; and being angrily driven away, rise all together on
the wing. The Chileno Guaso then knows there is a Lion [Puma] watching his prey ; the word is given,
and men and Dogs hurry to the chase. 8ir F. Head says that a Gaucho in the Pampas, upon merely
seeing some Condors wheeling in the air, cried, 'A Ijion 1' I could never myself meet with any one
who pretended to such powere of discrimination. It is asserted that if a Puma has once been
betnvyed by thus watching a carcass, and has then been hunted, it never resumes this habit, but
that having gorged itself, it wanders far away. The Puma is easily killed. In an open country it
is fii-st entangled with the bolas,* then lazoed, and dragged along the ground till rendered insen-
sible. At Tandil (south of the Plata), I was told that within three months one hundred were
thus destroj-ed. In Chili they are generally driven up bushes or trees, and are then either shot
or baited to death by Dogs. The Dogs employed in this chase belong to a particular breed,
<?alled •■ Leoneros.' They are.^veak, slight animals, like long-legged Terriers, but are born with a
peculiar instinct for this sport. The. Puma is described as being very crafty. When pursued it
often returns on its former track, and then suddenly making a spring on one side, waits there
till the Dogs have passed by. It is a very silent animal, uttering no cry even when wounded,
and only rarely duiing the breeding season."

The comparative silence of the Puma is very noticeable in the specimens at the Zoological
Gardens. They never roar like other large Cats, never, in fact, getting beyond a sort of hoarse grunt ;
but when angry, they spit and " sweai" " in precisely the same manner as furious Tom Cats. In
this respect they differ very markedly from the Lion and Tiger, and agi'ee with the lesser Cats,
such as the Ocelot, Serval, Lynx, <tc.

The flash of the Puma is often eaten by the Gauchos. Mr. Darwin, who tried it, pronounced
it to be very white, and to taste remarkably like veal. This is a curious circumstance, as the flesh of
most Carnivora is anything but palatable. While speakiiag of the Leopard, we mentioned its curious
habit of squatting instead of lying down to eat, and of only occasionally touching its food with its
paws. With the Puma this is' still more remarkable ; it squats in the same manner as the Leopard,
but, although we have watched it many times, we never once saw it use its paws to a.ssist in holding
its food. However difficult of manipulation the bone may be, however it may slip about and object to
1)6 crunched, it never seems to occur to the animal that he might use his paws to steady it.

In captivity, the Puma, at any rate when caught young, is a tolerably docile animal, and, like tha
Domestic Cat, i fond of playing with inanimate objects ; the Pumas at the Zoological Gardens, foi"
instance, have a large wooden ball as a toy. They do not, however, appear to be always perfectly
amiable ; the female may often be seen swearing at lier lord in a most reprehensible manner.

* A weapon used by the Gauchos, and consisting of three cords, knotted together at one end, and having each .a tall
«r stone attached to the other. The smallest of these is held in the hand, and the G.-jiicho " whirhi the other two round and
Tound his head, then taking aim, sends them like chain shot rushing through the .aii."

TUli CLOVDBD TluER.

THE ouxci:.*

The Ounce, or '• Snow Leopard," i« it is commonly ealleil by sportsmen in tlie liills, is found
throughout the Himalayas at a great elevation, never very much below the snows, at ranges varying
with the season from 9,000 to 18,000 feet. It is said to be more common on the Tibetan side of the
Himalayas ; it is found also throughout the highland region of Central Asia, and extends as far west
as Smyrna.

It is about the same size as the Leopard (foiir feet four inches long, excluding the tail), which it
also resembles in habits; in fact, it may be looked ujion as a Leopard specially ailapted for a cold climate.

The gi-ciund-colour of the skin is jjale yellowish-grey, turning beneath to dingy yellowish-white. It is
spotted in much the same way as the Leopard, though not so distinctly. " The fur throughout is very
den.se, and it has a well-marked, though short mane. The face is .short and broad, and the forehead
much more elevated than in any other Cat."

The Ounce is said to frequent rocky ground, and to kill the Wild 8heep as well as Domestic
Sheep, Goats, and Dogs ; but it has never been known to attack man.

THE CLOr^^ED T1GEE.+
This auhnal, which is about intermediate in size between the great Cats, such as the Lion, Tiger,
or Leoparti, and the lesser kinds, such as the Ocelot, Ep-a, or Tiger-Cats, is, as far as the markings of the
.skin are concerned, one of the most beautiful animals in the whole family. The gi-ound-colour of the
skin is not so fine as that of the Tiger, being a light buff instead of a rich orange-tawny, but the large,
irregulai-, cloud-like patches of black are far more exquisite than the parallel bands of the Tiger; and,
indeed, the only animal which in any way approaches it in the beauty of its markings is the Ocelot,

• FelU uiiciu. <■ Fdiis maa-ocdii.

NATURAL Ill.sTUUY.

sxad from this the Clouded Tiger certainly bc.-us the \ti\
leg3 are short in comjiarison with the length of its body
Oats, is blunt and somewhat awkwai-d. One of the
magnificent tail, which is fully four-fifths the length
long), and liunilsomely ringed with black. The skull
and beai-s a strong resemblance to that of the extinct
not round, as in all the 23receding species.

The Clouded Tiger, or liinuiu Dahaii, is found ir
Malayan Peninsula. It was first introduced to Great
two specimens with him to England, of which he gives

Ini. Ito form is not particularly graceful, as its
, and its snout, though longer than that of most
chief beauties of this creature, however, is its
of the body (the latter being some forty inches
is much elongated, especially its facial portion,
Felli smilodon. The pupil is oblong and erect,

1 Siam, Assam, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the
Britain by Sir Stamford Raffles, who brought
the following interesting account : —

" Both specimens above mentioned, while in a state of confinement, were remarkable for good
temper and playfulness ; no domestic kitten could be more so. They were always courting intercourse
-with persons passing by, and in the expression of their comitenance, which was always open and
smiling, showed the greatest delight when noticed, throwing themselves on their backs, and delighting
in being tickled and rubbed. On board the ship there was a small Musi Dog, who used to play round
the cage and with the animal, and it was amusing to observe the playfulness and tenderness with which
the latter came in contact with his inferior-sized companion. When fed with a fowl that had died, he
seized the prey, and after sucking the blood and tearing it a little, he amused himself for hours in
thro-sving it about and jumping after it in the manner that a Cat plays with a Mouse before it is quite
tlead. He never seemed to look on man or children as prey, but as companions, and the natives assert
that when wild they live principally on poultry, birds, and the smaller kind of deer. They are not
found in numliers, and may be considered rather a rare animal, even in the southern part of Sumatra.
Both specimens were procured from the interior of Bencoolen, on the banks of the Bencoolen River.
They are generally found in the vicinity of villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except as far

ff.lBITS OF TUB CLOUDED TIGER.

as tliey may destroy their poultry. Tlie natives assert that they sleep and often lie in wait for their
prey on trees ; and from this circumstance they derive the name of Dalian, which signifies the fork
formed by the branch of a tree, across wliicli they are said to rest, and occasionally stretch themselves.

" Both specimens constantly amused themselves in frequently jumping and clinging to the top of
their cage, and throwing a somerset, or twisting themselves round in the manner of a Squirrel when
confined, the tail being extended and showing to great advantage when so expanded."

Besides the localities we have mentioned, the Clouded Tiger is described by Consul Swinlioe as-
existing in Hainan, and he gives a curious quotiition respecting the animal from a native paper, the-
Hainan Gazetteer: — " Pao, or Leopard, resembling a Tiger in form, with white fur and round head.

Those with spots like cash (Chinese coin) are called the ' Golden-cash Leopard ' {Felis pardus).
Those with spots shaped like the mint-leaf are called Mint Leopard {F. macrocelis). They dread,
Snakes. Hwai Nantzse has the following coi'plet : — ' Snakes command the Leopard to stand : alt
creatures have their masters.'"

There was in 1876 a fine specimen in the Zoological Gardens, but it was not always to be seen, as
it was kept during the day fastened up in one of the little sleeping apartments at the back of a cage ux
tiie Lion-house, and was let out only for about half an hour before the Gardens closed. It was well worth
stooping to see. As soon as the iron door of its cell was raised, it would come out into the large cage with
a peculiarly sailor-like slouch, for owing to the shortness of its legs its gait was quite different to that of
an ordmary Cat, and altogether less elegant. The expression of the face, too, was neither savage, nor
majestic, nor intelligent, but rather dull and stupid. It was fond of assuming all sorts of queer-
attitudes. Brehm describes one as lying prone on a thick branch placed in its cage, with all four legs-
hanging down straight, two on each side of the branch, cer-tainly a remarkable position for an animal
to assume of its own free wilL

XAmtA,. UISTnitY.

THE (X'ELOT.*

This extremely Ijeautiful (Jat (see previous page) is, like tlic Jaguar and the Ounce, a native ot
America, where it is found throughout the central part of the Continent, from Mexico and Texas
on the north, to the northern lioundaries of Brazil on the south. Its musical name was coined by
Buffon as an abbreviation of its native Blexican appellation Tlalocolotl.

The gi-ey or tawny skin is marked by broadly-sweeping rows of longitudinally elongated spots of
large size, each consisting of a black rim enclosing an area somewhat darker than the general
gi-ound tint. The head is also beautifully striped, and the tail ringed >-itl- Mack. Altogether, the

Ocelot is, in the matter of mai-kings. spcoiul only to the Clouded Ti,i;er. It is tibout four fi'ft long
from the snout to the tip of the tail, and its legs are rather short for its size.

" It is a very voracious animal, but at the same time timid. It rarely attacks men. It is afraid of
Dogs, and when pursued it makes off to the woods and climbs a tree. There it remain.s, and even takes
up its abode to sleeji and look out for game and cattle, upon which it darts as soon as thev' are within
range. It prefers the blood to the flesh, and, in consequence, destroys a vast number of aniiunls, for
instead of devom-ing them, it only quenches its thirst by sucking their blood." t

Notwithstanding its cowardice, the Ocelot is a very savage animal. Bnffon mentions a pair of
young ones in captivity, which, at the age of three months, were sufficiently strong and cruel to
kill and devour a bitch who had been given them as a nurse. He further adds the curious fact, that
the male always kept the female in wonderful subjection, so much so, that she was afraid, ev.'^n to
attempt to eat until he was completely satisfied.

Felix piinlallf.

t Buffou.

r-i'^ VIVEP.niNE CAT,

THE :\rAl:BLED TIGER-CAT*
"Tliiri prettily •marked Wild Cat (see previous page) 4ias been found in the Sikivim Himaiiiyan,
in the Lilly regions of Assam, Biuniali, and Malaysia, extending into the islands of Java, at all
events." The head and body together are from eighteen and a half to twenty-three inche.s long, the
tail fourteen to fifteen and a half inches. The ground-colour of its hide is of a dingy tawny, " occa-
sionally yellowish-grey, the body with numerous elongate wavy, black sjiots, somewhat clouded or
marbled." The tail is spotted and tipped with black, and the belly is yellowish- white.

d, up to the first of tlia
I have not heard of its

THE VIVERRIXE CAT. t

"Tliis large Tiger-Cat," says 3[r. Jerdon, -is found throughout
South-eastern Himalayas, extending into Burmah, China, and Malay
occurrence in Central India, nor in the Camatic ; but it is tolerably common in Travancore and Ceylon,
extendmg up the Malabar coast as far as Mangalore. I hue iixd one kdled close to myhou.se at
Tellicherry. In Bengal it inhabits low, watery situation', thiefl\, md 1 hue often got it upon the
edge of swampy thickets in Purneah. It is said to lie
cummon Ln the Terai and marshy regions at the foot
of the Himalayas, but apparently not extending
further west than Nepaul. Buchanan Hamilton
remarks, ' In the neighbourhood of Calcutta it would
seem to be common. It frequents reeds near water ;
and, besides fish, preys upon Ampullinee, rnios (shell-
tish), and various birds. It is a furious untamable
creature, remarkably beautiful, but has a very dis-
agreeable smell.' On this Mr. Blyth observes, ' I
have not remarked the latter, though I have had
several big toms quite tame, and even found this to be
a particularly tamable species. A newly-caught male

killed a tame young Leoj^ardess of mine about double #. Thfh.m.v i.:n Vmh, i i',, n,! Vm !;,'nrtha'tn.iitui ;ui,i j;i-,-:.i

his size.' The Rev. Mr. Baker,\vriting of its habits ''o"c,*v.i,k-uiu;„i,i, i. u,. .„i,,i kiuu.i.
in Malabar, says that it often kills Pariah Dogs; and that he has known instances of sla\-e children
(infants) being taken from theii- huts by this Cat ; also young calves."

Notwithstanding its ferocity this is by no means a large animal, being only thirty to forty-four
inches long, without the tail, which is ten and a half to twelve and a half inches in length. " The ears
lire rather small and blunt ; the pupil circular ; the fur coarse and without any gloss ; the limbs short
;ind veiy strong." Tlie snout is naiTOW, and drawn out like that of a Civet, hence the name Viverriiia.
The colour is gi'ey, lighter beneath, and banded and spotted with black. There is a veiy noticeable
]ieculiarity in the skull, from the fact that the orbit, or bony cavity in which the eye is lodged, is
riinipleted behind by bone, a character quite exceptional among Cats, and indeed among Cariiivora
generally.

A very fine specimen was brought over by the Prince of Wales after his visit to India, and
t! "posited in the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park.

THE PAMPAS CAT.:
This animal, as its name implies, is found ou the Pau-qvw of South America, extending as far
south as the Strait of Magellan, and being especially abundant in the region of the Rio Negro. It is
about forty inches long, with a shortish tail and long fur: the hairs, indeed, sometimes attain a
■'ength of "four or five" inches. "The colour of the skin is a pale yellowish-grey, traversed^by
regularly disposed yellow or brown bands, which run obliquely from the back and the tla

Till

t Feli3 fiverrina.

J Felispajero

U NATUMAL BISTORT.

hairs, considered separately, are brown at the root, then yellow, and finally black at tie point, but
those of the hinder part of tlie back are black at tlie root, then grey, tlien yellowish-white, and
finally white \\\> to the point, which is b^ack."

The Pampas Cat is a comparatively harmless beast, not preying upon poaitry-yards, but confiniiig
itself to the small Mammals which abound in the South American steppes.

THE LONG-TAILED TIGER-CAT*
This little-known form — the " Oceloid Leopard " as it is sometimes called — was discovered by
Prince Maximilian of Neuwied, in Brazil, where it inhabits the great forests, and is often killed for
the sake of its beautiful fur. In colour it is not unlike the Ocelot, in size it is inferior to it, and its
longitudinally elongated spots are neither so large nor so well marked. It is chiefly distinguished
from other forms by its long bushy tail, and its big staring eyes. It is consideralily smaller than the
preceding species, the body being about twenty-seven inches long, the tail fourteen.

LONCi-TAILED TIGEII-LAT.

THE ilARGAY.f

Tliis is also an American species, being found in Brazil and Guiana, where it is often known as
the " Tiger-Cat." It is much smaller than the Ocelot — little larger tli.iu tlie I><mier;tic Cat, in fact — the
body being about twenty-three inches long, and the tail thirteen, and icscmliU's tl.e Ocelot in general
appearance (see next page). Its spots are, however, smaller, and mme regularly arranged, so tliat it
is by no means so handsome an animal as F. pardulis.

It lives in the woods, and destroys an immense amount of small game anil birds. It is a sa^•age
beast, but is capable of domestication, and may be put to good use as a niouser ; it tan never, hovve\er, be
quite trusted, and always keeps Tip a more or less ferocious appearance. Still, it must be remembered
that, in common with a large proportion of the wild Felidce, it has never had a fair chance of showing
its milder virtues. The Cats, alnicst witliout exception, are savage in the extreme, and ]iractically
untamable when caught in tin- ;iilult stutc, liut Mr. Bartlett informs us that there is hardly one of the
group that may not be thorouglily d.oincstioated, if taken young and properly treated.

THE COLOCOLO.*
This is anotlier Centi'al American Tiger-Cat, of equal ferocity witli the last, but far less
beautiful. The fur i.s rougher ; the gi'ound-colour is tawny ; the spots are smaller tlian in the Ot-elot,

■ .-■> FcUs macrum. i Fdh iijrina. I Fclis fcrcx.

THE JAGUAROXDI. 55

and not so exquisitely arrangecl. Tlie whole body is some forty-one inches long, of which the tail
takes up about fourteen.

The Colocolo is an extremely ferocious animal, and does great harm in the forests in which it
lives, where, amongst other things, it feeds largely on Monkeys. " On the banks of a river in Guiana,
an officer, having killed one of these Cats, stuffed it, and placed it to dry in the hinder part of the
boat in which he was travelling. One day they passed under some great trees, the branches of which,
hanging into the water, formed a resting-place for innumerable Monkeys, which approached the boat
with great curiosity, and seemed to take pleasure in following it as far as the trees would permit. On
this particular voyage, the Monkeys ran towards the boat as usual, but the sight of the stufled fur
inspired them with such terror that they precipitately took flight, uttering cries of rage and terror.

.v-.-^^S'--^

Q3£5

1

ThLs observation shows clearly enough that Monkeys look upon the Colocolo as one of theiv most
terrible enemies." *

THE JAGUAEONDI.t

This is a curious, long-bodied, short-legged animal (see next page), with a body almost as lithe and
Ussom as a Weasel's. Like the Puma's, its head is small and well shaped, and its tail long ; but it is a
much smaller animal, not exceeding three feet in length, including the tail. Its colour is a dark grey-
brown, " each hair being gi-eyish-black, very dark at the root, and entirely black between the root and
the point, which is of a dark-grey hue. This diversity of colour causes the Jaguarondi to r.pp 'ur
darker or lighter according to circumstances," that is, according to whether, beuig in a placid toiuh-
tion, his hail- is lying smooth and flat on the body, or whether, bemg excited, he erects it.

Tlie Jaguarondi lives in the thick forests of Brazil, Paraguay, and Guiana, where it always prefers
the most impenetrable thickets, and is never seen in the open country. It lives upon birds and small
Mammals, having a special fondness for fowls, which no amount of training will ever diminish. Even
when a domesticated Jaguarondi is chained up in a yard, it will " try a thousand shifts " to entice the
fowls into its neighbourhood, and will then suddenly leap on and devour them.

* Brelim. t Fi:\ us jayuarondi.

16

S6 fiATlTIiAZ BIHTORT.

THE EYRA.*
This is by far the most beautiful of all the smaller one-coloured Cats (see next page). The beauty
of its rich chestnut hide, and the extreme elegance of its form, quite incline one to assign to it the palm
for beauty, even in presence of such splendidly-marked forms as the Ocelot. The specimen in the
London Zoological Gardens is a most delightful animal. It is slightly smaller than an ordinary Cat,
and much less in height, owing to the shortness of its legs, in compai-ison with which the body is of
gi-eat length ; so that one at first sight instinctively compares it with a Weasel, to which, however, it
has really no relationship whatever. Its neck is long, its head small, and curiously flattened from
above downwards, almost like an Otter's, and its tail long and well shaped. Its movements are almost

hlM%^^.,

^{ctM.

JAGVAKOXDI.

Snake-like, so continuously does it twist and turn its long lithe body. In its sanguinary habits and
mode of life it does not difier in any important respect from the Jaguarondi, with which it also agrees
in its geographical distribution. It is, however, a much rarer animal.

, Mr. Bartlett informs us that he has kejot the Eyra in his house, and that it made a most
charming pet. Brehm also mentions two domesticated individuals which were on very good terms
with the Cats and Dogs in the house, and were particularly friendly with a Monkey, who did them
the kind offics of catching their fleas.

THE SERVAL.t

The Serval, or African Tiger-Cat, is found over the greater jxirt of Africa, being specially
abundant in the south, but extending also as far north as Algeria. It especially frequents tlio
extensive gi-assy plains or steppes, where it lives upon Antelopes and other game.

Its legs are proportionally much longer and the tail much shorter than those of most of the true

FelU ct/ra.

+ Fclis serval.

THE RUSTY-SrOTTED CAT.

hi

Cats, in wliich respects it approaches the Lynxes. It is ilistingiiished from these, however, by the
absence of tufts of hair on the ears. The body is about forty Lnclies in lengtli, the tail about sixteen
inches. This, it will be .seen, by a comparison with the dimensions given of the preceding kinds,
shows a much smaller proportion between the tail and the body than in most of the true Cats, but
the appendage is never as shoi't as in a Lynx. The ground-colour of t!'^ skin is tawn)', lighter
or darker according to circumstances, and spotted with black. The spots on the flank are all
elongated longitudinally, and, along the back, run into distinct bands which are continued on to the
forehead. This running together of spots into longitudinal stripes is very common in the Cat tribe.
The tail is regularly ringed with black. The fur, although coarse, is handsome, and much used.

THE RUSTY-SPOTTED CAT.*

Mr. Jerdon says, " Tliis very pretty little Cat frequents grass in the dry beds of tanks, brush-
wood, and occasionally drains in the 0})en country and near villages, and is said not to be a denizen
of the jungle. I had a kitten brought over when vei-y young, and it became quite tame, and was the
delight and admiration of all who saw it. Its activity was quite marvellous, and it was very playful
and elegant in its motions. Wlien it was about eight months old, I introduced it iiito a room
where there was a small fawn of the Gazelle, and the little creature flew at it the moment it saw
it, seized it by the nape, and was with difficulty taken ofi"." There is something marvellous in this
destroying instinct. This kitten had, probably, never seen a Gazelle before in the whole course of
its short life, but it at once recognised its prey, and all the savagery of its long line of ancestors was
concentrated in the spring which landed it on the unlucky Gazelle's neck.

The head and body of this species ai-e together sixteen to eighteen inches long ; the tail, nine inclies

* Fdis ruhiijinoaa.

5S KATUEAL EIVTORi:

and a half. The sliort, soft fur is a greenish-grey, with a faint rufous tinge, and mai-ked with rusty-
coloured spots, roundish on the sides, but, as usual, becoming elongated in the dii'ection of the animal's
length, on the back. It is found in the Carnatic, and in the southern parts of Ceylon.

THE LEOPARD CAT.*

This is another of the numerous Indian Cats, and is a very beautiful species. Its hide is of a

yellowish-grey, or bright tawny hue, quite white below, and marked with longitudinal stripes on the

head, shoulders, and back, and with large irregular spots on the sides, which become rounded towards

the bell3'. The tail is a spotted colour, indistinctly ringed towards the tip. The body, from the end of

the snout to the tip of the tail, attains a length of from thirty-five to thirty-nine inches, eleven or
twelve of which are made up by the tail.

" The Leopard Cat is found throughout the hilly region of India, from the Himalayas to the
extreme south, and Ceylon, and in richly-wooded districts, at a low elevation occasionally, or when
heavy jungle grass is abimdant, mixed with forest and brushwood. It ascends the Himalayas to a
considerable elevation, and is said by Hodgson even to occur in Tibet, and is found at the level of
the sea in the Bengal Sunderbimds. It extends through Assam, Burniah, the Malayan peninsula, to
the islands of Java and Sumatra, at all events." f

It is as fierce as any of its savage kin. " A. shikarie declared that it drops on large animals, and
even on Deer " (remember that the animal is only two feet long !) " and eats its way into the neck ;
that the animal in vain endeavours to roll or shake it off, and at last is destroyed." In confinement it
is extremely savage, and, curiously enough, " it never paces its cage for exercise during the daytime,
at least, but constantly remains ci-ouched in a corner, though awake and. vigilant."

Fclii henfjahnsh

+ Jerdon.

TEE COMMON WILD CAT.

THE BAY CAT *

This animal (see figure on previous page) is found on the Gold Coast of Africa, as well as in Nepaul,
Sumatra, and Borneo. It is of a deep bay-red colom- above, becoming paler below : there are a few
indistinct dark spots on the liiiid legs, and the head is splendidly ornamented with stripes of black,
white, and orange, oiFering a striking contrast to the uniform tint of the body, and reminding one
strongly of the Tiger. The head and body measure about thirty-one inches, the tail nineteen inches.

Unfortunately nothing is known of the habits of this Cat, so that we can only assume that
it has the same savage nature and untamable disposition as the members of its family most nearly
allied to it.

THE SPOTTED WILD CAT.T

The habits of this Indian species differ a good deal from those of most Wild Cats, for instead of
living in forests and jungles, it frequents " open, sandy plains, where the Field Rat must be its piiucipal
food. I hardly ever remember seeing it in what could be called jungle, or even in grass." |

It is of a grey colour, spotted with black, and attains a length of sixteen to eighteen inches, not
including the tail, which measures ten or eleven inches more. The ears are of a dull-reddish colour,
and have a small tuft of hair on the tip, thereby showing a relation.ship between this Cat and the
Lynxes.

THE MANUL.§

The Manvd seems to replace the common Wild Cat in Northern Asia, where it occurs on the
steppes of Tai-tary and Siberia, It was discovered by Pallas, who gives no account of its habits.

Its body is t\yenty-eight, its tail twelve inches long, so that it is about the same length as the
Wild Cat ; it has, however, longer legs. The skin contains a mixtiii-e of yellowish and of white hairs ;
the head is striped, and the tail ringed with black.

THE EGYPTIAN CAT.H

This is an animal (see figure on next page) of great historic interest, as its remains have been
found embalmed in the Egyptian monuments. At the present day it is found in Abyssinia and Egypt.

It is about the size of an average Domestic Cat, but has a longer tail. The general colour is light
tawny or yellowish-grey, with dark transverse bands. The tail is tawny above, white below, and
ringed only at the tennination.

THE COMMON WILD CAT.f

The Wild Cat exists in " all the wooded countries of Europe, Gei-many especially, Russia, Hungary,
the North of Asia, and Nepaul. This animal is larger in cold climates, and its fur is there held
in high estimation. In Britain it was fomierly plentiful, and was a beast of chase, as we learn from
Richard the Second's Charter to the Abbot of Peterborough, giving him permission to hunt the Hare,
Fox, and WOd Cat. The fur in those days does not seem to have been thought of much value, for it
is ordained in Archbishop Corboyl's canons, a.d. 1127, that no abbess or nun should use more costly
apparel than such as is made of Lambs' or Cats' skins.

" The Wild Cat is now rarely found in the South of England, and even in Cumberland and
Westmoreland its numbere are very much reduced. In the North of Scotland and Ireland it is still
abundant."

The average length of afull-gi'own male specimen is, from snout to root of tail, about twenty-eight
inches, the tail itself measuring about thii-teen inches. The soft thick fur is of a grey colour, inclining
to yellowish on the fece, and being nearly white on the belly. There is a black band along the middle
of the back, from which numerous dark-gi-ey bands proceed in a transverse direction like the hoops of
a barrel, gi-adually dymg away as they reach the belly. The thick tail is ringed with gi-ey and black.

" The WOd Cat leads a solitary life ; at most, two individuals are seen together. It even appears
that the occupant of one district prevents access to it of any others. Its life is completely nocturnal,

* Fdis aurata. + FcUs torquata. J Scott, quoted by .Jerdon. § Fdh manul.

Il Fclis tiianicaJatn. H Felis catus.

GO NATURAL HISTORY.

and lias much analogy with that of the L>tix and of our own Domestic Cat. It climbs well, and
mounts trees, cither as a resting-place, or to escape from an enemy when there is no hole in which it
can hide. Under this circumstance it ' plays 'possum ' to the best of its ability, keeping close to a
large branch, the colour of which, harmonising with that of its skin, contributes to conceal it from view.
It does not commence its hunting operations until night has set in ; and, in surprising the bii'd in its
nest, the sitting Hare, the Rabbit in its burrow, and even the Squirrel on its tree, it displays a cunning
unsurpassed by any of its tribe. When the quarry is a small animal, it leaps on its back and severs
its carotids with its sharp teeth. It never pursues an animal which it has failed to reach at the first
ht, but prefers to go in search of new prey ; in a word, it has all the characters of a true Cat.

EGYPTIAN

Happily for hunters, its principal nutriment consists of Mice and small birds. It is only by accident
that it seeks for larger animals ; it is, however, certain that it sometimes attacks Fawns or small Roes.
It keeps watch by the banks of lakes and streams for fish and birds, both of which it knows full well
how to seize. It is extremely destructive in parks, and, above all, in covers, which it utterly depopu-
lates in a very short time. Considering its size, the Wild Cat is a very dangerous Carnivore, its
sanguinary nature inciting it to kill far more animals than it can possibly eat. For tliis reason all
hunters detest it, and pursue it with perfect hatred. But no one seems to remember the services it
renders to man in destroying small Rodents, and yet these services are undoubted. Tschudi relates that
the remains of twenty-six Mice have been found in the stomach of a single individual of this species."''-'
This interesting account shows how little difference there is between the habits and the nature of
this little wild beast of Great Britain and its big cousins of the African and Indian jungles. In its
nocturnal habits, its mode of attack, its bloodthirstiness, and its wanton cruelty, it is just the Tiger
over again on a small scale, only less harmful because less powerful. Some idea of its innnense
strength may be gathered from the fact that it is known to lia\e actually killed men.

* Brehin.

TBE DOMESTIC CAT. Gl

In some places the W'ild Cat is regularly hunted, usually in winter, when the tracks in the snow
are easily followed. The sport has the necessary element of danger to no ordinary degi-ee, for the
terrible little beast, if wounded, makes straight for the hunter, and attacks him with tooth and claw,
and such teeth and such claws are by no means pleasant things to be wounded with. On the whole,
we have hardly reason to be sorry that the race is almost extinct in Great Bi-itain.

THE DOMESTIC CAT.*
This animal — the Cat jmv excellence — is, next to the Dog, the flesh-eater which possesses for us
the greatest personal interest, as it is, with the exception of the Dog, almost the only quadruped

regulai-ly admitted into the society of man, eating from his hand, drinking from his cup, and being to,
him, if not a firm friend, like its canine relative, at least a comfortable, contented companion, adding
greatly by its look of calm repose and its contented purr to the cosiness of the fireside.

The origin of the Domestic Cat is so far distant that it is quite uncertain from what wild
species it was derived. It is not once mentioned in the Bible, a very curious circumstance, as it
was well known in Egypt, and it might have been expected that it would be named, with the Dog,
among the unclean animals. Cats " are mentioned h\ a Sanskrit writing 2,000 years old, and in
Egypt their antiquity is known to be even gi-eater, as showii by monumental drawings and their
mummied bodies." From many circumstances it seems probable that the Cat had, like the Dog, a
multiple origin, that is, was produced by the commingling of several wild forms. It is certain that
our Domestic Cats will breed freely with many of their feral brethren, such as the Common Wild Cat,
the Chans, Viverrine, and Rusty -spotted Cats, &c.

Wherever the Cat is found as a domesticated animal it is held in great esteem. This feeling was
carried to its greatest extent by the ancient Egyptians, whose devotion to their pets was such that,
according to Herodotus, when a fire broke out, they cared for nothing but the safety of their Cats,
and were terribly afflicted if one of them fell a victim to the flames. On the death of a Gat, the

* Felis domestica.

KATVSAL HISTUET.

DOMESTIC CAT.

inhabitants of the house sliaved off their eyebrows, and the deceased animal was embalmed, and
buried with great solemnity in a sacred spot. Many Cat mummies have been found in the Egyptian
tombs, and some are to be seen in the British Musetim, together with
similarly preserved specimens of human beings, and of sacred Calves.
Some individuals were wrapped separately in ample bandages covered
with inscriptions; others of a less degree of sanctity were preserved
in numbers with a single wrapping for several. Their
movements and their cries were consulted as oracles,
and the murder, or even the accidental felicide of one
of them, was punished by death.

The earliest account of the Cat in Britain is as
far back as a.d. 948. " That excellent prince Howel
Dha, or Howel the Good, did not think it beneath him,
among his laws relating to the prices, iSic, of animals,
to include that of the Cat, and to describe the qualities
it ought to have. The price of a kitling, before it could see, was to be a penny ;
till it caught a Mouse, twopence. It was required, besides, that it should be perfect
in its senses of hearing and seeing, be a good mouser, have the claws whole, and be
a good nui-se ; but if it failed in any of these qualities, the seller was to forfeit to
the buyer the third part of its value. If any one stole or killed the Cat that guarded
the prince's granary, he was to forfeit a milch ewe, its fleece, and lamb, or as much
wheat as, when poiired on the Cat, suspended by its tail (the head touching the
floor), would form a heap high enough to cover the tip of the former. This la.st
quotation is not only curious as being an evidence of the simplicity of ancient man-
ners, but it almost proves to demonsti-ation that Cats are not aborigines of these
islands, or known to the earliest inhabitants. The large prices .set on them, if eg'yVtia'x cat.
we consider the high value of specimens at that time, and the gi-eat care taken of the
improvement and breed of an animal that multiplies so fast, are almost certain proofs of their being
little known at that period."* Moreover, as the Wild Cat was abundant in Britain at tliis or at more
recent periods, it is tolerably certain that this species is not the parent of our domestic kinds.

Little need be said about the anatomy of the Cat, for it difl'ers but slightly from its larger relatives,
and hardly at all from the
smaller wild species. The
skull is smooth, and has its
ridges less developed than
in the gi'eat beasts of picy ,
the orbits are voiy lui,'(',
and the nose-region is e\-
ti-emely short, and forms a
continuous cui-ve with the
forehead. Owing to these
two latter circumstances
the Cat is extremely round-
faced, more so, perhaps,
than any other species of
the genus.

One curious point of stnicture is to be found in the intestines, which " are wider, and a third
longer, than in Wild Cats of the same size.' There can be little doubt that this has been brought
about by the fact that the food of a domesticated flesh-eater is certain to be somewhat miscellaneous,
and not of the strictly carnivorous nature prefeiTed by the animal in its wild state.

The varieties in colour exhibited by the Cat are very great, and often kittens in the same litter

Pennant, "British Zoology."

THE EXPRESSWy 01- TUE EMUTIOXS JN THE CAT. 63

will ditt'er greutly in this respect. "The normal colonr," aecording to Dr. Gray, 'sterns to be that of the
Tabby Cat, grey, with black dorsal streaks and sub-concentric bands on the sides and thighs ; sometimes
all black from melanism, or grey, blue, yellow, or white, or these colours more or less mixed. When
black, white, and yellow, it is called Tortoiseshell, or Spanish Cat. The fur varies greatly in length ;
it is very short, close, and almost erect from the skin in the Rabbit Cats. It is very long, silky, and
Hufly in the Angora (or Angola) Cat. The tail is usually long. It is very short or almost entirely
wanting in the Isle of Man Cats, or the Japan Cats of Kfempfer. The ears are generally erect ; but
they are sometimes pendulous in the Chinese Cats."

With regard to the colour of Cats, a very curious circum.stance has been observed, namely, that
White Cats with blue eyes are nearly always deaf! The only rational explanation of this remarkable
j)henomenon is that suggested by Mr. Wallace, namely, that the absence of colour in the skin is usually
accompanied by a similar absence of pigment elsewhere, and it has been shown that the presence of a
peculiar black pigment is very essential to the proper action of the sense organs. To bear out this
view it may be stated that Albinos — that is, abnormally colourless animals — are usually deficient in
taste, smell, and sight.

The eye also varies much in colour, being blue, yellow, or green. The pupil, or small black
aperture in the centre of the coloured portion, is extremely sensitive, dilating greatly in the dark, and
contracting to a mere line when the light is strong.

We have already mentioned the skin-muscle, or thin band of flesh lying immediately under the
skin, and by means of which the shivering of the skin, the erection or rendering vei'tical of hairs, ifcc,
is performed. The latter effect — an effect seen on a small scale in ourselves as " goose-skin " — is well
seen in the Cat, for the animal invariably makes its hair stand on end when it is angry or alarmed,
and so makes itself look as large and terrible as possible. In the manner of using this muscle, as
well as in many other matters, the Cat resembles in a remarkable degi-ee the great bea.sts of prey,
and foi-ms a capital study of feline expression. Every one must have noticed the instantaneous change
in the whole demeanour of a Cat when it catches sight of a strange Dog. This and other characteristic
attitudes are well described by Mr. Darwin.*

" When this animal is tlireatened by a Dog it arches its back in a surprising manner, erects its
hair, opens its mouth, and spits." This well-known attitude " is expressive of terror combined with
anger. Anger alone is not often seen, but may be observed when two Cats are fighting together ; and
I have seen it well exhibited by a savage Cat whilst plagued by a boy. The attitude is almost exactly
the same as that of a Tiger disturbed, and growling over its food, which every one must have beheld in
menageries. The animal assumes a crouching position, with the body extended ; and the whole tail,
or the tip alone, is lashed or curled from side to side. The hair is not in the least erect. Thus far,
the attitude and movements are nearly the same as when the animal is iirepared to spring on its prey,
and when, no doubt, it feels savage. But when preparing to fight, there is this difference, that the
ears are closely pressed backwards ; the mouth is partially opened, showing the teeth ; the fore-feet
are occasionally struck out with protruded claws, and the animal occasionally utters a fierce growl.
Let us now look at a Cat in a directly opposite frame of mind, whilst feeling affectionate and caressing
her master, and mark how opposite is her attitude in every respect. She now stands upright with her
back slightly arche<l, which makes the hair appear rather rough, but it does not bristle. Her tail,
instead of being extended and lashed from side to side, is held quite stiff and perpendicularly upwards ;
her ears are erect and pointed ; her mouth is closed, and .she nibs against her master with a puiT
instead of a growl. Let it further be observed how widely different is the whole bearing of an
affectionate Cat from that of a Dog, when, with his body crouching and flexuous, his tail lowered and
wagging, and ears depressed, he caresses his master.

" We can imderstand why the attitude assumed by a Cat when preparing to fight with another Cat,
or in any way gi-eatly irritated, is so widely different from that of a Dog approaching another with
hostile intentions ; for the Cat uses her fore-feet for striking, and this renders a crouching position
convenient or necessary. She is also much more accustomed than a Dog to lie concealed and suddenly
spring on her prey. No cause can be assigned with certainty for the tail being lashed or curled from

* "Exj'Tcssion of the Emotiims in M;;n and Animals."

01 NATURAL HISTORY.

side to side. This habit is common to many other animals, for mstance, to the Puma, when prepared
to spring ; but it is not common to Dogs or to Foxes."

Under ordinary circumstances, when neither attacking a foe nor caressing a friend, the Cat is tlie
very image of lazy content. As she sits by the fire, softly purring, and occasionally licking her
paws and rubbing them over her face, she seems an embodiment of repose, an incarnation of otiwni
mm dignitate, a- standing discoiu-se on the advisability of

" Holding- it ever the wisest thing
To drive dull care away."

But notwithstanding its usual indolence, the Cat, like all its congeners, is capable of very
violent action upon occasions. This is more especially the case with kittens, who are, perhaps, the

m.ost delightful of all young animals : the most elegant, the most active, the most restless, the most
overboiling with life and spirits. Who has not watched a kitten play i No matter what its toy may
be ; it is content with anything movable — a ball, a piece of string, a lady's dress, the fallen leaves in
lihe garden — anything and everything .she will play with, and as she plays, " gi-ace is in all her steps."
every movement of her head, every pat of her velvet paw, every whisk of her little tail, is elegance
ifiself. Even in the old Cat this wonderful power of executing the most rapid movements with almost
the quickness of thought is rather in abeyance than actually absent ; she can stUl iiin, leap to many
times her own height, climb a tree or a vertical wall by means of her sharp claws, and perform other
njarvellous gymnastic feats impossible to anything else but a Squiri'el or a Monkey.

Thfi sense which of all others is most deficient in the Cat is that of smell. In this she diffei-s
most markedly from the Dog. It is said that a ]iie<?o of meat may be placed in close proximity to a
Cat, but that, if it is kept covered up, she will fail to distinguish it. This want is, however, partly

TSE CATS nSISKERS AND TEEIR USE. 65

compensated for b}' an extremely delicate sense of touch, which is possessed, to a remarkable extent,
by the whiskers, or vibrissae, as well as by the genei-al surface of the skin. These bristles, as we
have already mentioned in speaking of the Tiger, are possessed to a greater or less extent by all

Cats, and are simply greatly developed hairs, having enormously swollen roots, covered with a layer ot
muscular fibres, with which delicate nerves are connected. By means of these latter, the slightest
touch on the extremity of the whiskers is instantly transmitted to the brain. The.se organs a -e of the
gi-eatest possilile value to tTie Cat in its nocturnal campaigns. When it is deprived of the guidance
afforded by light it makes its way by the sense of touch, the fine whiskers touching against every
object the Cat passes, and thus acting v\ precisely the same manner as a blind man's stick, though

66 XATl'RAL mSTOEY.

■with infinitely greater sensibility. Imagine a blind man with not one stick, but a couple of dozen, of
exquisite fineness, and these not held in his hand, but embedded in his skin, so that his nerves come
into dii-ect contact with them instead of having a layer of skin between, and some notion may be
formed of the way in which a Cat uses its whiskei-s.

But the Cat in its night walks has a further advantage over the blind man, namely, that except
on the very darkest nights, it is not entirely deprived of the power of sight, for, as we have already
mentioned, the pupil is so consti-ucted that in the dark it can be dilated, so as to catch eveiy
available ray of light, and, moreover, the tapetum, or brilliant lining of the eyeball, reflects and
magnifies the straggling beams, and so enables the Cat, if not actually to " see in the dark," as is
sometimes stated, at least to distinguish objects in an amount of light so small as to be inappreciable
to our duller vision.

As we have already mentioned, the Domestic Cat is less strictly carnivorous than the wild Felid<e :
still it prefers meat or milk to anything else, and is by no means a miscellaneous feeder, like the Dog.
In the matter of diet, Gilbert White remarks* — "There is a propensity belonging to common
house Cats that is "very remarkable. I mean their violent fondness for fish, which appeai-s to be
theii- most favourite food ; and yet Nature in this instance seems to have implanted in them
an appetite that, unassisted, they know not how to gi-atify ; for, of all quadrupeds. Cats are the
lea.st disposed towards water, and will not, when they can avoid it, deign to wet a foot, much
less to plunge in that element." Mr. White does not seem to have kno%^Ti of the habits of the
Jaguar.

A curious instance of the selection of their food by Cats and Dogs is given by the same author : —
"As my neighbour was housing a rick, he observed that his Dogs devoured all the little red
Mice that they could catch, but rejected the common Mice ; and that his Cats ate the common Mice,
refusing the red."

This may be partly accounted for by the fact that t^ie little Harvest Mouse has sc^^rcely any
trace of the odour which makes the domestic kind disagi-eeable, and which odour is not disliked, or
perhaps is hardly perceived, by the Cat. Both Dogs and Cats, when the corn-ricks are being
housed for thi-eshing, will go on helping the farmer and his men for hours, killing Mice by
hundreds and by thousands long after they have been satiated by eating them. These Mouse battues
illustrate the intelligence of the Cat as well as of the Dog, in a quick undei-standing of what relates
to their own interest ; for they know immediately what the removal of the thatch from Ihe rick
means, and, as it were, scent their pi-ey before it is unearthed. Yet the food-treasures in these ricks
are not unkno^vn to the Cats, who night by night for months, perhaps, have caught and regaled them-
selves upon stragglers from the swarm.

But although of most domestic Cats it may be said,

" Rats and Mice, and such small deer,
Have been Tom's food for many a year,"

yet, in districts that have the game well " preserved," this sort of diet is often exchanged for that of
nobler jsrey, and the tame Cat will stray for months from the homesteads for young Rabbits, Leverets,
and the Partridge covey. This poaching is almost sure to end in death, as these Cats are closely
watched by the keepers.

One curious thing about these poaching habits is that they run in families. As Mr. Darwin
says, one Cat " naturally takes to catching Rats, and another Mice, and these tendencies are known to
be inherited. One Cat, according to Mr. St. John, always brought home game birds, another Hares
or Rabbits, and another himted on marshy gi-ound, and almost nightly caught Woodcocks or Snipes."

A Cat who has once taken to habits like these soon loses her taste for human society and a
comfortable fireside, and becomes quite wild and almost s>s imtamable as one of the actually feral
species. Many yeai's ago, in a village where we were then living, a female half-wild Cat made furtive
visits to an old and extensive farmstead for the sake of the dove-cot Pigeons, and for the safer rearing
of her young. The.se she would deposit, not in-dooi-s, like our tame, pet Cats, but generally in the
fagot-stack, and once in a corner of the thick house-thatch, in which was a labyi-inth of passages made

* " Natural Histoiy of .Selhorne."

TUE CAT AS A FOSTEIi-MOrilER. 67

by the grey Rut. This Cut woulJ form no frieiulshiii with us,, im«, iiiuJe almost demoniacal ilemou-
strations of her combiued hatred and fear. Her swearing and her spitting were accomplishments
learned by her kittens as soon as they could see, and no care of ours could tame them.

One of the most remarkable things about the Cat is its habit of always burying its excrement,
whether solid or liquid. A Cat living in the house is easily trained to leave the premises for
this piu'pose, and will always be found to cover her droppings with earth ; but even young, untrained
Cats of dirty habits, who cannot be kept from occasionally defiling the house, •will invariably try to
hide their sin by scraping up cinders, &c., over it, or will, at any i-ate, make vigorous scratches at the
carpet, in their endeavom-s to get up some of it for the same purpose. How a habit of this sort can
have originated m an animal living in the woods, as do all the Cats when in a wild state, is a
puzzle.

Like most of the Carnivora, the Cat is a tender and affectionate mother ; the care mth which
she trains her young ones, her anxiety for their comfort, her industry in washing them, are too
well known to requii-e remark. So fond is she of her offspring that she will entirely alter her
usual habits to regain lost ones. Mr. Hugh Miller, F.G.S., tells us of a Cat belonging to a clergyman
in Northumberland, whose kittens were taken from her and given to a miller living at a distance
of fully two miles, quite beyond the usual walk of a home-loving puss. The mother, however,
although she had never been to the place before, and could by no possibility have known where
her kittens were taken, made two successive journeys to the mill, each time bringing back in
triumph to the rectoi-y one of her dear ones.

So strong is the maternal instinct m the Cat that she will, if deprived of her own offspring, bestow
her affections on animals of a totally different species, on creatures even, which, under ordinary
circumstances, she would look upon as her natural and lawful prey. The following is a remarkable
instance of this overpowering mother-love : —

" My friend had a little helpless Leveret brought to him, which the servants fed with milk in a
spoon, and about the same time his Cat had kittens, which were despatched and buried. The
Hare was soon lost, and was supposed to be gone the way of most foundlings, to be killed by some
Dog or Cat. However, in about a fortnight, as the master was sitting in his garden in the dusk
of evening, he observed his Cat, with tail erect, trotting towards him, and calling, with little, short,
inward notes of complacency, such as they use towards their kittens, and something gambolling after,
which proved to be the Leveret that the Cat had supported with her milk, and continued to support
with great affection."*

Thus was a gi-amiuivorous animal nurtured by a carnivorous and predaceous one ! Wliy so cruel
ivnd sanguinary a beast as a Cat, of the ferocious genus Felis, the Murium Leo (Lion of the Mice), as
Linnaeus calls it, should be affected with any tenderness towards an animal which is its natiu-al
pi-ey, is not so easy to determine. This mcident is no bad solution of that .strange circumstance which
grave historians, as well as the poets, assert of exposed children being sometimes nurtured by wild
beasts that probably had lost theii- young. For it is not one whit more marvellous that Romulus
and Remus, in theii- infant state, should be nursed by a she- Wolf, than that a poor litUe suckling
Leveret should be fostered and cherished by a Cat.

White, in liis " Observations," has another similar anecdote. " A boy has taken three little
young Squirrels in their nest, or eyry, as it is called in these parts. These small ci-eatures he put
under the care of a Cat who had lately lost her kittens, and finds that she nurses and suckles them
with the same assiduity and affection as if they were her own offspring. This circumstance corro-
borates my suspicion that the mention of ex|X)sed and deserted children being mn-tured by female
beasts of prey who had lost theii- young, may not be so improbable an incident as many have supposed ;
and, therefore, may be a justification of those authors who have gravely mentioned what some have
deemed to be a -vvild and improbable story. So many people went to see the little Squirrels suckled by
a Cat, that the foster-mother became jealous of her charge, and in pain for their safety, and
therefore hid them over the ceiling, where one died. This circumstance showed her affection for
these foundlings, and that she supposed the Squirrels to be her own young."

* '\\1iite"s " Selborne."

68 XATVIIAL HISTORY.

Equally remarkable as an instance of the transference of maternal affection is the tale of the Cat
whose kittens were replaced by two out of the five pups belonging to a Spaniel. The Cat brought up
her foster children so well, that they were able to run about long before the three left under the chai-ge
of their own natural mother. Before long they were removed, and the Cat w;is inconsolabis, until, one
day, coming across the Spaniel and her pups, she concluded that the latter were her own lost dai-lings,
and in her eagerness to get them engaged in two successive fights with the Spaniel, in each of which
she was victorious, and after each of which she carried away a pup to her own premises, thus getting
again, as she thought, her own two childi-en, and the Spaniel being obliged to content herself with one.
This last anecdote is also remarkable because of the wondei-ful instinctive antipathy existing
between Dogs and Cats, an antipathy which is one of the most curious instances of inherited instinct,
for a young kitten, who has never seen a Dog in its life will, on bemg approached by one, put up its
back, and swear and .spit with all the force of feline Billingsgate. It is only after living in the same
house with a Dog for some time that a Cat will become reconciled to him, but when she once gets to
tolerate his presence, the two often become very good friends.

The most astonishing tale we have met with, with respect to their intelligence and sensibility,
is one by Mr. C. H. Boss. He states that a Cat in his possession " would climb upon the top of
the piano, and, sitting close underneath the picture " of a Bulldog, " fix its eyes upon the Dog's face,
and, putting back its ears, remain there, with a wild and terrified expression, for as long as an hour
at a time," and this, too, while there were two living Dogs in the house with whom she was on
perfectly good terms. This is extraordinary enough, for it is usually stated that animals do not
recognise pictures imless they are coloured, and the illustration in question was an engraving. But
the queerest part of the story is yet to come. " Daring the time that he noticed this conduct on the
Cat's part, she was with kitten, and when the four kittens were born they were dead, and one of them,
strange to say, had a Bull-dog-shaped head, marked almost exactly like the picture ! "

Instances are not wanting in which Cats have formed friendships with birds — creatures which, as.
a rule, they look upon as their natural prey . One example of an affection of this sort is extremely
curious. A Cat and a Canary had acquired a great fondness for one another. The Canary used to perch
on the Cat's back and play all sorts of pranks with it. One day theii- master saw, with hoiTor, the
feline Damon rush upon his passerine Pythias and seize it in his mouth. He naturally thought that
at last nature had triumphed over grace, but on looking round saw that another Cat had entered the
room, to whose tender mercies the bird-lover would by no means ti-ust his little friend.

Like its natural enemy the Dog, the Cat is sometimes afflicted with rabies, or madness. Mr.
Youatt, a gi-eat authority on the subject, says : — " Fortunately for us this does not often occur ; for a,
mad Cat is a truly ferocious animal. I have seen two cases, one of them to my cost ; yet I am unable
to give any satisfiictory account of the progress of the disease. The fii-st stage seems to be one of
sullenness, and which would probably last to death ; but from that suUenness it is dangerous to rouse
the animal. It probably would not, except in the paroxysm of rage, attack any one ; but during that
paroxysm it has no fear, nor has its ferocity any bounds.

" A Cat that had been the inhabitant of a nursery, and the playmate of the childi-en, had all at
once become sullen and ill-tempered. It had taken refuge in an upper room, and eould not be coaxed
from the corner in which it had crouched. It was nearly dark when I went I saw the horrible glare
of her eyes, but I could not see so much of her as I wished, and I said that I would call again in the
morning. I found the patient on the following day precisely in the same situation and the same
attitude, crouched up in a corner, and ready to spring. I was very much interested in the case ; and
as I wanted to study the countenance of this demon, for she looked like one, I was foolisUy,
inexcusably imjirudent. I went on my hands and knees, and brought my face nearly on a level
with hers, and gazed on those glaring eyes and that horrible countenance, until I seemed to feel the
deathly influence of a spell stealing over me. I was not afraid, but eveiy mental and bodily
j)Ower was, in a manner, suspended. My countenance, perhaps, alarmed her, for she spi-ang on
me, fastened hereelf on my face, and bit through both my lips. She then darted down-stairs, and, I
believe, was never seen again. I always have nitrate of silver in my pocket ; even now I am never
without it. I washed myself and applied the caustic with some severity to the wound ; and my medical
adviser and valued friend, Mr. Millington, punished me still more after I got home. My object was

70 natvual his roil r.

attained, aitboiigb at somewliat too much cosi, for tl;e exju-ession of that brute's countenance will uevei
be forgotten."

Excejit as fur-bearing animals, Cats are made no direct use of, save as Mouse and Eat-catchers.
In this capacity they are quite invaluable, for these destructive little Rodents increase and multij)ly
to such an extent, that if it was not for some such check as that afforded by the presence of a
good mouser, many places would be as much overrun, and the inhabitants put to as much inconvenience,
as were the people amongst whom Dick Whittingtou's lot was cast. With regard to the number of
these plagues of which a single Cat can rid the neighbourhood, it is stated by M. Lenz, as a well-
ascertained fact, that a Cat of ordinary size is fully capable of catching and eating twenty Mice
a day, or 7,300 a year! Besides Rats and Mice, they are fond of insects, such as Cocki-oaches >
and in some countries, such as Paraguay, they are found to be of great value in killing Ser|ients,
which, however, they are said never to eat, slaying them by repeated dexterous blows of the paw,
simply for the sport.

The Domestic Cat is found wherever ci\ilised man exists. It occurs throughout Europe and
Asia, and has spread largely in America and Australia since the discoveiy of these continents by
Euroijeans. The best-marked variety of the species is the beautiful Angora Cat, which is larger than
the ordinary Cat, and covered with long fine hair, usually snow-white. The Manx Cat, native
only in the Isle of Man, is distinguished by the very remarkable character of being tailless, or,
at least, that appendage is quite rudimentary. In other respects, it does not differ from the
ordinary varieties. The Pei-sian Cat is a very fine variety often seen in English drawing-rooms ; its
hiiir is long, though nothing like so long as that of the Angora. It is a remarkably lazy beast,
and far less interesting than the ordinary kind.

The Chinese Cat has also long silky fur and pendent ears, and is regularly fattened and eaten.
Mr. Swinhoe gives a curious quotation about this animal from the Hainan Gazetteer. " ' Liiw ' (or
Domestic Cat) ' cannot endure Fleas or Lice on its skin. Cats that have nine holes inside the mouth
wDl catch Rats the four seasons through.' " What the Chinese Gazetteer means by the nine holes is
difficult to imagine. Is it not a celestial piece of hyperbole for a Cat with a good large gullet 1— just
as we speak of their tenacity of life by saying that they have nine lives — thus our Cat has nine
lives, and the Chinese Rat-catcher has nine throats.

CHAPTER V.

CAT FAMILY— inMiXA FAillLY— CriYI'TOPUUC'TA FAMILY— AARD-WOLF FAMIL"5 .'

The Common JrN(!i,F Cat -Thk ('(orMoN Lvxs- -Historical Sketch— Geograiiliical Distribution — Distinctive Characters —
Habits— I'ses Till ]'.m:iiini; Linx The Canadian Lynx— The Red Lynx— The Caracal— The Cheetah— Dis-
tinctive Cliaii.i t,i V ( ituyi ;iiiliiriil I listribution— Employment in Hunting— The Hyj:na Family— External Characters
— Skull anil IVrtli Tin: si'..tikii Hv.ena— Geographical Distribution— Habits— Laughing rropeusities— The Brown
Hy.ena— The Stuipeh Hy.kna— The Cryptoprocta Family — Characteiistics of tlie C'ryptoprocta— Its Occurrence
anil Habits— The A^vrd-Wolf Family — Characters and Habits of the Aard-Wolf.

THE COMMON JUNGLE CAT.*
This, as Mr. Jerdon observes, " is the Common Wihl Cat all over India, from the Himalayas to
Cape C'oniorin, and from the level of the sea to 7,000 or 8,000 feet of elevation. It frequents alike
jungles and the open country, and is veiy partial to long grass and reeds, sugar-cane fields, corn-
fields, &c. It does much damage to game of all kinds. Hares, Partridges, &c., and quite recently I
shot a Peafowl at the edge of a sugar-cane field, when one of these Cats sprang out, seized the Peafowl,
and, after a short struggle (for the bird was not dead), carried it off before my astonished eyes, and, in
spite of my running up, made good his escape with his booty. It must have been stalking these very

* Fct'.~ chaus.

birds, so immediately did its spring follow my shot." Besides being so common in India, the CLaus is
found all over Africa, especially in the north.

It is of a yellowish-grey colour, inclining to reddish ui some parts, and white below. The "muzzle
and the liaibs have dark stripes, and the tail is more or less ringed with black, but the greater part of
the body is xmspotted. It is interesting to notice that the annulation of the tail is most distinct in
the young. We have elsewhere remarked that the young of all the oue-cqloured Cats (Lion, Puma, &c.),
are more or less indistinctly spotted or striped. The ears are slightly tufted, so that this species, like
the Spotted Wild Cat, approaches the Lynxes. The length of the head and body together is twenty-
six inches ; of the tail, nine or ten ; the height at the shoulder fourteen or fifteen. A black variety is
to be met with in some parts of India.

THE COMMON LYNX.*

In the Lynx we come again to an animal of historical interest, for this creature was well known to
the ancients. It is mentioned by Pliuy as having first appeared in the Amphitheatre at Rome in the
time of Pompey, having been brought to the great city from Gaul, where, at that time, it was probably
very abundant. No doubt it would cause grand sport in the arena, for it is an extremely savage beast.
and capable of holding its own against animals many times its own size. The Lynx was also one of
the auimals sacred to Bacchus, and is sometimes represented, instead of the Leopard, as drawing the
car of this deity.

But the Lynx of the ancients has, as Buffon remarks, quite the character, of a fabulous animal.
It was supposed "that its sight was so piercing as to penetrate opaque bodies, that its water had the
marvellous property of becoming a solid body, a precious stone, called hipis hjncurius ! " This last
legend, as Brehm suggests, probably arose from the fact that the amber Inought from Liguria was called
lapis Uyurius, and that the Greek merchants, knowing nothing about such a place as Liguria, con-upted
ligurius into Ii/murius, and, of course, connected it with Lyncus. A survival of the superstition about
the Lynx being able to see through walls still exists in our common expression, '• Lynx-eyed."

The Common Lynx is found chiefly in Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Northern Asia, and in the
mountainous districts of Central Europe. In other parts of the Continent it is nearly or quite extinct.

The animal attains a much greater size than any of the ordinary Wild Cats, being as much as
forty or fifty inches long, from the tip of its snout to the root of its tail. It is also readily dis-
tinguished from the Cats proper by the .shox-tness of its tail, which does not exceed six to nine inches,
or about one-fifth the length of the body, and by the length of its legs, which gives it a decidedly
un-Cat-like look, and brings its height at the shoulder up to twenty-five inches. Another distinguish-
ing feature is to be found in the long pointed ears, each with a tuft of long stifl' liaii- on its tip ; and
still another is. the length of the fur on the cheeks, wheieby a pair of capital whiskers of 'almost
Dundreary length is produced. These, it must be uiiddstnod, aic ipiite distmct from the true
"whiskers," or tactile vibrissse, with which the upjiei- lip ot the Lynx, like that of all FdidcR, is
provided. The tufted ears and bearded cheeks, together with the fierce brightness of the eye, give
the Lynx an altogether peculiar and somewhat weird expression

When we have added that the jiads of the feet are overgrown with hau-, we have mentioned all
the obvious differences between a Lynx and a true Cat. In everything else, its teeth, its bones, its
sheathed claws, its manner of killing its prey, its habit of swearing and spitting when angiy, it is a
Cat all over. StUl, the differences between it and the ordinary Cats are considerable, and some
naturalists prefer to look upon the Lynxes as a distinct genus (Lyncus) ; but, on the whole, especially
when we consider how the chasm is bridged over by the Jungle Cat, it is more convenient to keep the
two together, and consider the Lynxes as simply a section of the gi-eat genus Felis.

The skin of the Common Lynx is of a reddish-grey colour, more or less spotted with red or
d irk gi-ey ; but the variations in marking are very great in different individuals, and in the same
individual at different ages. The fur, also, is longer in winter than in summer.

The Lynx is imdoubtedly the most dangerous and destructive beast of prey now left in Europe ;

72 KATUP.AL HISTOKY.

at any rate, a single Lynx will do more damage thaii an individual of any other wild species. The
Eussian Wolves may be, on the whole, worse enemies, but they hunt in ])acks, and are oidy dangerous

COMMON LYNX.

in numbers, a single Wolf being a sorry coward, while a Lynx is a truly redoubtable antagonist, as
the following excellent account of his habits will show : —

" While he succeeds in finding food in the forests and gorges of the high mountains, he does not
attempt to shift his quarters, but lives alone with Lis mate, and betrays his presenca by horrible

HABITS OF TEE LYNX.

73

howlings, audible at a gi-eat distance. He only qidts his chosen solitude at tlie hist extremity, and
mounts on a branch, wliei-e he crouches at full length among the foliage, which half hides without
incommoding him. With eye and ear on the watch, he remains whole days motionless, with eyes half
closed, and iu a state of apparent sleep, which is only the moi-e dangerous, for then he is most
completely cognisant of all that is passing around him. The Lynx lives by stratagem. Like all Cats,
he has not a particularly fine sense of smell, and his pace is not sufficiently rapid to allow him to
pursue his prey. His patience, and the skill with which he creeps noiselessly, bring him close up to
his victim. More patient than the Fox, he is less cunning ; less hardy than the Wolf, he leaps better
and can resist famine longer. He is not so strong as the Bear, but keeps a better look-out, and

C.4N.4.UHN LYNX.

ha.s sharper sight. His strength resides chiefly in his feet, jaws, and neck. He jn-efei-s to make
his hunting as easy as possible, and only chooses his victim when food abounds. Every animal
he can reach with one of his bounds, which rarely miss theii- aim, is lost and devoured ; if he
misses, he allows the animal to escape, and returns to crouch in his post of observation, without
showing his disappointment. He ls not voracious, but he loves warm blood, and this passion makes
him imprutleut .... If he comes upon a flock of Goats or Sheep, he approaches, dragging
his belly along l\ic grnimd, like a Snake, then raises himself with a bound, falls on the back of his
victim, breaks its neck or cuts its carotid vnt\\ his teeth, and kills it instantaneously. Then he licks
the blood which flows from the wound, rips open the belly, devours the entrails, gnaws off a part of
the head, neck, and shoulder, and leaves the rest."* So bloodthirsty is his natiu-e, that a single indi-
vidual has been known to destroy forty Sheep in a few weeks. Fortunately for the inhabitants, this
plague is now nearly extinct in Central Europe. It is extremely rare in the Alps, though it was

Tschuili, quoted by Brehm.

7J:r^^^7^:"al}

THE CARACAL. . 75

tolerably common ■witiiiu tlie last fifty years ; aiul in the forests of Tliuringia, only two have been
found during the present centuiy.

Tlie Lynx, when caught young, is said to be quite tameable, but the domesticated animal is liable
to die of over-fatness. Its flesh is eaten in Siberia, and e^en in Switzerland, but as usual with its
tribe, the skin is the part on which the greatest value is set. It has a very beautiful hide, and in
Siberia, where the greatest value is obtained, each one costs from twenty to fifty francs on tlie spot.
••The skin of the forefeet is sold separately; they are cut off, and fetch from ten to fifteen francs a
pair. A Lynx skin is worth three of the Sable, six of the Wolf, twelve of the Fox, and a Imndred of
the Squirrel."

There ai-e some differences as to size, Ac, between the Lynxes found in Scandinavia and those
inhabiting Central Europe. These are .sometimes separated as distinct species, the former being then
called Felis borealis, the other F. ceroaria ; the latter is the lai'ger of the two.

THE TAliDIXE LYXX.*

This animal takes the place of the common kind in Southern Europe, being especially abundant
in Spain, where its range just overlaps that of its relative.

It is somewhat smaller than the Common Lynx — not more than thirty-two inckes long. Its skin
is of a beautiful rufous tint, regularly spotted with black, the spots extending over the tail, and the red
colour merging into white on the under surface.

THE CANADIAN LYNX.f

This species (see figure, p. 73) replaces the European variety in North America, where it is
especially abundant in the Rocky Mountains and in Canada.

It is about the same size as the Common Lynx. Its fur is shorter but thicker. The hairs on the
back are darker, the points being ringed with grey and brown ; those of the flanks are grey at the root,
reddish-white at the extremity. It has the reputation of being a very lazy bea.st, and far less ferocious
and more cowardly than its cousins of the Old World.

THE RED LYXX.J
The Red Lynx is found in the United States, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It differs but
little in sti-ucture or habit from the species we have already described.

Its skin, as well as that of the Canadian kind, is a very important article of commerce.

THE CARACAL.§

This is the handsomest of the Lynxes (see figure on previous page), both on account of its elegant
shape, and of its fine colour, which is a uniform reddish-brown or light chestnut, unspotted or very
sparsely spotted in the adult, but showing distinct spots in the young. It is found in India, Pei-sia,
Arabia, and Tibet, and also throughout Africa. Its length vaiies from twenty-six to thirty inches,
the tail measures nine or ten, and the height sixteen or eighteen inches. The ears are fully three
inches long, black externally, white within, with a long dark ear-tuft.

Unlike the other Lynxes, the Caracal is made use of as a hunting animal, being occasionally
trained to stalk the Peafowl, Hares, Kites, Crows, Cranes, &c. It is, however, a most savage animal
in captivity. The specimen in the London Zoological Gardens seems to be in a permanent state of ill-
temper. If the American Lynx, which is unfortunate enough to live in tlie same cage with him, dares
to come " betwixt the wind and his nobility," or even if he, in the course of his peregrinations, should
by chance get sufficiently near his companion to be annoyed with the sight of so vulgar a beast, he
immediately arches his back, lays back his ears, uncovers his great canines, and swears in the most
fearful manner, imtil the other unlucky animal is quite cowed, and looks as meek as its feline
nature wUl allow it, evidently deprecating the anger of my lord, and although not conscious of having
done ^\-rong, quite ready to promise faithfully never to do it again.

* Felis pardina. f FiUs ranadaisis. J Felis tufa. § Fi/is caracal.

KATURAL MISTORT.

THE CHEETAH*
The Hunting Leopard, or Cheetah, is tlie last member of the Cat famUy, and is distinguished from
the foregoing forms of the group by its loilg legs, the peculiar form of the flesh tooth of the iipper jaw,
and by the fact that its claws are less perfectly retractile than those of other cats, owing to the excessive
length of the elastic ligaments. So much struck have some observers been with the variation of the
Cheetah from the ordinary feline type, that it has been named Cynalunis, or Dog-Cat, a very inappro-
priate name, as the animal is a Cat all over, as any one will see who will take the trouble to look at
the specimens in the Zoological Gardens. No Dog has that round face, long tail, and supercilious,
almost aiTogant, expression.

The Cheetah is about four feet and half long from tip of snout to root of tail. The latter appendage

is two feet and a half in length, and the height of the animal at the shoulder two feet and a

half to two and three-quarters. The hide is of a bright reddish fawn-colour, and covei-ed with

numerous black spots, which ai'e single, and not arrayed in rosettes, as in the Leopard, Jaguar,

Ocelot, &c. The appearance of the face is very characteristic,

owing to a black stripe which passes down the cheek Ln a sort

of sigmoid curve, from tlie corner of the eye to the angle of the

mouth. The tail has black sjwts and a black tip. The body is

slender and small in the loins like a Greyhound's.

There are three varieties of this animal. One, the nianeless

Cheetah, is confined to Africa ; another, the maned Cheetah, is

found all over South-west Asia, and is distinguished from the

tiret-named variety by its longer haii-, and by the presence of a

distinct though short mane, which, however, is more like the

cheek-tufts (we mu.st not call them whiskers, though they

sKVLL OF CHEETAH. exactly resemble them, as that name is appropriated to the

long vibrissse) of the Tiger or Lynx than the mane of the

Lion. The third variety is the woolly Cheetah, which differs so much from the other two, a.s to be

usually separated as a distinct species (Fells lanea). Its hair is woolly, and the spots and face-mark

light brown instead of black. The hind legs are unusually short. It is a native of South Africa.

Mr. Jerdon says, that " this animal was the oiiginal Pantlier and Leopardus of the ancients, who
considered (with the Arabs of the iii-esent day in North Africa) that it was a breed between the Lion
and the Pard." Possibly it was this animal to which Jeremiah alluded, when he said, " Can the
Etliiojuan change his skin, or the Leopardlxis, spots ]" For, although rare, it is still found in Palestine.
Canon Tristram says, " A few still haimt the neighbourhood of Tabor and the hills of Galilee. In
Gilead it is more common, and a sheikh there pi-esented me with three .skins of the Cheetah, shot
by his people."

It frequents open plains, and hunts by day, in correspondence with which habits it has a circular
and not an elliptical pupil to the eye.

The Cheetah is a half-domesticated animal ; we say half-dome.sticated, because, although it is used
regulai'ly in hunting, yet it is never properly tamed, and always has to be, as it were, gulled into doing
its work. The following account of the manner in which it is used in Indian sport is given by Mr.
Jei-donf : —

" ' On a hunting party,' says Buchanan Hamilton, ' the Cheetah is earned on a cart, hooded, and
when the game is raised the hood is taken off. The Cheetah then leaps down, sometimes on the
opposite side to its prey, and pursues the Antelope. If the latter is near the cart, the Cheetah
springs forward with a surpassing velocity, perhaps exceeding that which any other quadi-uped
posisesses. This great velocity is not unlike the sudden spring by which the Tiger seizes its prey, but
it is often continued for three or four hundred yards. If within this distance the Cheetah does not seize
its prey, he stops, but apparently more from anger or disappointment than from fatigue, for his
attitude is fierce, and he has been known immediately afterwards to pui^ie with equal rapidity another
Antelope that happened to be passing. If the game is at too gi-eat a distance when the Cheetah's eyes
* Felis jahata. t "Mammals of India."

uuNTiya iriTU tub cueetah.

77

are uncovered, he generally galloiis after it, uutil it approaches so near that he can seize it by a rapid
spring. This gallop is as quick as the course of well-mounted horsemen. Sometimes, but rarely, the
Cheetah endeavours to approach the game by stealth, and goes round a hill or rock until he can come
upon it by surprise. This account of the maimer of hunting I collected from the conversation of Sir
Arthur Weilesley, who, while commanding officer at Seringapatam, kept five Cheetahs that formerly
belonged to Tippoo Sultan.' Mr. Vigne writes thus : — ' The hunting with Cheetahs has often been
described, but it requires strong epithets to give an idea of the creature's speed. When slipped from
the cart, he th-st walks towards the Antelope with his tail straightened, and slightly raised, the hackle
on liis shoulder erect, his head depressed, and his eyes intently fixed upon the poor animal, who does
not yet perceive him. As the Antelope moves, he does the same, fu-st trotting, then cantering after

him ; and when the prey staits ofl', the Cheetah makes a rush, to which (at least I thought so) the
speed of a racehorse was, for the moment, much inferior. The Cheetahs that bound or spring upon
their prey are not much esteemed, as they are too cunning. The good ones fairly run it down. When
we consider that no English Greyhound ever yet, I believe, faii-ly ran into a doe Antelope, which is
faster than the buck, some idea may be formed of the strides and velocity of an animal who usually
closes with her immediately, but fortunately cannot draw a second breath, and, consequently, unless
he strike the Antelope down at once, is obliged instantly to stop and give up the chase. He then
walks about for three or fom- minutes in a towering passion, after which he again submits to be helped
on the cart. He always singles out the biggest buck from the herd, and holds him by the throat until
he is disabled, keeping one paw over the horns to prevent injury to himself. The doe he seizes in the
same manner, but is careless of the position in which he may hold her.' The natives assert that (in
the wild state) if the ground is not veiy favourable for his approacliing them without being seen, he
makes a crrcijit to the place where he thinks they will pass over, and if there is not grass enough
to cover him, he scrapes up the earth all rovmd, and lies flat until they approach so near that by
!i few bounds he can seize on his prey. Mr. W. Elliott says, ' They are taught always to single

78 NATURAL JUSTOliT.

out the Luck, wliic-li is generally the last in the herd. The niter-shikars are unwilling to slip till
they get the herd to run across them, when they drive on the cart and unliood the Cheetali.'

" I have only to add to this, on my own testimony, tliat I have often seen it, when unhooded,
at some distance from the Antelope, crouch along the gi-ound and choose any inequality of surface
to enable it to get within proper distance of the Antelope. As to Vigne's idea of its rush being made
(luring one breath, I consider it a native one, and unfounded, and I may say the same of its holding
one paw over the liorns of the buck. The Cheetah, after felling the Antelope, seizes it by the throat, .
and when tlie keeper comes up he cuts its throat and collects some of the blood in the wooden ladle
from which it is always fed. This is ottered to the Cheetah, who drops his hold, and laps it up eagerly,
during which the hood is cleverly slipped on again. My tame Cheetah, when hungry or left alone
(for it appeared unhappy when away from the Dogs with no one near it), had a plaintive cry, which
Blyth appropriately calls a 'bleat-like mew.' Shikaries always assei-t^hat if taken as cubs they are
useless for training, till they have been taught by their jiarents how to pull down theii- prey. This
opinion is corroborated, in pait at least, by my experiences with the tame one mentioned above."

Although capable of domestication, the Cheetah is, when roused, anything but a pleasant animal
to come across. Two colonists from the Cape of Good Hope happened to meet one while they
were out shooting Gazelles, and, vmfortunately for themselves, pursued it. " The roughness of the
road retarded the animal's flight, and a ball reached it. It immediately turned upon the hunter who
had wounded it, and, leaping upon him, pulled him from his Horse, and a hand-to-hand conflict began
between the two adversaries. The other hunter dismounted and hastened to succour his comrade, at
the risk of hitting him as well as the animal from which he wished to deliver him. His shot was
badly aimed. The noise of the discharge changed the a.spect of the combat, for the Cheetah abandoned
the man whom he had thrown down, to fling himself with redoubled fury on the new assailant, who
had not even time to draw his hunting-knife. The animal seized him by the head, and, without letting
go, rolled with him to the bottom of a ravine. It was of no avail that the first man, left alive, but
horribly mutilated, dragged himself to the new battle-field ; the wounds of his companion were mortal,
and he only had the melancholy satisfaction of giving the conj) de ijnlce to the animal, who was already
exhausted by loss of blood."

It is curious, considering the constant domestication of this animal in India, that it does not breed
at all readily in confinement. . In fact, Mr. Bartlett, who probably knows more about the matter than
any one, says that it has never to his knowledge bred in England ; but Dr. Giinther aflinns that it
has bred in the Gardens in Frankfort.

The young animal is covered with soft brown hair, without spots, a curious fact, cjuite reversing
the usual order of things, for, as we have seen, the young of the Lion, Puma, and other one-coloured
Cats, are distinctly spotted. The black mark on the cheek appears first, and then the body spots. Mr.
Jerdou gives an interesting account of a Cheetah kitten belonging to him : —

" I brought up the 3'oung one above alluded to along with some Greyhound pups, and they soon became
excellent friends. Even when nearly full-grown it would play with the Dogs (who did not over relish
its bounding at them), and was always .sportive and frolicsome. It got much attached to me, at once
recognising its name (Billy), and it would follow me on horseback like a Dog, every now and then
sitting down for a few seconds, and then racing on after me. It was very fond of being noticed, and
used to purr just like a Cat. It used to climb on any high object— the stump of a tree, a stack of hay —
and from this elevated perch look all round for some moving object. As it gi-ew up, it took first to
attacking some Sheep which I had in the compound, but I cured it of this by a few sound horsewhip-
pings ; then it would attack Donkeys, and get well kicked by them ; and when not half-gi-own it flew
one day at a full-grown tame Nylghau, and mauled its legs very severely before it could be called off.
I had some Chikaras (Gazella Bennettii) caught, and let loose before it to train it. The young Cheetah
almost always caught them easily, but it wanted address to pull them down, and did not hold them.
Occasionally, if the Antelope got too far away, it would give up the chase, but if I then slipped a
Greyhound, it would at once follow the Dog and join the chase. It was gi-adually getting to under-
stand its work better, and had pulled do^vn a well-grown Antelope Fawn, when I parted with it, as I
was going on field service."

Brehm had a Cheetah called " Jack," which was so tame that his master led him about like a

CHARAC7 EKS CF THE HYJ:XA.

-LL OF HY.E.NM

Dog, and even took him into a drawing-room full of ladies, by whom, after they had recovered their
fright at seeing a real wild beast enter tlie room, he allowed himself to be patted and caressed.
The same author states that a Cheetah once
lived at large in an English seaport, and was
the greatest possible fiivoui-ite with the sailors
and other inhabitants.

THE KY.ENA FAMILY*
This group contains the single genus

llijana, one species of which, the Striped

IJywna (H. striata), inhabits North-east Asia

and Northern Africa ; the others (H. crocuta

and //. bninnea) inhabiting South Africa.
Externally, the Hytenas have something

the appearance of extremely ugly and un-
attractive-looking Dogs. They are somewhat

larger than a Shepherd's Dog, and are covered

with coarse bristly hair, shoi-t over the

greater part of the body, but produced into a

sort of mane along the ridge of the neck.

The mode of progression is entirely digiti-

grade, the legs haWng much the same pro-
portion as in an average Dog, except for the

fact that the liind legs are shorter than the

fore legs, so that the body slopes from the withers to the haunches. The claws resemble those of the

Dog in that they cannot be retracted in sheaths of skin : here, therefore, we have a great and marked

difference from all the Cat tribe.

The tail is bushy, the snout long, but blunt,
giving the beast a snub-nosed appearance and a
horridly vulgar expression, quite different to that
of most of his relatives. The long-nosedness is
partly, however, only a matter of external appear-
ance, for the skull, although nothing like as short
as a Cat's, is yet very far from being as long as that
of a Dog or a Civet, and it is still more Cat-like in
the immense width of the cheek-ai-ches, and the
great development of bony ridges for the attachment
of muscles. The gi'eat longitudinal ridge on the

top of the skull is indeed far larger than in even the Lion or Tiger, and forms a gi-eat .shelving crest,

like that of an old-fashioned helmet. As we have alreatly mentioned, this ridge is for the attachment

of the gi-eat cheek muscles which close the

jaw — muscles which, in the Hysena, are of

such power, that the animal's favourite way

of attacking Dogs is to bite their legs off,

and one of its choicest titbits is the marrow

of bones, which can only be obtained by

cracking the bone across, as we should crack

a nut. Any one who has examined a Hoi-se's

or an Antelope's thigh-bone will have some

notion of the power of jaws capable of sma.sh- loweu jau

ing such a tough morsel.

But something more is required than strong muscles for work such
* Hmnid<e.

and the Hva?na :

KATUSAL SISTOSr.

furnished ^vith a set of tools which, when worked by such mighty power, are simply irresistible.
The large grinding-teeth, instead of the scissor-blade form they have iu the Cats, have great conical
crowns, the base of the cone being belted by a strong ridge which defends the subjacent gum (see
figure on preceding page). One has only to look at these teeth to see their perfect adaptation to their
piu-pose. Sir Eichard Owen remarks, " An eminent civil engineer, to whom I showed the jaw of
a Hy»na, oUserved that the strong conical tooth, with its basal ridge, was a perfect model of a hammer
for breaking stones for roads."

The canuies of the Hysena are proportionally much smaller than in the Felklfe, and the
outermost incisor — that nearest the canine — is much larger than in the Cats, so that it approaches
towards the canine in size. This, as we shall see, is even more the case in the Dog.

Then, the number of the teeth is different ; the Hyaena is a less specialised animal than the Cats,
that is, departs less from the average structm-e of a Mammal, and, in correspondence with this, we find

that its jaws are longer and its teeth more numerous ; it has, in fact, one more premolai-, or false gi-inder,
on each side of each jaw, bringing the total number of teeth to thii-ty-four, instead of thirty.
(See p. 13.)*

In speaking of the Cat family, we mentioned that the characters of the floor of the skull, and
particularly of the swollen, bulb-like buUa tymiMni, were of gi-eat importance in determining the
position of an animal in the series. Now this bulla in the Hyaena is large and rounded, as in Cats, but
differs in the fact that it is not divided by a bony partition into two compartments. The external
opening of the cavity, too, is quite flush with its outer wall, and the clamp of bone (see figures on
pp. 11 and 79) is quite close to its hinder wall.

In these charactere, as well as in certain mattei's of internal structure, such as the presence of a
small ccECum, or " blind-gut," the Hyaenas approach to the Cats and Civets, being comaected with the
latter gi'oup by the curious Aard-Wolf In other respects they approach the Dog family, their nearest
ally in that group being the Cape Hunting Dog.f

* The dental formula i
t Lycaon.

premol.irs, ~^„ molars, |^, =: S4.

HABITS OF TEE HY^NA.

THE SPOTTED HYJENA.*

This species exists over the whole of Africa south of the Sahani, a portion of the continent w hich
differs in a remarkable manner in its animal productions from the northern part ; so much so that in
a division cf the world into regions for the purposes of studying the geographical distribution of
animals, the north of Africa is united with Europe, while its ultra -Saharal portion is formed into a
distinct region. Over this Ethiopian reijion, then, the Spotted Hysena ranges, extending from
Abyssinia and the Soudan in the north, where it meets with its striped brother, to Cape Colony,
where it exists along with the curious Aard-Wolf It is known as the " Wolf," or " Tiger-Wolf,"
by the Cape colonists, who, it seems, have a fancy for givuig animals wi-ong names. We have seen
already that the Leopard is with them a " Tiger."

The skin is of a yellowish-brown gi-ound tint, irregularly blotched with cuxular T)laok spots
On the back of the neck and on the witheis it h<i.s a quantitj of long stiff bans, foiming a kmd of
reversed mane. The fur is coai-se and bnstl^, its chiiactei addini; n\( itls to the anini d's suiguliiK
unattractive appearance. The height
at the shoulder is about two feet six or
eight inches, the extreme length five
feet ten inches, of which length the tail
takes up some sixteen inches.

Like some other beasts of a
similarly mean nature, the Spotted
Hysena prefers not to do his own
kOIing, but likes better to live as a
sort of humble messmate on those
better provided than himself with the
courage requisite to good hunters.
When he does cater for himself, instead
of subsisting on the leavings of his
bettei-s, he always makes his attack in
a cowardly way, and trusts rather to
stratagem than to any of the higher
qualities of a sportsman. Dr. Living-
stone says : — " In the evening of our
second day at Serotli, a Hyjena appear-
ing suddenly among the grass, suc-
ceeded in raising a panic among our
cattle. This false mode of attack is
the plan which this cowardly animal always adopts. His courage resembles closely that of a Turkey-
cock. He will bite if an animal is limning away ; but if the animal stand stUl, so does he."

Other authors tell a similar tale, showing, too, that under cover of darkness the Hyajna
can be moderately plucky ; can, at any rate, muster sufficient courage to attack the herds in an
encampment. " More than once, during dark and drizzling nights, they made their way into the
sheep-kraal, where they committed sad havoc. We had several chases after them, but they managed
invariably to elude us."t Again, "The Sheep having been placed in a pit to prevent them from
straying, were visited during the night by a party of Hysenas, which slaughtered some and drove the
residue to the summit of a high hill, where they were found the following morning." |

The Hysena has Ms misfortunes, like other bfeasts ; Sheep are not to be had every day, often food
is scarce, and he has to go with an empty stomach for days together. He may suffer, too, in other
ways, besides hunger. Thus Mr. Andersson relates : — " AJmost the first animal I saw at this place
was a gigantic ' Tiger-Wolf,' or Spotted Hyaena, which, to my surprise, instead of seeking safety in
fligbt, remained stationary, grinning in the most ghastly manner. Ha%Tng' approached within twenty

SPOTTED HY.-ES.A

HiKBTM crocuUx.

i Aade:

J Hams.

82 NATURAL HISTORY.

paces, I perceived, to mj' horror, that his fore-paws and the skill and flesh of his front legs had been
gnawed away, and that he could scarcely move from the spot. To shorten the suflerings of the poor
beast, I seized my opportunity and knocked him on the head -vWth a stone, and catching him by the
tail, drove my hunting-knife deep into his side. But I had to repeat the operation more than once
before I could put an end to his existence. I am at a loss to account for his mangled condition.
It certainly could not have been from age, for his teeth were good. Could it be possible that, from
want of food, he had become too weak for further exertions, and that, as a last resource, he had
attacked his own body 1 Or. was he an example of that extraordinary species of cruelty said to be
practised by the Lion upon the Hyaena, when the latter has the insolence to interfere with the
monarch's preyl" . . . "It is asserted by more than one experienced hunter, that when the
Hyaena proves troublesome, the Lion has been known to bite ofi' all its feet, and, thus mutilated,
leave the poor animal to its fate."

It may well be imagined the horrible nuisance such animals are to ail South African ti-avellers.
They steal eveiything they can get at. They devoured two handsome flags of Mr. Andei-sson's which he
liad hoped to plant on the shores of Lake 'NgamL But, perhaps, the gi-eatest trouble is caused by
their infernal cachinnations ; no noise in the forest produces so much discomfort, for though not so
loud as the Lion's roar, it is totally devoid of gi-andeur, and is only hideously grotesque and vile in
the ears of all but Hyaenas, who, we suppose, are charmed by it. The traveller we have just
mentioned was, during an illness, laughed to scorn in the most amazing fashion by Hyaenas and
Jackals, and theii' derision was too much for his equanimity at a time when he sorely needed sympathy
and help. Flesh and water had become very scarce, and in his trouble he says, " One evening I
desperately resolved to go to the water nayself in the hope of succeeding better [than the attendants].
Accordingly I ordered my servants to prepare a ' skiiran,' and to carry me there, taking the chance
of being run over or gored by Elephants or Rhinoceroses, for in my disabled state it was impos-
sible, should any animal charge, to get out of its way. Seeuig my helpless condition, the men
remonstrated, but I was resolved to go, and fortune favoured me. 1 had patiently waited till nigh
morning without seeing anything but Hyaenas and Jackals. I believe these creatures knew I
would not hurt them, for they approached within a very few paces, staring and laughing at me
in the most impudent manner. I threw gravel pebbles at them, but this only served to inci-ease their
mockery. I could stand it no longer, but hurled my camp-chair at their heads, when they quickly
betook themselves to flight."

Livingstone had the same trouble with the fearful din. " An astonishing number of Hyaenas
collected round, and kept up a loud laughter for two whole nights. Some of them do make a very
good imitation of a laugh. I asked my men what the Hyaenas were laughing at, as they usually give
animals credit for a share of intelligence. They said that they were laughing because we could not
take the whole, and that they would have plenty to eat as well as we." Any one who has never heard
the Hyaena laugh, and is anxious for that pleasure, has only to visit the Zoological Gardens at feeding
time. Some give utterance to such horrible cachinnations when stirred up by the keeper, that one
would think they are enough to wake the dead and madden the living.

Most hunters think it quite infra dig. to hunt so contemptible and cowardly a beast as the
Hyaena. Regular expeditions are, however, organised against it by the Cape colonists, who set fire to
the brushwood, to drive out the animals, which are then attacked by Dogs. A method of killing,
considered more suitable to the beast, is that of the trap. Mr. Andersson succeeded Ln killing several
by means of a cleverly airanged spring-gun.

THE BROWX HY.ENA.*

The Brown Hyaena, or " Strand- Wolf " of the Cape colonists, is tolerably common in South Africa,
tliough far less so than the spotted species. It is a smaller animal than the latter, its usual height
at the shoulder being about two feet four inches, its length, including the tail, four feet ten inches,
the tail itself being about a foot in length.

Its general colour is reddish-grey, brindled with brown and black stripes or sjiots. The

* Hi/ccna hrnniux or fu^ea.

STRIPED HT.F.NAS AND JACKALS.

THE .STUirFD HX.EXA. 83

extremities are. yellowish, with deep Mack transverse bands. The tail is black, with red liairs
towards the tip.

As to habits, thei-e is really nothing to add to what has already been said with regard to the
Spotted Hya?na, except that it is especially common at the sea-side, and feeds a good deal on dead
bodies thrown upon the shore. It onh' dares to attack flocks when very hungi-y.

THE STRIPED HYiENA.*
The Striped Hysena takes the place of the spotted kind over the northern part of Africa. It also
t xtfiuls into Asia, where it ranges over Asia Minor and Persia, and through India to the foot of the

Himalayas. Amongst other places, it is " common in every part of Palestine, and indifferent as to the
character of the country. We obtained the young occasionally in spring, and procured on. Mount
Cai-mel the largest pair of adults I ever saw. The old rock-hewn tombs afford to the Hysena convenient
covert. It attacks the graves even in the vicinity of towns, "t

In gi-ound-colour it resembles the spotted kind, but instead of being marked with spots, its hide is
covered wdth complete black transverse bands like the hoops of a bai-rel, which extend downwards on
to the legs. It is as nearly as possil)le of the same size as the brown variety.

As to its habits and characteristics, there is little to add to what has already been said of its
South African brother ; it follows the Lion for scraps, roams about the Arab cemeteries to dig up and
devour the dead, jirowls round the to^vns and villages in Egj'pt and elsewhere to pick up offal, and is
always the same ugly, ill-conditioned, repulsive, and yet useful beast. For the Arabs and Egy]5tians

Hiiana striata.

8^ NATURAL HISTOST.

are never gi'eatly inclined to sanitary reform, and without Hyrenas, Jackals, and Vultures, would be
in a sad case indeetL

As to the animal's cowardliness, every writer bears witness. Jules Gerard says : — " The Arabs
say, ' as cowardly as a Hyaena,' and the Arabs are right." So much do the sons of the desert despise
their scavengei-, that when Gerard killed one with his sabre, they implored him never again to use the
defiled weapon, saying that it would certainly betray him after having been sheathed in such a das-
tardly carcass. It Ls stated that the Dog is the only animal the Hyaena dares attack, and even this
game they like some help in killing. " When they feel inclined to eat a Dog, they hang about some
douar, in the neighbourhood of which there happens to be a good cover. The female stations herself
behind some biaishwood, and the male goes towards the Dogs, who attack him, and follow him as far
as the position of his consort. The female comes out at the fitting moment to attack, thi-ottle, and
devour on the spot the Dog who ventures farthest in pursuit of her husband. "

Although the Hysena is generally considered unworthy of being hunted, yet the Arabs occasion-
ally condescend to come to the rescue of their Dogs, by beating their destroyers to death. They have
also a curious " yarn " about a new and singular way of killing a Hyaena — a similar process to the
traditional method of bird-catching. " The Arab who finds a Hyaina in his hole, takes a handful of
Cow's dung, and presents it to him, saying, ' Come, and I will render you beautiful with henna.' The
Hyaena holds out his paw ; the Arab seizes it, drags him out, then gags him, and causes him to be
stoned by the women and children of the doua)-, as a cowardly and unclean beast." One would have
imagined that a Hyaena of ordinary mental capacity would be far too old to be caught with this
SjOrt of chaff !

THE CTvYPTOPEOCTA FAMILY.*

This family contains a single animal only, so that the descrijitiou of the family and of the species
will be identical. It has no English name, and must, therefore, be known by its scientific appellation,
which is, unfortunately, none of the most musical.

THE CRYPTOPEOCTA.t

This little animal is extreiiifly intfrestiiif;, from the fact tliat it forms a perfect transition between
the Cat family on the one lian.l. \a\A i!n' ('i\ct family on the other. Like the Cats it has truly
retractile claws ; unlike them it is j,liiiili<ini'lf, or, rather, senii-pkmtigrade, for it does not walk on
the tips of its toes, like a Cat or Dog, neither does it keep the whole sole of the foot flat to the ground
like a Bear, but the soles of bioth fore and hind feet are devoid of hairs, except for a short space near
the ankle and heel, and it is the large hairless space which is applied to the gi-ound in walking.

The characters of the skull are almost exactly half way between those of the two families we have
mentioned. The bulb of the ear has its opening quite flush with its outer wall, but is far less
swollen than in the Cats. The teeth differ from those of Cats in one important particular, namely, in
the fact of tliere being one more premolar in each jaw.

The Cryptoprocta is about thirteen inches and a half long from snout to root of tail, the latter
appendage being nearly as long as the body. The general colour is light brownish-red, this tint being
pi'oduced by the individual hairs being ringed with yellow and brown alternately. The body is slender
and elegantly formed. The head is also well shaped, with a pointed snout, and large rounded eai-s.
There are five toes on each foot, and, as we have already mentioned, the claws are provided with true
retractile ligaments.

This curious and interesting little animal is very rare ; only one or two specimens having reached
Eui'ope. Even at the present time hardly anything is known of its internal organs. It was first bi-ought
to England forty or fifty years ago. "Mr. Telfair, President of the Mauritius Natural History
Society, who presented the animal to the Zoological Society of London, received it from the interior
and southern part of Madagascar, and stated that it was the most savage creature of its size he ever
met with. Its motions and power and activity were those of a Tigei-, and it had the same appetite for
blood and destruction of animal life. Its muscular force was very great, and the muscles of its limbs
■ v.'ere remarkably full and thick. It lived with Mr. Telfair for some months."

* CryptoproctiJin. *- Cri/ptoprocta fa-ox.

Tiir. j.iRD-iror.F.

Mi;'''S'ir|syf«

THE AARD-WOLF FAMILY*
This fixmily contains but a single genus and species, viz. : —

THE AAUD-WOLF.t
Tliis is a remarkable animal inhabiting the southern parts of Africa, where its range is almost
co-extensive with that of the brov/n variety of the Hysena. It is an extremely interesting animal, as
it forms a connecting link between the Civet family and the Hyaenas ; although more nearly allied to
the latter than to the fomier, it is found to be impossible to assign it to one of these groups in
1 reference to the other, and it is, in consequence, placed in a family by itself.

17

+ Protelcs Lalandii

NATURAL BISTORT.

This i-are anima! was fiist mentioned and described by Andrew Sparnian in 1772-6, but his.
account of it attracted little notice until it was re-discovered by the traveller Delalande, who
brought specimens to France, where the beast was described and christened after him, Proteles
Lalandii, or Delalandii.

The relationships of the Aard-Wolf are well shown by its external appearance. It ha.s the sloping,
back of a Hysena, owing to the fore legs being longer
than the hind legs ; but its head is quite Civet-like,
the snout being long and pointed, and altogether un-
like a Hysena's. Its size is that of a full-grown Fox,
but it .stands higher upon its legs ; its ears are con-
siderably larger and more naked, and its tail shorter
and not so bushy. At first sight it might be easily
mistaken for a young Striped Hyiena, so closely does.
it resemble that animal in the colours and peculiar
markings of its fur, and in the mane of long stiff hair
which runs along the neck and back ; indeed, it is-
only to be distinguished by its more pointed head, and
by the additional fifth toe of the fore-feet. It is also-
yellowish-grey tint, and marked with dark brown stripes-

LL OF AARD-WOLF.

quite Hysena-like in colour, being of a di
and a black muzzle.

The skull has all the essential characters of that of a Viverrine, the form to which it approaches
most nearly being the Ichneumon. The teeth are also Civet-like, but in the characters of its internal
organs it approaches more nearly to the Hyaenas.

" In its habits and manners the Aard-Wolf resembles the Fox. Like that animal it is nocturnal,
and constructs a subterraneous burrow, at the bottom of which it lies concealed during the day-time,
and only ventures abroad on the approach of night to search for food, and satisfy the other calls of
nature. It is fond of the society of its own species ; at least many individuals have been found residing
together in the same buiTow ; and, as they are of a timid and wary character, they have generally
three or four enti-ances to this hole ; so that, if attacked on one side, they may secure a retreat in an
opposite direction. Notwithstanding the disproportionate length of their fore legs, they are said to
run very fast, and so strong is their propensity to burrow, that one of M. Delalande's specimens,
perceiving itself about to be run do^vn or captured, immediately ceased its flight, and began to scratch
up the ground, as if wth the intention of making a new earth." Its food consists veiy largely of
carrion, but it al.so devours Ants. Owing to the former " high " kind of diet, the animal is generally
jmssessed of an extremely bad smell.

With regard to its fighting propensities, which it probably possesses in common with all its
relations — partly from the necessities of the struggle for existence, and partly fiom jmre quarrelsome-
ness— we may mention Professor Flower's observation, that there is a " rounded patch in front of each
wrist joint," or " knee," as the wrist of digitigrade quadrupeds is usually called, just as if the animals
were in the constant habit of kneeling. Professor Flower adds in a note : — " Mr. Bartlett informs
me that this is the habit both of the Proteks and the Hyaenas, especially when fighting. He attributes
it, at least in the case of the Hysenas, to an instinctive dread lest their feet should be seized and
crushed by the powerful jaws of their adversary."

CHAPTER VI.

THE CIVET FAMILY.

Ciereral Characteristics of the Civet Family— Their Scent, SkuU, and Teeth— The AFRICAN CiVET— lis Characters and
Habits— The Asiatic Civet— The Lessee Civet— The Genette— The Mungoos, or Ichneumon— Ciirioas Super-
stition regarding it— The Cbab Mungoos— The Aradoxube— The Binti'rong.

The name of tliis family* is given to it from the fact tliat the most important foiins iiickuled in it
ai-e wliat are known as Civets, or Civet Cats, animals from which the well-known pcrfauui of lliat name
is obtained.

The civet is a white, fatty sub.stance, found in two curious little pouches or tuiiiings-in of the
skin just under the animal's tail. Thus Touchstone says : " Civet is of a baser birth than tar; the very

skeleton of civet.

uncleanly flux of a Cat." The perfume "is procured by scraping the inside of the poucli with an iron
spatula at intei'vals, about twice a week. If the animal is in good condition and a male, especially ir
he has been irritated, a drachm or thereabouts is obtained each time The ijuaiitity .■ njlciteil from the
female does not equal that secreted by the male. Civet, like iiiost other articles cif 1liis luitine, is
much adulterated, and it is rare to get it cjuite jmre. The adulteration is effected witli suet or oil, to
make it heavier."

Civet is far less esteemed as a perfume now than in former times ; its odour is rank and almost
overpoweringly strong, so that musk and other vegetable perfumes are now generally prefeired. But
in Shakspere's time it was quite " the thing." Don Pedro, in " Much Ado," says of Benedick : " Nay,
he rubs himself with civet : can you smell him out by that 1" And Claudio answers : " That's as much
as to say, the sweet youth's in love."

The animals comprised iii this grouj) are confined entirely to the Old World, where they are
represented in South Europe by the domesticated Genette ; in Africa and South Asia ly the true Civet
( Viverra), the Ichneumons, so celebrated for their propensity for eating Crocodile's eggs, the curiouis
Paradoxures, and many others.

In anatomical characters, as well as in external appearance, the animals are related both to the
Cat family and to the Hyaenas, as will be seen Ijy comparing the various points of tlieir structure with

XATUliAL RI&TORY.

tliose of the two families just iiameil. They are mostly loug-bocliecl, short-legged animals, with stiffkh
fur, a long tail, and a sharp muzzle. They walk ou their toes, of which they ha^e five ou each foot,
like Cats : manj' of them, however, keeping the wrist and ankle much nearer tlie gi-ound than the
Cats do, and being consequently distinguished as semi-plantigrade. They also wander from the
regular Cat-structure in the matter of their claws, which are only half retractile, tlie elastic ligament
not attaining the same ijerfection as in the Cats. Thus we conclude that in this respect, at any rate,
the Civets are less specialised than the Cats proper ; they approach more nearly to the central plan of
Mammalian, structure, and are less perfect as Carnivores. We shall see that the same is the case with
respect to their other charactei-s, such as the skull an^eeth.

The skull is not unlike what a Cat's would be if it were put on the bed of Procrustes and pulled
out ; for, in correspondence with the length of the snout in these creatures, the face part of the skull
is long in comparison with tlie brain-containing pai-t. The cheek-arches, also, are by no means so
V)io<id as m the Fclida, m coiicpondeiice with the less size of the jaw muscles. But the character of
tilt b.ibe of the skidl is pietty much the same Time ls, ah in Cats, the large swollen bulla, or

e II di um bone, the small opening flush
with the outer wall of the buUa, and
the cl imping bone closely applied to
Its hindir wall.

The teeth of the Civets present
ni 111} interesting differences from tho.se
(if the Cat tribe. In the first place, in
iLioidance with the less perfectly
( unnoious habit of the group, the
) lus aie longer, and, consequently, not
s(i poweiful as in the Cat; the number
of teeth also is considerably increased.
The inciioi-s and canmes remain the
same, but the premolars are increased
to foui, and the molars to two on eacl.
side of each jaw,* so that there are
u.inu 1.1 . i\ ET. no less than forty teeth, instead of

tliirty only, as in the Cats. Then the
wrui of tlic teeth is altered ; the canines are of far less proportional size, not having the same
amount of hard work to do as the great dog teeth of the Lion or Tiger ; the grinders, too, lose their
scissor-blade form, and exhibit on their upper surfaces little lumps, or cusps, thereby developing a
grinding surface such as no Cat has. This is especially the case in the Paradoxures, or Palm-Cats,
which have quite lost all canii\orous habits, and feed chiefly on the fruit of palm-trees.

THE AFRICAN cm^T.t

This animal, by its rough spotted skin, calls to mind the Hya;na, to which, however, it is inferior
in size, being hardly three feet long. It difiers also from our laughing friend in many more
important particulare. Its legs are shorter, its tail longer and not so bushy, its snout more pointed,
its ears shorter, and its expression less villainous-looking. It is found in the North of Africa and in
Eastern Asia.

This animal is the chief of the civet producers, its scent-glands being large and secreting
constantly. At the Zoological Gardens the specimen in captivity rubs the perfume against the walls of
tlie cage, where it is scrajied up by the keeper, for whom it is a not unimportant perquisite.

The hair is long, coarse, of a brownish-grey colour, and marked with interrupted transveree

* The dental formula is, therefore, incisors, ^, canines, j^J, premolars, j]^, molars, ^^^,=40.
t Viverra civeUa,

TBE ASIATIC CIVET.

bands or spots. On the middle liue of the back and between the shoulders its hair is longer, forming
a sort of mane. The snout is white, the tail ringed with black.

" The Civet approaches, in its habits, nearest to the Foxes and smaller Cats, preferring to make
its predatory excm-sions against birds and .smaller quadrupeds in the night, although, like other
Carnivora, it will occasionally attack its prey in the daytime. In a state of captivity it becomes in a
degree tame, but never familiar, and is dangerous to handle. The young ones feed on farinaceous
food — millet-pap, for instance — with a little flesh or fish, and when old on raw flesh. Many of them
are kept in North Africa, to obtain the perfume which bears the name of the animal, and brings a
high price."

The gi-eat naturalist, Ciivier, says of a Civet kept at Pari.s : — " Its mu.sky odour was always

^''^"'■^"^^

.\F1UCAN CIVET.

perceptible, but became stronger than usual when the animal was irritated. At such times little lumps
of odoriferous matter fell from its pouch. These masses were also produced when the animal was left
alone, but only at intervals of fifteen or twenty days. This Civet passed nearly all day and the whole
night in sleeping, rolling itself up with its head between its legs ; it was necessary to threaten or even
strike it to rouse it from its lethargy. "

THE ASIATIC CIVET.*
The Asiatic Civet, large Civet Cat, or Zibet, " iirhabits Bengal, extending northwards into Nepaul
and Sikkim, and into Cuttack, Orissa, and Central India on the south. It also extends into Assam,
Bui-mah, Southern China, and parts of Malayana. It is said to frequent brushwood and grass, also
the dense thorny scrub that usually covers the bends of tanks. It is very carnivorous, and destructive
to poultiy, game, &c., but will also, it is said, eat fish, ci-abs, and insects. Hounds, and indeed all
Dogs, ai-e greatly excited by the scent of the Civet, and will leave any otln
readily take to water if hard pressed."

* Yivena Zibctha.

scent for it. It will

go NATURAL HISTORY.

The Zil.»et is forty-seven to fifty-six inches in length, from thii-teen to twenty of this being taken
up by the tail. It is of a yellowish grey colour, with black si^ots and stripes. The throat and sides
of the neck are white, and the fine tail is ringed with black.

This species is said to be tamed more easily than its African relative ; but of this, as well as of its
habits, veiy little is known.

THE LESSER CIVET.*

The Lesser Civet, or Rasse, is found in the island of Java, as well as in many parts of India,

such as Nejiaul and Madras. "It is not an uncommon species in Hong-Kong and the adjacent

islands. In Formosa it is the commonest of all the carnivoi'ous group. Skulking during the day in

the dark ravines that intersect the hilly country in the north-west, in the twilight it threads its way

with great speed through the long gi-ass, and searches the fields for small mammals and birds. It is
much dreaded by the Chinese for the havoc it commits in the hen-roost ; and as its skin is somewhat
valued for lining to great coats, its haunts and cree])M are .sotight after, and traps laid for it. Of these
the slip-knot noose for the head and feet is the most commonly practised and the most killing. As
the cool season apjiroaches, hawkers may be daily met with, even in the villages, offering for .sale the
stretched .skins of these animals. Tlie poorer classes, who are unable to purchase the dearer fui-s,
make use of these cheaper yet pretty skins." The Easse is about thirty-two inches in length, its tail
thirteen inches. Tlie odour of musk is so strong as to taint the skin and the flesh of the entire
animal. " The Chinese," says Mr. Swinlioe, " eat the flesh of this animal ; but a poi-tion that I had
cooked was so affected with the Civet odour that I could not j)alate it."

The Rasse is a much smaller animal than the two preceding species, its head and body together
being about twenty -two or twenty-three inches long, and its tail sixteen or seventeen. It is of a
yellowish or brownish-grey colour, with longitudinal bands on the back, and regular rows of sjiots on
the side. The tail has eight or nine complete dark ring.s.

In India it is kept tame, the natives often domesticating it for the purjjose of more con-
venien-tly extracting the civet.

THE ICKNEUMON.

THE GENETTE.-

This is the only Vi\eniiie ;iniiiuil common in Europe, in some parts of which it is a regularly
(! omestieated auiinal, and catches Mice as well as a Cat. Besides living in all the southern parts of
liurope, it is found iji the whole of Africa north of the Sahara, that wonderful desert which consti-
tutes a boundary as efficient in preventing the dispersal of animals as an ocean. In this, as in many
other cases, the North African animals aie identical, or agree closely with those of Europe, while
those of trans-Saharal Africa ar2 of an entirely different character.

The fur of the Genette is of a grey colour, " spotted with small black or brown patches, which are
sometimes round and sometimes oblong. The tail, which is as long as the body (about twenty-one
inches), is ringed with black and white, the black rings being to the number of nine or eleven. Thera
;ire white spots on the eyebrows, the cheeks, and the end of the nose."

The civet-pouches are, in this genus, reduced to very slight depressions at the sides of the root
of the tail, and although the odour of the animal is tolerably strong — yet not disagreeably so, as in the
Ci^'et — there is no perceptible secretion from these pouches.

THE MUNGOOS, OR ICHNEUMON.f

The Ichneumons, or Mungooses, form a well-defined genus of Weasel-like animals, with semi-
^ilantigrade feet, five toes provided with somewhat retractile claws, and long tails. The species now
under consideration is found in Southern India as well as " in the North- west Provinces and the
Punjab, and throughout the Deccan up to the Nerbudda River. It frequents alike the open country
and low jungles, being found in dense hetlgerows, thickets, holes in banks, &c., and it is very
•destructive to such bii-ds as frequent the ground," for it only sucks the blood, and so kills many birds
before it is satisfied.

It is sixteen or seventeen inches long, its tail fourteen, and is of a tawny yellowish-grey colour.
The head is marked witii reddish and yellowish rings, so arranged as to produce a resultant iron-grey
hue.

There is a curious superstition about the Mungoos, of which Sir Emerson Tennent says : " I have
found tiniversally that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to the European story of the Mungoos
.(//. griseus) resorting to some plant, which no one has yet succeeded in identifying, as an antidote
•against the bite of the venomous Seqients on which it preys. There is no doubt that, in its conflicts
with Cobra di Capello and poisonous Snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as the harmless
■ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to retire into the jungle, and, it is added, to eat
some vegetable ; but a gentleman, who had been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures me that
most usually the herb it resorted to was grass, and if this were not at hand, almost any other plant
iihat grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably arisen the long list of plants, such a.s
the Ophioxylon serpentinum \ and Ophiorhiza miingos, § the A rtstolochia iiidica, \\ the Mimosa octandria,*^
and others, each of which has been asserted to be the Ichneumon's specific ; whilst their multiplicity is
<lemonstrative of the non-existence of any one in particular on which the animal relies as an antidote.
Were there any truth in the tale as regards the Mungoos, it would be difficult to understand why
■^creatures, such as the Secretary-bird and the Falcon, and others, which equally destroy Serpents,
-should be left defenceless, and the Ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, were the
Ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result from the consciousness of secunty, it would
be so indiffijrent to the bite of the Serpent that we might conclude that, both in its approaches and its
:assaults, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of its attack. Such, however, is fiir from
ibeing the case ; and, next to its auilacity, nothing could be more surprising than the adroitness with

* Genetta vulgaris. t Herpestcs rjriseus.

* A plant allied to that -which proiluces the well-known mix vomica. It is used by Indian physicians in fevers, and as
an antidote to poisons.

§ Atree allied to that which produces Peruvian baik. It is called the Mnngo, or " Earth-gall," by the Malays. It is
«lso supposed to be an antidote to poisons.

II The " birth-wort." It is used in India as a remedy for gout, and in England is given to Cows after calving.
■^ A tree allied to the acacias and to the sensitive plant.

\atcj;al nisTOJn

ILHNEIMON

^vhicll it escapes the sjn-Iiig of the Snake under a due sense of danger, and the cunning witli which it
makes its an-angements to leap upon the back and fasten its teetli in the neck of the Cobra, It is
this display of instinctive ingenuity that Lucan celebrates v.hen he paints the Ichneumon diverting

TEE Cn.lB MUNGOOS. 93

the attentiou of the Asp by the motion of his bwsliy tail,* and then seizing it in *he midst of its
confusion.

" Tlie mystery of the Mungoos and its antidote has been refewed to the supposition that there may
be some peculiarity in its organisation wliich renders it proof against the poison of the Serpent. It
remains for future investigation to determine how far this conjecture is founded on ti-uth ; and
whether in the blood of the Mungoos there exists any element or quality which acts as a prophylactic.
Sach exceptional provisions are not without precedent in the animal economy. The Hornbill feeds
witli impunity on the deadly fruit of the Strychnosjf the milky juice of some species of Euphorbia,
which is harmless to Oxen, is invariably fatal to the Zebra ; and the Tsetse Fly, the pest of South
Afiica, whose bite is mortal to the Ox, the Dog, and the Hoi'se, is hanuless to man and the untamed
creatures of the forest."

THE CRAB MUNG008.J

This animal is usually considered to be sufficiently different from the other Mungooses as to
require a separate generic name. It has an almost Snake-like body, and a very long, slender snout.
It is of an iron-gi-ey colour, with a very well-marked white stripe on each side of the neck. The tail
is reddish and very thick, and attains a length of eleven inches, the head and body together being
eighteen inches in length.

Like the Civets, it has glands situated near the root of the tail, but these glands, instead of
secreting a perfume, produce a fluid of the most abominably fetid odour, so that the beast is by no
means a pleasant one to come near. Moreover, to make matters worse, the secretion of these
glands does not quietly ooze out as in the Civets, but the sacs are provided with muscles, by the
aid of which the animal is able to squu't out the noxious stufl^ to a considerable distance upon
any offending per.son.

" Tliis curious animal has been found in the South-ea.st Himalayas, extending into Assam and
Arakan. In its habits it is somewhat aquatic, preferring, it is said by Hodgson, Frogs and Crabs.
It liA'es in burrows in the valleys of the lower and centi-al regions of Nepaiil."

THE COMMON PAEAr)OXURE.§
ThLs animal, and other species of the same genus, are often called^Tree Cats," or "Palm Cats," but
as they ai-e not Cats at all, it is better to throw over the incorrect English name, and follow the plan
which, a-s the reader may see, is adopted on the labels at the Zoological Gardens in this and similar
oases : that is, Anglicise the Latin name, even at the risk of using a somewhat long and ugly word ;
but, as ^ILlton says :—

" Why, is it liarder, sirs, than Gordon,
Colkitto, or Macdonnel, or Galasp ?
Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek,
That would have made Quintilian stare and gasii."

Tlie name Pai'adoxurus — " queer-tailed " — was given to the genus from the fact that some of the animals
composing it have their tails curled round into a sort of screw, the inrder .side being thus brought
uppermost. The name " Tree Cat " is \evj inajjpropriate, as the Paradoxures are not in the least like
Cats, but reseml)le far niore closely the Civets, which are, indeed, their nearest allies. They are long-
bodied and .shoi-t-legged, with sharp snouts and long tails, and are almost completely plantigrade.

The Common Paradoxure vaiies a good deal as to the character of its fur. The ground-colour is
usually " browni.sh-black, with some dingy yellowish stripes on each side, more or less distinct, and
sometimes not noticeable ; a white spot above and below each eye, and the forehead with a whitish
band in some ; a black line from the top of the head down the centre of the nose is generally
obsei-vable." The individual hau-s are yellowish at the base and blackish at the tip, and according
to the- state of wear and tear of these, the animal appeai-s to be of various shades of tawny, brown,
blackish, <tc. The head and body together attain a length of twenty-two to twenty-five inches, the tail
nineteen to twenty-one.

* PhanuUa, lib. iv. 729. t Tlie cux vomica plant. t Urm cana-Uwa. § Pavadnxurus musancj-

17*

94 NATVRAL HISTORY.

" Tliis Tree Cat is a common and alniinlant animal throughout the greater part of India and Ceylon,
extending through Burmah and the Malayan Peninsula to the island. It is most abundant iii the latter
wooded legion, and is rarely met with in the low portions of the Deccan, Central India, and the
North- West Provmces. It is very abundant on the Carnatic and Malabar coast, where it is popularly
called the Toddy Cat, in consequence of its supposed preference for the juice of the palm, a fact which
api^ears of general acce])tatiou both in India and Ceylon (where it is called the Palm Cat), and which
appeai-s to have some foundation. Kelaart say.s : ' It is a well-established fact that it is a consumer of
palm toddy.' It li^ es much in trees, especially in the palmyra and cocoa-nut palms, and is often found
to have taken up its residence in the thick thatched roofs of native houses. I found a large colony of
them estab!i-ihed among the rafters of my own house at Tillichery. It is occasionally found in dry

drains, outhouses, and other [jlaces of shelter. It is quite nocturnal, issuing forth at dark, and living
by preference on animal food, rats, lizards, small birds, poultry, and eggs ; but it also freely partakes
of vegetable food, fruit, and insects. In confinement it will eat i)lantain, boiled rice, bread and milk,
ifec. Colonel Sykes mentions that it is very fond of Cockroaches. Now and then it will commit
<lepredations in some poultry-yard ; and I have often known them taken in traps baited with a Pigeon
or a Chicken. In the south of India it is very often tamed, and becomes quite domestic, and even
affectionate in its mamiers. One I saw, many yeai-s ago, at Trichinopol}', went about quite at large,
!ind late every night used to w ork itself under the pillow oi its owner, roll itself up into a ball, with
its tail culled round its body, and sleep till a late hour of tiie day. It hunted for Rats, Shi-ews, and
House Lizards. Their activity in climbing is very great ; and they used to ascend and descend my
house, at one of the corners of the building, in a most surprising manner." Sir Emerson Tennent
.states that in Ceylon the Palm Cat makes fearful havoc with the fowls of the villagers, "and, in order
to suck the blood of its victims, inflicts a wound so small as to be almost imperceptible."

THE BINTURONG.*

This is a curious little animal, of a black colour, with a white border to its eai's, a lai'ge head and
led-up nose, and ;i long, immsnsely thick, tapering tail, which, remarkably enough, is prehensile,

* Arclidis hinliiruiiy,

THE BIXTUROXG.

like that of a New World Monkey. It is tweiity-eiglit to thirty inches long from snout to rooi of tail,
and the tail itself is nearly of the same length. It is sometimes called the " black Bear Cat."

" It is slow and crouching. In its habits it is quite nocturnal, solitary, and arboreal, creeping
along the large branches, and aiding itself by its prehensile tail. It is omnivorous, eating small
animals, birds, insects, fruit, and plants. It is more wild and retiring than Viverrine animals in

-^zS^l/^Al'-^'lr^rV

general, and it is easily tamed ; its howl is loud.'' It walks entirely on the soles of its feet, and its
claws are not retractile. It ranges from Nepaul to Sumatra and Java.

Altogether the Binturong is a decidedly interesting animal, and has been a great puzzle to
zoologists. It was formerly placed in the Eacoon family, to man}' of the members of which it bears
a very strong resemblance ; but this resemblance is quite superficial, and brought about by the simi-
larity in the mode of life, kc. In the characters of the skull and teetb, it undoubtedly belongs where
we have placed it, among the Civet group. Thus it forms a capital warning to those zoologists whose
knowledge is only skin-deep, and who group animals entirely by their external character, without
taking into account the important points of fundamental structure, which should in every case be
considered first.*

* N.B.— The desciiption of .-
chaiiter ou tliut giouji, and will V

; of the Viveniil:e, or t'i
e eiul of tlie article on tl

IS been inath'ertently omitteil fri
>ora (pii. 20U-2081.

CHAPTER VII.
THE DOG FAMILY.— THE domestic dog.*
Section (7//«(»(Aa— Geographical Distribution— Skull of Dog— Teeth— Legs— Walk— Claws— Internal Anatomy— The Caecum,
or " Cul de sac " of the Intestine -Size— The Domestic Dog— Its Fidelity and Lovo— Differences between the Domts
ticated and Natural Species of the Family— Barking a Civilised Habit— Antiquity of the Dog— The Dog among the
Hebrews and Egyptians — The Dog in the Bible—" Dog " as a Term of Reproach — Venerated by many Ancient Nations
— The Dog among the Greeks and Romans— Pie-historic Dogs— Dogs in the New World— Peruvian Dogs— Superstitions
about the Dog— The Dog as an article of Diet— Origin of the Dog— Identity of Structure of Wild and Domestic
Dogs— The independent Training of Wild Canidce by Savages in many parts of the World— Voice— Results of the
whole question as to Origin— Anecdotes about Instinct, Reason, Docility— Muscles of Dog's Head— Consociation of
Dogs— Anecdotes of Sense of Right, Wrong, Duty, Conscience, Sensitiveness, Honesty, Theft, Cunning, Quan-elsome-
ness, Magnanimity, the reverse. Revenge, Hatred— Conjugal Affection— Devotion to Man— Fickleness— Despair-
Rabies and Hydrophobia — Wonderful Variety of Breed.

We now come to tlie first and only family of the section Cynoidea, the most compact of the
three divisions of split-footed flesh-eaters, and the one which contains the smallest number of forms.
Only four genera, in fact, are contained in the gronp, namely, the Dogs, Wolves, and Foxes (Canu),
the Long-eared Fox (Metjalolis), the Racoon-dog (N'-ycferentes), and the curious Hyaena-like Lycaon.

But the group is none the less interesting for the small number of forms included in it ; for con-
taining, as it does, the Dog, the animal of all others entitled to the name domestic, it yields in imjxir-
tance to neither of the larger groups, notwithstanding the varied series of creatures enclosed within
their pale. Members of the Dog family are found in nearly all parts of the world, being absent only in
the West Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan Ai-chijielago, New Zealand,
and the Polynesiiin Islands. When we say that the Dog is absent from those places, we mean, of
course, as a true natics. Wherever civilised man has penetrated, there his four-footed friend is sure
to be found ; but in the places just mentioned no Dog, Wolf, or Fox occurs as a true aboriginal. Very
probably, the gigantic island of Australia should be added to the above list, as it is by no means certain
that the Dingo, or wild Dog found there, has not been introduced by man.

The Dogs fomi a sort of connecting link between the Cat-like species on the one hand, and the
Bear-like group on the other. In the matter of being digitigi-ade, they agree with .the Cats ; the
number of their teeth agrees with that of the Bears ; in the character of the skull they come
just half-way between the two.

On the under surfice of the Dog's skull there is found, in a corresponding position to the ear-
lirum swelling of the Cat (see p. 11), a similar roiuided SM'elling, which, however, is smaller in jiro-

ponion to the size of the skull, rougher in tex-
ture, and not so regular in shape, but sloping
towards its outer aperture. Moreover,
the margins of its outer aperture, round
which the external ear is fixed, are pro-
duced outwards into a shoi't tube or spout,
thus making a small bony ear-pas.sage
bej'ond or external to the rim to which the
drum membrane is attached. In the Cat,
it will be remembered, thei-e was no bony
tube of this sort, but the drum parchment
was flush with the max-gins of the opening
of the drum cavity. Th^n the partition,
which was so large in the Cat, dividing the
cavity into two compartments, is here vc~
duced to quite a low wall. Lastly, the btny
clamp, which we mentioned in the Cat as
being fixed quite closely against the hinder
face of the bulla, is here separated from it by a small valley. These skull characters are very char-
acteristic of the Cynoidea, and are therefore of great importance in the grouping of the Carnivora,

* Cauidie.

, OI -noLl s sklLL
iificance a-? in the fit?ur

THE TEETH OF TUB DOG.

97

ITEP TlE-\\ 01 ^^0L1

The great avclies of bone beneath thi. e\e aie i

o%ving to the smaller size of the jaw mustier wluth

longer, in correspondence with the

increased number of the teeth.

There will be no difficulty in

making out the teeth of the Dog

now we have studied those of the

Cat. We shall find, as before, that

there are in the small front bones

of the upper jaw three teeth on

each side, and the same number in

the corresponding part of the lower

jaw : these are, of course, the inci-
sors. They are followed by the

•canines, or great eye teeth, of

which, as in the Cat, there is one

on each side of each jaw. After

the canines, however, come no less

than six teeth on each side of the

upper jaw, and seven on each side

of the lower. It is found that

the fii-st four of these are repre-
sented in the jaw of the young Dog

by milk molars ; therefore, as we

explained in treating of the teeth

in the Cat, these four are pre-
molar, and the i-emaining three, molars. A likeness to what we find in the Cat exists in the fact

that the last premolar of the upper jaw and the first molar of the lower jaw are very large teeth, and

bite against one another. These are the carnassials of the respective jaws. Thus the dcntsil formula

of the Dog is — incisors, |^, canines, J;^!, premolars, t^, molars, I5H = 42.

The foi'ui of the teeth, as well as
their niimber, comes much nearer to that
of an ordinary Mammal, or is much less
specially carnivorous than in the Cats.
The incisors are proportionally larger
than in our first section ; their crowTis
are distinctly divided into three cusps
— a large central and tv/o small lateral
ones ; and the outermost incisors of the
upper jaw approach tolerably nearly in
shape and size to the canines, being
nearly half as long as the latter, and
having almost lost their lateral cusps.
The canmes have much about the same
form and relative size as in the Cat, as
also have the premolars, except that the
first of these, though smaller than its
successor, is not so mai-kedly so as
in the Cats, while, on the other hand,
the last (the carnassial) is proportionally

TEETH OF

The letters have the

But in the molars, or at bast in all but the lower carnassial, we find something quite difierent,
lely, an interesting approximation to the semi-herbivorous type of dentition of the Beara Both

98 x.iTVRAi, nisrom:

niolai-s in the upper jaw, and tlie two last in tne lower, have become boad fxle " grinders." Tlie
scissor-like cutting edgs has disappeared, and in place of it we have a hard crushing surfoce, raised
into four cusps — two large external and two smaller internal ones. This has relation, of covirse, to the
mixed character of the Dog's food. The sectorial molar of the lower jaw still, however, retains its
distinctive chai'actei-s ; its crown has much the same shape as in the Cat, but in addition possesses an
extra lobe, in the shape of a large heel-like process projecting from its hinder border, and formed by a
modification of its posterior cupp.

The Dog family have, as a rule, longish legs. They walk on the tip of their toes, like the

SKELETON

Cats ; but unlike the latter, their claws are not retractile. Curious to relate, however, tlie elastic
ligament by which the drawing back of the feline claw is effected is present, but in so feeble a condition
as to be quite incapable of antagonising the great flexor muscles.

In consequence of this, the paw of a Dog is by no means suoh a perfect weapon as that of a Cat ;
and, as a matter of fact, the Dogs are distinguished from the Cats by their habit of always attacking
the prey at once with their teeth, and never beginning the attack with a blow of the paw.

In the matter of internal anatomy, the Dog family differ from all other Carnivores in possessirtg a
large "blind gut," or ciecum. The intestines, which are proportionally longer tlian a Cat's, are, as usual,
divided into large and small, and, at the place where the large and small intestines join one anothei-,
there goes off a folded sac, communicatmg with the intestine at one end, but quite closed at the
other, forming, in fact, a small ail-i.lesac. The use of this curious appendage is r.ot proj>erly under-
stood, nor why it should be so well developed in the Dog family, while it is very small indeed in Cats,
and wholly absent in Bears.

No member of this family attains the size reached by some of the FeJidw, siich as the Lion and
Tiger, or some of the Ursidce, such as the Grizzly or Polar Bear ; the Mastiff is the largest of the tribe,
no wild species of which is larger than nn ordinary Shepherd's 'Dog.

THE DOJIESTIC DOG.*
We have now to consider an animal which has more interest for us than any member of the
animal kingdom, with the single exception of Homo scipiens ; indeed, many people, if asked to name
the creature which feels for theni the most disinterested friendship, the most devoted love, and which

* Canis fiimiliaris.

niSTOJiV UF THE i-v-9. , flP

Bhows tlie most constaut ami untiring kinilness and attention, woiikl -.vitiiout l!esit.,ii>n name the
humble Carnivore ratlier than the arrogant and self-asserting Primate. It was not lii>; servants who
recognised Ulysses on his return from his long voyage ; it was not even his faithful I>i>;1oim^ ; it was
the old Dog Argus, who

" soon as he perceived

Lontc-ldst I'lysscs nigh, down fell his ears

Clapp'd close, and with his tail glad sign he gavs

Of gratulation, impotent to rise

And to approach his master as of old.''

Wliere shall we find an instance of human devotion, unaltered and unalterable by death, greater than
that recorded by our gieat Lake poet of the Dog whose ill-fated master was killjd ijj passing
Helvellyn?—

" The Dog, which still was hovering nigh.

Repeating the same timid cry,

This Dog had been through three months' space,

A dweUer in that savage place.

Yes, proof was plain, that since the day

On which the traveller thus had died.

The Dog had watched about the spot,

Or by his master's side.

■ How nourished here through such long time.

He knows who gave that love sublime.

And gave that strength of feeling, great

Above all human estimate."

No animal has been so universally or so thoroughly domesticated as the Dog ; m none have the
moral and intellectual faculties been so largely developed; and there is certainly none wliieh the human
race could so ill spare. We might possibly, with a proper amount of practice, become vegetarians, and
so do without our sheep and cattle, our pigs and poultry. The Cat we might easily dispense with,
for she is, after all, a very passive sort of creature, and rarely condescends to express either emotion or
affection, whatever her feelings may be ; but to lose the Dog would be to lose a friend, and a friend so
faithful and true that his loss would be a veritable plucking out of the right eye and a cutting off of
the right hand. As Mr. Darwin observes : " It is scarcely possible to doubt that the love of man has
become instinctive in the dog," which it can hardly be said to have done, as yet, in man !

Wherever man of any degi-ee of civilisation is found, there the Dog is to be found t-oo — every-
where invaluable, though often gi-ossly and brutally ill-treated. In all probability, too. Dogs occur as
tnie natives iu all parts of the world, except in the Australian region — Australia, New Zealand, and the
surrounding islands ; in these places he has, in all probability, been introduced by man.

The likeness of the domestic Dog to his more immediate relatives is very close. Except in the
want of obliquity in the eyes, and in the curling of the tail, so different to the straiglit " brush" of a.
Wolf or wild Dog, there is really no definite character which can be given as separating C'rt.-tis/a»u7t(in's
from the wild species of the genus. Moreover, the difference between the varieties of the Dog itself is
so gi-eat, that it is impossible to frame anything like a good definition which will include the Bulldog,
the Greyhound, the Newfoundland, and the Ten-ier, and, at the same time, exclude llic Dingo and
the Buansti. The one constant difference is the habit of barking, " which is almost i.niversal with
dome.sticated Dogs, and which does not characterise a single natural species of the family."

The Dog certainly took its origin at a very remote period, for we find undoubted evidence cf his
existence and regular domestication in the very earliest records. Among the early Hebrews, he seems
to have been unknown, or rather, desjiised ; and it strikes one as a most i-emarkable circiimstance that
this astute nation of shepherds should never have domesticated so useful an assistant. Possibly this
is partly owing to the prejudice the grand old Theists of Palestine must have felt against am animal
held in gi-eat veneration a-s an emblem of the Divine Being by the idolatrous Egypti.-ms ; and yet
this objection can hardly have had much weight, as the Hebrews kept Oxen, animals which were
regularly worshipped by the Egyptians. Throughout the Old and New Testaments the Dog is
spoken of with scorn and contempt as " an unclean beast," so that probably the Israelites had

NATUSAL UJSTOSr.

tlie misfortune only to know tliLs friend of man in the character in which he now appears in Constanti-
nople as the common scavenger of the neighbourhood. The only instance in the Biljle in which the

Do" is mentioned as; a domesticated animal is in that magnificent drama, the Book of Job, a poem of
great antiquity, and very possibly not of Hebrew origin. The suffering patriarch, after recounting to his
" friends " the gi-eatuess of his former prosperity, says : " But now they that are younger thaji I have
me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." This
passage is extremely remarkable, as showing at what an early period of the world's history the Dog was
sufficiently domesticated to be capable of the arduous task of guarding Sheep — a task, the proper per-
formance of which necessitates the total suspension of the true canine instinct, which is not to guard
and protect the Sheep, but to worry and devour them.

The prejudice of the Jews against the Dog is sho^^^l at the j)resent day by the Hindoos and by
the Mahometans, with whom " Dog " is the greatest possible term of reproach, and who never think
of the animal as anything but a semi-useful, degraded beast, good for nothing but to clear off the offal
of the streets. Among manj^ ancient nations, however, the Dog was held in great veneration, and was
even worshipped as a god. In the passage — " Howbeit every nation made gods of theii- own . . .
and the Avites made Nibhaz," * the word NibJiaz is supposed to signify a barJcer, and it is thought
that this idol had the form of a Dog. " The Egyptians had several breeds of Dogs, some solely used
for the chase, others admitted into the parlour, or selected as the companions of then- walks ; and some,
as at the present day, selected for their peculiar ugliness. All were looked upon with veneration,
and the death of a Dog was not only lamented as a misfortune, but was mourned by every member of
the. house in which it occurred."

It is certain that the Egyptians selected their Dogs in such a manner as to produce well-marked
varieties, for, as Mr. Youatt states, " there are to be seen on the Egyptian temples representations of
Dogs with loug ears and broad muzzle, not unlike the old Talbot Hound." This is extremely interesting
as showing at what an early period the Dog had been completely differentiated from other Canklw, by
acquiring definite characters, quite distinct from tho.se of his wild relations. The Assyrians, too, had
advanced considerably in the art of seizing upon important varieties in the stiiicture of their Dogs,
and perpetuating them as Hounds. Mr. Darwin informs us that an undoubted Mastiff of enormous size
is figiu-ed on the tomb of Esar Haddon, about 640 B.C., and he goes on to say, " I have looked through
the magnificent works of Lepsius and Rosellini, and on the monuments from the fourth to the twelfth
dynasties (i.e., from about 3400 B.C. to 2101 B.C.) several -varieties of the Dog are represented ; most of
them are allied to Greyhounds. At the later of these periods a Dog resembling a Hound is figured,
with di-ooping ears, but with a
large back, and more pointed head
than in our Hounds. There is, also,
a Turnspit, with short and crooked
legs, closely resembling the existing
variety." t

Both the Greeks and Romans
made much of the Dog, and among
the latter. Greyhounds, Hounds,
House Dogs, and Lap Dogs existed.
Some of them are preserved in
sculpture. The Greeks had a Dog
closely resembling om- Newfound-
land, as is made certain from a piece
of sculpture, " said to have been
the favourite Dog of Alcibiades,
and to have been the production of

Myi-on, one of the most skilful artists of ancient times." Dogs " were sacrificed at certain jieriods by the
Greeks and Romans to almost all their deities, and particularly to Mars, Pluto, and Pan, to Minen'a, Pro-
serpine, and Luciua, and also to the moon, because the Dog by his barking disturbed all charms and spells,

I Kings xvii. 31.

t Darwin's " Animals and Plants imder Domesticatic

TEE-HISTORIC DOGS. 101

and friglitened away all bpectres aiul apparitions. Tlie Greeks immolated many Dogs m lionour ot'Hecate,
because by their bayijig the phantoms of the lower world were disturbed. A gi-eat number of Dogs
wei-e also destroyed in Samothrace in honour of the same goddess. Dogs were periodically sacrificed
in February, and also in April and in May ; also to the goddess Rubigo, who presided over the com,
and the Bona Dea, whose mysterious rites were performed on Mount Aventine. The Dog Cerberus
was supposed to be watching «,u the feet of Pluto, and a Dog and a youth were periodically sacrificed
to that deity. The night when the capital had nearly been destroyed was annually celebrated by the
cruel scourging of a Dog in the principal public places, even to the death of the animal."*

Homer, like the moder^i English, frequently uses the word " Dog " as an epithet of contempt —
" thou Dog in forehead ;" but the Dog was man's companion everywhere amongst those old Greeks.
When the " God of the silver bow " strikes beasts and men with pestilence, it is said —

" Mules first and Dogs he struck, tut at themselves,
Dispatching soon his bitter arrows keen.
Smote them."

Yet, mixed with these friendly Dogs there were evidently Pariidi Dogs ; cowards are threatened

thus : —

. " The Vultm-e's mavr
Shall hiivo his carcase, and the Dogs his bones.''

Two nobler breeds are also indicated, viz.. Shepherd Dogs and Hoimd.s : —

" As Dogs that careful watch the fold by night.
Hearing some wild beast in the woods, which Hounds
And hunters with tumultuous clamour diive
Down from the mountain-top, all sleep forego."

Himer also makes indubitable reference to another breed, via., the Boarhound : -^

'■ As when Dogs and swains
In prime of manhood, from all quarters rush
Around a Boar, he from his thicket bolts,
The bright tusk whetting in his crooked jaws ;
They press him on all sides, and from beneath
Loud gnashings hear, yet firm, his threats defy."

But more ancient than any of these records are the evidences which prove the existence of the
domestic Dog among the pre-historic savages of Northern Europe. In the Danish " kitchen-middens,"
or heaps of household refuse, piled up by the men of the newer stone period — a time when our
Scandinavian forefathers used chipped or polished flints instead of metal for theii- weapons— are found
bone-cutting.? belonging to some species of the genus Canis. Along with these remains are some
of the long bones of bii-ds, all the other bones of the said birds being absent. Now it is known
that the bii-d-bones here found are the very ones which Dogs cannot devom', while the absent ones
are such as they can bolt with ease, and it has been ingeniously argued from this that the remains in
question did really belong to a domestic Dog, as, if the animals to which they appertained had been
Wolves, they would have made shoi-t work of the long bones as well as of the othei-s. Other Dog-
bones are found in Deimiark in later periods. At the time when the flint knives were succeeded by
bronze a large Dog existed, and at the time when iron was used one larger still. In Switzerland,
during the newer stone period, a Dog existed, which is probably the oldest of which we have any
record. It " partook of the character of our Hounds and Setters or Spaniels," and, in the matter of
its skidl, " was about equally remote from the Wolf and Jackal." This Dog, too, like its Danish
contemporary, was succeeded in the bronze period by a lai-ger variety. Thus we see that, at a time
when our ancestors were living " in dens and caves of the earth," in a state of civilisation about
equal to that of the African or Australian aborigines of the present day, the Dog was already
systematically kept, and " selected," that is, any good varieties wliich appeared were taken note of, and
kept up.

« Youatt : " The Dog."

]02 yATUHAL UlSTOKY.

We have mentioned iibove the common practice amongst the Greeks and Romans of offering Dogs
as sacrifices to the numerous deities. The same custom was prevalent in early times in Scandinavia,
where the Doo- was often used as a sacrificial victim. Mr. Youatt says : — " Before Christianity was
established among the Danes, on every ninth year, at the winter solstice, a mon.strous sacrifice of
ninety-nine Dogs was effected. In Sweden the sacrifice was still worse. On each of nine successive
days ninety-nine Dogs were destroyed. This sacrifice of the Dog, howe\-er, gave way to one as
numerous and as horrible. On every ninth 3'ear ninety-nine human victims were immolated, and
the sons of the reigning tyrant among the rest, in order that the life of the monarcli might be jiro-

" On the other hand, the Dog was frequently the executioner ; and, from an early period, whether
in the course of war, or the mock administration of justice, thousands of poor Wretches were torn to
pieces by animals trained to that homble purpose.

" As a counterpart to much of this, the ancient Hyrcanians may be mentioned, who lived near
the Caspian sea, and who deemed it one of the strongest expressions of respect to leave the corpse of
their deceased friends to be torn and devoured by Dogs. Every man was provided with a certain
number of these animals, as a living tomb for himself at some future i>eriod,' and these Dogs were
remarkable for their fierceness."

In the New AVorld, the Dog is, or was, held as an object of adoration by many of the native.s ;
and dog-worship seems to have been a more ancient culte than the sun-worship pi-actised by the
Mexicans. Humboldt informs us that " when the Inca Pachacutec, in his religious wai-s, conquered
the Indians of Xanxa and Huanca (the present valley of Huancayo and Juuja), and compelled them
by force to submit to the worship of the sun, he found that Dogs were made the objects of their adoi-a-
tion, and that the priests used the skulls of these animals as wind instruments. It would also appear
that the flesh of this canine divinity was eaten by the believers. The veneration of Dogs in the
valley of the Huancaya is probably the reason why the skulls, and even whole mummies, of these
animals are sometimes found in the Hiiacas, or Peruvian graves of the most ancient period. Von
Tschudi, the author of an admirable treatise on the Fauna feruana, has examined these skulls, and
believes them to belong to a peculiar species, which he calls Ceaiis ini/te, and which is different from
the European Dog. The Huancas are still, in derision, called ' dog-eatei's ' by the inhabitants of
other provinces." Humboldt also tells us that "the Peruvian Dogs were made to play a singidar part
during eclipses of the moon, being beaten as long as the darkness continued." But he says nothing
about the origin of so curious a custom.

An animal of such intelligence as the Dog, one so necessary to the welfare of man, and devoted
to him by so many ties, is certain to have a number of curious superstitions current regarding him.
An excellent account of some of the most curious of them is given by the Rev. J. Gardner.

" Among the Hyperborean tribes, with whom the Dog is reckoned a very valuable animal, it
occupies a conspicuous place in their traditions, being considered — as, for instance, among the
Eskimo, according to the accounts given by Franklin and Parry, and other Arctic navigators — as the
father of the human family. The Chippevvayan Indians had a tradition that they were sprung from
a Dog ; and hence they neither ate the flesh of that animal themselves, nor could they look with any
other feeling than horror upon those nations who fed upon it. In all these cases, probably, the Dog
is the symbol of the sun. A strange notion prevails among the Greenlanders that an eclipse is caused
by the sun being pursued by his brother the moon. Accordingly, when this phenomenon takes place,
the women take the Dogs by the ears, believing that, as these animals existed before man was created,
they must have a more cei-tain presentiment of the future than he has ; and therefore, if they do not
cry when their ears are pulled, it is an infallible sign that the world is about to be destroyed.

" The inhabitants of Japan have a superstitious regard for Dogs. Thus, we learn from Picart,
in his 'Religious Ceremonies of all Nations,' 'The emperor who sat on the throne when Kaempfer
resided in Japan was so extravagantly fond of them, that there has been a greater number of them
in that kingdom ever since his reign (if we may depend on the veracity of this traveller) than in any
other nation in the whole world. Every street is obliged to maintain a fixed and determinate number
of them. They are quartered upon the inhabitants, and in case of sickness they are obliged to nurse
and attend then). When they die, they are obliged to inter them in a decent manner in the

ORIGIX OF THE DOG.

mountams and hills peculiarly appropriated for the interment of the people. It is looked njion as a

capital crime not o:ily to kill them, but l)arely to insult and treat them ill ; and no one but the legal

proprietor is allowed so mucli as to correct any of them.

All this reverence and respect are owing to a celestial

constellation which the Japanese call the Dog, under the

influence whereof the aforesaid Emperor of Japan was

bom."

By most people the Dog is valued only during his
life ; his skin is not particularly valuable, and his flesh is
little esteemed. This is by no means, however, the case
everywhere. It is well known that the C'liinese use the
Dog as a regular article of food. Many of the North
American tribes look upon an entree of Dog as the
greatest possible ho7ine bout-he they can set before a
sti-anger. Sir Leopold McClintock relates that, in the skill or hhmistr iioh.

Sandwich Islands, he had most profuse apologies offered to

him because there was no puppy to be had for a feast to which he was invited. The Eskimo, too,,
look upon a dish of young Dog as a great treat ; and it is related that a Danish captain provided his
friends vnih a feast of this kmd, and when they praised his mutton, sent for the skin of the beast, and
exhibited it to them ! The Greeks and Romans also used the Dog as an article of diet, and many-
ancient writers, such as Galen and Hippocrates, represent Dog-meat as a highly desirable dish.

It is a remai-kable circumstance, when we come to consider the probable origin of the Dog,,
that there is evidence of his domestication at such eai-ly periods, and by so many savage tribes in,
different pai-ts of the world. As we have already seen, tame Dogs were possessed by savages in the
neolithic, or newer stone period, by the Assyi-ians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and the ancient
inhabitants of North and South America, to say nothing of the numerous savage tribes at the present
day, such as the Australians and the inhabitants of Guiana. Now the important question arises, had
all these Dogs a common origm 1 Did the gi-eat neolithic Dog, the Sheep-dog of Job's time, the Grey-
hounds, Turnspits, and Hounds of the Assyrians and Greeks, the divinely-honoured animals of Peru,
and the supposed ancestors of the Eskimo and the Chippeways, spring from a single pair 1 or have-
various wild species oiCanidie licen tamed and converted into true domestic Dogs, by different people-
in different parts of the world, these various species having since been crossed and re-crossed with one-
another and with their parent fomis, until a species has been produced as complex in its origin as the-
English nation, which has flowing in its veins the blood oi ancient Briton, Roman, Anglo-Saxon,.
Dane, Norman, and Fleming?

Until recently it was thought tliat all the evidence which covdd be brought to bear on the matter-
pointed to a sepai'ate origin of the Dog. It was argued, for instance, that as we have evidences of distinct
breeds existing in far-back periods of the world's history, there was actually no time, prior to those
periods, for him to have diverged from a savage ancestor, such as a Wolf or
a Jackal. It was also thought highly unlikely that a number of primitive
races of man should have separately tamed different wild Caniche. Mr-
Youatt, one of our best authorities on the Dog, ■WTituig in 1845, says ;
" This power of tracing back the Dog to the very earliest periods o£
histon-, and the fact that he then seemed to be as sagacious, as faithful,.
;ind as vnlualile as at the present day, strongly favours the opinion that
ifvsi " mltd troui no inferior and comparatively worthless animal ; that
lie was not the progeny of the Wolf, the Jackal, or the Fox ; but he wa.s^.
originally created, somewliat as we now find him, the associate and friend:
of man."
A few years ago there was no gainsaying arguments such as these, for then nearly everybody
believed that the world was literally only six tjiousand years old, and that species were absolutely
unchangeable. But Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Darwin have " changd tout cela." The argument from,
time fails utterly, and other facts have to be taken into consideration.

YOUNG DOG.

104

NATUKAL HISTORY.

There is fii\st of all, the f;ict of ideiitit}- of structure. There is uljsolutely no definition framable
which will inchule all the varieties of the domestic Dog, and exclude all the wild si>ecies — none even
which will include all the Dogs projjerly so called, both '.vild and tame, and at the same time exclude
the Wolf and Jackal. It is the same as regards habits, uistincts, mental endowments, &c. Wolves
and Jackals can be and have been tamed. Domestic Dogs can become, and have again and again
become, wild, and in no way better than true aborigines ; and to assei-t that the Dog is not de.scended
from a Jackal because his manners and customs are better, his tail more curly, and his voice a bark
instead of a howl, is about as just :is to assert that Englishmen camiot possibly be descended from
ancient Britons, because they wt-av clijthes instead of a coating of blue paint.

HAKE INDIAN DOG.

With regard to the opinion that many races of men are not likely independently to have tamed
wild Canidce, there are certain facts which show that the exact contrary is the case. Savages in all
pai-ts of the world are fond of making pets of various kinds, and would have been certain to come
across Wolf or Jackal pups in their wanderings through the woods. Then, again, as Mr. Darwin
remarks, "At an exti'emely ancient period, when man first entered any country, the animals living
thei-e would have felt no instinctive or inherited fear of him, and would consequently have been tamed
far more easily than at present. For instance, when the Falkland Islands were first visited by man,
the large Wolf-like Dog {Canis antarcticus) fearlessly came to meet Byron's sailors, who, mistaking this
ignorant curiosity for ferocity, ran into the water to avoid them. Even recently a man, by holding a
jjiece of meat in one hand and a knife in the other, could sometimes stick them at night." Another
important point is the readiness with which many wild species of Canidct breed in confinement, so that
Ihs difficulty of perpetuating the newly-acquired characteristics of the tamed animal is, in this case,
obviated. Furthermore, it is perfectly well known that savages at the present day do actually tame,
and make useful to themselves, the wild Dogs of their particular countries : "the savages of Guiana

ORIGIN OF THE DOG. !05

Ciitc-li, and j);a-tiall3' tame and use tlie wlu'lp.s of tlic wild species of Canis, as do tlie savages of Australia
those of the Dingo."

These statements cei'taiidy tend to show that there is no actual imjirobability in supposing that

__^r7§^^*^

ESKIMO DOGS

miny wild species of CaniJic have at different times, and by different nations, been famed and gi'adually
modified into tnie domestic Dogs. But the most significant fact bearing upon the multiple origin of
the Dog is the oftew-occurring close resemblance between the domestic Dog of a savage tribe and the
wild species of Ccmis inhabiting the same district. Of this most important circumstance there are far

106 NATURAL HISTORY.

too many instinces to allow of its bt^ng looked upon as a mere coincidence. Sir Jolm Richardson says :
"The resemblance between the Wolves and the Dogs of those Indian nations who still preserve their
ancient mode of life continues to be very remarkable, and it is nowhere more so than at the northern
extremities of the Continent, the Eskimo Dogs being not only extremely like the Grey Wolves of
the Arctic circle in form and colour, but also nearly equalling them in size. The Dog has generally
a shorter tail than the Wolf, and carries it more frequently curled over the hip, but the latter ijractice
is not totally unknown to the Wolf, although that animal, when under the observation of man, being
generally ai)iirehensive of danger or on the watch, seldom displays this mark of satisfaction." And
jit'ain " The resemblance between the northern Wolves and the domestic Dog of the Indians is so
great, that the size and strength of the Wolf seem to be the only difl'erence. I have more than once
mistaken a band of Wolves for the Dogs of a party of Indians ; and the howl of the animals of both
species is prolonged so exactly in the same key, that even the practised ear of an Indian fails at
times to discriminate them."

As the Eskimo and Indian Dogs resemble the North American Wolf (C hqius), so the Dog
«f the Hare Indians, a very distinct breed (see below), resembles the Prairie Wolf (C. latram).
So great is this resemblance that Richardson says, " I could detect no marked ■ difference in form
except the smallness of its [the Dog's] cranium, nor in the fineness of its fur, and arrangement of its
spots of colour. The length of the fur on the neck, back part of the cheeks, and top of the head, was
the same in both species. It, in fact, bears the same resemblance to the Prairie Wolf that the
Eskimo Dog does to the great Grey Wolf" Another observer remarks that, except in the matter
of barking, there is no difference whatever between the black Wolf-dog of the Intlians of Florida and
the Wolves of the same country. The Dogs also breed readily with the wild animals they so
closely resemble. The Indians often cross their Dogs v/ith Wolves to improve the breed, and in South
America the same process is resorted to between l^ie domesticated and the wild Dogs.

The same phenomenon is seen in many kinds of Dog in the Old World. The Shepherd Dog of
the plains of Hungary is wlute or reddish-brown, has a .sharp nose, short erect ears, shaggy coat, and
bu.shy tail, and so much resembles a Wolf, that Mr. Paget, who gives the description, says he has
known a Hungarian mistake a Wolf for one of his own Dogs. There is also a close resemblance
between some of the Indian Pariah Dogs and the Indian Wolf. Some of the domestic Dogs of Egypt,
both at the present day and in the condition of mummies, closely resemble the Wolf of that country ;
" whereas the domestic Dogs of Nubia, and certain other mummied Dogs, have the closest relation to
a wild species of the same country . . . which is only a form of the common Jackal." Dogs have,
moreover, been kno>'.'n to cross with Jackals as well as with Wolves. Lastly, in Africa, some of the
natives assert that their half-tamed Dogs are derived from Foxes; and the Pogs of the Bosjesman
have a striking resemblance to the black-backed Jackal (C. 7iiesonielas), which, as we shall see, is a
South African variety.

These facts are so significant and so impoi'tant that they in reality leave only one difficulty to be
settled„and that is the question of voice. As we stated above, all domestic Dogs bark, while all wild
Canidie express then- feelings only by howls. But the difficulty here is not so great as it seems. Some
domestic Dogs left on the island of Juan Fernandez entirely lost the habit of barking in thii-ty-three
years, and a few individuals removed after that period only re-acquired it very .slowly ; thus, domestic
Dogs allowed to run wild foi-get how to bark. On the other hand, Jackals, wild Dogs, and Wolf-pups
reared by bitches, readily acquire the habit. Thus the last stumbling-block in the argument disappears,
and we are forced to agree with Mr. Darwin, from whom many of the above facts are taken,* that " it
is highly probable that the domestic Dogs of the world have descended from two good species of Wolf
(C liqms and C. latrans), and from two or three other doubtful species of Wolves (namely, the European,
Indian, and North African forms) ; from at least one or two South American Canine species ; from
sevei-al races or species of the Jackal; and jjerhaps from one or more extinct species;" and that the
blood of these, " in some cases mingled togethei-, flows in the veins of our domestic breeds."

There is no animal so interesting as the Dog for the study of the I'elation between man and the
lower animals in the matter of instinct, reason, conscience, and the like. As no animal has been so

* Darwin, "Animals aud Plants luuler Domestication."

INUERITED INSTINCT OF TEE HOG. 107

thoroughly domesticated, and so systematically trained and educated, so none has developed in
the same degree those higher endowments which are often considered as the exclu.sive attributes of
humanity, such as reasoning power, a sense of right and wrong, of property, and of number.

For the study of instinct, it is impossible to find an animal in any way approaching to him for
interest, for not only does he exhibit, to a wonderful degree, the instincts common to all the higher
animals, but almost every kind of Dog possesses some special instinct, imparted from a remote ancestor,
-and absent, or nearly so, in other varieties. We may instance the mode of " pointing " game peculiar
to the Pointer, the marvellous j)ower of following scent of the Bloodhound or Fo.xhound, and the acute
generalship of the Shepherd's iJog, who, with comparatively little teaching, guards, drives, and keeps
together a whole flock of foolish animals, which, to the Dog mind, must seem intended by Providence
to be worried and eaten. These special instincts we shall consider when we come to speak of the
various breeds ; but we must now say a few words on those instincts which are common to the whole
sjiecies.

Unlike the Lion and Tiger, the male Dog takes no interest whatever in his oifspring, who are
taken care of duiiug the weeks of theii' helplessness entii-ely by the mother. She, however, quite
makes up for paternal neglect by the assiduity with which .she tends and cares for her feeble offspring.
It is one of the most touching, and, at the same time, almost amusing sights, to see a bitch with her
tii-st litter ; how jealously she watches the blind, fat, slug-like little creatures. At firrt she will growl
and snap even at her beloved master, if he a]>proaches too near her treasures. When they have grown
a little, how fussy she becomes when they are noticed ; she will even drag them by the leg, one by
one, upstairs, to exhibit theii- jjsrfections ! For several weeks this care continues, but by the time the
pups have grown half as big as their mother, and can see and riui about, her solicitude diminishes. She
begins to quarrel with them over bones and other titbits, and, before long, takes no more notice of
them than if they were the commonest stray Dogs in the street. It is this evaporation of mother-
love which so distinguishes a Dog-parent from, at any rate, a great number of human parents.

Like most animals, the female Dog, if deprived of the natural objects of her affection, will lavish
her care on almost any young and helpless thing with which .she may be brought in contact.

Dr. Sclater,* whilst visiting the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp, in 1875, noticed a curious instance
of the blindness of maternal love in a Dog. Among other objects of attraction were " three young
Tiger-cubs, born in the Gardens on the 14th of October, 1873," that had been "most successfully
foster-mothered by a large bitch."

We have stated that the male Dog is perfectly oblivious of his paternal duties ; we have, however,
met with one instance of a Dog, who, whatever may haxe been his qualities as a parent, discharged
with great fidelity the part of guardian, and that, too, not to one of his own species, but to one of an
alien and hostile race. This curious instance of canine aftection was exhibited by a small male pet
8paniel, belonging to some friends of out's, who brought up a kitten. The ybo<^, certainly, was supplied
by the family, but the brooding and tendance were done most faithfully. On wann days, the Dog
would caiTy the kitten and lay it in the sun, choosing some snug place out of the wind, in the garden.
The kitten, a female, lived to become a very beautiful Cat ; but her unsuspecting innocence led to her
death. Not fearing any of the Dog-kind, she made no attempts to escape from them, and was worried
to death by a strange stray Dog.

One of the most striking cu-cumstances with regai-d both to the general and the special instmcts of
the Dog, namely, those instincts common to the whole species, and those jiossessed liy particular breeds,
i.s the way in which they are transmitted from parent to child. The Pointer points the fii-st time he is
taken out ; the Shepherd's l)og learns his duties -ft-ith astonishingly little teaching. Not only are in-
.stincts transmitted in pure breeds, but in cross-breeds the special characteristics of both parents come out
with the most marvellous accuracy. " . . It is known that a ci-oss with a Bull-dog has afiected
for many generations the courage and obstinacy of Greyhounds ; and a cross with a Greyhound has given
a whole family of Shepherd-dogs a tendency to hunt Hares. Le Roy describes a Dog, whose great
grandfather was a Wolf, and this Dog showed a trace of its wild parentage only in one way — by not
coming in a straight line to his master when called." The tendency to attack Poultry, Sheep, &c.,

* "Proceedings of the Zoological .Society," l.Sr -5.

108 NATURAL BISTORr.

" has been found incurable in Dogs wliicli liave been brouglit home as puppies from countries, such as
Tierra del Fuego and Australia, where the savages do not keep these domestic animals. How rarely,
on the other hand, do our civilised Dogs, even when quite young, reqiiire to be ta\ight not to attack
Poultry, Sheep, and Pigs !"*

A most astonishing account of an inherited mental peculiarity — an instinctive dislike — is related
by Dr. Huggins, to whose reseai-ches the science of astronomy owes so much. He writes : —

"I possess an English Mastiff, by name Kepler, a son of the celebrated Turk, out of Venus. I
brought the Dog, when six weeks old, from the stable in which he was bom. The first time I took
him out, he stai-ted back in alarm at the first butcher's shop he had ever seen. I soon found that he
had a violent antipathy to butchers and butchers' shops. When six months old, a servant took him
with her on an errand. At a short distance before coming to the house she had to pass a butcher's
shop. The Dog threw himself down (being led with a string), and neither coaxing nor threats would
make him pass the shop. The Dog was too heavy to be canied ; and as a crowd collected, the servant
had to return with the Dog more than a mile, and then go without him. Tliis ocouiTed about two
years 'ago. The antipathy still continues, but the Dog will jmss nearer to a shop than he formerly
would. About two months ago, in a little book on Dogs published by Dean, I, discovered that the
same strange antipathy was shown by his father, Turk. I then wrote to Mr. Nicholls, the former owner
of Turk, to ask him for any infonnation he may have on the point. He replied — ' I can say that the
same antipathy exists in King (the sii'e of Turk), in Punch (son of Turk, out of Meg), and in Paris
(son of Turk, out of Juno). Paris has the gi-eatest antipathy, as he would hardly go into a street
where a butcher's shop was, and woidd run away after passing it. When a cart with a butcher's man
came into the place where the Dogs were kept, although they could not see him, they all were ready
to break their chains. A master-butcher, dressed privately, called one evening on Pai-is's master to
see the Dog. He had hardly entered the house before the Dog (though shut in) was so excited that
he had to be put into a shed, and the butcher was forced to leave without seeing the Dog. The
same Dog, at Hastings, made a spring at a gentleman who came into the hotel. The owner
caught ths Dog and apologised, and said he never knew him to do so before, except when a butcher
came to his house. The gentleman at once said that was his business. So yoii see that they inhei'it
these antipathies, and show a great deal of breed.' "t

A gentleman on reading this account oif Dr. Huggins's Dog, wrote to say that he possessed a son
of Sybil, daughter of Turk, who possessed the family antipathy in a mai'ked degi-ee, and another stated
that he also possessed a gi-andson of the redoubted Mastiff, in whom the same jjeculiarity was developed.
Thus we see that this most remarkable instinctive dread, arising no one knows how, existed not only
in Dr. Huggins's Dog, but in his father, grandfather, brothers, and nephews ! It was suggested, and it
seems highly probable, that the feeling in this case first arose from the fact of some ancestor of the
Turk family being ill-treated by a butcher ; but it is quite possible that it may have arisen sponta-
iieousl}'. Boswell, in his life of Johnson, quotes the " Great Lexicographer " as attributing a similar
dislike to butchers noticed in the Dogs of some savage countries, where the animal was used for food,
not to horror at the butcher's cruelty, but merely to the smell of carnage.

A very remarkable trait in the Dog's character, which has undoubtedly become instinctive,
and is conseqirently transmitted from generation to generation, is his love of human society. A well
cared-for Dog will always prefer his master's company to that of his own kind, and will take any
amount of trouble, and give up any amount of pei'sonal ease, that he may not be pai-ted from him.

But, undoubtedly, the most wonderful canine instinct is the sense of du-ection, the power possessed
by so many Dogs of finding their way back to an old and well-loved home, after being forcibly removed
from it to a new place of abode. Instances are numerous in which Dogs, taken from their usual habi-
tation, shut up in a basket, or by night, or in a swift railway train, have unen-ingly found their way
back, gi-eatly to the surprise of both then- new and their old masters. Mr. Wallace has suggested
that this was not a true case of instinct, but that the Dog, in all probability, found his way back by
smell ; that he, as it were, takes a note of every smell he passes — a stagnant pool here, a haystack there,
a wayside inn, a stable, &c. ko. — and, remembering not only the smells, but the order in which he

* Darwin's " Origin of Species." t Dr Huggins, Nature, Vol VIL

-jlQ NATUUAL HISTORY.

amelt them, he follows the scent until he arrives at his destination. There is no doubt that the Dog's
olfactory sense is wonderfully acute, but this is cei-tainly carrying it too far. Moreover, as has been
remarked, the direction of the wind was quite likely to change between the Dog's two journeys,
and if one of his odoriferous landmarks happened to be movable, like a flock of Sheep, where would
he be ? But the one fact which completely disposes of the smell theory of the phenomenon is, that
there is no evidence of a Dog's ever returning to his old home by the way he was taken from it ; he
invariably takes a different route, usually a short cut. For instance : " A Hound was sent by Charles
<Jobbe, Esq., from Newbridge, county Dublin, to Ma3'nalty, county Meath, and thence, long afterwards,
-conveyed to Dublin. The Hound broke loose in Dublin, and the same morning made his way back to
his old kennel at Newbridge, thus completing the third side of a triangle by a road he had never
travelled in his life." Again, Mr. Eomanes narrates the case of a Dog who, when taken by liis master
from Oban to Greenock, by sea, was grievously sea-sick. The next time the journey had to be made,
the Dog, remembering his former trouble, jumped ofi" the boat and disappeared. His master continued
his voyage, and was greatly siu'pi-ised, when he an-ived at Greenock, to find the Dog waiting for him on
the wharf ! The distance from Oban to Greenock is fifty miles in a straight Ime, and this straight
course the Dog is not likely to have taken, as his way would then have lain across moiintains, a lake,
:and an arm of the sea. Thus it would seem that the Dog must have some sort of notion of direction,
must possess, as it were, a special sense of the nature of a mariner's compass, and that, so far from his
sense of locality being due in any way to power of smell, it is perhaps the most striking example of a
ipure instinct which it is possible to conceive.

We have not given many instances of instinct in the Dog, for it is a facility of which no one
■denies the existence, but of reasoning power it is necessary to treat more fully, as many persons are
■tlisposed wholly to deny the presence of that faculty in all the lower animals, and to make it the
/exclusive prerogative of man. Every one who has kept a Dog must have seen it perform actions
which, in a himian being, would unhesitatingly be put down to reason ; every one must have heard of
cases in which a choice of two or more courses was presented to a Dog, and in which he has, after
<lue reflection, chosen the best.

We are indebted to Mr. Hugh Miller, F.G.S., for a good instance of reasoning power in a Dog
belonging to his brother. Captain Miller. This Dog, " Tara " by name, a Greyhound with a dash of
Pointer, was one day taken out with a carriage for a run of forty miles. Now, it is estimated that a
Dog, by his uncontrollable habit of " meandei-ing," usually goes over about three times the gi-ound
•of the horse or man he accompanies, so that on this occasion Tara must have ran considerably over
a hundred miles, and was in consequence rather done up when she reached home. She usually slept
in the duiing-room, whence she was always ejected at 7 a.m. by the housemaid who cleaned the room.
•On this occasion, however, no amount of persuasion could induce Tara to occupy her accustomed
sleeping-place ;■ she positively insisted upon following her master upstairs to his bedroom, where she
■evidently expected she could remain imdisturbed for a good long rest, and where she did actually
remain till 2 p.m. on the following day.

Another and more striking instance of the exercise of reasoning power is given in the Quarterly
Journal uf Science for April, 1876. It is there stated that a Newfoundland Dog was "sent across a
:stream to fetch a couple of hats, whilst his master and friend had gone on some distance. The Dog went
after them, and the gentlemen saw him attempt to carry both hats, and fail, for the two were too much
for him. Presently he paused in his endeavour, took a careful survey of the hats, discover'ed that
one was larger than the other, put the small one in the larger, and took the latter in his teeth by the
brim !"

In the fiice of facts such as these, the question as to whether Dogs jiossess the ]iower of reasoning
becomes merely one of words. No one would say that a human being who did as this Dog did acted
'from blind instinct. One can easily call to mind several persons of one's acquaintance, to whom it
would be the height of presumption to deny the possession of reason, and who yet would never have
thought of putting the hats one inside the other. It is related that the great Newton made, in his
study door, a big hole for his Cat and a little one for the kitten. In doing this he showed far less exercise
of reason than the Dog ; and it is quite conceivable that if he had been sent to fetch the hats he would
•Lave Inought them over separately ! We shall give other instances of reason in the Dog when we

ELLX'ATEB DOOS. HI

come to speak of conscience, cunning, revenge, &c., as exhibited by him. Any book of Dog-aneodotes
will furnish the reader with many more, so that, on the whole, one is forced to the conclusion that, to
jirove the absence of reason in the Dog, one must argue sometliing after this fashion : — Dogs
often perform actions which, in man, would undoubtedly be attributed to reason. But man is the
oidy member of the animal creation which possesses the reasoning faculty. Therefore, all actions in
the Dog which simulate rea.son are, in reality, due to blind instinct. Therefore, Dogs do not possess
the reasoning fticulty. Which was to be demoiistrated.

One of the most interesting points in the Dog's character, and one in which many of his human
masters would do well to imitate him, is his teachableness. A good Dog may be taught almost
anything, no matter how difficult or distasteful, or how foreign to his nature. And not only will he
leant to do anything, but to understand anything, for there can be no doubt whate^■er that Dogs
actually do understand what is said to them, in many cases, quite irrespectively of tone or gesture.
Of course, with an ordinary Dog who has received no special and systematic training, it is the tone of
liis master's voice or his gestures which convey meanings to him, far more than the actual words ; but
with many Dogs, whose intelligence is great, and whose education has been thorough, this acme of
culture is attamed, and the animal does, undoubtedly, understand the actual words said to him. As
an instance, we may mention the well-known case of " Sirrah," the Ettrick vShepherd's Dog, who
wanted only the words " Sirrah, my man, they're a' a\.-a' ! " to proceed immediately in search of tlie
missing flock. It is a matter of the commonest observation how soon even ordinary Dogs learn to
understand certain words or phrases, such as " Rats I " " Cats T' " Set them off ! " " Beg ! " " Trust ! " and so
forth ; and, although certainly in many of these cases tone and gesture have a great deal to do with the
animal's comprehension, yet there can be no sort of doubt that a Dog of fair intelligence learns, after
a time, to recogni.se the words, if spoken in the most ordinary tone of voice. The followng account — •
a truly marvellous one — illustrates not only the most perfect understantling of words, but capacit}'^
for a high degree of education, great intelligence, extensive memory, and reasoning faculties of no
mean order : —

" Two fine Dogs, of the Spanish breed, were introduced by M. Leonard, with the customary
French jiolitesse, the largest by the name of M. Philax, the other as M. Brae (or Spot). The former
had been in training thi-ee, the latter two, years. They were in vigorous health, and having bowed
very giacefully, seated themselves on the hearth-rug side by side. M. Leonard then ga^e a lively
description of the means he had employed to develop the cerebral system in these animals — how, from
having been fond of the chase, and ambitious of possessing the best trained Dogs, he had employeji
the usual coui-se of training — how the conviction had been imi)ressed on his mind that by gentle usage,
and steady perseverance in inducing the animal to repeat again and again what was required, not only
would the Dog be capable of performing that specific act, but that part of the brain which was brought
into activity by the mental eftbrt would become more largely developed, and hence a permanent increase
of mental power be obtained.

"After this introduction, M. Leonard spoke to his Dogs in French, in his usual tone, and
ordered one of them to walk, the other to lie down, to run, to gallop, halt, crouch, itc, which they
performed as promptlj' and correctly as the most docile children. Then he diiected them to go
through the usual exercises of the nianhje, which they performed as well as the best trained ponies
at Astley's.

" He next placed six cards of difierent colours on the floor, and, sitting with his back to the Dogs,
directed one to ])ick up the blue card, and the other the white, itc, varying his orders rapidly, and
8])eaking in such a manner that it was impossible the Dogs could have executed his commands if they
had not had a perfect knowledge of the words. For instance, M. Leonard said, ' Philax, take the red
card and give it to Brae, and, Brae, take the white card and give it to Philax.' The Dogs instantly did
this, and exchanged cards with each other. He then said, ' Philax, put your card on the green, and
Brae, put yours on the blue ; ' and this was instantly |)ei-formed. Pieces of bread and meat were placed
on the floor, with figured cai'ds, and a variety of directions were given to the Dogs, so as to put their
intelligence and obedience to a severe test. They brought the meat, bread, or cards, as commanded,
but did not attempt to eat or to touch unless ordered. Philax was tlien ordered to bring a piece of
meat and give it to Brae, and then Brae was told to give it back to Philax, who was to return it to its

]12 NATURAL HISTORY.

place. Philax was next told he might bring a piece of bread and eat it ; but, before he had time to
swallow it, his master forbade him, and directed him ti) show that he had not disobeyed, and the Dog
instantly protruded the crust between his lips.

"While many of the feats were being perfoi-med, M. Leonard snapped a whip violently, to prove
that the animals were so completely under discipline, that they would not heed any inteiTuption.
After many other iserformances, M. Leonard invited a gentleman to play a game of dominoes
with one of them. The younger and slighter Dog then seated himself on a chair at the table,
and the ^vriter and M. Leonard seated themselves opposite. Six dominoes were placed on theii- edges
in the usual manner before the Dog, and a like number before the writer. The Dog, having a double
number, took one up in his mouth, and put it in the middle of the table ; the writer placed a corre-
sponding piece on one side ; the Dog immediately played another con-ectly, and so on until all the
pieces were engaged. Other six dominoes were then given to each, and the wiiter intentionally played
a wrong number. The Dog looked surprised, stared very earnestly at the writer, gi'owled, and finally
barked angrily. Finding that no notice was taken of his remonstrances, he pushed away the wrong
domino with his nose, and took up a suitable one from his own pieces and placed it in its stead. The
writer then played con-ectly ; the Dog followed, and won the game. Not the slightest intimation could
have been given by M. Lgonard to the Dog. This mode of play must have been entirely the result of
his own observation and judgment. It should be added that the performances were strictly private.
The owner of the Dogs was a gentleman of independent fortune, and the instruction of his Dogs had
been taken up mefely as a cui'ious and amusing investigation."*

To give another instance of a Dog under.standLng actual words : — A woman expressed aloud a
wish that a cei-tain Cat, who plagued her gi-eatly, was dead. Her favoui-ite Dog went out of tlie house,
foimd the Cat in the garden, and immediately slew it ! Tliis is quite a pai-allel case to the story of
Henry II. and Thomas a Becket.

Another very unequivocal instance is given us by Mr. Hugh Miller. Pompey, a black Retriever,
belonging to a lady at Morningside, Edinburgh, could not be kept because he was perpetually damaging
the neighbours' gardens. He was, therefore, sent to lodge with the family of an old servant, but there,
too, he made his position untenable by fighting with the servant's own Dog. At last, it was agreed
that there was no use in trying to cure Pompey of his bad habits ; he was condemned to death, and the
butcher was ordered to hang him on a certain day. The children, who loved the poor beast, despite
his crimes, kept throwing their arms round his neck and saying, " Oh, poor Pompey, you're going to
be hanged 1 " On the morning fixed for the execution Pompey ilisappeared, and kept clear until he
imagined the storm had blown over. Another day was, therefore, fixed, but before that time the
servant at whose house he was stopping mentioned Pompey's case to a lady, who obtained a reprieve,
and adopted him herself. He behaved very well with his new misti-ess for some time, although for a
full year after his rescue he was much depressed in spirits, pjnd wore quite a hang-dog look. But
after some years, there was a general change of servants in the house, and Pompey, who disliked
strangers, bit one of the new-comers. His mistres.s — without meaning a threat — said to him, " Oh,
Pompey, you'll be hanged after all ! " whereupon Pompey decamped, and could by no means be heard
of. At length, an advertisement in the Scotsman was answered by a gentleman, who stated that an
ownerless Dog, of the description given, had been caught changing trains at Layton, Cumberland.
Here he was detained, and, although at home rather avei'se to strangers, displayed at once extraordinary
urbanity, and was soon a prime favourite. Evidently it was his intention to ingratiate himself with
his new friends, that he might not be sent home and hanged. Subsequently, he was identified by a
friend of his mistress's who was travelling in Cumberland, and sent home. Besides illustrating a Dog's
knowledge of words, this anecdote furnishes a wonderful instance of acuteness, for this Dog knew
nothing of the railway by which he travelled to Layton, except from having a short time before
accompanied the cook to the station to see her off" on a journey.

After finding that the Dog can understand what is said to him, one is always tempted to wish
he could go one step further, and answer again, for to hear from a Dog's own lips his 0])inion on " men
and things " would be an entertainment of no small interest. Attempts have been made to teach Dogs

* Youatt.

i.xj'J!i:s.sji_

II IllK KMDTloy-i OF THE LuO .

113

to speak, but as one might imagine with very partial success. A curious account of an attempt of
this kind was communicated by tlie gi'cat pliilosoplier Leibnitz to the French Academy.

"A little boy, a peasant's son, imagined tliat he perceived in the Dog's voice an indistinct
resemblance to certain words, and therefore took it into his head to teacli him to speak. For this
purpose he spared neither time nor pains with his pupil, who was about three years old when his
learned education commenced, and in process of time he was able to articulate no fewer than thirty
distinct words. He was, however, somewhat of a truant, and did not very willingly exert his talent,
and was rather pressed than otherwise into the service of literature. It was necessary that the words
should be pronounced to him each time, and then he repeated them after his preceptor. Leibnitz
attests that he heard the animal talk in this way, and the French Academicians add, that unless they
had received the testimony of so celebiated a peison thej would scarcely ha-se daied to lepoit the
circumstance. It took place in IMesni i m Si-von\ *

But " actions .speak lou.lrr tl i 1 1 Itl u U tin Di? is no*- ^ifte 1 with the powei of

articulate speech, he is yet capable of expressing his feelings by look and gasture as eloquently as most
people. It is altogether wonderful to see how a Dog's whole expression and demeanour are changed
by a word or look either of praise or blame. The eye, the mouth, the ear, the tail, the whole trunk,
all are called into requisition, and together speak a language which is unmistakable. Mr. Darwin gives
a most interesting account of the mode of expression of two opposite states of mind in the Dog ; an
account which, like everything written by the same author, leaves nothing to be desired for clearness
and accuracy.

"When a Dog approaches a strange Dog or man in a savage or hostile frame of mind, he walks
miright and very stiffly ; his head is slightly raised, or not much lowered, the tail is held erect and quite
rigid ; the hairs bristle, especially along the neck and back ; the pricked ears are dii-ected forwards, and
the eyes have a fixed stare. These .actions follow from the Dog's intention to attack his enemy, and
are thus to a large extent intelligible. As he prepares to spring, with a savage growl, on his enemy,
the canine teeth are uncovered, and the ears are pressed close backwards on the head. Let us now
suppose that the Dog suddenly discovers that the man whom he is a|)proaching is not a stranger, but
his master ; and let it be observed how completely and instantaneously his whole beaiing is reversed.

* Youatt.

NATURAL SISTORY.

Instead of walkin" \ipriglit, the body sinks downwards, or even crouches, and is thrown into flexuous
movements ; liis tail, instead of being held stiti" and upright, is lowered and wagged from side to side ;
his hair instantly becomes smooth ; his eai-s are depressed and drawn backwards, but not closely to the
head ; and his lips hang loosely. From the dra^mlg back of the ears the eyelids become elongated, and
the eyes no longer appear round and staring."

And again, " when a Dog is on the point of springing on his antagonist, he utters a savage growl ;
the eai-s ai-e pressed closely backwards, and the upper lip is reti-acted out of the way of his teeth,
especially of his canines. ... If a Dog only snarls at another, the lip is generally retracted on
one side alone, namely, towards his enemy."

" The feeling of affection of a Dog towards his master is combined with a strong sense of sub-
mission, which is akin to fear. Hence Dogs not only lower their bodies and crouch a little as they
approach their masters, but sometimes throw themselves on the ground, with their bellies upwards.
This is a movement as completely opposite as is possible to any show of resistance. ... A
pleasurable and excited state of mind, associated with affection, is exhibited by some Dogs in a very
peculiar manner, namely, by grinning."*

It is extremely iiiteresting to consider the means by which these vaiious expressive movements
are produced. If the skin be removed from the head of a Dog, there will be seen, lying beneath it, a
quantity of red flesh, intei'mixed with a good deal of fat and fibrous substance. If this latter be care-
fully dissected away, the red flesh will be seen to resolve itself into a number of muscles, very definitely
arranged, and each one designed for some special movement. There are, first of all, muscles which
move the eye. One set of fibres closely encircle the aperture of the eyelids, and, when they act, close
the eye, either entirely, as in actual sleep, or partially, as in that half sleepy state a Dog loves to be in
on a hot afternoon, or b?fore a blazing fire. Another set of eye muscles have an entirely different
action to these. They radiate from the eyelids to the surrounding parts of the head, and when they act,

"diaw back the eyelids from the eyeball, and
gi^e a sparkling fierceness to the eye." From
this reason Sir Charles Bell, who first described
them, called them scintillantes, or sparkling
muscles. The ears have a number of muscular
bands attached to them, some drawing them for-
wards, some backwards, others sideways. These
aie, therefore, highly important muscles, for a
Dog hardly passes a moment without moving
his ears. We oursehes possess representatives
of tliese muscles, but in an entirely useless state
m most persons, very few having the power of
1110% iiig their ears. Other very important muscles
jtass from one of the face bones in front of the eye,
ind are attached to the lip just above the canine
teeth. When these act, they draw the lips back
fiom those teeth, thus baring the Dog's chief
%\eapon, and producing a snarl ; they are, there-
M\tboSf"of°uicmnub"'"o Su^Jne^"s^nu«?le''fo"n™^lng t^^^^ foie, called the rinfjeiites, or snarling muscles;

and one has onlj' to in'itate a Dog to see their
effect in altering the animal's expression. Lastly, there are muscles which draw back the corners
of the mouth and produce a sort of grin, an action which seems to be almost normal in the Wolf,
but which is also frequently seen in Dogs. It will be readily observed how important these
muscles are, and how every expressive look in a Dog's countenance can be referred to the action
of one or more of them.

There can be no doubt that Dogs are perfectly capable of communicating their thoughts to one
another, and of understanding one another's meaning as well as that of their masters. One often sees

Ml SCLES or DOG I

( ifte bu C Bdl )

Darwin's " Expression of t

! Emotions.'

rjETl'ES AND VICES OF THE DOG. 115

two Dogs, after a friendly sniff, carry on a small conversation, before trotting on theii' ways, evidently
ciuite as fond of a little chat as Burns's celebrated " twa Dogs," who

" Foregather'd anee upon a time

Nae doubt Imt they were fain o' ither.

An' unco pack and thick thegither ;

Wi' social nose whyles snuff'd and snowkit ;

Whyles mice and moudieworts * they howkit ;

Whyles scoui'd awa in lang excursion,

An' worry'd ither in diversion ;

Until wi' daffin weary gi-own.

Upon a knowe they sat them down,

And there began a lang digression

About the lords o' the creation."

The method of hunting in packs adopted by wild Dogs is an undoubted proof of tlie focnlty of
combining together for a definite end, a number of animals agi'eeing to hunt a quarry, which one alone
would be powerless against. But there are many instances of civilised Dogs concocting plans in the
cleverest way, and carrying them out with a cafe and circumspection perfectly wonderful in a " dumb
animal." For instance, Mr. Romanes says : — " A small Skye and a large Mongrel were in the habit of
hunting Hares and Rabbits upon their own account, the small Dog having a good nose, and the large
one great fleetness. These qualities they combined in the most advantageous manner, the Terriei-
driving the game from the cover towards his fleet-footed companion, which was waiting for it outside."
The same gentleman gives another and still more curious instance : —

" A friend of mine in this neighbourhood had a small Terrier and a large Newfoundland. One
day a shepherd called upon him to say that his Dogs had been seen worrying Sheep the night before.
The gentleman said there must be some mistake, as the Ne^N^foundland had not been unchained. A
few days afterwards the shepherd again called with the same complaint, -sehemently asserting that he was.
positive as to the identity of the Dogs. Consequently, the owaier set one watch upon the kennel, and
another outside the sheep enclosure, directing them (in consequence of what the shepherd had told him)
not to interfere with the actions of the Dogs. After this had been done for several nights iir succession,
the small Dog was observed to come at day-dawn to the place where the large one was chained. The
latter immediately slipped his collar, and the two animals made straight for the Sheep. Upon an-ivmg
at the enclosure, the Newfoundland concealed himself beliind a hedge, while the Terrier drove the Sheep
towards his ambush, and the fate of one of them was quickly sealed. When theii- breakfast was.
finished, the Dogs returned home, and the lai-ge one, thrusting his head into his collar, lay down again
as though nothing had happened. Why this animal should have chosen to hunt by stratagem prey
which he could so easily have run down I cannot suggest ; but there is little doubt that so wise a Dog^
must have had some good reason."

In another ca,se we have met with, a '"solemn league and covenant" was made, for purpo.ses of
offence and defence, between a Dog and a Cat. A Blenheim Spaniel was taken to a strange house, and,
shortly after his arrival, was. attacked and sevei-ely scratched by the two Cats living there. The
Sjjaniel was no match for both antagonists at once, and so judiciously beat a retreat into the garden.
He there met with a Cat belonging to the gardener, and succeeded in making friends with her and pre-
vailing on her to join with him against his cruel enemies. The two allies then went into the house,
and finding one of the victorious Cats alone, attacked and defeated her. Shortly after she was put to
flight, victor number two entered the room ; she was also presently attacked and routed with great loss
by the allierl forces, who were thus left masters of the field. The narrator of this talo goes on to state
that the Spaniel remamed ever afterwards on terms of the firmest friendship with his feline helper.

It is a subject of gi-eat interest to consider which of the virtues and vices of man himself are
exhibited, by the Dog. We will take, first, his good qualities, and then shall " follow his vices — close at
the heels of his virtues ;" so that we may see how many of both he can be found to possess.

First, and most important of all, t: a clear sense of right and wrong, without which no moral

* Moles.

KATVRAL mSTOJtr.

advancement is possible. That nearly all Dogs have this sense, and that many possess it in a vei-y
marked de<n'ee, there can be no doubt. Several instances of this fooilty'are given by the author W6
have already quoted, Mr. G. J. Romanes,* who writes of a little Dog in hLs possession : —

" For a lono- time this Terrier was the only canine pet I had. One day, ho\^'ever, I brought homa
a large Dog, and chained him up outside. The jealousy of the Terrier towards the new-comer was
extreme. Indeed, I never before knew that jealousy in an animal could arrive at such a pitch ; but as
it would occupy too much space to enter into details, it will be enough to say that 1 really think
nothing that could have befallen this Terrier would have pleased him so much as would any happy
accident by which he might well get rid of his rival. Well, a few nights after the new Dog had
arrived, the Terrier was, as usual, sleeping in my bed-room. About one o'clock in the morning he
began to bark and scream very loudly, and upon my waking up and telling him to be quiet, he ran
betv/een the bed and the window in a most excited manner, jumping on and oif the toilette-table after

each journey, as much as to say : ' Get up quickly ; you \\n\e no idea of what shocking things are
going on outside ! ' Accordingly I got up and was surprised to see the large Dog careering down the
road : he had broken loose, and, being wild with fear at finding himself alone in a strange place, was
running he knew not whither. Of course I went out as soon as possible, and after about half-an-hour's
work succeeded in capturing the runaway. I then brought him into the house and chained him up in
the hall ; after which 1 fed and caressed him, with the view of restoring his peace of mind. During
all this time the Terrier had remained in my bed-room, and, although he heard the feeding and
Cfiressing jjrocess going on down-stairs, this was the only time I ever knew him fail to attack the large
Dog when it was taken into the house. Upon my re-entering the bed-room, and before I had said
anything, the Terrier met me with certain indescribable grinnings and prancings, which he always
used to perform when conscious of having been a particularly good Dog. Now, I consider the whole
of this episode a very remarkable instance in an animal of action prompted by a sense of dutij. No
other motive than the voice of conscience can here be assigned for what the Terrier did : even his
strong jealousy of the large Dog gave way before the yet stronger dread he had of the remorse he
knew he should have to suffer if next day he saw me distressed at a loss which it had been in his

Quartaiff Journal of Scknce, April, 1876.

US NATURAL HISTUEY.

power to prevent. What makes the case more striking is, that this was the only occasion during the
many years he slept in my bed-room that the Terrier disturbed me in the night-time. Indeed, the
scrupulous care with which he avoided making the least noise while I was asleep, or pretending to be
asleep, was quite touching : even the sight of a Cat outside, which at any other time rendered him
frantic, only causing him to tremble violently with suppressed emotion, when he had reason to
suppose that I was not awake. If I overslept myself, however, he used to jump upon the lied and
pvish my shoulder gently with his paw.

" The following instance is likewise very instructive. I must premise that the Terrier in question
far surpassed any' animal or liuuiau l)eiug i ever knew in the keen sensitiveness of his feelings, and
that he was never beaten in his life. Well, one day he was slmt up in a room by himself, while
everybody else in the house where he was went out. Seeing his friends from the window as they
departed, the Terrier appears to have been overcome by a paroxysm of rage, for when I returned I
found that he had torn all the bottoms of the window-curtains to shreds. W^hen I iirst opened the
door he jumped about as Dogs in general do under similar circumstances, having apparently forgotten,
in his joy at seeing me, the damage he had done. But when, without speaking, I picked up one of
the torn shreds of the curtains, the Terrier gave a howl, and rushing out of the room, ran up-stairs
screaming as loudly as he was able. The only interpretation I can assign to this conduct is, that his
former lit of passion having subsided, the Dog was sorry at having done what he knew would annoy
me ; and not being able to endure in my presence the remorse of his smitten conscience, he ran to the
farthest corner of the house, ci-ying jyeccavi in the language of his nature.

" I had had this Dog for several years, and' had never — even in his puppyhood — known him to
steal. On the contrary, he used to make an excellent guard to protect property from other animals,
servants, tc, even tliough these were his best friends. Nevertheless, on one occasion he was very
himgiy, and in the room where I was reading and he was sitting there was, within easy reach, a
savoury mutton chop. I was greatly surprised to see him stealthily remove this chop and take it
under a sofa. However, I pretended not to oKserve what had occurred, f.nd waited to see what would
happen ne.xt. For fully a quarter of an hour this Terrier remained under the sofa without making a
sound, but doubtless enduring an agony of contending feelings. Eventually, however, conscience came
off victorious, for, emerging from his place of concealment, and carrying in his mouth the stolen chop,
he came across the room and laid the tempting morsel at my feet. The moment he drojiped the
stolen property he bolted again under the softt, and from this retreat no coaxing could charm him for
several hours afterwards. Moreover, when during that time he was spoken to or patted, he always
turned away liis head in a ludicrously conscience-stricken mannei-. Altogether, I do not think it would
be possi))le to imagine a more .satisfactory exhibition of conscience by an animal than thi.s ; for it must
be remembeied, as already stated, that tl>e particular animal in question was never beaten in its life."

That extreme sensitiveness, so often an attribute of the highest kinds of mind, was developed to
an e.xtraordinary degree in this wonderful Terrier. His owner says : — " A reproachful word or look
from me, when it seemed to him that occasion required it, was enough to make this Dog miserable for
a whole day. I do not know what would have happened had I ventured to sti'ike him ; but once,
when I was away from home, a friend used to take him out every day foi- a walk in the park. Ho
always enjoyed his walks very much, and was now wholly dependent on this gentleman for obtaining
them. (He was once stolen in London, through the complicity of my servants, and never after that
would he go out liy h^iself, or with any one whom he knew to be a servant.) Nevertheless, one day,
while he was amusuig himself with another Dog in the park, my friend, in order to persuade him to
follow, struck him with a glove. The Terrier looked up at his face with an astonished and indignant
gaze, deliberately turned round, and trotted home. Next day he went out with my friend as before,
but after he had gone a short distance, he looked up at his face significantly, and again ti-otted home
with a dignified air. After this, my friend could never induce the Terrier to go out with him again.
It is remarkable, also, that this animal's sensitivenes.s was not only of a selfish kind, but extended itself
in sympathy for others. Whenever he saw a man striking a Dog, whether in the house or outside^
n(;ar at hand or at a distance, he used to rush to the protection of his fellow, snarling and snapping in
a most threatening way. Again, when driving with me in a dog-cart, he always used to seize the
sleeve of my coat every time I touched the Horse with, the whip."

BOG THIEVES. 119

Sensitiveness such as tliis generally goes along with the keenest susceptibility to ridicule ; and
here, again, the same Dog showed a dislike of being laughed at which is amusingly human, as is also
the clever trick by which lie tried to escape the gibes which were entering so deeply into his soul.

" The Terrier used to be very fond of catching ilies upon the window-panes, and if ridiculed when
v.nsuccessful, he was evidently much amioyed. On one occasion, in order to see what he would do, I
purposely laughed immoderately every time he failed. It so happened that he did so several times in
.succession — partly, I believe, in consequence of my laughing ; and eventually he became so distressed
that he positively pretended to catch the fly, going through all the appropriate actions with his lips
and tongue, and afterwards rubbing the ground with his neck as if to lull the victim ; he then looked
up at me with a triumphant air of success. So well was the whole process simulated, that I should
have been quite deceived had I not seen that the fly was still upon the window. Accordingly I drew
Ids attention to this fact, as well as to the absence of anything upon the floor ; and when he saw that
his liyi)ocrisy had been detected, he slunk away under some furniture, evidently much ashamed of
himself."

Honesty is a virtue very commonly developed in good Dogs, and instances of it are numerous. In
the family of a frieiid of ours there is a large Retriever — a long-faced, Puritanical-looking Dog — which,
when the temptation to steal is ready to overpower him, wiU, to keep his virtue untarnished, turn his
back upon the longed-for morsel, .solemnly looking in the opposite direction. Evidently, like Coleridge's
'• holy hermit," he " prays where he does sit," and thus overcomes the temptation. But, as usual, the
best anecdote is given by Mr. Romanes, again apropos of his wonderful Terrier.

" I have seen this Dog escort a Donkey, which had baskets on its back filled with apples.
Although the Dog did not know that he was being observed by anybody, he did his duty with the
utmost faithfulness ; for every time the Donkey turned back its head to take an apple out of the
baskets the Dog snapped at its nose ; and such was his watchfulness, that, although his companion
was keenly desirous of tasting some of the fruit, he never allowed him to get a single apple during the
half-hour they were left together. I have also seen this Tenier protecting meat from other Terriers
(his sons) which \i\eA in the same house with him, and with which he was on the best of terms.
More curious still, I ha^'e seen him seize my wristbands while they were being worn by a friend to
whom I had temporarily lent them."

In some Dogs, as in many people, honesty does not spring from high principle, but from mere
conventionality. Actual dishonesty, too, is the commonest vice of untrained or badly-trained Dogs.
It is, however, comparatively rare to meet with Dogs whose thefts are of a really artistic natuie. Two
of the best instances of this are furnished by Sir Walter Scott,* who gives a most interesting account
of a Shepherd's Dog and a Spaniel, both of whom had a perfect talent for thieving ; they were not
only afllicted with kleptomania in a high degree, but showed as much talent in the performance of their-
equivocal deeds as the most prominent member of the " swell mob."

"I have heard of a sheep-stealer who had rendered his Dog so skilful an accomplice in his
nefarious trafiic, that he used to send him out to commit acts of felony by him.self, and had even con-
trived to imjiress on the poor cur the caution that he should not, o^ such occasions, seem even to
recognise his master if they met accidentally. There were several instances of this de.Kterity, but
especially those which occurred in the celebrated case of Murdison and Millar in 177.3. These persons,
a sheep-farmer and his shepherd, settled in the vale of Tweed, commenced and carried on for some time
an extensive system of devastation on the flocks of their neighbours. A Dog belongmg to Millar was
so well trained that he had only to show him during the day the parcel of Sheep which he desired to
have, and when dismissed at night for the purpose, Yarrow went right to the pasture where the flock
had fed, and carried off" the quantity shown to him. He then drove them before him by the most
secret paths to Murdison's farm, where the dishonest master and servant were in readiness to receive
the booty. Two things were remarkable. In the first place, that if the Dog, when thus dishonestly-
employed, actually met his master, he observed great caution in recognising him, as if he had been
afraid of bruiging him under suspicion ; secondly, that he showed a distinct sense that the illegal
transactions in which he was engaged were not of a nature to endure daylight. The Sheep which he

• ".St. Konan's WelL"

CAXISE BVRGLAEY.

121

■was direeteil to drive were oft.M; reluctant to leuve their own pastures, aud sometimes the intervention
of rivers or other oljstaclcs made their progreso peculiarly difficult. On such occasions, Yarrow-
continued his efforts to drive his plunder forward until the day began to dawn, a signal which, he
conceived, rendered it necessary for him to desert his spoil, and slink homeward by a circuitous road.
It is generally said this accomplished Dog was hanged along with Ids master ; but the truth is, he
.survived him long, in the service of a man in Leithen : yet was said afterwards to have shown little of
the wonderful instinct exhibited in tli,e service of Millar.

" Another instance of similar sagacity a friend of mine discovered Ln a beautiful little Spaniel,
wliich he had purchased from a dealer in the canine race. When he entered a shop, he was not long
in observing that his little companion made it a rule to follow at some interval, and to estrange itself
from his master so much as to ajipear totally unconnected with him. And when he left the shop, it

T\'as the Dog's custom to remain behind him till it could find an opportunity of seizing a pair of gloves,
or silk stockings, or some similar property, which it brought to its master. The poor fellow probably
.saved its life by falling into the hands of an honest man."

Equally good is the account given by Mr. Youatt of a paii- of canine house-lifters, whose talents
were really pre-eminent. One is almost tempted to wonder if an iron safe with all the most recent
improvements would have been proof against their attacks.

" The writer of this work had a brace of Greyhounds as arrant thieves as ever li\ed. They would
now and then steal into the cooking-room belonging to the kennel, lift the lid from the boiler, and, if
any portion of the joint or piece of meat projected above the water, suddenly seize it, and before there
was time for them to feel much of its heat, contrive to whirl it on the floor, and eat it at their leisure
as it got cold. In order to prevent this, the top of the boiler was secured by an iron rod passing under
its handle, and tied to the handle of the boiler on each side ; but not many days passed ere they
<liscovered that they could gnaw the cords asunder, and displace the rod, and fish out the meat as
before. Small chains were then substituted for the cords, and the meat was cooked in safety for nearly
.a week, when they found that, by rearing themselves on their hind legs, and applying their- united
■strength towards the top of the boiler, they could lift it out of its bed, and roll it along the floor, and

122 NATURAL HISTORY.

so "et at the broth, rlthou<i;h the meat was out of their reach. The man who looked after there
expressed himself heartily glad when they were gone ; for he said he was often afraid to go into the
kennel, and was sure they were devils and not Dogs."

The foregoing Dogs were all dishonest in a tolerably open sort of way, and are comparable to
human burglars and shop-lifters ; but ,the animal of whom the following tale is told disdained plain
dealing, and went in for something akin to the well-known " confidence dodge," by which so many
unsuspecting countrymen are every year taken in by London sharpers : —

" I once, lander somewhat singular cii'cumstances, made the acquaintance of a Dog, as arrant
a vagabond and impostor as ever ran on four legs, but whose shortcomings were, I feel convinced,
occasioned by cii'cumstances entirely beyond his control. He was above the medium size, and of
handsome proportions, except for one or two blemishes. There was an aii- of superior breeding about
the animal ; his coat was silky and genteel, and his bright eyes beamed with intelligence. Owing,
however, to an accident of birth, a taint of the most objectionable cur kind had crept into his
composition. It announced itself in distorting to bandiness his otherwi.se symmetrical fore-legs, and
in a shapeless, club-like tail, which usurped the place of a wavy, graceful terminal appendage such as
would have been his had not his breed been marred. A close observer might have remarked, as well
as the peculiarities mentioned, a raffish drooping of the left eyelid and an up-curving of the upper lip
on the right side, as though the animal had been used to pot-house company, and they had taught him
the trick of holding a short pipe there. But, on the whole, and at a cursory glance, he was quite a
nice-looking Dog.

" The first occasion of our meeting was very late one wintry night, when the snow lay half a foot
deep on the strest pavement. I cannot say if he first caught sight of me or I of him, for he was
crouched in the shadow of a lamp-jjost, seemingly on the chance of there coming that way a
compassionate pedestrian who might be induced to give him a night's lodging. Our eyes met, and had
I been a long-lost relative he could not have been more suddenly inspired with joy. He bounded to
his feet, and proclaimed his good-luck in tones that must have awakened all the babies in the
neighbourhood. I quickened my step, but he appeared to regard this as a friendly response to his
friskiaess, and he harked the louder. For peace' and quietness' sake I adjured liim as 'Good Dog.'
That did the business. He had no objection to trotting soberly by my side on that understanding,
and so together we arrived at my domicile.

" It was altogether against the rules of the establishment to admit strange Dogs, but under such
cii'cumstances what could I do ] His genteel appearance pleaded for him. The mere fact of his
haWng, like a blundering, stupid, honest tyke, jumped to the conclusion that I looked just the sort of
man to befriend a houseless Dog, spoke in his favour. Every one was in bed as I oiiened the door with
my latch-key, and not too deeply to compromise m3'self I pointed put to my canine intiiider that his
place for the night was the door-mat. I went down-stairs and searched for scraps, and got him together
a tolerably good supper, and left him perfectly comfortable.

"I cannot believe that at that time he had it in his mind to abuse my confidence, or to act towards
me in any way the reverse of honourable. It must have been that unfortunate one-eighth of cur that,
made bold by beef-bones, rose against the animal's better nature, and conquered it. Anyhow, when
the outer door was opened to the newspaper-boy next morning, the servant was scared by the spectacle
of a Dog taking the whole flight of steps at a leap, and making ofi" with part of a leg of pork in its
mouth. The villain had feloniously extracted it from the pantry, which I had inadvertently left open
when I went foraging for him. Besides the pork he had carried ofi", he had helped himself during the
night to a small steak-pie, about a pound of fi-esh butter, and a fine rasher of ham. I had but little
expectation of encountering the canine traitor ever again ; but I did so. About a week after, at dead
of night, and in the pouring rain, once more I made out his crouching figiu-e in the shadow of the
identical lamp-post. Again our eyes met, and, as on the previous occasion, he instantly leapt to his
feet. Not to cut capers about me. However, his guilty fears did not make of him a faltering,
trembling coward. He took in the whole situation at a glance, including my vengefully-grasped
umbrella, and, with one brisk bark of dei-ision, made off at a speed which quickly carried him out of
sight. Since then I have frequently encountered him, but it has been in the busy streets at daytime,
but he does not run away. If he can avoid my eye he does so. If he cannot — and with his guilt

QUARRELSOME DOGS. 123

haimtinr; liim I imagine it is not easy to do so — he assumes a puzzled expression of countenance,
as though half convinced he has seen me before, though when and under what circumstances he could
not say though hLs life depended on it."*

Another very good instance of cunning, produced by a long course of back-slum life and manners,
is given by the writer from whom the foregoing anecdote is taken, respecting " a Dog — a low-looking
villain, bluid of one eye, and, in consequence of liis nefarious propensities, with never more than three
sound legs to run on, who haunts the neighbourhood of Drury Lane. Nobody owns the brute, but he
has contrived to scrape acquaintance with a kind-hearted cheesemonger, who keeps a shop there.
I have the worthy tradesman's own word for it that he always knows when the officer on the look-oirt
for vagrant Dogs is about by the sudden appearance of Tinker and his peculiar behaviour.
At ordinary times disdaining to be anything better than a Dog of the streets, his custom is to salute
the cheesemonger from the pavement, and by a bark and a wag of his stump of a tail solicit an
unconsidered tririe of bone or bacon-rind ; but on the special occasion alluded to his tactics are quite
diflerent. He enters the shop with a sober and business-like air, and lies down on a mat by the
parlour-door, with paws extended and his tail beating a contented tattoo on the floor, as though since
his puppyhood that had been his home and abiding-place, and he had known and desired to know no
other. It is a joke between the officer and the cheesemonger, and the former enters the shop and
loudly demands to know if ' that Dog lives here.' I have not as yet had the pleasure of witnessing it,
but the cheesemonger informs me that it is ' as good as a play ' to obsei-\e the reassuring blink of his
only eye which, at this juncture. Tinker bestows on the policeman, immediately afterwards curling
himself round for a doze, as though to say, ' Let this convince you.' Tinker's stay, however, is not
protracted. As soon as, according to his calculation, the coast is clear, he is off, as unexpectedly as
he came, and until he is again hard pressed by the law ne\er thinks of crossing the cheesemonger's
tlu-eshold."

We spoke just now of Dogs being honest from pure conventionality ; there is no doubt that many
of them soon acquii-e a very acute sense of the conventional, and perform certain actions, or assume a
certain behaviour, simply because they feel it. to be the right and proper tiling. We have heard of a
Bull-terrier who acqiiii-ed perfectly that sense of decorum which in many human beings serves in lieu
of religious feeling. When this Dog was bought, it was debated whether or not it wovild be advisable
to let him remain in the room at prayere ; the question was eventually decided in the affirmative, and
the Dog almost immediately seemed to get a sense of what was meant, and to feel that he was expected
to behave with propi-iety. He therefore adopted a particular mode of jjrocedure — a, sort of canine
ritual — to which he always steadily adhered. While the Bible \va.s being read, he sat straight up on
his haunches on the hearth-rug, looking solemnly into the fire. This he continued until the family
knelt to pray, when he immediately went off to a corner of the room, and stood there with lowered
head until all was over. He did this with such perfect solemnity that the eflect was indescribably
luilicrous, and friends stopping in the house had to be warned of what to expect.

The tales of canine magnanimity are endless. Every one knows that of the big Newfoundland
who, being long plagued by a number of little yelping curs, one of whom at last bit him, revenged
himself only by dipping the offender ill the quay hard by, and, after he was cowed, plunging in and
bringing him safe to land. But all Dogs are not magnanimous. Some of them, like certain men one
meets with, have quite a talent for taking offence, and will pick a quarrel on the slighte.st provocation,
or, indeed, on no provocation at all. There are, of course, the wretched little curs one meets in the
street, whose sole delight seems to be to rush out suddenly and bark furiously at every passer-by ; but
these miserable beings act as they do rather from lack of brain, and for want of something to do, than
from real badness of heart. There are Dogs, however, who are naturally quarrelsome, and will do all
in their power to get up a row, simply for the pleasure of the thing. " There is a well-authenticated
instance of a Terrier, who, in picking a quarrel, contrived, as if trained in the Kanzellei of Prince
Bismarck, to place himself technically in the right. He would time his movements so that some
passenger should stumble over him, and would then fasten on the calf of his leg. With a most
statesman-like aptitude, he selected the aged, the infirm, and the ill-dressed, as the objects of his
cunningly-planned attacks, "t

* From the GJoi/t new spaiier. + "Animal Depravity," QuaHerly Journal of Sciciia, 1875.

124 NATURAL IIIfiTOlil.

Not only are instances of quarrelsomeness to be found in Dogs, but also of tlie strongest desire to
i-evenge real or supposed injuries, of the exercise of a wonderful amount of cunning and ^-easoning
power to bring a hated rival to justice. The following anecdote forms a capital antithesis to that
of Mr. Romanes' Terrier, who prevented the escape of the Dog he disliked and was jealous of, although
such an event woxdd have brought him the greatest possible comfort : —

'' A fine Terrier, in the possession of a surgeon, about three weeks ago, exhibited its sagacity in a
rather amusing manner. It came into the kitchen and began plucking the servant by the gown, and
in spite of repeated rebuffs, it perseveringly continued in its pui-pose. The mistress of the house
hearing the noise, came down to inquire the cause, when the animal treated her in a similar manner.
Being struck with the concern evinced by the creature, .she quietly followed it up-staii-s into a bed-room,
whither it led her ; there it commenced barking, looking under the bed, and then up in her face.
Upon examination, a Cat was discovered there quietly demolishing a beef-steak, which it had feloniously
obtained. The most singular feature in the whole ease is that the Cat had been inti'oduced into the
house only a short time before, and that bitter enmity prevailed between her and her canine companion."

Besides illustrating the desire for vengeance, this is as good an instance of reason as any we have
given. The Dog evidently argued to himself in this wise : — " If I fly upon tliis wretched Cat and
deprive her of lier stolen goods by force, she will get nothing more than a fright, or, perhaps, a few
tooth marks ; but if I lodge a complaint against her before the proper tribunal, her guilt will be manifest
to the whole household, and she will be got rid of, or even killed." The Dog, by the way he con-
ceived and acted on this plan, showed himself to be nearly as clever and almost as wicked as a great
many men one reads about in history.

"We have .spoken of maternal love as exliibited by the Dog. This is, of course, a case of instinct ;
but instances are not wanting in which Dogs have shown the high faculty of devoted love.towards other
than their offspring, and of friendship like that of Ruth for Naomi. Mr. Darwin mentions a Greyhound
bitch who, contrary to the usual custom of her race, fell deeply in love with a Pomter, and would have
nothing to say to any other Dog during the life of her lover ; and, stranger still, when he died, she
.showed a constancy equal to that of the best of her sex among the human race, and remained strictly
faithful to liis memory, never afterwards beaiing pups.

Rarer than conjugal affection amongst animals, is friend.ship between indivi<luals of the same sex;
of this, too, instances are not wanting. Mr. Youatt relates the following : — "Two Dogs, tiie property
of a gentleman at Shrewsbury, had been comj)anions for many years, until one of them died of old age.
The sui-vivor immediately began to manifest an extraordinary degree of i;estless anxiety, searching for
his old associate m all his former haunts, and refusing every kind of food. He gi'adually wa'sted away,
and at the ex|)iration of the tenth day he died, the victim of an attachment that would have done
honour to man."

Of equally intense devotion to man, instances are so numerous that one hardly knows which to
mention. None is, perhaps, more wonderful or more affecting than that we have already men-
tioned, of the Dog who watched for three months by the corpse of his dead master on Helvellyn.
There is also a tale of a Newfoundland Dog, whose master — a soldier — returned to his home, after an
absence of many years, when the Dog recognised him at once, " leajied upon his neck, licked liLs face,
and died." He must have retained, during the whole of the time his master was away, the memory of
his care and friendship. One cannot doubt that he often thought of and longed for him ; and the rush
of joy and hope fulfilled wa.s too much for the great heart of tlie noble animal. He succumbed to the
intensity of his feelings, thereby showing himself to be sujjerior in one of the highest and grandest of
qualities to by far the greater proportion of the human race. How many men, or even women, of
one's own acquaintance, are capable of dying of joy ^

But there is a dark side to this picture. A very large jirojiortion of Dogs possess but little of this
vu'tue of fidelity, but have greatly developed the conti-ary vice of extreme fickleness. They will
change mastei's without the slightest objection, and be " off with the old love and on with the new "
absolutely without a pang. Froissart, the chronicler, tells a curious tale respecting the treachery of
Richard II. 's Dog, "a Grayhounde, called Mithe, who ahvays wayted upon the kjnige, and woulde
knowe no man els. For where so ever the kynge did ryde, he that kept the Grayhounde dyd lette
him lose, and he wolde streyght runne to the kynge, and faune uppon hym, and leape with his fore

A DOG^S liESFECT FOR AGE.

125

fete iipjion the kynge's shoulders. And as the kyuge and the Erie of Derby (Bolingbroke, alfterwards
Henry IV.) talked togyder in the courte, the Grayhounde, who was wonte to leape upjion the kynge,
left the kynge, and came to the Erie of Derby, Duke of Lancastre, and made to him the same friendly
continuance and cliere as he was wonte to do to the kynge. The duke, who knewe not the Gray-
hounde, demanded of the kynge wliat the Grayhounde would do ? ' Cousin,' quod the kynge, ' it is
a greate goode token to you, and an evyl signs to me.' ' How knowe yovi that?' quod the duke. 'I
knowe it well,' quod the kynge. ' The Grayhounde acknowledgeth you here this day as Kynge cf
England, as ye shall be, and I shall be deposed ; the Grayhounde hath this knowledge naturally ;
therefore take hym to you : he wyll follow you and forsake me.' The duke undei-stood well theso

POMERANIAN DOR.

words, and cherished the Grayhounde, who wolde never after follow Kynge Richard, but followed
the Duke of Lancastre." This anecdote, curious, if true, would seem to show that I'ats and men are
not the only animals who make haste to leave a sinking ship.

We have made mention of a cei'tain quarrelsome Dog, fond of ] licking a quarrel, who always took
care, with the true instinct of a cowardly bully, to pick out old or infirm persons as objects of his
attacks. We are glad to say that we have found a notice of a Setter who showed a becoming respect
for age. His owner says : —

" One other curious fact may here be mentioned about this Dog. Although naturally a very
vivacious animal, and, when out for a walk with myself or any other young person, perpetually
ranging about in search of game, yet, if taken out for a walk by an elde)-ly person, he keeps close to
heel all the time, pacing along with a slow .step and sedate manner, as different as possible from that
which is natural to him. This curious behaviour is quite spontaneous on his part, and appears to arise
from the sense of the respect that is due to age."
18*

120 NATURAL BISTOET.

We need harJly say that this Dog belongs to Mr. Romanes, amongst whose animals specimens of
all the Christian gifts and graces seem to be found. _

We thus see that a very large proportion of our own vii-tues and vices are developed in our canine
" fellow-mortals " ; there is, however, one state of mind which we should hardly expect to find in any
animal, ^-iz., despair. With man it is, alas! sufficiently common to feel that he has had enough of
" life's fitful fever," and that the only thing left is to make haste

" to be hurled

Anywhere, anywhere, out of the world."

But who would expect a dumb quadruped to have feelings of this sort 1 Yet that such may be
the case is rendered jirobable by the following remaikable story : —

" A day or two since, a fine Dog, belonging to Mr. George Hone, of Frmdsbury, near Rochester,
committed a delibei'ate act of suicide by drowning in the Medway at Upnor, Chatham. The Dog had
been suspected of having given indications of approaching hydx-ophobia, and was accordingly shunned,
and kept as much as possible from the house. This treatment appeared to cause him much annoyance,
and for some days he was observed to be moody and morose. On Thursday morning he proceeded to
an intimate acquaintance of his master's at Upnor, on reaching the residence of whom he set up a
piteous cry on finding that he could not obtain admittance. After waiting at the house some little
time, he was seen to go towards the river close by, when he delibeiutely walked down the bank,
and, after turning round and giving a kind of farewell howl, walked into the stream, where he kept
his head under water, and in a minute or two rolled over dead. This extraordinary act of suicide was
witnessed by several persons. The manner of his death proved pretty clearly that the animal was not
suffering from hydrophobia." *

The last statement of the writer of this anecdote may be called in question, as it is a well
established fiict that a mad Dog will often plunge its head into water, and make violent though
ineffectual efforts to drink; and it is very likely that the Dog in question had no real intention of
committing suiciik', liut was drqv/ned while attempting to slake his insatiable thirst. This seems a
probable explanation, though it takes the point from our tale.

Of that most horrible and fatal disease — rabies — little need be said here. It is accompanied
in the Dog by inflammation, inability to swallow, insensibility to pain, even to severe blows or
burns, and usually great ferocity, and a disposition to bite everytliing that comes in its way. The
gait, the glance, and also the howl of a mad Dog are very characteristic. But the most terrible
thing about rabies is that it can be communicated to man, i)roducing in him the special human form
of the disease, hydrophobia. This latter, like rabies, never arises except by inoculation with the
saliva of a rabid Dog, so that both these terrible, and it is to be feared increasing diseases, might be
stamped out by the adoption for a few months of a rigorous quarantine, t When a human being
is bitten, symptoms of rabies usiially occur in from a fortnight to three months ; but a case is on
record in which the disease' did not appear for twelve years ! When the poison is once established in
the system a cure seems to be uttei-ly impossible. The only remedy is at once either to cut out
the wound or to rub it deeply and thoroughly with lunar caustic (nitrate of silver), which Mr. Youatt
states to be far more eflicacious than actual cautei'ising or burning with a red-hot iron.

The vai'ieties or breeds of the Dog are extremely numerous, and differ from each other to
a wonderful degree. In the matter of size, we have the Mastiff, as large as a pony, at one end of the
series, and the Toy-terrier, a fev.' inches long, at the other. As to the development of hair, there
is every gi-adation, from the hairless Turkish Dog to the Skye-ten-ier or the Poodle ; as to running
powei-s, there are the Greyhound and the Turnspit ; in the matter of mental and moral characteristics,
we have the intelligent Shepherd's Dog, the obstinate and courageous Bull-dog, the silly Italian
Greyhound, and the lazy Lap-dog. Never was animal so thoroughly, so unanimously, and so success-
fully selected : never did any show such endless variation in so many particulars.

■■' Quoted fi-om the Saihj News in the article on " Animal Depravity" in ihe QuaHerly JournaJ of ScieiKC for 1S75.
t iiee Sir Thomas Watson:" Hydrophobia and Rabies," Nineteenth Century, December, 1877-

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOG FAMILY. — doos of savages — dogs of civilised nations— wild dogs.

The Hare Indian Dog— Its Characters, Disposition, &c. — The Eskuio Dog — The Deiieiuleuce of the Greenlantlers on its
Existence — The Probability of its Speejy Extinction — Its Characters ami Savage Disposition— Its Uses — DOMESTIC
Dogs of other Savage Tribes— African Breeds— South American Breeds— The Dalmatian Dog— The Grey-
hound—The Scmtih Gkevhoind— The Dkeuhound— The Turkish Greyhound— The Grecian Greyhound—
The Persian i:iii:vhi>inii -Thi; Italian Gkeyhound— The Cocker— The Springer— The King Charles's
Spaniel— The IJi.inhelm Spaniel The CuiNE-iE Pug-Dog— The Water-Spaniel— The Poodle— The Maltese
Dog— The Lion-Dog -The Tlrkish Dog -The St. Bernard Dog— The Newfoundland Dog— The Sheep-Dog
—The Pomeranian Dog— The Cur— The Lurcher— The Beagle— The Harrier— The Foxhound— The Stag-
hound— The, Bloodhound— The Settee— The Pointer— The Retriever— The Otter-Hound— The Turnspit—
The Dachshound— The Bull-Dog- The Bull-Terrier- The Mastiff— The Cuban Mastiff— The Tibet
Dog— The English Terrier--The Scotch Terrier- Pariah Dogs— The Indi,uj Wild Dog— The Dingo.

!NoT only has civilised man his endless breeds of Dogs, but nearly every savage tribe of any
degree of intelligence has, to a gi-eater or less degree, succeeded in pi-oducing a race exhibiting well-
marked characters, useful to them as a guardian of flocks or a beast of b.irden. Then, in many
parts of the world there are to be found troops of Dogs which have become wild, though not sufficiently
so to be actually dangerous, and which act as scavengers in those countries which, like Turkey, are
not blessed with a particularly stringent code of sanitary regulations. We shall first consider the
Dogs kept by savages.

THE HAEE INDIAN DOG.

This interesting variety (see figure on p. 104) is fomid only in North America, in the region of the
Great Bear Lake and the Mackenzie River, where it is kept as a Hunting-dog by the Hare Indians
and one or two other tribes. As we mentioned above, it deserves great interest from the fact that it
closely resembles the Prairie-wolf, from which it is very probably descended.

" The Hare Indian Dog has a mild countenance,-^'ith, at times, an expression of demureness.
It has a small head, slender muzzle, erect thickish ears, somewhat oblique eyes, rather slender legs,
and a broad, hairy foot, with a bushy' tail, which it usually carries curled over its I'ight hip.
It is covered with long hair, particularly about the shoulders; and at the roots of the hair, both on the
body and tail, there is a thick wool. The hair on the top of the head is long, and on the posterior part
of the cheek it is not only long, but being also directed backwards, it gives the animal, when the fur
is in prime order, the ajijjearance of having a ruff, round the neck. Its face, muzzle, belly, and legs ai-e
of a pure white coloiu-, and there is a white central line passing over the crown of the head and the
occiput. The anterior surface of the ear is white, the posterior yellowish-grey, or fawn-colour. The
end of the nose, the eyelashes, the roof of the mouth, and part of the gums, are black. There is a dark
patch over the eye. On the back and sides there are larger patches of dark blackish-grey, or lead-
colour, mixed v\'ith fawn-colour and white, not definite in form, but running into each other. The tail
is bushy, white beneath and at the tip. The feet are covered with hairs, which almost conceal
the claws. Some long hairs between the toes project over the soles ; but there are naked callous
]irotuberances at the root of the toes and on the soles, even in the winter time, as in all the Wolves
described in the preceding pages. Tlie American Foxes, on the contrary, have the whole of theii- soles
densely covered with hau- in the winter. Its ears are propoitionably nearer each othei than those of
the Eskimo Dog.

"The Hare Indian Dog is very ]>lavful, has an aflectionate disposition, and is soon gained liy
kindness. It is not, howcY-er, very docile, and dislikes confinement of every kind. It is very fond of
lieing caressed, iiibs its back against the hand like a Cat, and soon makes an acquaintance with a
stranger. Like a wild animal, it is very mindful of an injury, nor does it, like a Spaniel, crouch undet
the lash ; but if it is conscious of having deserved punishment, it will hover round the tent of its
master the whole day, Yvithout coming within his reach eY"en when he calls it. Its howl, when hurt
or afraid, is that of the Wolf; but when it sees any unusual object, it makes a singular attempt at
barking, commencing by a kind of gi-owl, which Ls not, however, unpleasant, and ending in a prolonged
howl. Its voice is very much like that of the Prairie-wolf. The larger Dogs, which we had for draught
at Fort Franklin, and which were of 'ihe mongrel breed m common use at the fur-posts, used to pursue

128 KATVBAL BISTORT.

the Hare Indian Dlk's for the pui-pose of devouring them ; but the Latter far outstripped them in
speed, and easily made their escape. A young pujijiy, which I purchased from the Hare Indians,
became greatly attached to me, and when about seven months old ran on the snow by the side of my
sledge for nine hundred miles without suffering from fatigue. During tliis march, it frequently, of its
own accord, carried a small twig, or one of mj^ mittens, for a mile or two ; but, although very gentle
in its manners, it showed little aptitude in learning any of the arts which the Newfoundland Dogs so
speedily acquire, of fetching and carrying when ordered. This Dog was killed and eaten by an Indian
on the Saskatchewan, who pretended that he mistook it for a Fox." *

THE ESKIMO DOG.
The importance of this half-tamed variety (see figure on p. 105) to the cold stunted beings who keep
it can hardly be over-estimated. An undoubted authoi-ity. Dr. Robert Brown, F.L.S., observes : —

" When the Greenland Dogs die off, the Greenlander must become extinct : more cei-tainly even
than must the ' Plain ' Indian when the last Buffalo is shot. It is impossible for him to drag home
the Seals, Sharks, White Whales, or Nai-whals which he may have shot in the winter at the ' strom-holes'
in the ice without his Dogs ; or for the wild native in the far North to make his long migrations, with
his family and household goods, from one hunting-ground to another without these domestic animals
of his. Yet that sad event seems to be not far distant. Several year^ ago, a curious disease,
the nature of which has puzzled veterinarians, appeared among the Ai-ctic Dogs, from high up in
Smith's Sound down the whole coast of Greenland to Jakobshavn (69° 13' N. lat.), where the
ice-^ord stops it from going farther south ; and the Government uses every endeavour to stop its spread
beyond that barrier by preventing the native Dogs noi-th and south from commingling. Kane and
Hayes lost most of their Dogs through this disease ; and at every settlement in Danish Gi-eenland the
natives are impoverished through the death of their teams. It is noticed that whenever a native loses
his Dogs he goes very rapidly down-hill in the sliding scale of Arctic respectability, becoming a sort
of hanger-on of the fortunate possessor of a sledge-team.

" During the latter portion of our stay in JakoKshavn, scarcely a day elapsed during which some
of the Dogs were not oi-dered to be killed, on account of their having caught this fatal epidemic.

" The Dog is seized with madness, bites at all other Dogs, and even at human beings. It is soon
unable to swallow its food, and constipation ensues. It howls loudly during the continuance of the
disease, but generally dies in the coui-se of a day, with its teeth firmly transfixing its tongue. It has
thus somethmg of the nature of hydrophobia, but differs from that disease in not being communicable
by bite, though otherwise contagious among Dogs. The Government sent out a veterinary sm-geon to
investigate the nature of the distemper ; but he failed to suggest any remedy, and it is now being
' stamped out ' by killing the Dogs whenever seized — a heroic mode of treatment, which will only be
successful when the last Dog becomes extinct in Greenland."

The Eskimo Dog is found throughout a great part of the Arctic regions — the herds found in
Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Arctic? America being all closely allied to one another, and all resembling, to
a wonderful degree, the great Arctic W^olf, from which thei-e can be little doulit they are descended.
In form they resemble the Shepherd's Dog, and attain to the size of the Newfoundland. The muzzle
and ears are pointed, the hair long, and with a short 3'ellowish-grey fur between the hairs. The eyes
are often oblique, and the howl peculiarly wolfish. The colour varies a good deal : some of the Dogs
being black, with a white breast ; others white ; others reddish, yellowish, or spotted. This variety
in colour is vei'y characteristic of domesticated races of animals. There is never the same amount
of difference found between the individuals of a wild species.

Not only does the Eskimo Dog agree with the Wolf in appearance, but also in disposition : it is
wild, savage, and obstinate to a degi-ee almost inconceivable to us, who are only acquainted with
civilised Dog.s. In illustration of the wolf-like disposition of the beast. Dr. Eobei-t Brown relates an
incident which shows that it is but little removed from its probable ance.stor. We said above that it
was only half-tamed ; so certainly is tliis the case, that it " can only be kept in subjection by the most
unmerciful lashing, for its savage nature will out. When at Clyde River, in 1861, I heard of a most

* Sir J. Eichardson's " Fauna £cn-eali-Americana."

THE ESKIMO BOG. 129

liorvible tragedy which h:id been enacted there a few years before. A man, o, boy, and a little girl
huided there from an omiak (or open skin-boat), on an island where, as is usual, some Dogs were con-
tiued. Before the poor people could escape to their boat, the animals, infuriated by hunger, sprang
upon them. The man and the boy, though much lacerated, managed to regain the omiak, but the poor
girl was torn to pieces.''

Wolves could hardly be much worse than this. These Dogs were, however, confined and half
starved ; but another writer * I'elates how he very nearly fell a ^ietiui to a i>ack of Dogs in actual use,
at the door of his own hut.

" Leaving the hunters, to look after their teams, I returned to the hut. The Uiuding snow, v.'hieh
battered my face, made me insensible to everything exc3pt the idea of getting out of it ; and, thinking
■of no danger, I was in the act of stooping to enter the doorway, when a sudden noise behind me
caused me to look around, and there, clo.se at my heels, was the whole pack of thii-teeu hungry Dogs,
snarling, snapping, and showing their sharp teeth like a drove of ravenous Wolves. It was fortunate
that I had not got down upon my knees, or they would have been upon my back. In fact, so
impetuous was their attack, that one of them had already sprung when I faced round. I caught him
on my arm, and kicked him down the hill. The others were for the moment intimidated by the
suddenness of my movement, and at seeing the summary manner in which their leader had been dealt
with ; and they were in the act of sneaking away, when they perceived I was powerless to do them any
harm, having nothing in my hand. Again they assumed the oifensive ; they were all around me ;
jin instant moi-e and I should be torn to jiieces. I had faced death in several shapes before, but never
had I felt as then ; my blood fairly curdled in my veins. Death iloivn the red throats of a pack of
wolfish Dogs had something about it peculiarly unpleasant, t'ou.seious of my weakness, they were
preparing for a spring ; I had not even time to lialloD for help — to run would be the readiest means
of bringing the wretches upon me. My eye swept iiuunl the gro;ip, and caught sight of something
lying half-buried in the snow about ten feet distiiut. guick as a flash I sprang, as I never sprang
before or since, over the back of a luige fellow who stood before me, and the next instant I wa.s
whirling about me the hwih of a long whip, cutting to right and left. The Dogs retreated before my
Wows and the fury of my onset, and then suddenly skulked behind the rocks. The wliip had clearly
saved my life ; there was nothing else within my reach, and it had been dropped there quite accidentally
by Katutunah as he went down to the sledges."

The hon-ible savagery of these poor wretches can hardly be wondered at ; they live In a country
where there is hardly a chance for them in any independent foraging expedition ; they are half-stai-ved
by their mastei-s, being fed chiefly on frozen walrus hides in the winter, and allowed to shift for them-
.selves in the s\numer when their services are not required, and are in so perennial and acute a state
of hunger that they are ready at any time to eat their own harness if allowed to do so.

It is generally stated that they are perfectly insensible to kindness, and only to be kept in order
by a liberal application of the lash, or even of a more formidable weapon ; for the Eskimo, if their
Dogs aji-e refractoiy, do not scruple to beat them about the head with a hammer, or anything else of
sufficient hardness which happens to be at hand. Tliey will even beat the poor brutes in this horrible
manner until they are actually stinined. Notwithstanding the absolute dependence of the Eskimo on
their Dogs, little or no care is taken of them ; they receive nothing in any degree approaching petting,
.and spend all their time in the open air.

The chief use of the Esldmo Dog is to draw the sledges, which are the only possible conveyance
In that frozen land. In all the Ai-ctic expetlitions which have been sent out at various times, a good
supply of Sledge-dogs has been one of the gi-eatest desiderata, as without them it would be absolutely
impossible to proceed far. No other animal would answer the purpose, both horses and cattle being
.luite useless in journeys over ice and snow, amongst which the pack of light, active Dogs make theii-
way mtli wonderful ease and safety.

The presence of a good leader to every sledge-team is of the first importance ; the other Dogs
obey him far more implicitly than the driver, as he has gaiufil his proud ].usitinn r! rt annis, and keeps
all his subordinates in the strictest order. Notwithstanding this, the l.H-lia\ iuni- ef the team while

* Hayps, quoted by Jesse.

uniuns

KJTVUAL BISTORT.

far from exemplar^'. Cajitain Lyon says " tliey are constantly fighting, and I do not
recollect to have seen one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion on the eai-s of
his neighbour." So that it is always best to trust to a good leader than to any amount of whipping,
as the latter may only involve the whole concern — team, sledge, driver, and all— in hojjeless and
inextricable confusion. " Among the Eskimo on the western shores of Davis Straits, a loose Dog
usually precedes the sledge, and, by carefully avoiding broken jJaces in the ice, acts as a guide to the
sledge-team, which cai-efully follows his lead."

Besides their use as draught animals, these Dogs are employed in Bear and Seal hunting. Their
skin, is also valuable, and the natives are extremely fond of theii- flesh, although, a-s the Dog is
getting gradually scarcer, they can seldom indulge in the dainty.

THE DOMESTIC DOGS OF OTHER SAVAGE TRIBES.

The Antarctic savages occasionally domesticate the Dingo. Of this Dog we shall give an account
later on. Many of the African savages — such, for instance, as the Damaras, Namaquas, and Kaflirs —
also keep Dogs. The first-named of these tribes take gi-eat care of the Dogs, and value them highly.
Mr. Andersson says he has " known them pay as much as two tine Oxen for a Dog." The Kaflir Dogs,
on the contrary, are thought very little of. Mr. Baldwin speaks of them as " a set of noisy curs, which
invariably, at the sight of a white man, tumble head-over-heels in all directions, upsetting everything,
as frightened as if they had seen an apparition. After the first alarm, they bait you unmercifully, and
for many minutes it is impossible to hear yourself speak. I don't know that I ever succeeded in
making friends with a real Kaffir cur in my life, not even a puppy ; and I scarcely ever saw, or knew,
or heard of one good for anything ; they do, indeed, lead the life of a Dog. They are well fed when
quite young, but afterwards they are expected to provide for themselves, and are consequently
wretchedly lean and mangy, but they continue to exist."

Dogs are also half-tamed by the natives of South America, where there are, according to
Humboldt, two very distinct breeds, one " totally hairless — with the exception of a small tuft of white-
hair on the forehead and at the tip of the tail — of a slate-gi-ey colour, and without voice. This variety
was found by Columbus in the Antilles, by Cortes in Mexico, and by Pizarro in Peru (where it suff"ers
from the cold of the Cordilleras) ; and it is still very frequently met with in the warmer districts of
Peru, under the name of Feiros Chinos."

The second kind, sometimes called Caiiis i>i(j(e, " belongs to the barking species, and has a pointed
nose and pointed 'ears. It is now used for watching sheep and cattle. It exhibits many varieties of
colour, induced by being crossed with European breeds. The Canis ingce follows man up the heights.
of the Cordilleras. In the old Peravian graves, the skeleton of this Dog is sometimes found resting at
the feet of the human mummy, presenting an emblem of fidelity frequentlj' enijiloyed liy tlie mediseviil
sculptors."

This breed is also distinguished by great ferocity, and will bite strangers npon the siightest
provocation, or even without any provocation at all. With their mastei-s, too, they are often very
surly.

We now come to

THE DOGS OF CIVILISED XATIOXS,

•and we commence with the Greyhound and its near allies — Dogs of swift flight, poor sense of smell, and
of a comparatively low order of intelligence, the brain-case being jiroportionally smaller than in any
other br'eed.

THE DALMATIAN DOG.

This is a comparatively unimportant breed ; it is employed in England solely for the pui-pose of
attending on carriages, from which circumstance it is often called the Carriage-dog. It is about the size
of a Greyhound, usually of a white colour spotted with black, and its hair is quite short. The
Danish Dog is a large sub-variety of the same breed.

THE GREYHOr\D.
The various breeds of this Dog (see figure on p. 117) are the most elegant in the whole species.
The expression " a line of beauty is perpetual motion," hackneyed though it be, occurs to every one in

TEE TURKISH GSEYROUXI). 131

tliinking of a Greyhonud, the shape and movements of v.hich are sc perfectly graceful. The general
characters of the variety are well known, and are well and pithily given in an old rhyme, quoted by
Mr. Youatt, according to which

" A Greyhounde slioulJ be htaded lyke a Sn.ike,

And neckyd lyke a Drake,

Fotyd like a Cat,

Tayled like a Ratte,

Sydcd like a Teme, '' '■ -'

And chyned like a Bream."

The liead is proportionally smaller than in any other variety, and, in consequence of this,
the Greyhound is by no means one of the Dogs particularly noted for intellect, his energy having
all gone oif in the direction of speed, and there being, in consequence, none to spare for brain-power.
He is, in fact, an athlete, and nothing more — a pace «t prceterea, nihil. In former times the Greyhound
was sufficiently strong to cope with the Wolf, but for many hundred yeai-s he has gi-adually degenerated
in strength, and towards the close of the last century was so deficient in courage and pei-severance that
Lord Oxford, one of the lights of the sporting world at that time, hit upon the ingenious plan of
crossing his Greyhounds with Bull-dogs. This expedient was so successful that, " after the sixth or
seventh generation, there was not a vestige left of the form of the Bull-dog ; but his courage and his
indomitable peraevei-ance remained, and, having once started after his game, he did not relinquish
chase until he fell exhausted, or perhaps died. This cross is now almost universally adopted. It is
one of the secrets in the breeding of the Greyhound."

The form of the Greyhound is as well known as that of any Dog : its long, slender muzzle,
capacious chest, slender loins, and beautifully-shaped limbs, are familiar to every one ; the latter form
a set of spring-levers only equalled by the limbs of a Racehorse or a Deer. The colour is very variable
— black, white, fawn, or brindled. The hair is short and fine, and the ears rise erect for a certain
height and then hang over.

This Dog is now used only for coursing or hare-hunting. In performing this task, it is guided
entirely by the eye, its sense of .smell being deficient, and practically of no importance in the chase :
so that if once the Greyhound loses sight of the game, the latter is started again by a Spaniel.
The speed attained by a good Greyhound is very remarkable : it is, indeed, only just inferior to that
of a Eacehorse.

THE SCOTCH GEEYHOUND.

This is a more .strongly-built variety or sub-bi-eed of the Common or English Greyhound. It is
less swift than its southern brother, but more muscular, more hairy, and inclined to " dodge " the Hare
in coursing, instead of winning by speed alone.

THE DEEEHOrXD.
Tliis is a well-marked variety of the Greyhound breed, distinguished by stronger foi-m, shaggy
hair, and drooping eai-s. Both in appearance and in disposition it is wilder and more savage than the
Greyhound ; sometimes being decidedly inclined to ferocity. It was a Dog of this breed, named
" Maida," which was the special favourite of Sir "Walter Scott, and which is so often painted by the
side of the great novelist, who describes his noble hound, under the name of " Bevis," in " Wood-
stock," as being " in strength a MastiiF, in form and almost in fleetness a Greyhound. Bevis was
the noblest of the kind which ever pulled down a Stag, tawny-coloured like a Lion, with a black
muzzle and black feet, just edged with a line of white round the toes. He was as tractable as he
was strong and bold."

THE TURKISH GREYHOUND,
if Greyhound it should be called, is a small Dog, either entirely devoid of hair, or having only a few
hairs on its tail. " He is never now in the field, and bred only as a spoiled pet — and yet not always
spoiled, for anecdotes are related of his inviolable attachment to his owner. One of them belonged
to a Turkish Pacha, who was destroyed by the bowstring. He would not forsake the corpse, but laid
himself down by the body of his murdered master, and presently expired."*

* Youatt.

132 ir.lTrHAL HISTORY.

THE GRECIAN aREYHOUND
is doubtless the lineal descendant of the one sculptured ou Grecian temples. It is a decidedly less
specialised Dog than tlio English breed, its head being larger, its snout shorter, and its fur longer,
especiallv on the tail.

THE PERSIAN GREYHorNU.
This Dog is slenderer, and has more hairy ears than the English breed. It is " much j)rij!ed Iiy
the Bedouin Sheikhs, and lused for the chase of the Gazelle. "With its elegant shape, and the long
silky hairs of its ears and tail, it is, perhaps, the most beautiful race of its kind."*

THE ITALLUS^ GREYHOUND
is the smallest variety of the breed, and is used almost exclusively as a pet, for which it is valuable
on account of its exquisitely beautiful form and its' general amiability (see tigure on p. 116) ; but, like
many amiable people, it is a thoroughly silly little beast, devoid of all higher canine intelligence,
and almost incapable of forming a strong attachment.

In all the Dogs we have yet considered, the brain-case is small, and, in consequence, the intelligence
is not of a very high order. In those of which we must now treat, the brain-case, with its contained
organ, is of considerable size, giving the Dog the appearance of possessing a large forehead. They all,
too, have great power of scent. There are, first of all, a number of Dogs consecutively grouped
tbgether under the general term of " Spaniels."

THE COCKER,
like other Spaniels, has long hair, very long pendent ears, and an elevated tail. It is one of the
smallest of its kind, and is chiefly used for flushing Woodcocks and Pheasants in thickets and copses,
into which the Setter, and even the Springer, can scarcely enter.

THE SPRINGEU
is used for the same purpose as the Cocker, but is a larger, stronger, and steadier Dog.

THE KING CHARLES'S SPANIEL
has all the Sp;iniel characteristics in an exaggerated form. Its forehead is round and prominent,
its coat is long and fine, the silky hair of its pendulous ears sweeps the ground, and its eye is large and
moist. It is very small, and is consequently known almost entii-ely as a drawiug-room pet. The
King Charles of the i)re,sent day Ls an interesting example of deterioration ; for, as Mr. Youatt says,
"it is materially altered for the worse." The muzzle is almost as short, and the forehead as ugly and
prominent, as in the veriest Bull-dog. The eye is increased to double its former size, and has an
expression of stupidity, with which the character of the Dog too accurately corresponds. Still, there
is the long ear, and the silky coat, and the beautiful colour of the hair, for which characters the breed
is still much pi-ized. The Spaniels which were the special pets of the heartless voluptuary after whom
they are named were of the black-and-tan kind. Charles I. preferred a black breed.

•THE BLENHEIM SPANIEL
is very similar to the King Charles ; and, like it, is almost exclusively a drawmg-room pet.

THE CHINESE PUG-DOG
is an interesting variety, which has been pi-oduced by those indefatigable people, who love anything
queer, and seem to think nothing perfect until it is deformed. Dr. John Edward Grey says of
this Dog ; —

" It is a small, long-haired Spaniel, with slender legs, and rather bushy tail curled over its back.
It difi'ers from the Pug-nosed Spaniel, called King Charles's Spaniel, in the hair beiiag much longer
and more bushy, the tail closely curled up, and the legs being smaller and much more slender.
The nose of the Chinese or Japanese Pug is said by some to be artificially produced by force, suddenly

134 NATURAL BlSTi/KY.

or continuously applied ; but that is certainly not the case in the skull that is in the British Museum,
for the bones of the upper jaw and the nose are quite regular and similar on the two sides, showing no
forced distortion of any kind such as is to be observed in the skulls of some Bull-dogs ; for I believe
that some 'fanciers' are not satisfied with the peculiarity, and do sometimes try to increase the
defonnity by force."

Dr. Lockhart states that " there are two ]f:inds of Pug in China : one, a small black-and-white,
long-legged, pug-nosed, prominent-eyed Dog ; the other, long-backed, short-legged, long-haired, tawny-
coloured, with pug-nose and prominent eyes. Sometimes in these Dogs the eyes are so prominent that
I have known a Dog have one of his eyes snapped off by another Dog in play. The preference for
vegetable food is a fact, but I think it is a result of education, as most of them will take animal food ;
this is usually kejit from them, so that their growth and organisation may be kept down. The Sleeve

rooPLEs. (Oiif.cijM?! A'

Dog is a degenerated, long-legged variety of Pug, rigidly kept on low diet, and ne.ver allowed to run
about on the ground. They are kept very much on the top of a kang, or stove bed-place, and not
allowed to run about on the ground, as it is supposed that if they run on the ground they will derive-
strength from the gi-ound, and be able to grow large. Their food is much restricted, and consist*
chieflv of boiled rice."

THE WATER-8PANIEL
is larger than any of the Spaniels already mentioned : it is also a stronger Dog, and has closely-curled
'hair, and ears proportionally much shorter than in the ))receding breeds. Jl, is used in shooting,,
having first to find the game, and then, when a bird falls, to bring it to its master without mangling.
It is one of the most docile and intelligent of Dogs, and has numerous tales told of it, both in prose and
poetry. Among the latter we may mention Cowper's well-known piece " The Water Lily."

THE rOODLE

■11 known by its thick, generally white, curly hair, which
mat. In Franc?, and sometimes, alas ! in England, people

IS a Dog of Continental origin, and is w
conceals its face and covers its body lilve

''.i:^r

ST. BERXARD DOGS.

THE ST. BEnXAllI) DOG. :35

try to iiu])rove tlie l>reeil by shiiving ofl" tliu hair Irom the liiudpr IkUI' of the body, with the exception
of the tip of the tuii, thus making the wretched anim;d a spectacle to men and angels. Some misguided
people go even further than this, and dye the hair of various colours — making, perhaps, a magenta
body and a yellow tail, or some other equally tasteful and appropriate combination.

The Poodle, notwithstanding the way it is treated, is an extremely intelligent Dog, and capable
of learning all sorts of tricks ; it will walk on its hind legs, dance, sham dead, and, in fact, do almost
anything it is tauglit. It is also affectionate and devoted, and has shown itself eapalile of retaining
for life the memory of a deceased master.

A small- variety of the Poodle is the Barbet, which, according to ilr. Yoiiatt, is unmanageable except
by its owner, ill-tempered, " eaten up witji red mange, and frequently a nuisance to its master and a
torment to every one else." Notwithstanding this, it is an extremely intelligent Dog; and, indeed,
" the Barbet possesse.s more sagacity than most other Dogs, but it is sagacity of a particuhir kind, and
frequently connected with various amusing tricks. Mr. Jesse, in his ' Gleanings in Natural History,'
gives a singular illustration of this. A friend of his had a Barbet that was not always under proper
command. That he might keep him in better order, he purchased a small whip, with which he corrected
him once or twice during a walk. On his retuin the whip was put on a table in the hull, but on the
next morning it was missing. It was soon afterwards found concealed in an out-liuildiiig, and again
made use of in correcting the Dog. Once more it would have been lost, but, i_in watching the Dog,
who was suspected of having stolen it, he was seen to take it from the hall-table in order to hide it
once more." *

THE MALTESE DOG
is an animal of the Poodl: kin 1, of very considerable antiquity, as it is mentioned by Strabo as Caiiis
m/:litau!>. It has a long body, sliort leg-;, pendent ears, and long silky hair, of a pure white, or
sometimes yellowish colour. On'3 of the chief point? aboat this Dog is its extremely small size.

THE LIOX DCKt
is possibly, according to 'Mv. Youatt, a cross bctwein the :\raltpKo and the hairless Turkish Dog. Ite
name is derived from the fact tluit its hair, hmg on thr h.'n.l. neck, ;iud fore-legs, is extremely short
over the rest of the body, cxccjit at the end of the tail, wherr there is a small tuft.

THE TUIiKISH DOiT
is occasionally seen in England, but is, properly speaking, a native of hot climates. Its usual name
of Turkisli or Egyptian Dog is, however, quite a misnomer. It is almost entirely naked, and. more
curious still, subject to a disease of the teeth, which drop out so early that the Dogs often have nothing
left to bite with but a single grinder on each side. This Dog is a curious and interesting instance of
degeneration, for its two distinguishing characters — hairlessness and toothlessness — are actual
deformities.

THE ST. BEENAKD DOG.

This magnificent breed is now better known than formerly in England, as it is becoming quite
usual to keep them instead of Mastitis or Newfoundlands. The readers of Punch have been
familiarised with its form, from Mr. Du Maurier's sketches, who has been as successful in depicting
the noble Dog as the delightful little girl who, wishing to enter a bazaar where Dogs are not admitted,
proposes to her sister to hide the gigantic creature under their skirts !

The breed was, until lately, almost confined to the Alps, where it was kept by the monks of the
convent of Mount St. Bernard, and sent out, provided with a little barrel of brandy tied round its neck,
to rescue travellers lost in the snow. The number of people who have beeir saved from d<^ath in this
way, by the humanity of these good monkr, and the intelligence of their Dogs, must be very great, for
a single Dog, the celebrated '■ Barry," savetl no less than forty lives himself, and at last perished on
one of his expeditions of mercy.

* Yoiuitt.

AATC'KAL HISTORr.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG
is, according to Youatt, simply a large Spaniel : it is the finest and largest of "Water-dogs (see figure
on p. 121), besides Ijeing amongst the most intelligent and courageous. It is covered with thick curly
hair, usually black or black-and-white, the curls being more flowing and not so close and woolly as in
the ordinary Spaniel or the Eetriever. So fully is this Dog adapted for swimming, that its feet have
very considerable webs, extending between the toes — an evident adaptation to its aquatic habits.

Of the use and intelligence of this Dog it is needless to gi\e instances. Again and again it Las

saved the lives of drowning peopk when liuninn help was unavailable. We can give only one
anecdote illustrative of the value of this Dog, whose kindness of heart is equal to his courage: who will
guard and play with a little child or save a strong man from drowning \vit\i equal skill and readiness : —
"A native of Germany was travelling one evening on foot through Holland, accompanied by
a large Dog. "Walkuig on a high bank, which formed one side of a dyke, his foot slipped, and he was
jn-ecipitated into the water ; and, being unable to s^vim, soon became senseless. When he recovered
his recollection, he foimd himself in a cottage on the contrary side of the dyke, suiTOunded by peasanlri,
v/ho had been using the means for the recovery of drowned persons. The account given by one cf
them was that, returning home from his labour, he observed at a considerable distance a large Dog in
the water, swimming and dragging, and sometimes pushing along, something that he seemed to ha^o
great difiiculty in supporting, but which he at length succeeded in getting into a small creek on tiie
opposite side. When the animal had pulled what he had hitherto supported as far out of the v.ater as
he was able, the peasant discovered that it was the body of a man, whose face and hands the Dog was

THE XEn-FOUNDLAXD DOG. 137

industriously licking. The peasant hastened to a bridge across the dyke, and, havLiig oKtainetl
assistance, the body was conveyed to a neighbouring house, where proper means soon restored the

HEAD OF BLO

drowned man to life. Two very considerable bruises, with the marks of teeth, appeared, one on his
shoulder, and the other on his poll ; hence it was presumed that the faitliful beast had first seized his
master by the shoulder, and sv.-um with him in this manner for some time, but that his sagacity had
promiited him to quit his hold, and to shift it to the nape of the neck, by which he had been enabled

153 l^ATVRAl niSTORV.

to siiiipoi't tin- hc;id out of wiitcr ; and in this way he had convoyed him nearly a nnavter of a mile
hefore ho had brought him to the creelc, v.-here the banks were low and aecessiUe."*

THE SHEEr DOG.

This is not only the most imiwrtant of all our domestic breeds, but it i^ s.-,' mil t.. vw' for
intelligence and devotion. It is quite a rare thing to find a Shejiherd's Dog who will nlin i|,,. -i;-l>test
violence to the animals under its care; and it can often be trusted almost witli the fjuirr iiuuiigi'ment
of the flock, driving them from place to jila-r. i^allii ring them together to be counted, and making
altogether a far more valuable assistant to t! r shi'iilicrd than any human being could possibly be.
The Dog is wholly devoted to the work, anil his obedienca and skill are perfect, penning the Sheep
from field after field, for his owner, who foots it slowly after him, and finds the tlock ready to his hand.
It used to be credibly reported to us in our boyhood, that some of these Dogs would lay themselves
down by a Sheep that had got cast {i.e., was weltering, back downwards, in the clayey furrow, and,
loaded with wet and heavy wool, had lost power to rise) ; these Dogs, it was said, would prtsh their
arched spine against the helples'i Sheep, and give them sufficient leverage to enable them to rise.

There are different kinds of Sheep Dogs found in different countries — there are, for instance, the
English, the Scotch, and the French breeds. The Scotch Drover's Dog is also a well-marked sub-breed.
The Scotch Shepherd's Dog, or Colley (see figure on p. 120), is now a good deal used as a pet : it is a
\ery beautiful Dog, with a slender muzzle, small feet, long straight hair forming a sort of ruff round
the neck ; and, beneath this, a ^ort of under-coat of very soft fine hair. The origin of the Shepherd's
Dog is, according to Mr. Yo.uatt, " somewhat various ; l.mt the ])redoniinant breed is that uf the intel-
ligent and docile Spaniel."

THE rOMERANIAX D()(;
i.i a breed often seen in London sti-eets. It is a beautiful Dog of me.lium size, with long, usually white,
hail-, straight ears, and a tufted tail. (See figure on p. 12.").)

THE CUR
is a cross between the Sheep Dog and the Terrier.

THE LURCHER
was originally bred as a cross between the Sheep Dog and Greyhound, but was afterwards modified
by a further cross with the Spaniel. It is used a good deal by poachers.

The next group of Dogs is conveniently known as Howuls: they are all used in the chase, and,
being Ijred and selected esj^ecially for this work, are good for little else.

THE BEAGLE
is the smallest of the Hounds, usually not exceeding ten or twelve inches iu height. These Dogs were
formerly a good deal used in Hai-e-hunting, and were celebrated for their uniform size, close running,
and musical \'oice. So small were they that they used to be carried to the field in panniers.

THE HARRIER
was also used for hunting the Hare. It is about half-way between the Beagle and the Greyhound
as to size.

THE FOXHOT'XD
is, in England at least, the most important of the Hound group. He may, in fact, be looked upon as
one of the main supporters of that peculiarly English institution, the Squirearchy ; for what would
become of the average country gentleman if he could not hunt through the winter six days a week,
and visit his Hounds on Sunday ]

The Foxhound (see figure on p. 1 36) " is the old English Hound, sufficiently crossed witii die tirey-
hdund to give lam lightness and speed without ir;ipiiring his scent." His height is aliout twenty-two

* Ycuatt.

THE BLOODHOUND. I39

to twenty-four inches ; iiis fur short, e;ir.s long and drooping, and tail tolerably straight. He exhibits
great variation as to hue; and an authority, cited by Youatt, " gives a cirious account of the prejudices
of sportsmen on the subject of colour. The white Dogs were curious hunters, and had a capital scent ;
f lie black, with some white .spots, were obedient, good hunters, and wnih good constitutions ; the grey-
ioloured had no very acute scent, but were obstinate and indefatigable m their quest ; the yellow Dogs
were impatient and obstinate, and taught with difficulty."

The statement about the particularly good scent of the white Hounds is very curious, for it is
generally found that animals of light colour" are inferior in sensory endowments to darker ones,
owing to the absence of a peculiar black pigment from the delicate membranes to which the nerves of
special sense are distributed.

The pace of the Foxhound is very i-apid. One was known to run a course of four miles one furlong
and one hundred and thirty-two yards in a trifle over eight minutes ! Of the correctness of their
scent, no one who has seen the Hounds put oil' and watched the unerring way they pursue the Fox,
■can have any doubt.

THE STAGHOUND.
This is the largest of modern English Hounds, and the one which most nearly apjiroaches in
character the old '-Hound" which fell into disuse on account of its slowness, but which we often find
mentioned in olden writers. Shakspere, for instance, wi-ites of this old English or Southern Hound in
"Midsuumier Night's Dream": —

Hip. I was witli Hercules and Cadmus once,

AVhrii in a wood of Crete they tay'd the bear

A\'ith liounds of Sparta ; never did I hear

.Such ;;allant chidiuc- ; tur. besides the groves,

The skies, the fount iii!-. . \ . 1 y T'-Aon near

Seem'd allonemutuil ri\ : 1 n- v. r heard

So musical a disconl, mi^Ii sw. , t thvmder.

The. My hounds arc l)rrd out of the Spartan Icind,

So flew'd, 80 sanded ; and tlicir heads are hung

With ears that sweep away the morning dew ;

Crook-knee'd and dew-lapp'd, like Thessalian bulls ;

Slow in pursuit, hut match' d in mouth like bells.

Each under each. A cry more tuneable

Was never holla'd to, nor chccr'd with horn,

In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly ;

Judge when you hear.

Of the powers of scent possessed by the Staghound, the following is a notable exam]ile : —
" Lord Oxford reduced four Stags to so perfect a degree of submission, that, in his .short excur-
sions, he used to drive them in a phaeton made for the purpose. He wa-s one day exercising his
singular and beautiful steeds in the neighbourhood of Newmarket, when their ears were saluted with
the unwelcome cry of a pack of Hounds, which, crossing the road in their rear, had caught the scent,
and leaving their original object of pui\suit, were now in i-apid chase of the frightened Stags. In vain
Lis grooms exerted themselves to the utmost ; the terrified animals bounded away with the swiftness
of lightning, and entered Newmarket at full speed. They made immediately for the Eam Inn, to
which his lordship was in the habit of driving, and, having fortunately entered the yard without
any accident, the stable-keepers huddled his lordship, the pli^K^tou, ami the Deer, into a large barn, just
in time to save them from the Hounds, who came into the yar.l iu full cry a few seconds afterwards."

THE DLOODHOrXD.
This Dog resembles pretty closely the Deerhound, or old English Hound, but is considerably
larger, with longer ears of a soft and delicate te.^ture, and deeper "flews," or down-hanging upper lijjs.
<See figure on p. 1-37./ The colour is brown, verging to reddish along the back, and to light fawn-
colour below. The eyes should be surrounded with a distinct red ring, due to the exposure of the
tlelicate membrane lining the eyelids. To judge from the animal's countenance, no one would imagine
the horrid purpose for which it was originally bred, for few Dogs have a milder, more benevolent, or
more intelligent visage.

NATURAL mSTOia.

In former times, these Dogs were used to track robbers and other offenders, a duty which thej'
performed with the most unerring accuracy, never giving up the chase until they had brought tlieir

miserable quarry to bay. When engaged in this work, all tlieir mildness disappeare<l, and they were
transformed into perfect furies. Mr. Youatt, writing in 184ri, says :—" The Tlirapstone As.so'ciation
lately trained a Bloodhound for the detc'tion of Sliccp-stealcrs. In order to prove the utility of tlii.'?
Dog, a person whom he had not seen was ordered to run as far and as fost as his strcnn'tii would

THE TVIiXSriT. 14J

permit. Au liour afterwards, the Houiul was brought out. He was placed on tlie spot whence the
man had started. He ahnost immediately detected the scent, and broke away, and, after a chase of au
hour and a half, found him concealed in a tree fifteen miles distant !"

THE SETTER,
according to Youatt, " is evidently the l.irge Spaniel, improved to his peculiar size and beauty^
.uid taught another way of marking his game, viz., by setting or orouching. If the form of the Dog
were not sufficiently satisfactory on this point, we might have recourse to history for infoi-mation on it.
Mr. Daniel, in his 'Rural Sports,', has preserved a document, dated in the year 1G8.3, in which
a yeoman binds lumself, for the sum of ten shillings, fully and efiectually to teach a Spaniel to sit
Partridges and Pheasants. The fii'st person, however, who systematically broke-in sitting Dogs is
supposed to have been Dudley, Duke Of Northumberland, in 1335." The hinder surface of the legs,
and the under surface of the tail of the Setter, should be well " feathered," that is, beset with long hair,

THE rcjI.NTEK.
Mr. Darwin says: — ''Our Pointers are certainly descended from a Spanish breed, as even the
■names Don, Pontc, Carlos, &c., would show. It is siiid thiit they were not known in Kii;;land before
the Revolution in 1688; but the breed, since its introduction, has lieen much nioditieil," the change
having been " chiefly eff'ected by crosses with the Foxhound." The value of this Dog consists in his
habit of " pointing," or standing silentl}', with litteil foot iiiid outstretched muzzle, as soon as he tinds
game. A very remarkable circumstance with re^fard to this habit is the way in which it is inherited :
a young Dog points instinctively the first time he is taken into the field.

More or less distiiiet suli-breeds of the Pointer are to be found in Spain, Portugal, France, and
Russia. The hair is short, tlie colour varialjle.

THE KETEIEVER,
according to Brehm, is a cross between the Newfoundland and the Pointer. It is a good water-dog,
and is used for sport, especially in shootinL; water-liirds. It derives its name from its talent for
retrieving, or following a wounded bird, and lirinifing it back to the sportsman vi'ithout mangling.
It is a large Dog, with a good foreheacl and long ears, and is covered with a closely-curled hide of a
brown or black colour. (See figure on p. 1 l.'i.)

THE UTTEU-HOUND
is a breed formerly in great requisition for hunting the Otter, a sport which is now almost if not quite
discontinued. This Dog " used to be of a mingled breed, between the SoutBem Hound and the rough
Terrier, and m. size between the Harrier and the Foxhound."

THE TURNSPIT.
Before the invention of bottle-jacks, this Dog was used in England to turn the spit on which the
joint was roasted, for which purpose they were attached to a sort of wheel. It is a queer-looking
Dog — very long-bodied and vei-y short-legged, and is possessed of a great degree of intelligence.
Brehm relates an anecdote of two Turnspits, who were employed in the kitchen of a house at
Plessis, one of whom, the cook's favourite, had to turn the spit on Mondays and Wednesdays ; the
other taking his turn on Simdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Friday and Satui-day were holidays for
both. One Wednesday the fiivourite Dog wa.s absent, and the cook endeavoured to pi-ess into service
the other rather than search for and disturb his pet. But No. .'2, although he had made no objection
to having thi-ee days of work to his mate's two, could not stand this : he growled and bit, and positively
refused to be harnessed. At last he rushed out of the house, and made his way to an open jilace,
where his lazy colleague was playing with some friends. As soon as he saw the truant, he hustled and
bit at him, and finally drove him into the house to the cook's feet, having accomplished which act, of
justice he became calm, and looked quietly up to his master, as much as to say — " Here's your Dog:
it's Ids turn now."

DAcnsnouND- oi

•a

BULL DjG.

rilE LVii.lS MASTIFF. '"

THE DACHSHUUXI', Oli BADGER-DOG,
is a GeiTiian breeil, closely allied to the Turnspit, but with the chanwteis of the latter exaggerated.
The fore-legs are crooked at the wrist-joiut, aud the feet are very large. It was originally bred, as its
name implies, for Badger-hunting, and, so strong is its instinct for the sjjort e\en now it lia.s become
ii drawing-room pet, that it will rush at anj'thing that looks like a hole; and begin to burrow
vigorously.

THE BULL DOG
is vuidoubtcdly t!i? most sa\age and untamable of all the breeds : he is, moreover, except to the eyes
of a fai'.cier, the ugliest ; for, although he has not the grotesque proportions of the Turnspit, yet his
crooked legs, Eat's tail, flat forehead, little wicked eyes, turned-up nose, big mouth, and underhung
lower jaw, make him a creature absolutely hideous to any one whose taste is not sutKciently culti\ated
to enable him to admire anything " proper." The two features of the crooked legs and the under-
hung jaw are simply selected and perpetuated deformities. The projection of the lower jaw and the
receding of the nose are e.'ctremelv marked, and give the Dog a most sinister appearance. The chest
of a good Bull-dog is very broad and strong. The hind-quartei-s, on the other hand, are comparati\eiy
feeble.

The Bull-dog was formerl_v used — as its name implies — for the barbarous " sport " of Bull-baiting,
in which our forefathers took so much delight. The Dog would seize upon the Bull's nose and lip,
and no power in heaven or earth could make him leave his hold. He would even fight with the Lion,
and seize upon his gigantic antagonist again and again, although torn and mangled all over with great
claw-wounds.

Although not a water-dog, the Bull-dog is a capital swimmer, hLs immense strength and
indomitable pluck giving him an advantage over even such a professed swimmer as the Newfoundland.
" During a heavy gale, a ship had struck on a rock near the land.* The only chance of escape for the
shipwrecked was to get a rope ashore ; for it was impossible for any boat to live in the sea as it was
then running. There were two Newfoundland Dogs and a Bull-dog on board. One of the Newfound-
land Dogs was thrown .overboard, with a rope thrown round him, and perished in the waves. The
second shared a similar fate ; but the Bull-dog fought his way through that terrible sea, and, arri\'ing
safe on shore, rope and all, became the saviour of the crew."

Little is known as to the origin of the Bull-dog, but Mr. D.irwin makes the curious and interest-
ing statement that " some authors who have written on Dogs maintain that the Greyhound and
Bidl-dog, though appearing so different, are really closely-allied varieties, descended from the same wild
stock ; hence I was anxious to .see how far their puppies differed from each other. . . . On actually
mea.suring the old Dogs and their six-day-old puppies, I found that the puppies had not acquired
nearly the full amoTint of proportional difference."

THE BULL-TERRIER
is a cross Ix'tween the Bull-dog and the Terrier, aiid is generally superior, both in aiijiearanee and
value, to either of its progenitors. "A second cross considerably lessens the underhanging of the lower
jaw, and a third entirely removes it, retaining the spu-it and determination of the animal."

THE MASTIFF.
This Dog "is probably an original br£«d peculiar to the British Islands." It is larger than the
Bull-dog, has a head of somewhat the .same .shape, with deep flews, but its ears are pendent, aud it has
none of the Bull-dog's deformity. (See figure on p. 109.) From the Bloodhound it is distinguished by
the shape of the head, which is rounder and shorter, and by the absence of the red ring round the eye.
At the present day, the Ma.stitT is used chiefly as a hous^' Dog, for which purpose his fidelity and
strengt;: n-.iikc' him thoroughly well suited.

THE CUBAX iIA.STIFF
is about intermediate in size between the Bull-dog and the English Ma-stiff ; in appearance it closely
resembles the latter. It is an extremely savage Dog, and was used in the days of slavery for tracking
Timawaj' negroes. It Ls now used as a watch Dog, and, by the Spaniards, for Bullfighting.

141 NATURAL mSTUF.Y.

THE TIBET DOG.

This magnilicent animal is kept by the Bhoteas, a rac3 inhabiting tlie table-lands of Tibet, who
use it as a watch Dog. It is about the size of a Newfoundland Dog, but witli a head more like that
of a Mastiff, the " Hews," or pendent side-flaps of the upper lip, being of great-size. The liair is long,
and the tail bushy and well curled.

Mr. Bennett says of some siwcimen-s kept in the Zoological Gardens many years ago, that they

TIllET lOG

" were larger than any English Mastiff -sve have seen. Their colour was a deep black, slightly clouded
on the sides ; their fest and a spot over each eye alone being of a full tawny or bright brown. ThcF
had the broad, short, truncated muzzle of the Mastiff, and lips still more deeply pendulous." In
disposition they are — at anj' rate in their native country — " tremendously fierce, strong, and noisy ;
and while savage by nature, or sotired by confinement, so impetuously fierce, that it is unsafe, unless
Dhe keepers are near, even to approach their dens."

This Dog was known to the Greeks and Romans, whose writers mention its fierce conflicts with
the Aurochs, the Wild Boar, and even the Lion.

THE ENGLISH TEERIER.
This is a small Dog, with a good forehead, pi-ominent eye, pointed muzzle, and usually short hair.
Tl-.e colour varies greatly — white and blaok-and-tan being perhajis the commonest hues ; in the latter

r.lRIAlI BOGS. 145

case, there is always a tau-foloiiiv.! sjiut on the eye, a circunistauce which it is interesting to remark,
as a simihu- spot occurs in nearly all black Dogs with tan-coloured feet.

The Terrier is used for unearthing the Fox, but his chief accomplishment is Rat-killing, in which
noble sport he is a gi-eat adept. " There are son;e extraordinary accounts of the dexterity, as well as
courage, of the Terrier in destroying^Eats. The feats of a Dog called ' Billy ' will be long remembered.
He was matched to destroy one hundred large Eats in eight minutes and a half The Eats were
brought into the riug in bags, and as soon as the number wa.s complete, he was put over the railing.
In six minutes and thirty -five seconds they were all destroyed. In another match he destroyed the
same number in six minutes and thirteen seconds. At length, when he was getting old, and had but -
two teeth and one eye left, a wager was laid of thirty sovereigns, by the owner of a Berk.sliii'e Bitch,
that she would kill fifty Eats in less time than Billy. The old Dog killed his fifty in five minutes
and six seconds. The pit was then cleared and the Bitch let in. When she had killed thirty Rats
she was completely exhausted, fell into a fit, and lay barking and yelping, utterly incapable of
completing her task."

THE SCOTCH TEREIER
has a large head, short stout legs, and long, rough, shaggy hail-. The colours of the pure breed are black
and fawn. This breed Ls probably of more ancient origin than the English Terrier. It is an extremely
intelligent, faithful, and affectionate animal, and, like its relative from south of the Border, a great
Rat-catcher. The " Dandie Diiimont " breed, so well known from the immortal Pepper and Mustard in
" Guy Mannei-ing," is a variety of the Scotch Terrier ; so also is the Shje Terrier, which is distinguished
by its long hair and short legs. In all these Teriiers, as well as in the English breed, a black nose
and black roof to the mouth are pomts of importance.

PARI.\H DOGS.

Having considered the chief bond fide varieties of the Dog, we come, lastly, to those nondescript
animals, the Pariahs, or domesticated Dogs run wild, which occur in packs in many parts of Eastern
Europe and of Asia. Tliese herds of miserable, half-starved animals are undoubtedly not true wild
Dogs, but degenerated tame ones, the Dog being derived from a wild ancestor, under certain cu'cum-
stances shows his descent by reverting to the habits of his forbears. Instances of this occur
occasionally in the case of even the better breeds of Dogs. For instance: " A black Greyhound Bitch,
l>elonging to a gentleman in Scarisbrick, in Lancashii-e, though she had apparently been well broken-
in and always well used, ran away from the habitation of her master, and betook herself to the woods.
She killed a great many Hares and made free with the Sheep, and became an intolerable nuisance to
the neighbourhood. She was occasionally seen, and the depredations that were committed were
brought home to her. Many were the attempts made to entrap or destroy her, but in vain ; for more
than six months she eluded the vigilance of her pursuers. At length she was observed to creep into a
hole m an old barn. She was caught as she came out, and the bam being searched three whelps were
found, which, very foolishly, were destroyed. The Bitch evinced the utmost ferocity, and, although
well secured, attempted to seize every one. who approached her. She was, however, dragged home, and'
treated -with kindness. By degi-ees her ferocity abated. In the course of two months she became
perfectly reconciled to her original abode, and a twelvemonth afterwards (1822), she ran successfully
several courses. There was still a degree of wildness in her appearance ; but, although at perfect
liberty, she seemed to be altogether reconciled to a domestic life."

Captain Williamson says " that many pereons affect to treat the idea of degeneration in quadrnpr ds
with ridicule ; but all who have been any considerable time resident in Lidia must be satisfied that
Dogs of European breed become, after every successive genei-ation, more and more similar to the
Pariah, or indigenous Dog of that country. The Hounds are the most rapid in their decline, and,
except in the form of their ears, they are very much like many of the village curs. Greyhounds and
Pointers also rapidly decline, although with occasional exceptions." Spaniels and Terriers deteriorate
less ; and Spaniels of eight or nine generations, and without a cross from Europe, are not only as good
as, but far more beautiful than, their ancestors. The climate is too severe for Mastifis, and they do
not possess sufficient stamina ; but, crossed by the East Indian Greyhound, they are invaluable in
hunting the Hog."
19

143 KATURAL HISTORY.

The Pariali Dogs occur in Turkey, Egypt, Syria, China, India, kc, varj'ing a good deal accord-
ing to theii- abode. Their habits are well described by Mr. G. R. Jesse, whose account of the
Egyjrtian Pariah will apply equally well to that of Constantinople, or of any other place where sanitary
regulations are simply nil, and where the Dogs are the only creatures who make any attempt to clear
tlie jilace of fever-breeding filth.

" The Dogs of the Egyptian towns are raasterless, and live on carcases thrown out on the mounds
of rubbish outside the walls and what is cast them by the charitable. In the villages, and with the
sliopherds along the desert, they are better cared for, protecting the property of the people from thieves,
and their animals from wild beasts. These Dogs are generally sandy in colour, but they vary — some
are black, and others white. At Ermeret, near Thebes, is a breed of black Dogs, quite different from
those of Lower Egypt — fierce, excellent watchers, having roughish wiry hair, and drooping but small
cars : they are stated to be derived from the Slowara Arabs. Numbers of Dogs congregate on some
of the rubbish mounds outside the gates and walls of Cairo, and live on the carcases of Horses, Asses,
lire, which are thrown there, the Arabs not havmg arrived at that pitch of Western economy which ter-
minates the utility of a beast of burden at a cheap restaiu-ant. These masterless Dogs act as scavengers,
in which capacity they ai-e accompanied by the large black-and-white yellow-billed Can'ion Hawk,
Kites, and troops of black-and-grey Carrion Crows. Among the skeletons, and scattered bones, heads,
and hoofs, these Dogs — about two feet in height, generally of a yellow colour, or black, or a dirty
white, smooth-skinned, and mostly with erect pointed ears — may be seen in crowds, their mouths and
necks bloody, snarling, snapping, fighting, tearing, and gorging to repletion. The bitches scratch holes
in the rubbish-heaps, and there luino- foitli their young. After the bones of the dead animals are
cleared of flesh by the Dogs, buii'lk s of tlioni are collected and carried off by women and children.
Tlie Dogs of the town associate iu bands, anil each band has its district and its clwef. No other Dog
is permitted to enter the territory without being at once assailed. If, however, a Dog wishes to pass
from one quarter of the to^vn to another, he is said to creep along with his tail down in a humble
manner, and immediately the Dogs of that part come uj)on him to throw himself on his back, and
deprecate their attack. After due examination, he is allowed to proceed, but repeats his submissive
actions whene^■er he meets new foes, and so, after enduring rej)eated challenges, gains his destination.
These Dogs ai-e still and quiet during the day (unle.ss, indeed, an European comes in sight, wlien their
vociferousness is loud and long); but at night they are very vigilant, and guard the bazaars against the
iincturnal thief"

In some parts of India the superfluous Pariidis are utilised by giving them as food to caged Tigers.
An anecdote is related of one who proved himself a mat«h for the Tiger, and who was, as a reward,
admitted to close intimacy with the royal beast.

" I knew an instance," says Captain Williamson, " of one that was destined for the Tiger's daily
meal standing on the defensive, in a manner that completely astonished both the Tiger and the
spectator. He crept into a corner, and whenever the Tiger apjjroached, seized him by the lip or the
neck, making him roar most piteously. The Tiger, however, impelled by hunger — for all. supply of food
was purposely withheld — would renew the attack. The result was ever the same. At length the
Tiger began to treat the Dog with more deference, and not only allowed him to partake of the mess of
lice and milk furnished daily for his subsistence, but even refrained from any attempt to disturb him.
The two animals at length became reconciled to each other, and a strong attachment was formed
between them. The Dog was then allowed ingress and egress through the aperture; and, considering
the cage as hLs home, he left it and returned to it just as he thought proper. Wlien the Tiger died he
mouned the loss of his companion for a considerable period."

In Siam, these uidiappy creatures are equally abundant, and are even worse off. Mr. Thomson*
states that they occur in great numbers in nearly all the temples. " It is contrary to the Buddhist
creed to take away life ; hence many of their temples become places of refuge for troops of famished
Dogs, who remain there till they die ; for though the priests give them what food they can spare,
there is never enough for them all. These Dogs, then, are usually animated skeletons, their skins
destitute of hau-, and cohered with many sores. I tossed them a little food ; it gave rise to the moat

* " The Straits of Malacca, Itulo-China, aud China.''

TUE INDIA X WILD DOG. lil

savage light I ever witnessed. One or two wretclied curs limped away from tlie strife, torn and
lacerated, probably to lie down and die. This canine community — fierce, hungry, and diseased —
must surely be one of those many Buddhist hells where sorcerei-s expiate their crimes. The animals
are deemed to be animated by the spirits of the departed, and are undergoing a lifetime of torture.
The priests, if they are good men, look on at their misery with pious complacency, and probably take the
lesson to heart, lest they, too, in the next stage of their existence, should be condemned to howl for
ott'al or garbage to satisfy the hungry pajigs and sore-eaten frames of starving Pariah Dogs."

THE INDIAN WILD DOG.*

This animal, which exists in large numbers all over the peninsulas of India and Malacca, differs
Ru much from the ordinary Dogs, that it has been proposed to separate it from them under a difierent
generic name, Ciion. Its distinctive characters are, however, by no means sufficiently great to warrant
'his separation. It occurs, under slightly different varieties, in different parts of India, and receives
various native names. By the Mahrattas it is called Kolsun (Canis dukhvnensia of Colonel Sykes) ;
Sona kiita, or Golden Dog, in Central India : Bnansu in the Himalayas; Dhole in Ceylon, and so on.

A capital notion of the appearance of this interesting Dog may be obtained from a case of stuffed
specimens now in the India Museum at South Kensington. The Zoological Society has at different

M8 yATUHAL UISTOItY.

times been able to exliibit in their Gardens more or less fine examples of the Indian Wild Dog.
Dr. Murie gives the following account of a male and female specimen sent to the Gardens some
time ago : —

" Their tout ensemble conveyed to me the idea of a compoimd between Wolf, Jackal, and Fox, partly
on account of theii' coloui-, partly from their size and general shape, and also partially from the contoiir
of tlie head, ear-outline, and direction of the eyes. But, on the other hand, a critical inspection left
the impression that they were more markedly of the Dog type. This pair of animals very nearly
con-esponded in size," the most important dimensions being — length, from snout to tip of tail, forty-
two inches ; length of the tail, twelve inches ; height at shoulder, about fifteen inches, and at the loins
about sixteen inches.

" Their colour was entirely reddish or fulvous brown, and remai-kably like tlie tint of a Fox. Tlie
ti}) of the nose and lower part of the face was somewhat darker ; the tail also exhibited deepening of
hue. Moreover, upon the outer side of the hind-leg, and similarly on the fore-limb, there was a
tendency, though a very indistinct one, to whitish spotting. ... Of those features marking race,
the tail was moderately lengthened, dark, and full below, as in the Jackal or Wolf, and not with the
great round brush of the Fox. The eye had a certain obliqi'ity ; but the pupil, as far as I could
ascertain, was rj^und. Ears large, erect, and hairy."

" I am not cognisant of any observations as to their habits having been noted prior to their
receipt by the Society. But I may mention that when in the Gardens they were exceedingly active,
snapping, snarling, and in their general behaviour resembling a couple of Wolves rather than sedate-
Dogs. I am not aware that they were heard to bark ; but occasionally they howled and whined."

The Wild Dog has thus, in many respects, an appearance resembling that of a Fox or a Jackal,
with which it also agrees in its filthy smell. It is, however, a true Dog, although less specialised than
the domestic kinds, and therefore approaching the average structure of the -wild Canidce.

These Dogs hunt in packs, six,, eight, ten, or as many as thii-ty, animals in a pack. They hunt
either by night or day; and it is said that " when once a pack of them put \ip any animal, no matter
whether Deer or Tiger, that animal's doom is sealed ; they never leave it. They will dog their prey
for days, if need be, and ran it down exhausted, and if it turns to fight, they go in fearlessly, and by
their numbers win. All animals dread the Wild Dog ; others they may elude by speed, artifice, or
battle : but their instinct tells them that there is no escaping the Wild Dog, as it hunts in packs by
scent as well as by sight, and is as brave as it is persevering."

They make no noise when running, except sometimes a low whispering kind of note, which may
either express their own gratification, or act as a signal to other Dogs. Great numbers of them are de-
stroyed in their hunting expeditions, as the larger animals, such as the Elk and Boar, defend themselves
with great fierceness, and sacrifice many of theii' pursuers before they fall a victim to the overwhelming
numbers and unconquerable periseverance of the latter.

In some parts of India they are half-domesticated, and used in the noble sport of "Pig-sticking."
" They are remarkably savage, and frequently will approach none but their doonaJis, or keepei-s, not
allowing their own masters to come near them. Some of them are very fleet, but they are not to be
depended upon in coursing ; for they are apt suddenly to give up the chase when it is a severe one,
and, indeed, they will too often prefer a Sheep or a Goat to a Hare. In Hog-hunting they ai-e more
vahiable. It seems to suit their temper, and they appear to enjoy the snapping and the snarling
incident to that species of sport."*

THE DINGO, OR AUSTRALIAN WILD DOG.-t'

This is another distmct breed of Wild Dog, quite as remarkable in its way as the Indian Wild
Dog, and possessing far greater interest than the latter, from the fact that it is the only Mammal not
belonging to the group of Marsupials, or pouched animals (Kangaroos, Wombats, ifec), found in the
gi-eat island of Australia. In all probability, it is not a true native even there, but was most likely
introduced before the discovery of the island by Europeans.

The Dingo "approaches in appearance to the largest kind of Shepherd's Dog (see figure ob

* Williamson, quoted by Youatt. f Caiiis f.tinyo*

THE JrOZF. 149

page 147). The head is elongated, the foreliead Hat, and the ears short and ere'-t, or with a slight
tlirectiou forwards. The body is thickly covered with hair of two kinds — the one woolly and gi'ey, the
other silky and of a deep yellow or fawn colour. The limbs are muscular, and, were it not for the sus-
picious yet ferocious glare of the eye, he might pass for a handsome Dog. When he is nmning, the head
is lifted more than usual in Dogs, and the tail is carried hoiizontally. He seldom barks." *

There are some Dingoes in the Zoological Gardens, and one would never guess their savageness
of disposition from their imiocent faces. They are decidedly good-looking Dogs in appearance, but as
regards temper they are anything but pleasant animals, although quite tamable if taken young : they
are, indeed, often domesticated by the natives, but are never known to attain to those higher qualities
which make the thoroughly civilised Dog so valuable.

" When Van Diemen's Land began to be colonised by Europeans, the losses sustained by the
settlei-s by the ravages of tlie Wild Dogs were almost incredible. The districts infested by these
animals were principally those appropriated to Sheep, and there was scarcely a flock that did not
.suffer. It was in vain to double the number of shepherds, to watch by night and day, or to have fires
at every quarter of the field ; for these animals would accomplish theii- object by stratagem or force.
One colony lost no fewer than 1,200 Sheep and Lambs in thi-ee months ; another colony lost 700.

" The ravagers were either the native Wild Dogs of tlie island or those that had escaped from
their ownei-s. They seemed to have apportioned the country into different districts, each troop having
its allotted range. At length the evil became so great, that a general meeting of the colonists was
convened. The concluding sentences of the speech of Lieutenant Hill forcibly express the extent of
the evil : — ' The country is free from bushrangers : we are no longer surrounded and threatened by the
natives. We have oidy one enemy left in the field ; but that enemy strikes at the root of our welfare,
and through him the stream of our prosperity is tainted at its very source.' The colonists were then
few, but they cordially united in the endeavour to extirpate this formidable enemy ; and, although
the Wild Dog is still found in the interior of the island, he is comparatively seldom seen, and his
ravages have nearlj^ ceased." f

CHAPTER IX.

THE DOG FAMILY.— WOLVES— JACKALS— FOXES, ETC.

The Wolf— Historical Account —Geograpliical Distribution— Cliaracteiistics — Habits— Destructiveness — Tame Wolves-
Varieties of the Wolf— The Prairie Wolf— The Eed Wolf— The Jackal— Its Character — Habits— " Jackal's
Horn "-Occurrence— The Black-backeii Jackal— The Se.negal Jackal— The Aguaha— The Common Fox-
Characters distinguishing it from the true Dogs— Its Habits— Cunning — Occurrence— The Arctic Fox— Its Supposed
Change of Colour according to .Season— Its Habits— The Value of its Skin -The Fennec— The Long-eaeed Fox-
Why made a Distinct Genus— The Racoon Dog— The Hy.ena Dog— Its Character ami Habits.

THE WOLF.J
We have considered all the most important " lieasts of prey," with two exceptions, under the Cat
family, to which they belong. Two important ravagers still remain — the Bear, of which we shall
speak by-and-bye, and the Wolf, whose turn has now come. Of the great Cats, much good is often
spoken. Notwithstanding their cruelty and bloodthirstiness, they are handsome, strong, and usually
courageous : each one hunts his prey for himself, and when he has satisfied his appetite, leaves the
remainder to inferior beasts, disdaining, unless when reduced by starvation, to touch any but fresh meat.
The Bear, too, often has a woi-d said for him : his curious, half-good-natured look, his semi-human
waddle, the tricks he is capable of learning, all combine to make him seem not so very objectionable a
beast after all. But who ever heard any good said of a Wolf] There have, indeed, been a few
instances of Wolves in captivity who have shown much affection and fidelity to theii- masters ; but,
under ordinai-y cu-cumstances, cruel, cowardly, dastardly, greedy, pitiless, are the adjectives applied
to him.

The Wolf has a place in history as venerable as that of the Lion, and he was the dread of the
shepherd four thousand years ago. A very old Sheep-master, addressing his sons on his death-bed
* Youatt. t Youatt. » Cains hi pus.

ir.o XATVRAL UISlOllY.

these sons being, eleven out of twelve of them, shepherds — said of the youngest : — " Benjamin shall

ravin as a~Wolf : in the morning he shall devour tlie prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil."
Homer also, in his immortal " Iliad," frequently brings in the Wolt, giving with a few master-
touches a vivid picture of the hated brute's habits : —

" Sudden as hungry Wolves the Kids purloin,
Or Lamta, which haply some unheeding swain
Hath left to roam at large the mountains wild ;
They, seeing, snatch them from teside the dams.
And rend incontinent the feeble prey."

" As Wolves that gorge

The prey yet panting-, terrible in force.
When on the mountains wild they have devour'd
An antler' d Stag new-slain, with bloody jaws
Troop all at once to some clear fountain, there
To lap with slender tongues the brimming wave ;
No fears have they, but at their ease eject
From full maws flatulent the clotted gore."

The ancient Greeks and Romans had a very curious superstition about the Wolf. They believeci
that if a man and a Wolf met, and the beast saw his human enemy before the latter caught sight of
him, the man became dumb. Hence the Greek proverb, Kvkov IS^Xv, " to see a Wolf," that is, to be
struck dumb. Virgil expresses the same notion in his " Bucolics " —

" Nunc oblita raihi tot cai-mina : vox quoque Moorim
Jam fugit ipsa : lupi Ma?rim videre priores." *

There are many ancient provei^bs of which the Wolf is the theme ; one is often used now, " lupus
hifahula," used in much the same sense as " Talk of the Devil." Then there is " ovem lupo conimittere,"
equivalent to our " set the Fox to watch the Geese "; " hac urget lupus, Imc canis aiiijU," of much the same
significance as " a Donkey between /iwo bundles of hay "; and many others.

We have said that the Wolf is everywhere detested ; there is an historical exception to this.
He was held in great veneration and even worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, who often
embalmed his body, and one of whose cities, Lycopolis (the modern Siout), was named after him.

The Common Wolf is still very abundant in many jiarts of Europe, being found in Spain, Greece,
Italy, France, Eastern Germany, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Lapland. In Switzerland
they are now rare, and in the remainder of the Continent extinct.

It is very curious to think that such a beast as the Wolf should now flourish in a neighboui
ing countiy like France, as we have quite forgotten the time since any plague of the sort existed
in England. And yet it is barely two centuries since they were finally got rid of, and in
early times they were quite common over a great part of the island, and, of coui-se, did an immense
amount of damage. One Saxon king, Edgar, "applied himself to their extii-pation in earnest,
snlisting English criminals in the service, by commuting the punishment awarded for then- crimes to
the delivery of a cei-tain number of Wolves' tongues, and liberating the Welsh from the payment of
the tax of gold and silver, on condition of an annual tribute of three hundred Wolves. But the vast
wild tracks and deep forests of ancient Britain were holds too strong even for his vigorous measures.
What the' number and consequent danger had been may be imagined from the necessity that existed,
in the previous reign of Athelstan (a.d. 925), for a refuge against theii- attacks. Accordingly, a
retreat was built at Flixton in Lancashire, to save travellers from being devoured by these gaunt
hunters. The Saxon name for the month of January, ' Wolf-moneth,' in which dreary season
hunger probably made the Wolves more desperate, and the term for an outlaw, ' Wolfshead,' implying
that he might be killed with as much impunity as a Wolf, also indicate the numbers of these
destructive beasts, and the hatred and terror which they inspired.
* ViigU, Ec. Lx., 53 :-

" All, all forgotten now, those youthful lays ;
My voice will follow, ay, my voice decays ;
The Wolf hath eyed me first, hath Mueris eyed."

liAVAGES OF TRE WOLF. 151

" That Edgar failed in Lis attempts at extirpation is manifest from a mcotdamiis of Edward I., to all
bailiffs, ifcc, to give their assistance to his faithful and beloved Peter Corbet, whom the king had enjoined
to take and destroy "Wolves ... in all forests and parks and other places in the counties of Gloucester,
Worcester, Hereford, and Salop, where they could be found. . . . Even so late as 1.577, the
fiocks of Scotland ajjpear to have suffered from the ravages of Wolves, which do not seem to have bei u
rooted out of that portion of the Idngdom till about the year 1680, when Sir Ewen Cameron's hand
laid the last Wolf low. In Ireland, Wolves must have lingered as late as the year 1710 ; about wliicli
time the last presentment for killing them in the county of Cork was made."

The Wolf is about the size of a large Shepherd's Dog, measuring some five feet from snout to tip of
tail : of this length about twenty inches are taken up by the tail. The height at the shoulders is about
thirty-two inches. The skin is of a dark yellowish-gi-ey coloui', or sometimes almost black; the hair is
long and coaree in the northern varieties, which have to sustain existence through a long, cold winter,
and shorter in the southern kinds, which enjoy a warmer climate. There is also a good deal of
variation in colour, according to the country from which the animal comes.

The muzzle has much the same shape as that of many Shepherd's Dogs, but the ears are veiy
upright and pointed, and the eyes are set obliquely ; in this respect the difference between a Wolf and
a Dog is very striking — the obliquity of the eye in the former gi\es him it most sinister expression.
The pupil of the eye is round. 'The bushy tail, too, is not curled ujj like a Dog's, but held down, almost
between the hind legs. But perhaps the most striking difference from the Dog is in the voice ; the
Wolf never barks — that is entirely a civilised habit : even Dogs allowed to become wild lose it — but howls
in a horrible and ghastly manner.

The Wolf usually lives in solitiiry places in mountains ; but in Siiain he is said sometinies to
make his lair in corn-fields, in close proximity to inhabited dwellings. Here he li\ es with liis wife and
family, usually cache during the day, and issunig forth at night to take I'is prey. During the warmer
periods of the year Wolves, as a rule, hunt each one for liiinself, but in the wintiH- they often unite
into gi-eat packs, and pursue their prey over the snow at a ia|a<l pace and with indomitable perse-
venmce. S-vvift and untiring must be the animal whiL-h, (in an op.n plain, can escape from them ; even
the Horse, perfectly constructed as he is for rapid running, ls ahnust certain to succumb, unless he can
reach a village before his pace begins to flag. They never spring upon an animal from an ambush —
the nearest approach ever made to such a mode of attack being their practice of attacking sheepfolds
by leaping into the midst of the flock and killing right and left ; when they reach their prey, too, the first
onslaught is made with the teeth, and never by a blow of the paw. Thus, a Wolf's attack — like that
of all members of the genus Canis — is entirely different from a Cat's. The Cat lies in ambush all alone,
.springs upon the passing prey, which, if he misses life scarcely ever pursues, and kills by a blow of tho
paw. The Dog and Wolf attack openly, sometimes alone, but oftener in company, pureue their prey
with -anflagging enei-gy until it falls a victim, and give the death-wound at once with their teeth. To
shepherds the Wolf Ls, and has been from the earliest times, a most unmitigated curse. A single Wolf
will leap the wall of a sheepfold and murder perhaps a quarter or a third of the flock before his lust
of slaughter is satisfied. Of course, he cannot eat more than one, or part of one, and the otheis
he slays from wanton cruelty. Mutton is naturally his standing dish, as it can be procured, if at
all, in abundance, and with comparatively little diificulty ; but he is not at all particular, and will eat
Deer, Goats, Birds, and even Reptiles. But his ftivourite meat, curious to relate, is Dorj, and ther^;
are mi,ny instances related of the eagerness and recklessnes.s shown by Wolves to obtain this cannibal
feast " Wolves have been known to carry off a Pointer from a sledge going at full gallop. The animal
leaps with a single bound amongst the three or four persons in the vehicle, who remain stupefied at
so much audacity, seizes his innocent victim, and pliuiges again into the forest. The whole is done in
less tijie than it takes to tell. Another time, it is a young Newfoundland, which his master, travel-
ling o.T horeeback, has placed before him, on the pommel of his large saddle ; the Wolf sees him, leaps
upon and seizes lum, and canies him off without touching man or horse."*

if the Wolf confined himself to Sheep and Dogs, matter would be bad, indeed, but still endurable ;
unfortunately, however, this hon-ible savage iikes human fle.sh just as well as " fle.sh of muttons, beefs,

* L. finault, quoted by Eiehm.

!:32

y.irURAL HlfiTOliY.

or goats." A single Wolf haicUy ever dares attack a man, for he is essentially a cowardly nuimal, but
a child may be now and then cairied off, and a man or a body of men may be attacked by an immense
troop of Wolves, and then, unless they can get to a vdlage or some other shelter, their iate is sealed.
They may kill the Wolves By dozens, expend all their ammunition, making every shot tell, fell the
howling monsters till theii- swords are hacked like FalstafiTs, but it is all of no avail ; each falling Wolf
is replaced by a fresh one hungrier and more \4gorous than hiinself, and the end, unless sxiccouv come,
can only be death by the teeth and a grave in the maw of perhaps hundreds? of Wolves. It is
related that, in 1812, twenty- four French soldiere were attacked by Wolves, and after a hard fight,
were aU slain and devoured ; their comrades found only the remains of their arms and uniforms, together

COMMON WOLK.

with a few bones, and the bodies of two or three hundred Wohes who hail fallen in the imequal
struggle, only to add to their comrades' banquet.

nie destruction v^Tought by the.se animals in countries where they abound is veiy gi-eat. "In
1823, in Livonia, a declaration made to the authorities stated, a.s ha\ing been carried off by Wolves,
15,182 Sheep; 1,807 Oxen; 1,841 Horses ; 3,270 Goats; 4,190 Pigs; 703 Dcg.'; ; and 1,873 Fowk
and Geese."

Tlie Wolf, savage though he l.>e, is quite tamable; he has often shown gi-eat devotion to his
master, and has, in fact, behaved in every respect like an affectionate Dog, a very interesting iaci, as
bearing upon the evolution of Dogs from wild Canula;.

The most remarkable instance of this with wliich we have met is the follomng, which shows the
Wolf to be— what one would never .suspect him to be— capable of that almost superhuman affection,
which is sometimes exliibited by Dogs:— « A lady near Geneva had a tame Wolf, which seemed to
have as much attachment to its mistress as a Spaniel. She had occasion to leave home for some weeks.
Tlie Wolf evinced the gi-eatest distress after her departure, and at fii-st refu.sed to take food. During
the whole time she was absent he remained much dejected On her return, as soon as the animal

19*

VAUIETIES OF THE WOLF. 1,03

heard her footsteps, lie bounded into the room in an ecstasy of delight. Springing up, he phiced one
paw on each of her sliouklers, but tlie next moment he fell backward and instantly expired."*

There arc several -varieties of the Wolf besides the common European kind, most of which have
been considered by different anthoi-s as distinct species, and some of wliirli ,irr r\-<'ii now so considered,
though the dirterences between them are so very slight and unimportant, tli.ii i( scins liardly advisable
to look upon them as anything more than (jeoymphkal species — varieti.'s prndiurd by difference of
climate and other surroundings.

" The Black Wolf is a name given to a variety which is most frequent in Southern Europe, and
particularly in the Pyrenees, and to the south of those mountains, where they are more common than
the ordinary Wolf, which the Black Wolf ecpials in stature, and, if anything, exceeds in strength.
Cuvier says it i.s found, but very rarely, in France."

The Wolf found in Palestine, the subject of so many references in the Old Testament, is, according
to Canon Tristram, a very well-marked variety. He says of it : —

" The Wolf is the dread of the shepherd from one end of the country to the other, and a single
Wolf is far more destructive than a whole pack of Jackals. Again and again I have put up the
Syrian Wolf and fired at it without success. Near Beei-sheba, in the hill country, in the forests
of Bashan and GUead, ill the ravines of Galilee and Lebanon, and in the maritime plains, it i.s
alike distributed. I never saw two together, and I never heard of them hunting in packs. It is
much to be wished that some traveller may be able to secure a specimen for examination, for it may
possibly prove to be a distinct variety. It is of a lighter fawn colour than any European Wolf I ever
saw, and appears decidedly larger. I can confirm the statement of Dr. Russell, that the natives speak
of another larger and fiercer species called ' Sheeb,' but I could never obtain any clear definition of
the distinctions between the two."

The Wolf of India, abundant in the open country, rare in the wooded districts over the whole of
the great peninsula, is considered, by authorities such as Mr. Blyth and Dr. Jerdon, as a distinct
.species, and is called Cams pallipes.

" The Wolves of the Southern Mahratta country," says Mr. Elliot, " generally hunt in jiacks, and I
liave seen them in full chase after the Goat-Antelope {Gazella BenmUii). Tiiey likewise steal round a
herd of Antelopes, and conceal themselves on diflerent sides, tOl an opportunity offers of seizing one of
them unawares, as they approach, whilst gi-azing, to one or other of their hidden assailants. On one
occasion three Wolves were seen to chase a herd of Gazelles across a ravine in which two others were
lying in wait. They succeeded in seizing a female Gazelle, which was taken from them. They have
frequently been seen to course and run down Hares and Foxes; and it is a common belief of the Ryots
that in the open plains, where there is no cover or concealment, they scrape a hole in the earth, in
which one of the pack lies down, and remains hid, while the others drive the herd of Antelopes over
him. Their chief prey, however, is Sheep ; and the shepherds say that part of the pack attack and
keep the Dogs in play, while others carry off their prey, and that if pursued they follow the same plan,
part turning and checking the Dogs, whilst the rest drag away the carcass till they evade pursuit.
Instances are not uncommon of then- attacking man. In 1824, upwards of thirty children were
devoured by Wolves in one pergunnah alone. Sometimes a large Wolf is seen to seek hi§ prey singl3\
These are called Wontola by the Canarese, and reckoned particularly fierce."

This Indian Wolf has dingy reddish-white fur, some of the hairs being tipped with black ; the lower
parts are dingy white, the tail slightly tipped with black.

Closely allied to the Indian Wolf is a variety from Tibet, " Canis lanujer, sometimes called the
'White Wolf by sportsmen who cross the Himalayas. It is the Changu of Tibet, CJmnkodi, near
the Niti Pass from Kumaon ; and it is a larger animal than the Indian Wolf, with white face and
limbs, and no dark tip to the tail, which is fully brushed. The hair is extremely woolly," this
peculiarity being, of course brought about by the cold climate to which the animal is exposed. Tibet
also boasts another variety, the Red or Golden Wolf, which is fulvous, with greyish-brown head,
and with the lower parts pure white. A third variety, with black shaggj- fur, arid sometimes known as
Canis niger, exists in the same coimtry.

The North American Wolf, which extends from Greenland in the north to Mexico in tV- south,
* Jesse: "History of the British Dog."

•,3i NATURAL ErSTORY.

is often separately considered as Can'm occidentaUs. It differs from the European kind chiefly in its
fur beino- finer, denser, and longer, and in the curious fact that its feet are, as Sir John Richardson
remarks verv broad, so as to enable it to run easily on the snow. The development of these natural
snow-shoes in the American Wolf fitting it so beautifully for its particular mode of life is highly
interesting. This species is entirely absent from South America, but its wide distribution in North
America may be gathered from Richardson's account : — ■

" Wolves are found in greater or less abundance in different districts, but they may be said to be
very common throughoiit the northern regions ; their footmarks may be seen by the side of every
stream, and a traveller can rarely pass a night in these wilds without hearing them howling around
him. They are very numerous on the sandy plains which, lying to the eastward of the Rocky
Mountams, extend from the sources of the Peace and Saskatchewan Rivers towards the Missouri.
There bands of them hang on the skirts of the Buffalo herds, and prey upon the sick and straggling
Calves. They do not, under ordinary circumstances, venture to attack the full-grown animal ; for the
hunters informed me that they often see Wolves walking through a herd of Bulls without exciting the
least alarm ; and the marksmen, when they crawl towards a Buffalo for the purpose of shooting it,
occasionally wear a cap with two ears, in imitation of the head of a Wolf, knowing from experience
that they will be suffered to approach nearer in that guise."*

The American Wolf extends into Greenland, where the Eskimo take it in traps of a very
novel construction, " made of strong slabs of ice, long and narrow, so that a Fox can with difficulty
turn himself in it ; but a Wolf must actually remain in the position in wldch he is taken.
The door is a heavy portcullis of ice, sliding in two well-secured grooves of the same substance, and is
kept up by a line, which, passing over the top of the trap, is carried through a hole at the farthest
extremity ; to the end of the line is fastened a small hoop of whalebone, and to this any kind of flesh
bait is attached. From the slab which terminates the trap a projection of ice, or a peg of wood or
bone, points inwai-ds near the bottom, and under this the hoop is lightly hooked ; the slightest pull at
the bait liberates it, the door fiills in an instant, and the Wolf is speared where he lies."

There are no less than five varieties of the North American Wolf, to all of which separate specific
names have been given by authors. They are : the Common Grey Wolf (Lupus griseus), the White
Wolf (Lvjms albus), the Pied Wolf {Lupus sticte), the Dusky Wolf (Lup^is nuhihis), and the Black
Wolf {Lupus ater.) All these differ from one another only in the lesser details of colouring and other
minor characters. In theii- habits they resemble one another entirely, and it is therefore unnecessary
to do more than mention them.

The Coyote, or Prairie Wolf t occurs, along with the common North American Wolf, as far south
as Mexico ; its northern range being about the 55th degree of latitude.

"The Prairie Wolf has much resemblance to the Common Grey Wolf in colour; but differs from
it so much in size, voice, and manners, that it is fully entitled to rank as a distinct species. It inhabits
the plains of the Missouri and Saskatchewan, and also, though in smaller numbers, those of Columbia.
On the banks of the Saskatchewan, these animals start from the earth in great numbers on hearing the
report of a gun, and gather around the hunter in expectation of getting the offal of the animal he has
slaughtered. They hunt in packs, and are much more fleet than the Common Wolf. I was informed
liy a gentleman who has resided forty years on the Saskatchewan, and is an experienced hunter, that
the only animal on the plains which he could not overtake, when mounted on a good Horse, was the
Prong-horned Antelope, and that the Meesteh-chaggoneesh, or Prairie Wolf, was the next in speed."

" The fur of the Prairie Wolf is of the same quality with that of the Grey Wolf, and consists of
long hairs, with a thick wool at their base. The wool has a smoky or dull lead colour ; the long hairs
on the back are either white for their whole length, or they are merely tipj>ed with black. The
jirevailing colour along the spine is dark blackish-grey, sprinkled with white hairs. Its cheeks, ui)per
lip, chin, tlu-oat, belly, and insides of the thighs, are white. There is a light-brown tint upon the
upper surface of the nose, on the forehead, and between the ears, on the shoulders, on the sides, where
it is mixed with grey, and on the outsides of the thighs and legs. The tail is gi-ey and brown, with a
black tip. Some individuals have a broad black mark on the shins of the fore-legs, like the European

• Bicharason: "Fauna Boreali Americana," 1829. t Canis latranj.

THE JACKAL.

COYOTE, OK rRAIltlE WOLF,

Wolf. The ears are short, erect, and roundish, white anteriorly and brown behind. The tail is bushy,
and is clothed, like the body, with wool and long hair. Some specimens want the brown tints, and
have most of the grey colour."* The length of body and head together amounts to about three feet ;
that of the tail about fourteen or fifteen inches.

The Red Wolf (Canis jubatus) of Brazil shows considerable resemblance both to the Jackals and
to the Foxes. It has long, slender legs, a sknder snout, long ears, and stifl', shaggy, reddish hair,
raised into a mane along the neck.

THE JACKAL.f

Next to the Wolf, the Jackal is the most important wild member of the Dog tribe. It is a much
smaller animal than the Wolf, not excesding thirty inches in length, and seventeen in height at the
shoulder. It is also distinguLshed from Wolves and true Dogs by its curious, long |i.iiiit:Ml muzzle. Its
fiir is of a dusky-yellowish coloui- — whence its name of " Loup dore," or gilded Woli', and its specific
appellation aureus — "the hairs being mottled black, grey, and brown, with the uiidn- fur brownish-
yellow, the lower parts yellowish-grey, tail reddish-brown, ending in a darkish tuft." There is a good
deal of variation from this colour, depending partly on the time of year, partly on the locality.

Tlie Jackal is a cowardly animal, blessed with a most evil smell and with a voi-acious
appetite. It lives largely upon carrion, a good deal of which it gets as a sort of " perquisite " from
the remains of the Lion's fea-st. It is sometimes called " the Lion's provider," a name which " may
have arisen from the notion that the yell of the pack gives notice to the Lion that prey is on foot, or
from the Jackals being seen to feed on the remnants of the Lion's quarry." Dr. Jerdon says, " it is a
very useful scavenger, cleai-ing away all garbage and carrion from the neighbourhood of Cape Town^
but occasionally committing depredations among poultry and other domestic animals. Sickly
Sheep and Goats usually fall a prey to him ; and a wounded Antelope is pretty certain to be tracked
and hunted to death by .Jackals. They will, however^ partake freely of vegetable food."
* Kichardson. t Canis aureus.

156 NATURAL HISTORY.

Like most other Dogs, the Jackal hunts in packs ; and then, while on an expedition for food,
makes night hideous by its fearful cries. In this it calls to mind the Hyrena, as well as in some other
particulai-s, as, for instance, in its love for carrion, and in the remarkably cool way in which it will
stare and laugh at travellers, as if holding them up to general ridicule.

The habits of tlie Jackal are altogether canine. Their hunts are conducted under the guidance of
a leader, who is said to give the signal for every attack by a peculiar cry, and so powerful are these
little animals in their union, that they are quite capable of pulling down a Deer. Their chief food
in Ceylon seems to be Hares, the numbers of which they keep down to such an extent that those
palatable Rodents are quite scarce in regions infested by Jackals.

The Jackal resembles, in one respect, the Fox, more than either the Wolf or Wild Dog. It has
the reputation for excessive cunning, and indeed takes the place of our old vulpine friend, in the
legends of the East. It is said that " when a Jackal has brought down his game and killed it, his
tirst impulse is to hide it in the nearest jungle, whence he issues, with an air of easy indifference.

to observe whether anything more powerful than himself may be at hand from which he might
encounter the risk of being despoiled of his capture. If the coast be clear, he returns to the con-
cealed carcass, and carries it away, followed by his companions. But if a man be in sight, or any
other animal to be avoided, my informant has seen the Jackal seize a cocoa-nut husk in his moiith, or
any similar substance, and fly at full speed, as if eager to carry off his pretended prize, returning for
the real booty at some more convenient season."

Sir Emerson Tennent states that the Jackal, like the Domestic Dog, is subject to rabies, and that
cattle frequently die from bites inflicted by them when in this condition.

" An exci-escence is sometimes found on the head of the Jackal, consisting of a small horny cone,
about half an inch in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair. This the natives call Narrl comboo ;
and they aver that this ' Jackal's horn ' only grows on the head of the leader of the pack. Both the
Singhalese and the Tamils regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate possessor can command,
by its instrumentality, the realisation of every wish, and that if stolen or lost by him, it will invariably
return of its own accord. Those who have jewels to conceal rest in perfect security, if along with
them they can deposit a Narri comboo, fully convinced that its presence is an effectu-il safeguard
against robbers.

"One fabulous virtue ascribed to the Narri comboo by the Singhalese is absurdly characteristic of
their passion for litigation, as well as of theii- perceptions of the ' glorious uncertainty of the lav.'.' It

VAI!IETI£S OF THE JACKAL.

157

is the popular belief that the fortunate discoverer of a Jackal's horn becomes thereby invincible in
ovei-y lawsuit, and must u-resistibly triumph over every opponent. A gentleman connected with the
Supreme Court of Colombo lias repeated to me a ch-cumstance, within his own knowledge, of a plaintifl',
who, after numerous defeats, eventually succeeded against his opponent by the timely acquisition of
this invaluable charm. Before the tinal hearing of the catise, the mysterious horn was duly exhibited
to his friends ; and the consequence was that the adverse witnesses, appalled by the belief that no one
could possibly give judgment against a jjerson so endowed, suddenly modified their previous evidence,
and secured an unforeseen victory for the happy owner of the Narri comboo ! "

Jackals have often been tamed ; and, inider the ch-cumstances, beha\'e exactly like the Domestic
Dog : they fawn upon their masters, wag theii' tails, and throw themselves on their backs with all four
paws in the aii', altogether like Dogs. The chief drawback to their domestication is theii- abominable
-smell ; but it is stated by Colonel Sykes that a tame female Jackal in his possession was quite devoid

JtCK^I OF SENEGAL.

of this odour, while a recently-caught male, which was placed with her, smelt so horribly as to be
almost unapproachable.

The Common Jackal is found in Asia Minor, South-East Asia, including Pei-sia and India, as fi\r
south as Ceylon, and in the North of Africa. The Black-backed Jackal (Canis niesomekis) is found in
trans-Saharal Africa, from Nubia to the Cape. It is rather larger than the common kind, with longer
ears and tail, a light red skin, with a black back-stripe. It is a very thievish animal, and is accused
by some of the natives of eating off the tails of their Sheep.

Tlie Jackal of Senegal (Canis anthxs) is one of the best marked varieties of the Jackal, and
has a strong claim to the distinction of a separate specific name. It is considerably lai-ger than
the common kind, more elegantly built, and has veiy long legs, almost like those of a Greyhound. It
is of a bright tawny colour, with dark band on the back, side, and chest. It is one of the commonest
animals in Central Africa, and " its habits are difiei-ent to those of the Common Jackal. It is more
prudent and suspicious, and is completely nocturnal. During the day it lies hidden in a safe retreat,
and nothing but chance can reveal its presence to the hunter."

The Crab-eating Dog (Canis cancrivorus) is a Jackal approaching in many respects, especially in
its long and bushy tail, to the Foxes. It is found in the savannahs of South America. The Aguara,
•or Azai-a's Fox (Canis Azarie), another South American species, is almost half-way between Jackals
■and Foxes, the latter of which it chiefly resembles in its long tail and short snout. ■

NATURAL mSTOItr.

THE COMMON FOX.

The Foxes form a very distinct group of Canuhe, differing far more from the Dog, Wolf, and
Jackal than those animals do from one another. The most characteristic and important difference
between them lies in the fact that in the Foxes the pupil of the ej'e contracts under the influence of
strong light to a vertical slit, dilating and becoming circular again a.s the light diminishes. Tills is the
case, as will be remembered, in the Common Cat, and many other members of the same family ; it is,
in fact, very usual in animals of nocturnal habits, which, being used under ordinary circumstances
to make shift with the smallest quantity of light obtainable, are advantaged by being able to exclude
all superfluous rays when the illumination becomes stronger than they can comfortably bear. More-
over, the muzzle of Foxes is much sharper than that of Dogs, the head more rounded, the ears erect
and triangular, the limbs short, and the tail or " brush" long, thick, and bushy. On account of these

differences, many naturalists prefer to separate the Foxes altogether from Dogs, Wolves, and Jackals,
and make them constitute a new genus — Vulpes — the Common Fox being called Vvlpes vulgaris.

The habits and appearance of the Fox are thoroughly well known, especially in Great Britain,
where the life of this, the gi-eatest marauder of the farmyard, is held in such high esteem, that
in many places vulpicide is a crime of almost equal magnitude with homicide, and of far greatei'
magnitude than uxoricide : at any rate, if the latter operation be only fairly conducted, secundum artem,
with boots. In many counties, even now, the farmer who kills the pillager of his poultry-yard, instead
of leaving him to come by his death in the hunting-field, is promptly " sent to Coventry," and often
obliged to pack up, bag and baggage, and try his fortune in another locality. Tlie Fox, indeed, must
be brought to justice for no crime he may commit, however gi-eat ; but when his time is up, he must
be hunted to death with an army of Dogs, each one twice his own size, and his dying struggles witnessed
by scores of horsemen and horsewomen, who are considered to have done gi-eat tilings if they are " in
at the death " of the insignificant little thing, which ought to have been knocked on the head long ago.
J The cunning of the Fox is proverbial. When hunted, he " makes a thousand shifts to get away,'

and often succeeds in baffling the whole pack of well-trained Hounds. His stealthy tread, as he wind.s
along the hill sides and valley slopes to seek his prey or to reach his lair, is altogether characteristic of
one thoroughlj' well up to his work. Numberless tales are told of his sagacity, but we will content

Canis rulpes.

THE ARCTIC FOX. 1'"j!>

ourselves with one wliieli forms almost as good an example of animal reason as any we ha\e mi-t with,
even in the Dog : —

" A farmer in Bogside, Beith. of the name of Fleming, wiis looking out of his window one summer's
morning, about three o'clock, when he saw a Fox crossing a field before it. Ciirrviiig a large Duck which
lie had captured. On coming to a stone dyke, about four feet high, on the side of the field, Reynard
made an efibrt to leap over it \vith bis prey, but failed, and fell back into the field. After making
three attempts, with the same result, he sat down, and viewed the dyke for a few minutes ; after
apparently satisfying himself, he caught the Duck by the head, aiid standing up against the dyke with
his fore-paws as high as he could reach, he placed the bill of the Duck in a crevice in the wall ; then
springing upon the top he reached down, and pulling up the Duck, dropped it upon the otlier side,
leaped dowii., and picking it uji, went on his way."

The Common Fox is found, under more or less well-marked varieties, some of which are often
elevated to the rank of species, over the greater part of Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and in many
parts of Amei-ica.

THE ARCTIC FOX.*

This is an extremely well-marked species of Fox, found in the southern and central parts of Green-
land, and extending high up Smith's Sound. It is sometimes seen during the Seal-hunting season
hundreds of mOes from land, on the frozen sea, where it has wandered to feast on the dead Seals.

It is usually stated that the colour of the skin of this animal varies with the season — that in
summer it is of a blue-grey colour, while in winter it is jierfectly wliite ; these coloure, of course,
serving as a protection' to the animal : the blue harmonises well with the rocky shore and the thick,
dark ipe, while the winter coat is perfectly indistinguishable on the snow, with which the ground is
then thickly strewn. But according to a writer of high authority, Dr. Robert Brown, this is all a
mistake. The white and blue colours are distinctive of separate varieties of the Arctic Fox, and
not of the same animal at difi'erent seasons : the colour in each case being wholly independent of the
time of year. The length, from snout to i-oot of tail, is about two feet, that of the tail itself about a foot.

An interesting account of the manners and customs of this pretty little animal is given by Sir
J. Richardson, who says : —

" The Ai'ctic Fox is an extremely cleanly annual, being very careful not to dii't those places in
which he eats or sleeps. No unpleasant smell is to be perceived, even in a male, which is a remarkable
cii'cumstance. To come unawares on one of these creatures is, in my opinion, impossible ; for even
■when in an apparently sound sleep, they open their eyes at the slightest noise which is made near
them, although they pay no attention to sounds when at a short distance. The general time of
rest is duiing the daylight, in which they appear listless and inactive ; but the night no sooner sets in
than all theii" faculties are awakened : they commence their gambols, and continue in unceasing and
rapid motion until the morning. WhOe hunting for food, they are mute, but when in captivity or
irritated, they \itter a short gi-owl, like that of a young puppy. It is a singular fact that their bark
is so undulated as to give an idea that the animal is at a distance, although at the very moment he lies
at your feet. Although the rage of a newly-caught Fox is quite ungovernable, yet it very rarely
happened that on two being put together they quarrelled. A confinement of a few hours often sulSced
to quiet these creatures ; and some instances occurred of their being perfectly tame, although timid,
from the firet moment of theii' captivity. On the other hand, there were some which, after months of
coaxing, never became more tractable. These, we supposed, were old ones.

" Theii- fii-st impulse on receiving food is to hide it as soon as possible, even though suflTering from
hunger, and having no feUow-prisoners of whose honesty they are doubtful. In this case, snow is of
great assistance, as being easily piled over their stores, and then forcibly pressed down by the nose. I
frequently observed my Dog-Fox, when no snow was attainable, gather his chain into his mouth, and in
that manner carefully coil it so as to hide the meat. On moving away, satisfied with his operations,
h3 of course had drawn it after him again, and sometimes with great patience repeated his laboui-s five
or six times, until in a passion he has been consti-ained to eat his food without its having oeer.
rendered luscious by pievious concealment. Snow is the substitute for water to these creatures, and

* Canis laijopus.

160 NATURAL HISTORY.

on a large lump being given to them, tliey bi'eak it in pieces with their feet, and roll on it with gi-eat
delight. "When the snow was slightly scattered on the decks, they did not lick it up, as Dogs are
accustomed to do, but by repeatedly pressing with their nose collected small lumps at its extremity,
and then drew it into the mouth with the assistance of the tongue." In another passage, Captjiin
Lyon, alluding to the above-mentioned Dog-Fox, says, " He was small and not perfectly white ; but his
tameness was so remarkable, that I could not afford to kill him, but confined him on deck in a small
hutch with a scope of chain. The little animal astonished us very much by his extraordinary
sagacity : for, during the first day, finding himself much toi-mented by being drawn out repeatedly by
his chain, he at length, whenever he retreated to his hut, took this carefully up in his mouth, and
drew it so completely after him that no one who valued his fingers would endeavour to take hold
of the end attached to the staple."

The Eskimo take the Arctic Foxes in traps, which are described by Captain Parry as being
" extremely simple and ingenious. They consist of a small circular arched hut, built of stones, having
a square aperture at the top, but quite close and secure in every other pai-t. This aperture is closed by
some blades of whalebone, which, though in reality only fixed to the stones at one end, appear to form
a secure footing, especially when the deception is assisted by a little snow laid on them. The bait is
so placed that the animal must come upon this platform to get at it, when the latter, unable to bear
the weight, bends downwards, and after precipitating the Fox into the trap, which is made too deep to
allow of his escape, returns by its elasticity to its former position, so that sevei'al may then be caught
successively." They are also taken in the wolf-traps of ice; and all the rocky islands Ijang off the
month of the Coppermine Eiver are studded with square traps, built of stone, by the Eskimo, wherein
the Fox is killed by a flat stone falling upon him when he pulls at the bait.

The skins of both the white and the blue Fox are important articles of commerce, but the blue
variety, being much rarer than the white, is far more valuable, the p)-ice for it being six or seven
times as much as that of the white.

THE FENNEC*

lliis is a pretty little Fox-like animal, about ten inches long, not including the tail, which
measures about five inches and a quarter. The fur is of a whitish hue, the cheeks large, and the
snout shai-p, just like those of a true Fox; but the ears distinguish it at once: they are quite erect, and
nearly three inches and a half long, that is, considerably longer than the whole head.

The Fennec is found in the whole of Africa, and has also been described as occurring at
Bushire, on the shores of the Persian Gulf It was first noticed by the African traveller, Bruce, who
kept a sjjecimen as a pet. The favourite food of this animal " consisted of dates or any sweet fruit ; but
he was also very fond of eggs. He would eat bread when hungry, more especially if it was ren-
deretl palatable by honey or sugar. The sight of a bii-d aroused him to eager watchfulness as long as
it was present ; and a Cat was his avei-sion. He would endeavour to hide from the latter, but never
showed a disposition to resist or defend himself. The animal was disposed to sleep by day, but as
night came on he became restless to excess. Bruce never heai-d it utter any sound. He says that the
animal is described in many Arabian books under the name of El Fennec, by wliich appellation he
states that it is known all over Africa ; and he conceives that the word is derived from the Greek
Phoinix, a palm or date-tree, adding that the animal builds his nest on trees, and does not burrow in
the earth."

The fondness of the Fennec for vegetable food is curious, as most of the wild Cnnida' have so
marked a preference for puimal food. Bruce's statement quite bears oiit the main fact in the old
fable of " The Fox and the Grapes," as well as that in the " Song of Songs " — " Take us the Foxes,
the little Foxes, that spoil the vines : for our vines have tender grapes."

On the shores of the Persian Gulf, the Fennec is sometimes hunted with Dogs, and will often take
to the sea to escape from its enemies. Fennec-hunting is likely to be good sport, as the long-eared
little creature is extremely plucky and enduring. In Africa, according to Sir John Kirk, " these
animals hunt in packs. Although inferior in speed to the Antelope, they will run him tlown, and at
last wear him out ; even the Buffalo they are said sometimes to kill."

* Canis zerda.

162 yAIUKAL MlsTOkY.

THE LONG-EARED FOX.*
TLis vei-y extraordinary little animal is found only in South Africa. It has somewhat the appear-
flnce of a Fennec, but the bushy tail is straight and comparatively short, being not more than half the
lent^h of the body and head, which together are about two feet long. The ears are of great size, and
the sncut is very short and pointed. The skin is of a gi-eyLsh-yellow colour, ivhite beneath, and the
tail is darker than the rest of the body. It diifei-s from all other Canida? in having no less than six
additional molar teeth, two on each side of the upper, one on each side of the lower jaw.t Some of
the teeth, too, show an approximation in form to those of the Civets. For tliese reasons it is, like the
two following animals, phiced in a separate genus from the rest of the C'anidK.

THE RACOON DOG.J
This is another member of the family, the peculiarities of which are so great as to necessitate its
being placed in a separate genus. It is very different from an ordinary Dog, and has the look of a
Racoon, which, as we shall see afterwards, is a member of one of the families of Arctoidea, and far
removed from the Dogs. Tlie body is covered with long brown fur ; the ears are short and rounded.
The back is curiously arched, almcst like that of a Marten or Weasel ; the legs are short and slender.
The body attains a length of almost twenty-eight inches ; the prettily-feathered tail is about four
inches in length. The teeth equal in number those of ordinary Dogs.

=» THE HY^NA-DOG.§

This curious animal, sometimes called the " Cape Hunting Dog," is found over the greater part of
trans-Saharal Africa, being especially abundant in the neighbourhood of Cape Colony. Of all the
Cynoids it is the species which shows the greatest approximation to the vEluroid type. It is, to all
intents and purposes, a Dog, but yet in some few respects shows a decided relationship with the Hyaenas ;
for instance, the back slopes slightly towards the hinder quarter, the muzzle is black, and of that ugly
snub-nosed character so characteristic of Hyaena-s, the ears are long and straight, and the tail scanty.
It differs also from the trae Dogs in having only four toes on all the feet, instead of five on the fore
feet and four on the hind feet. The skull and teeth are quite Cynoid in character: the former
presenting only one single slight and unimportant point in which it tends to resemble that of a Hysena.

The Lycaon is about the size of a Wolf Its skin varies a good deal in its markings. " White,
.black, and yellow ochre are its chief tints; the white predominates in some, the black in others, and
forms the fundamental colours ; the spots are very irregular, sometimes large, sometimes small, very
varyingly disposed on the surface of the body ; the white and ochreous spots are always mixed with
black. The colouration of the head is the most constant; the muzzle is black up to the eyes; and
black bands are prolonged between the eye and ear, along the top of the head, to the neck. The tail
is usually tolerably regular in colouration : it is ochreous at the root, black in the middle, white or
ochreous at the tip ; the eyes are brown."

The Hysena-Dogs are partly diumal, partly nocturnal in then- habits. They like fresh meat, and
are, at the same time, partial to carrion.

" Tliese animals invariably hunt together in large organised packs, varying in numbers from ten
to sixty, and by their extraordinary powers of endurance and mode of mutual assistance, they are
enabled to run into the swiftest and overcome the largest and most powerful Antelope. Their pace is
a long, never-tiring gallop, and in the chase they relieve one another, the leading Hounds falling to the
rear when fatigued, when othei-s who have been husbanding their strength come up and relieve them.
Having succeeded in bringing their quarry to bay, they all surround him, and he is immediately
dragged to the ground, and in a few minutes torn to pieces and consumed.

" Their voices consist of three different kinds of cry, each being used on special occasions. One
of their cries is a sharp angry bark, usually uttered when they suddenly behold an object which
they cannot make out. Another resembles a number of Monkeys chattering together, or con-

* Megalotis Lalandii.

t The dental formula is, therefore, incisors, |^ ; canines, Jfj ; premolars, '^ ; molars, 4— ^=48.

1 NycUrentcs procyonides. § Lijcaon pictus.

THE BEAR FAMILY.

^fm#M

vereing wlien their teotli are chattering violently from cold. This cry is emitted at night, when
large numbers of them are together and they are excited by any particular occurrence, such as being
barked at by Domestic Dogs. The third cry, and the one most commonly uttered Viy them, is a sort of
rallying note to bring the various membei-s of the pack together when they have been scattered in
following several individuals of a troop of Antelopes. It is a peculiarly soft and melodious cry, yet,
nevertheless, may be distinguished at a gi-eat distance. It very much resembles the second note
uttered by the Cuckoo, which %-isits our island during the summer months ; and when heard on a calm
morning echoing through the distant woodlands, it has a very pleasing eflect." *

CHAPTER X.

THE BEAR FAMILY.— the bears.
Characters of the TTRSID.E— Their Jlode of Progression— Teeth— Skull— Geographical Distribution— The Brown Bear -Its
Occurrence — Character — Habit of Hibernating — Diet — Moral Characteristics — Bear-baiting — Varieties — The American
Black Bear— Its Habits— buperstitions of the Indians regarding it — The Grizzly Bear— The Syrian Bear— The
Himalayan Bear— The Sl'x Bear— The Sloth Bear— Its Ant-and Bee-eating Propensities— The Spectacled Bear
— The Polar Bear— Its Size— Characteristics — Habits — Method of Hunting— The supposed Poisonous Properties of
its Liver.

THE BEAR FAMILY.f
We now come to the last gi-oup of Carnivora — that of the Arctoidea — and to a family which forms an
extreme limit to the long series, of which the Dogs constitute the centre, and the Cats the opposite end.

* Goi Jon Cuniming quoted by A. Murray: '' Geogr.iphical Distribution of Mammals." t Ursidir..

KATVRAL HISTORY.

feet applied to the ground, or

'Pi)S"#"i

The latter, as we liave already seen, eulniin;i<^e in one direction — that is, they attain the perfection of
structure for a predatory life and flesh diet. The members of the Dog family, again, are ilesh-eaters,
as a rule, but not exclusively. They are well adapted for hunting and catching living prey, but by
no means so perfectly as the Cats ; they are, indeed — from a carnivorous point of view — the mferiors
of the Feline gi'oiip in teeth, in claws, and in muscular strength and agiHty.

The Bears, with which we have now to do, depart as widely from the Dogs in one direction as
the Cats in the other ; and their distance from the latter family is great indeed. The Cats attain the
perfection of quadrupedal form, while few animals are more clumsy and awkward- looking than a
Sloth Beai'. Cats walk, with an elegant and silent tread, on the very tips of their toes • Bears
shuffle along with a waddling, though often rapid gait, and with the whole sole of both fore and hind
words, are wholly plantigrade. Cats have a clean-cut, rounded
face, with beautifully chiselled nostrils and thin
lijis; Bears a long snout, almost like a Pig's.
The fur of Cats is usually shoit and brilliantly
coloured; that of Bears long, shaggy, and sombre.
Lastly, while the Cats are almost exclusively
flesh-eaters, many Bears ave strict vegetarians,
or at most eat such matters as Ants and honey,
and only have recourse to meat wlieii their
favourite food cannot be had.

In coi-respondeuce with the partly or en-
tirely vegetable nature of the Bear's diet, we
find a remarkable .series of modifications in its
teeth. The front teeth, or incisors, are of con-
siderable size, and have three points or cusps.
.,iiici6or8;c,raiiinesipra,pveiuoiars(tiie second a].d thud nf Vbich arc The gj-eat eye-teeth, or canines, although large

absent in both jawsj ; Tit, niulars. , _ .i i i i • i ii n ■ i

and formidable, ai-e decidedly smaller ni rela-
tion to the rest of the teeth than in either the Dog or Cat group. Following these are thi-ee very
small teeth, which usually fall out at an early period, and are, therefore, not to be found in most
skulls ; these, as well as the next tooth, which is of considerable size, have their places occupied
iu the young Bear by "milk-molars," and are therefore called. premolars. The last premolar in the
upper jaw is succeeded by two, that in the lower jaw by three, true grinders or molars ; so that the
"dental formula" of the Bear is the same as that of the Dog, namely, incisors, |z|; canines,
JZJ ; premolars, x^\ ; molars, 3J3.

But though the number agrees, the form is very difierent. The incisors and canines, as we have
said, exhibit no difference of imirortance, ^:iut the last premolar and all the molars, instead of liaving
the sharp cutting character they have in the Cat, and to
a less degree in the Dog, Lave comparatively flat crowns,
raised up into a number of little elevations or tubercles ;
even the " carnassial " teeth (last premolar in the upper
jaw, and first molar in the lower) have entirely lost
their scissor-blade character, and become tnie grindei-s.
As a corresponding change, the hinge of the lower jaw
is no longer so constructed as to be incapable of any but
an up and down motion; it can, on the contrary, be pnVtati"'iirt'i?olaueTieuVg1iL\'i,nU°d'.'* "''' ^"""''''''''*''°'''°°
worked from .side to side, so that the Bear can actually chew his food. The animal derives a
double advantage from this : in the first jilace, the food can be reduced to a pulp, a very necessary
thing for such food-materials as roots, which in an entire state would be highly indigestible ; and, in
the second ]ilaoe, it is acted upon for a considerable time by the saliva, and thus partially digested in
the mouth, for one of the chief properties of saliva is to convert the insoluble, and therefoi-e indigestible,
starchy matter, of which a large part of most vegetable substances consists, into soluble, and therefore
dige.stible, sugar.

It is a remarkaVile circumstance that the teeth have the same form in all the Bfa)-s : though,

TEETH OF rOLAR liEAK.

TEE BROll'N BEAR.

largely lierbivoroiis, some, such ;is the Polar Bear,
would natvirally exi^ect a differfnce in the teeth.

as we shall see, while most of them are wholly or
are almost entirely of Hesh-eatiiig habits, and one
Curiously enough, however, no such difference
is api)arent.

The Beai-s have five toes to each foot, all
armed with long curved claws. In the skull
the floor of the drum cavity of the ear is hardly
at all dilated, so that there can scarcely be said
to be a bulla tymjxmi at all ; moreover, a bony
passage of considerable length leads from the
drum to the exterior, instead of the aperture
being flush with the wall of the drum, a.s in the
Cats. As we have seen, the Cats have a small
ca-cum, or blind process, to the intestine, and
the Dogs one of considerable size. In the Bear
this appendage is wholly absent.

Bears are found over a large part of the
world, in Europe, Asia, North and South
America, and North Africa. They are, however,
wholly absent from what is tenned trans-Saharal
Africa, that is, the part of the continent south feet of iie.\u.

of the great Sahara De.sert ; and are also not to

be found in any part of the Australian region, or, in other words, in Australia, Tasmania, New
Zealand, and the islands of the Malayan Archipelago east of Wallace's line. They thus have a far

more restricted distribution than either
i'j of tl}e other two chief families of

Carnivora — the Felithe and Canida:

THE COMJIOX BROWX BEAR.*
The Brown Bear is the conMiionest
member of the whole family, and lias
been kno'wii from very early periods. It
was, indeed, for a long time the only
.species known to Liiuiffius, who recog-
nised no other kind up to the tenth
iNDEu \IE^^ or isnR ^ '~Ki 1 1 edition of his great work, when he

.„''.Bgc,MJ.en"i'ra.'..r.„".i"a.'..': " "-^ ' " ') ' \ iiai cloubtfully admitted the Polar Bear.

The Brown Bear is found in many parts of Europe — Norway, Russia, Central Europe, Spain, <fec. —
in Siberia, Kamtchatka, and Japan, and in a part of the Arctic regions of North America. In former
times it was found in Britain, whence it was imported by the Eomans, under the name of the Caledonian
Bear, for the sports of the amphitheatre. " Ray quotes authority for the Brown Bear being one of the
Welsh beasts of chase ; and Pennant adduces the places which retained the name of Pennarth, or the
Bear's Head, as evidence that it existed in that principality. In the ' History of the Gordons ' it is
stated that one of that family, so late as the year 1057, was directed by the king to carry three Bears'
heads on his banner, as a reward for his valour in slaying a fierce Bear in Scotland." It is, however,
quite possible that this valorous Gordon may be a mythical personage, or that he may have lived at a
much earlier ])eriod than that to which his exploit is assigned.

The Brown Bear is an awkward-looking brute, with sprawling gait, heavy body, and no tail to
speak of. It is about six feet long, and about three or three and a half feet high at the shoulder.
Its fur is longish, rather woolly, and of a dark brown hue. It lives a solitary life, and, like many of

NATURAL HlfiTORT.

its kin, lias the curious habit of hihernat'uKj. During the summer, when food is abundant, it lays in a
very large stock of provisions, thereby ))ecoming immensely fat. This operation being satisfiictorily
performed by the beginning of winter, the Bear, finding that his foraging opei-ations become more and
more arduous, seeks out a resting-place, such as a hollow tree or a cavern, or if these are not to be
had, makes a sort of rude hut or nest for himself of branches and moss, and then goes into winter
quarters, and calmly settles down for a post-prandial slumber, which lasts until spring. He then
emerges from his hiding-place, very thin and weak — altogether a mere ghost of his former .self — and
immediately sets about repaii-ing his losses by as many hearty meals as he can possibly cram into the
time at his disposal, or as the means at his command will allow.

The Bear feeds chiefly on roots, berries, and other vegetables ; it has also a fondness for Ants, and a
perfect passion for honey, in the capture of which he is often severely stung about the nose — almost

COMMON liROWX HEAU.

his only vulnerable part — by the infuriated inhabitants of the comb. Ho also preys upon small
quadrupeds, and sometimes — especially when fully adult — on larger ones. He is occasionally bold
enough to attack the Bull, but is, as often as not, woi-sted in the encounter. He rarely attacks man,
unless provoked, and then, when his blood is up, is a most dangerous antagonist. His mode of attack is
(leculiarly his own. He does not fell his victim with a blow of his paw like one of the larger Cats, or
-seize it at once with his teeth like a Dog, but " gives it the hug" — embraces it tightly, and with a gi-eat
show of affection, with its powerful fore limbs, and continues the squeeze until the wretched animal is
.suffocated. The female Bear, especially when her family is about, is a jiarticularly ferocious creature.
Her savageness is, indeed, proverbial ; she is devoted to her cubs, and any one threatening theii- safety
does so at his own peril.

The Bear is not only an affectionate mother, but is capable of a very firm friendship, as the follow-
ing anecdote, related by Mr. Andersson,* shows. He tells us that, amongst a collection of animals he
possessed " were two Brown Bears — twins — somewhat more than a year old, and playful as kittens when
together. Indeed, no greater punishment could be inflicted upon these beasts than to disunite them,
for however short a time. Still, there was a marked contrast in their dispositions ; one of them was

* "Lake 'Kgnmi."

THE AMERICAX BLACK BEAR. 167

good-tempered and gentle as a lamb, while the otlier freo'vutly exhibited signs of a sulky and
treacherous character. Tempted b}^ an ofier for the purchase of the former of these animals, I con-
sented, after much hesitation, to his being separated from his brother.

"It was long before I forgave myself this act. On the following day, on my proceeding, as usual,
to inspect the collection, one of the keepei-s ran up to me, iii the greatest haste, exclaiming, ' Sir, I
am glad you are come, for your Bear has gone mad ! ' He then told me that during the night the
beast had destroyed his den, and wivs found in the morning roaming wild about the garden. Luckily,
the keeper managed to seize him just as he was escaping into the country, and, with the help of several
othei-s, succeeded in sh iitting liim up again. The Beai-, however, refused his food, and raved in so fearful
a manner that, unless he could be quieted, it was clear he would do mischief.

" On my arrival at his den, I found the poor brute in a most furious state, tearing the wooden
floor with his claws, and gnawing the barricaded front with his teeth. I had no sooner opened the
door than he sprang furiously at me, and struck me repeated blows with his powerful paws. As, how-
ever, I had reared him from a cub, we had too often measured our strength together for me to fear him
now ; and I soon made him retreat into the corner of his prison, where he remained howling in the
most heartrending manner. It was a most sickening sight to behold the poor creature, with his eyes
bloodshot and protruding from the sockets, his mouth and chest white with foam, and his body crusted
with dirt. I am not ashamed to confess that at one time I felt my own eyes moistened. Neither
blows nor kind words were of any effect : they only served to ii-ritate and infuriate him ; and I saw
clearly that the only remedy would be either to shoot him or to restore him to his brother's com-
panionship. I chose the latter alternative ; and the purchaser of the other Bear, my kind friend, Sir
Henry Hunloke, on being informed of the circumstance, consented to take this one also."

A more curious case is related by Brehm, who tells us of a little boy who crept one night for
warmth and shelter into the cage of an extremely savage Bear. The lattei-, instead of devouring the
child, took him under its protection, kept liim warm with the heat of its body, and allowed him to
return every night to its cage. The poor boy soon died of small-pox, and the Bear from henceforth
refused all food, and soon followed its little protege to the gi'ave.

In former times, the Bear was in great requisition in England for the noble sport of Bear-baiting.
Bear gardens existed in many parts of the metropolis, in which the unlucky animals were baited to
death with Dogs, for the delectation of our most religious and gi-acious sovereign, good Queen Bess,
and '■' his sowship," her successor. The oflice of keeper of the Bear Ward was considered quite an
honourable post, and was iisually held by one of " Her Majesty's Servants," the players — by such
men, for instance, as Betterton and Alleyn the foimder of Dulwich College. It has always been the
custom, too, to train Bears to walk on then- hiiid legs and dance. This they do much more easily than
a Dog or a Cat, on account of theu- broad soles.

The Brown Bear, like most animals, differs more or less in minor characters according to the
country in which it is found. The Bear of the Pyrenees and of Austria, for instance, is described as
having, in the yoimg condition, yello^vish- white fur and black feet. Sii- J. Richardson describes a
well-marked variety as occurring in North America ; this, which is quite distinct from the Grizzly and
Black Bears, he calls the Barren-ground Bear.

THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.*

This animal is distinguished from the common Brown Bear, not only by its black fur, but by its
slenderer snout, more convex forehead, and smaller size : it rarely exceeds five feet in length. Its
habits are more strictly vegetarian than those of the brown kind. " Its favourite food appears to be
ben-ies of various kinds, but when these are not to be procured, it preys upon roots, insects, fish, eggs,
and such birds or quadrupeds as it can surprise. It does not eat animal food from choice : for when
it has abundance of its favourite vegetable diet, it will pass the carcass of a Deer without touching it."

It usually hibernates — at any rate, when able to obtain a sufficiently plentiful meal, or rather
series of meals, before the commencement of winter. Sometimes, however, when food is scarce. Bears
will roam about the whole winter, never being able to obtain a sufficiently good feed to warrant tlieir

168

XATUSAL HISTORY.

''oing, with any safety or comfort, into permanent winter quai-ters. With regard to the hibernating
Bears a very remarkable fact is mentioned by Sir J. Richardson, wlio is a most cautious and accurate
writer, namely, that when the Bear " coiues abroad in the spring it is equally fat " (as it was at the
commencement of winter), " though in a few days thereafter it becomes very lean."

The Indians liave an unbounded reverence for the Bear. When they kill one, they make excul-
patory speeches to it, give it tobacco to smoke, call it their relation, grandmother, &.C., and try in every
possible way to appease its nianes. They then cook and eat it with great gusto.

THE GRIZZLY BE.\E.*

This animal, which inhabits the region of the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico, is the
most savage member of the whole family, and is more dreaded by Indian and Canadian trappers than
any other. It is stated to attain a length of nine feet and a weight of eight hundi-ed poiuids, so that
it gi-eatly exceeds the Brown and Black Bears in size, and approaches in these respects to the Polar
Bear. Its strength is enormous. " It has been known to drag to a considerable distance the carcass of
a Buffalo, weighing about one thousand pounds."

The fur is of a dark-brown colour, with a good deal of grey on the head, and is of an inferior

THE SYRIAX BEAR. IC.9

quality to that of the brown and black kinds. It is also distinguished from the latter by shorter and
more conical ears, by very long, arched, white claws, and by the ridiculously small size of its tail,
which is completely liidden by the siUTounding fur. " It is a standing joke among the Indian hunters.
when they have killed a Grizzly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with the animal to take hold
of its tail."

The Grizzly is much moi'e carnivorous in its haljits than other Bears, and its ferocity is so great
that it will often attack man unprovoked. '• The yoimg Grizzly Beai-s and gravid females hibernate,
but the oUler males often come abroad in the winter in quest of food."

i->ibl:li r. oi indu

THE SYRIAN" BEAR

This animal, a fine specimen of \\liich is in the Zoological Gardens, is the Bear of which
we have the oldest historical record. It was an animal of this species that was slain by David
during liLs shepherd's career ; and two females of the sanu-^ kind are stated to have attacked the
mockers of Elisha, and to have killed forty-two of them.

Tlie Syi-ian Bear is found in the mountains of Palestine, and especially in Lebanon ; a variety,
kno^vn as the Indian White Bear,t occurs in the Himalaya.?. It is of a yellowish-brown colour,
but this hue varies somewhat according to sex and the season of the year. The claws are smaller than
in any of the foregoing species, and, as in the Brown Bear, the diet is usually of a vegetable nature,
recourse being had to animal food only in times of necessity.

Ursus

f Ursus isahdli'iiu

i:atubal uistort.

THE SUN BEARS.*
Under the name of " Sun Bear " are often included two very different species, the Hiraalayan
Bear. Indian Black Bear, or Tibetan Sun Bear {Ursvs tibetanus), and the Malayan Bear or Bruang
{U. mcdayanus). The latter diffei-s in certain comparatively unimportant respects from all the forms
we have yet described, and is, therefore, sometimes separated as a distinct genus (Helarctos).

SVN' HEAR.

The Himalayan Bear is found in Nepaul, Assam, Eastern Siberia, and China. It is abo'.it the
size of the American Bear, and, like it, has close black fur, and a body and head more slender than
those of the Brown or Syrian Bear. It is further distinguished by its white chin, by a broad white
Y-shaped mai-k on the chest, and by a collar of longish haii-s on the shoulders.

The Malayan Bear, called Bruang by the Malays, is found in the Malayan Peninsula, and in

tibetanus and I'. (Helarctos) malayanui.

POLAR BEARS, (see pp. 174-6.)
(From the Limng Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, Lmdon.)

172 SATUHAL HISTORY.

the adjacent islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is much smaller than the Himalayan Bear.
not exceeding four feet and a half in length. The fur is black, becoming brownish on the nose, and
the chest is marked with a crescentic white mark, or, in the Bornean variety of the species, by a
heart-shajsed, orange-coloured patch. The claws are remarkably long.

The liabits of the two species differ but little. In summer, according to Dr. Jerdon, the
Sun Bear " is generally found at a considerable elevation, nine to twelve thousand feet or so, and
often close to snow ; but in winter it descends to five thousa,nd feet, and even lower sometimes. It
lives chiefly on fruits and roots, apricots, walnuts, apples, currants, &c. ; also on several grains,
barley, Indian corn, buckwheat, &c. ; and in winter chiefly feeds on various acorns, climbing the
oak trees and breaking down the branches. . . . They are very fond of honey. Now and then
they will kill Sheep, Goats, (fee, and are occasionally said to eat flesh. . . . This Bear has bad
eyesight, but great power of smell, and if approached from windward is siu-e to take alarm. A
wounded Bear will sometimes show fight, but in general it tries to escape. It is said sometimes to
roll itself into the form of a ball, and then roll down steep hills, if frightened or wounded. If met
suddenly, when there is no means of escape, it will attack man at once ; and curious to say, it always
makes for the face, sometimes taking off- most of the hairy scalp, and frightfully disfiguring the
iinfortunate sufferer. There are few villages in the interior where one or moi-e individuals thus
mutilated are not to be met with."*

The Sun Bears are distinguished in menageries for their gift of walking about on tlieii- hind
legs, which they do in a curiously human manner. This mode of progression seems sometimes to be
adopted in the wild state. Both species are noticeable, in theii- state of captivity in the Zoological
Gardens, for the antics they i)erform. The Himalayan Bears play with one another like two
awkward boys, stand on theii- hind legs to wrestle, then fall down, and roll over and over, biting and
hugging in the most laughable manner. The Malayuu Bear is even more amusing. When the
keeper gives it one of the hard biscuits on which it is fed, it will sometimes lie down on its back,
iUid hold the biscuit now with its fore paws, now with both fore and hind paws, swaying about all
the time, and expressing its satisfaction by the most comical noises.

Mr. SwinLoe quotes some curious notions entertained by the Chinese respecting the Sun Bear.
Tiiey are contained in the native publication already referred to, TJve Hainan Gazetteer. " Heiriig
[or Bear] is fond of climbing trees and {janting. Its gall in spring is in its ^heel, in summer in its
belly, in autumn in its left paw, in winter in its right paw. About its heart there is a white fat, like
jade, the taste of which is extremely fine : this is usually called ' Bear's white.' In winter the Bear
lies torpid, and does not eat. "V^^len hungry, it licks its own paws, and thence the goodness in
the paws."

THE 8L0TH BEAE.t

This curious and ungainly-looking beast is another of the Indian Bears, being found " throughout
India and Ceylon, from Cape Comoriii to the Ganges." It is distinguished by its extremely awkward
shape, its long shaggy hair, its prolonged and very flexible snout and lower lip, all of wliich peculiarities
combine to give it a remarkable and anything but prepossessing appearance. The fur is mostly black,
the muzzle and the tips of the feet being of a dirty white or yellowish colour, and the breast ornamented
with a V-shaped or crescentic mark. It attains a length of between five and six feet.

The Sloth Bear feeds on Ants, honey, fruit, (fee. " The power of suction in the Bear, as well as
of propelling wind from its mouth, is very great. It is by this means enabled to pi-ocure its common
food of white Ants and larvse with ease. On amving at an Ant-hill, the Bear scrapes away with the fore
feet until he reaches the large combs at the bottom of the galleries. He then, with violent puffs, dissipates
the dust and crumbled particles of the nest, and sucks out the inhabitants of the comb by such forcible
inhalations as to be heard at two hundred yards' distance or more. Large larvse are in this way sucked
out from great dej)ths under the soil. When Bears abound their vicinity may be readily known by
numbers of these uprooted Ants' nests and excavations, in which the marks of their claws are plainly
visible. They occa.sionally rob birds' nests, and devour the eggs."J

* Jerdon : "Mammals of Inilia." f Ursi'-^ (or Meltti-sus) htbiatus. t Tickell, quoted by Jerdon.

JHE SLOTS BEAR.

173

Tlie capture of Ants is, however, by no means always Jevo'.d of inconvenient consequences for the
ursine ravisher. The insects are as brave and ferocious as they are industrious, and then- strong shaip
mandibles are capable of making a considerable impression upon the snout, lips, and eyelids of their
huge enemy.

Like the Sun Bear, the Sloth Bear rarely attacks man unless provoked, but, like it, is, when
attacked, a most dangerous antagonist, always making for the face, and especially the eyes. Both in
Ceylon and in India the natives have a very wholesome dread of the animal, and, indeed, fear his on-
slaught more than that of any other beast. "Among the Singhalese there is a belief that certain charms
ai'e eificacious in protecting them from the violence of Bears, and those whose avocations expose them

SLOTH BEAU.

to eacounters of this kind are accustomed to cari-y a talisman, either attached to their neck or enveloped
in the folds of their luxuriant hair. A friend of mine, wTiting of an adventure which occurred at
Anarajapoora, thus describes an occasion on which a Moorman, who attended him, was somewhat rudely
disabused of his belief in the efficacy of charms upon Beai's : — ' Desiring to change the position of a
lierd of Deer, the Moorman (with his charm) was sent across some swamjjy land to disturb them. As
he was proceeding, we saw him suddenly turn from an old tree and run back with all speed, his hair
becoming unfastened, and, like his clothes, streaming in the wind. It soon became evident that he was
flying from a terrific object, for he had thrown downi his gim, and, in his panic, he was taking the
shortest line towards us, which lay across a swamp covered with sedge and rushes, that greatly impeded
his progress, and prevented us approaching him or seeing what was the cause of his flight. Missing
his steps from one hard spot to another, he repeatedly fell into the water, but he rose and resumed his
flight. I advanced as far as the sods would bear my weight, but to go further was impracticable.
Just within ball range there was an open space, and as the man gained it, I saw that he was pur.sued
by a Bear and two culis. A.s the jjerson of the fiigiti\e covered the Bear, it was impossible to tire

17-!. NATVRAL BISTORT.

without risk. At last he foil exhausted, and the Bear being close upon him, I discharged both barrels.
The first broke the Bear's shoulder ; but this only made her more savage, and rising on her hind legs,
she advanced with ferocious gi-owls, when the second barrel — -though I do not think it took eSect —
served to frighten her, for turning x-ound she retreated, followed by her cubs. Some natives then
waded through the mud to the Moorman, who was just exhausted, and would have been drowned but
that he fell with his head upon a tuft of grass. The poor man was unable to speak, and for several
weeks his intellect seemed confused. The adventure sufficed to satisfy liim that he could not again
depend upon a charm to protect him from Bears, though he always insisted that but for its having
fallen from his hail-, where he had fastened it under his turban, the Bear would not have ventured to
attack him.' "*

THE SPECTACLED BEAE.t

One of the most comical and grotesque of all the Bear family is the Spectacled Bear, which
derives its chief attraction from the light-coloured rings round its eyes ; taese — the greater part of
the face being, like the body, black — have exactly the appearance of a pair of common " goggles,"
through which the beast seems to look with an air of mingled wisdom and imbecility. Hence, of
cQurse, we get the animal's English popular name.

The Spectacled Bear occurs only in South America, where it is found in the mountainous regions
of Chili. It attains a length of about three feet and a half.

THE POLAR BEAR-t

The great "White Bear of the Arctic regions — the " Nennok " of the Eskimo — is the largest as well
OS one of the best known of the whole family. It is a gigantic animal, often attaining a length of
nearly nine feet, and is proportionally strong and fierce. It is found over the whole of Greenland ;
but its numbers seem to be on the decrease. It is distinguished from other Bears by its naiTow head,
its flat forehead in a line with the prolonged muzzle, its short ears, and long neck. "It is of a light
creamy colour, rarely pure white, except when young : hence the Scottish whalers call it the ' brounie,
or ' brownie,' and sometimes ' the farmer,' from its very agricultural appearance as it stalks leisurely
over the furrowed fields of ice. Its principal food consists of Seals, which it persecutes most inde-
fatigably ; but it is somewhat omnivorous in its diet, and will often clear an islet of Eider-duck eggs in
the coiu-se of a few hours. I have seen it watch a Seal for half a day, the Seal continually escaping,
just as the Bear was about putting its foot on it, at the atluk (or escape hole) in the ice. Finally,
it tried to circumvent its prey in another manner. It swam ofi" to a distance, and when the
Seal was again half asleep at its atluk, the Bear swam under the ice, with a view to cut off
its retreat. It failed, however, and the Seal finally escaped. The rage of the animal was boundless ;
it roared hideously, tossing the snow in the air, and trotted off in a most indignant state of mind. "§

Being so fond of Seal-flesh, the Polar Bear often proves a great nuisance to Seal-hunters,
whose occupation he naturally regards as a thoughtful catering for his wants. He is also glad
of the Whale carcases often found floating in the Arctic seas ; and travellers have seen as many as
twenty Bears busily discussing the huge body of a dead Whalebone Whale.

As the Polar Bear is able to obtam food all through the Arctic winter, there is not the
same necessity, as in the case of the vegetable-eating Bears, for hibernating. In fact, the males
and young females roam about through the whole winter, and only the pregnant females retire
for the season. These — according to the Eskimo account, quoted by Captain Lyon — are very
fat at the commencement of winter, and on the fii-st fall of snow they lie down and allow themselves
to be covered, or else dig a cave in a drift, and then go to sleep until the spring, when the cvibs
are bom. By this time the animal's heat has melted the snow for a considerable distance, so
that there is plenty of room for the young ones, who tumble about at their ea.se, and get fat
at the expense of their parent, who, after her long abstinence, becomes gradually very thin and
weak. The whole family leave their abode of snow when the sun is strong enough to partially

» Taiment : " Ceylon.'' f XTrsus (or Hclarctos) ornatus. % ^rsus (or Tftalassarctoa) mantimus.

§ R. Brown, quoted from "Arctic Manual."

THE POLAR BEAR.

iV5

inelt its loof. Tlie Eskimo liavo the same tlieory about the Liljernating Polar Bears that the
Northern Indians hold witli regard to the Brown Bear, namely, that it has no evacuations dui'ing
the winter, " stopping up all the natural passages with moss, grass, or earth."

The Polar Bear is regularly hunted with Dogs by the Eskimo. The following extract gives
an accoimc of their mode of procedure : — " Let us suppose a Bear scented out at the base of a)i
iceberg. The Eskimo examines the track with sagacious care, to determine its age and direction
and the speed with which the animal was moving when he passed along. The Dogs are set upon
the trail, and the hunter courses over the ice at then- side in silence. As he turns the angle of
the berg his game is in view before him, stalking, pi-obably, along with quiet march, sometimes

snuffing the air suspiciously, but making, nevertheless, for a nest of broken hummocks. The
Dogs spring forward, opening a wild, wolfish yell, the driver shrieking ' Nanuook ! naiinook ! ' and
all straining every nerve in pursuit.

" The Bear rises on his haunches, inspects his pursuers, and stai-ts off at full speed. The
hunter, as he runs, leaning over his sledge, seizes the traces of a couple of his Dogs, and liberates them
fr6m their burthen. It is the work of a minute, for the motion is not checked, and tlie remaining
Dogs rush on with apparent ease.

" Now, pressed more severely, the Bear makes for an iceberg, and stands at bay, while hia
two foremost pursuers halt at a short distance and await the amval of the hunter. At this moment
the whole jiack are liberated ; the hunter grasps his lance, and, tumblLng through the snow and ice.
prepares for the encounter.

" If there be two hunters, the Bear is killed easily ; for one makes a feint of thrusting the spear
at the righc side, and, as the animal turns with his arms towards the threatened attack, the left is
unprotected and receives the death-wound.
20

176 NATURAL MlSTOIiY.

" But if there be only one hunter, he does not hesitate. Grasjjiug the hmee firmly m his hands,
he provokes the animal to pursue him by moving rapidly across its path, and then running as
if to escape. But hardly is its long unwieldy body extended for the solicited chase, before, with
a rapid jump, the hunter doubles on his track and runs back toward his first position. The Bear
is in the act of turning after him again, when the lance is plunged into the left .side, below the
shoulder. So dexterously has this thrust to be made, that an unpractised lumter has often to leave
his spear in the side of his prey and run for his life. But even then, if well aided by the Dog.s, a cool
skilful man seldom fails to kill his adversary." *

With regard to the value of the skins. Dr. E. Brown informs us that " The Royal Board
of Trade in Greenland give the natives about ti\e rigsdaler (lis. 3d.) for a skin. Occasionally, there
are a number killed near Cape Farewell, which have come round on the Spitzbergen ice-stream. Here
a curious custom prevails, viz., that whoever sights the Bear fii-st — man, woman, or child — is entitled
to the skin, and the person who has shot it only to the blubber and flesh."

There are some dreadful tales prevalent as to the ferocity of the Polar Bear ; but these>
according to the same excellent observer, approach a good deal the nature of '■ yarns." After having
lived for some time in the Arctic regions, and hunted Bears again and again, he considers that
"a^great deal of the impressions which we have imbibed regarding its ferocity are more due to old
notions of ivliat it ought to be rather than what it is, and that the tales related by Barentz, Edward
Pelham, and other old navigators, regarding its bloodthirstine.ss during the time they wintered in
Spitzbergen, were a good deal exaggerated. When enraged, or emboldened by hunger, I can, however,
quite well understand that, like all wild and even domesticated animals, it may be dangerous to man.
On the East Coast of Greenland, where they know little of man, they are very bold. The members of
the German Expedition, when making out-door observations, had to be continually on their guard
against them. I have chased it over the floes of Piinil's Bay, and the Bear's only thought seemed to
be how best to escape from its pursuers. I slioiil.l ha\( hesitated a good deal before making so free
with the Grizzly Bear of the Californian wilils [Ursus J'trox), which is, perhaps, the most ferocious
animal on the American continent. Though seemingly so unwieldy, the nennok runs with great
siieed, and being almost marine in its habits, it swims well. I have chased it with a picked ci-ew of
eight whalemen, and yet the Bear has managed to distance us in the race for the ice-fields. It would
every now and again, when its two cubs were getting left in the rear, stop and (literally) push them
up behind ; and on reaching the steep edge of the ice-floe, finding that we were fii.st reaching th/^m, it
lifted each of them upon the ice with its teeth, seizing the loose .skin at the back of the neck. Once
on the ice, they were safe.

"Unlike its congeners, it does not hug, but hites : and it will not eat its prey until it is dead,
playmg with it like a Cat with a Mouse. I have known several men who, while sitting watching
or skinning Seals, have had its rough hand laid on their shoulder. Their only chance then has been
to feign being dead, and manage to shoot it while the Bear was sitting at a distance watching its
intended victim. Though Eskimo are often seen who have been soan-ed by it, yet I repeat that,
unless attacked or rendered fierce by hunger, it rarely attacks man. During our last trip to
Greenland, none of our party saw one ; indeed, they are only killed in the vicinity of Disco Bay,
during the wnter or spring, when they have either come or drifted south on the ice-floes. Six were
killed in the vicinity of Omenak during the winter of 1866-67."

The flesh of the Polar Bear is sometimes eaten by the Eskimo, but parts of it ai-e said to be
poisonous ; this is especially the case with the liver. Scoresby i-elates that sailors who have in-
cautiously partaken of the latter have been made veiy ill, and have died from its effects ; and Kane,
vv-ho wished to try for himself the truth of the statement, was npset by the first taste. The fat of thi.?
Bear is used for burning ; it has not the disagreeable smell of train-oil.

* Quoted by Jesse : " Histoiy of the British Dog."

CHAPTER XL

EACOON FAMILY— P.YNDA FAMILY— WEASEL FAMILY— FOSSIL CAKNIVORA.

The Racoon Family— Characters of their SkxiU, Teeth, Jtc— Geographical Distribution— The Racoon— Its Habit of
■Washing its Food— Its External Characters ami Habits— Racoon Hunting— The Crab-eatmg Racoon— The Coati—
The Kinkajou— Its Lemui-like Appearance, Prehensile Tail, &c.— The Cacomixle— The Panda Family— The
Panda- Its Character and Habits— The Ailmopus— The "Weasel Faiiilv— Anatomical Characters— TaUglands-
Division of the Family into Three Sub-families— Importance of the Mustelidaj as Fur-producing Animals— The
Glutton — Its Characters— Superstitions Regai-ding it— Its Cunning— The Marten — The Pekan— The Sable— The
Weasel— The Stoat, or Ermine— The Difference between its Winter and Summer Dress, and the manner in wkicli
the Change takes place— The Polecat -The Ferret- The Mink— The Grison— The Tavra-The Kathi, -The
Common Badger- Its Habits— Burrowing — The American Eadoer— The Teledi— The Cape Zorii.la- The
Common Skunk — Its Noxious Secretion — Hydrophobia produced ly Skunk Bite — The Little Striped Skunk— The
AV'hite-backed Skunk — The Common Otter— The Adaptation of its Structure to Aquatic Life— Use of Tame Otters
for Fishing— The Canadian Otter— The Margined-taUed Otter— The Sea Otter— Its Affinities with the Seals— How
it is Hunted— General Relations of the Land C'aknivora— Fossil Carnivora — The Tendency of these to bridge
over Existing Groups— Appendix to Chapter VI. (Civet Family)— The Cynogale— The Cynictis— The Mangue—
The Suricate.

THE RACOON FAMILY*

This is a small family of curious Bear-like animals, of small size, and diftering a good deal in

external appearance, although agreeing closely in all essential particulars. They are plantigrade,

like the Bears, and like them are C[uite devoid

of a blind-gut, or caecum. The skull is long

snouted, and. though presenting certain leseni

blances to that of the Civets, has still the essi 1 1

tial Arctoid characters, such as the ^\ ell niai U

bony ear-passage, and the wdde space b(t\M

the ear-drum bone and the bon\ piojection

the hinder part of the .skull (paiocLijiP

process). A gi-eat difference fioni the J^eii

skull,' is, however, seen in the swollen and bull)

like eai'-drum bone (bulla tympani), A\]iich is as

large as that of i Dog

The gi Hiding teeth hi\e on then bitmg suifa'-es Urge and prominent tul)ercles, so that tliej- are

neither altogether of a crushing, nor altogether
of a mincing character. The molars bear a
considerable resemblance to the hinder molars
ot the Dog; the canines are compressed from
side to side, have very sharp front and back

g^-.-^ -fc^^^ "^^^^.A^^^l^^"^^^*/ ^ edges, and are somewhat outstanding. The

^ ""^^ -2— iBiir J' JOtlJ number of the teeth is forty, t that is, two

less than in the Beare, the missing teeth being
the last upper molar of each side.
The four genera of the Racoon family are found only in the New World : their northern lin?it

is British Columbia, while southwards they reach to Paraguay in the central part of South Ameiica.

THE RACOON, t
Every visitor to the Zoological Gardens must have been struck with the curious habits of this
animal. If any one gives it a bit of bun or biscuit, the Racoon holds out both its hands for
the morsel, and takes it almost as deftly as a Monkey; it then waddles off to the little pond in the
middle of its cage, dips its prize in the water, and when it is well soaked, proceeds to devour it.
Except in the case of meat, which the Racoon seems to consider moist enough, the food always has to
undergo this soaking process before it is thought to be fit to eat. It is from this habit that the

ProcijonidiC. t The dental formula is— Incisors, '^^', canines, f^, '• premolars, j^jj molars.

t I'rocyon lotor.

178

NATURAL BISTORT.

■ of tutor, " the washer," and its Gevman appellation of Waschhar, or

Eacoon derives its specific :
" washing Bear."

The Racoon is a decidedly handsome animal, about the size of a large and very corpulent Cat.
The hair is of a brown or grizzled colour, long and furry, the tail bushy and beautifully ringed. Its
body is large and somewhat unwieldy, its legs short, and its feet armed with strong claws, suitable for
burrowin" or climbing. The head is large, the cheeks prominent and black, and the snout sharji,
light-coloured, and somewhat up-turned — " tip-tilted, like the petal of a flower " — giving the animal a
curious inquisitive look, which is quite borne out_by its character. It investigates every object within
reach, animate or inanimate ; the latter, if portable, it is fond of carrying off and carefully washing.

In the matter of diet it is omnivorous, and seems almost equally fond of meat, insects, fruit, or
bread. It is said also to catch and eat oysters and crabs, and to confine itself, in the case of the birds
it catches, to the brain and blood. It is a decidedly cunning animal, and in captivity, when allowed a

S^^\

certain amount of liberty, shows great talent in stealing fruit and killing fowls. When eating, it
very usually sits up on its haunches and holds the food wth both fore-paws.

The skin of the Racoon forms a valuable fur, and the animal is, consequently, much sought after
throughout the whole of its range, which extends over a considerable portion of North Ameiica. It
is usually caught in traps, but is also hunted by Dogs. The hunt takes place at night, by the light of
torches. The Racoon is pursued until he takes refuge up a tree, when the Dogs form a circle round the
trunk, and an expeiienced climber swarms up to the animal's refuge, pui'sues him to the end of a branch,
and then, by shaking the branch, makes him foil to the ground, when the Dogs have another turn.
So active is the Racoon, and so dangerous when roused, that this operation often has to be repeated
two or tlrree times before he is finally caught.

Tlie Crab-eating Racoon (Proci/oii cancrivorug) is a South American species, differing from the
foregoing chiefly in the shortne.ss of its fur, and its consequently slender shape. It is a far less hand-
some animal than its North American relative, which it resembles very closely both in structure and
in hal)its.

THE CO ATI.*

The Coati is an animal of f:ir less attractive appearance than the Racoon. The body is proportionally
longer, the limbs are short; and the snout of :_i remarkable length and very pig-lilje : in fact, the head

TBE KIXEAJOU. 179

of a C'oiiti reminds one strongly of that of a small tlark-coloured Pig pulled out until tlic nuizzle was
(wo or three times its ordinary length. Tiie snout is, moreover, veiy flexible, and the animaJ
jierpetually turns it about in various directions in a highly inquisitive way. The body is somewhat
i.\ er half a 3'ard in length, the.tail a little shorter.

The fur is short and of a reddish or greyish-brown colour, the muzzle and feet are black, the tail

\

^

ringed with black and brownish-yellow. Like the Racoon, it feeds upon fruit, insects, small birds, kc,
and, like it, is a good climber. The specimens in the Zoological Gardens are in a constant state of
activity, trotting about from one end of the cage to another, climbing over the tree trunk placed in theii"
prison, and turning their queer-looking snouts about ceaselessly. The geographical i:uige of the Coati
extends from ^lexico in the norih to Par.iguay in the south.

TUE KIXKAJOU.*

Looking merely at the exterior of this animal, one would almost feel inclined to jilace it, as some
of the earlier naturalists did, among the Lemurs : for, like them, it has a prehensile tail, one which can
be coiled around branches to help its progress, precisely like th.it of
be remembered that on? member of the Civet family, the Bintui
peculiarity. But the Binturong's tail is a comparatively
imperfect organ, merely prehensile at the tip, while that of
the Kinkajou can be readily coiled two or three times round
a branch. We thus see that the same remarkable adaptation
to arboreal life which is found in the whole gi-oup of New
Woi-ld Monkeys appears in one species from each of two
distinct families of Carnivores, one of which is confined to
the Old World, while the other exists only in the New
World. And we shall see the same character crop up once
more, when we come to the group of pouched animals (Mar-
supials), in the American Opossums. It must, of course,

be clearly understood that the possession of a prehensile tail is no sign whatever of any rehi
between the animals possessing it. It may be taken as_certain that it was produced (juitc se]iarately
in all the four cases we have mentioned in relation to the habits of the animal.

The Kinkajou uses its paws in a wondei-fuUy hand-like manner, and employs both fore and hind
feet to bring food to its mouth. It will also nold a piece of bread in one hand, and bi'eak off pieces from
it with the other, and this in spite of the fact that it has no opposable thumb, and that its fingei-s are

* Cercofeptes caudivolmlus.

ionship

NATURAL niSTOlii

short and wuljlx-d nearly to the claws. For the rest, it is a pretty, innocent-looking little animal, with
a body about a foot long, and a tail of some eighteen inches, covered with soft brown fur, and walking
on the soles of its fore feet, wliile in the hind feet the heel is well raised from the gi-ound. The
skull is remarkable for its rounded foi-m, and for the shortness of its facial portion : on a supei-ficial
examination it Jooks almost Cat-like. It feeds upon fruit, eggs, insects, birds, ifec. It is found in
Mexico, Guatemala, and in the gi-eat forests of Peru and North Brazil.

THE CACOMIXLE.*
The Cacomixle, Ci\et, or ring-tailed Cat, as it is indifferently called by the miners of the districts
where it is found, is a puzzling little creature, which was, until quite recently, placed in the Civet
family, and, in consequence, was looked upon as one of the
chief difficulties in the way of explaining .satisfactorily the
present geographical distribution of animals, for all the
other Viverridw are Old World forms. Its tiiie place has,
however, at last been assigned to it, and the anomaly is
at an end : for, like all other members of the Racoon
family, it is confined to America, w^here it occurs in
California, Texas, and the higher regions of Mexico.

The Cacomixle is about a yard long, two-fifths of this
length being taken up by the tail. Its fur is brown, and its tail beautifully ringed. Its habits are
entii-ely arboreal, and it makes a moss-lined nest in hollow trees. It has a curious habit of gnawing
the wood round the entrance of the hole, so that hunters are able to tell whether a hollow tree is

SKILL OF C.\COMIXLE.

CACOMIXLE.

inhabited or not, by the presence or absence of di-brk of bark and wood at the root. It frequently
trespasses iiito the miner's tent "and plunders his proi-ision bag. When caught, as it often is, it
becomes so familiar and amusing, and does so much to relieve the monotony of the miner's life, that it
is highly valued, and commands quite a large price." It is said to be a capital mouser.

THE PANDA FAJIILY.f
This gi'oup, which has received a most unfortunate name, as it Iselongs to the Arctoiclea and not
to the ^Eluroidra, contains only two genera, one of which has been recently discovered, while the
other has been known for many years.

Bassaris axtn

DEscRirnox of the iaxda.

THE PANDA**
Forms a striking oliject among the small Mammals. It is a really beautiful creature, rich red
chestnut iu colour on tlie upper surface, jet black as to the lower surface, the limbs also black,
the snout and tlie inside of the ears white, the tail bushy, reddish-brown in colour, and indistinctly
ringed. The fact of the under surface being black while the upper is bright reddish-yellow is re-
markable; with most animals, when there is any difference in colour, it is the under surface
which is lighter. Tlie body and head are about half a yard long, the tail about a foot. The
mode of progression is plantigrade, and the large curved claws are half retractile. The main
anatomical cJiaracters are decidedly ursine, as also are the habits. Mr. Bartlett, who studied the

;s jtlci

t.)

Panda that found a home for a time at the Zoo, states that, when drinking, it sucked up the fluid
like a Bear, instead of licking it up as a Dog or Cat would do. When offended it would rush at Mr.
Bartlett, and strike at him with both feet, the body being i-aised like a Bear's and the claws projecting.
It also, ^yhen angi-y, made a sharp spitting noise ; at other times it used a ' ' weak, squeaking call-
note." On level ground it ran in the same manner as the Weasel, Otter, and Kinkajou, with a sort
of jumping gallop, the back being kept much arched.

The Panda is found in the forests of the Eastern Himalayas, as well as iu Eastern Tibet. It is
sometimes known as tlie Wall, or as the Red Bear-Cat.

The only remaining member of this family has been discovered within the last few years in the
mountains of East Tibet, by the Abbe David, and has been called by M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
Ailuropns. It is a large animal, nearly white, and very Bear-like in external appearance, although
the structure of the skull and teeth shows clearly that its nearest allies are the Panda and the Eacoon.

Ailu

s/ulyms.

^ATi'lLlL Jll.'iTOIt

THE WE.^SEL FAMILY*
Tliis family, including the Weasels, Martens, Skunks, Gluttons, Otters, Badgers, i-c, is tlis most
heterogeneous assemblage of all the Carnivorous group. Its members L:i%o a \evy wide geographical
ilistribution, being found in all parts of the world, except the West Indies, Madagascai-, and the
Australian region. They differ very much among themselves, but have, nevertheless, certain
important chai~acters in common, such as the structure of the ear-drum bone, which iu essential
respects resembles that of the Bears, as also do the organs of digestion. They all possess, beneath the

root of tlie tail, anal glands, organs of similar nature to the civet-producing glands of the Viverridse, but
Jiecreting a more or less noxious fluid. The number of animals in this family is very great, and it will
be impossible to treat of any but the principal species. As a matter of convenience, the members of
the group are often split up into sections, one (the true Mustelida) containing the Gluttons, Martens,
Weasels, Ferrets, and Grisons ; another (the Mcllda') consisting of the Badgers, Eatels, and Skunks ;
and a tliird (the Lutrida) containing the Otters.

Many of these animals are looked upon as "vermin," but among them are some of the most
valuable of the fur-producing animals : the Ermine, Sable, Mink, and Marten. These are all inhabitants;
of the Northern hemisphere, and the business of trapping them is a very important branch of industry,
as may be gathered from the f^ict, quoted by Dr. Elliott Coues,+ that " during the centuiy 1769—1868,
the Hudson's Bay Company .sold at auction in London, besides many millions other pelts (skins), the
following of J/«s<eZufe.-— 1,240,511 Sables; 074,027 Otters; 68,694 Wolverenes ; 1,507,240 Minks ;
218,053 Skunks; 275,-302 Badgers; 5,-349 Sea-Otters. In. 1808 alone, the Company sold (among many
thousand others), 106,254 Sables; 73,473 Minks; 14,900 Otters; 6,298 Skunks; 1,104 Wolverenes;
1,551 Badgers ; 123 Sea-Otters ; besides which were also sold in London, in the autumn of the same
year, about 4,500 Sables ; 22,000 Otters, <fcc."

THE C4LUTT0N.t

The Glutton, or Wolvei"en3, Lhs largest of the Weasel group, is found over the greater jiai-t of the
northern regions, both of th3 Old and Ns" Worlds, being especially abinidant in Siberia and
Kamtchatka. It attains a length of some three feet four inches, ten inches of which go to the
tail. It has a Dog-like snout, p. broad or rounded head, short ears, an arched back, a short bushy-
tail, and long, dark brown or almost black fur. A band of pale reddish-brown nuis along the sides,,
•uid unites with the corresponding band o; the opposite side on the rump.

The skull is very strong and massive, and the jaws bear altogether thirty-eight teeth. The number
of the incisors, canines, and premolai-s corresponds with that we have found in the Ai-ctoids ; but the
molai-s are reduced to on9 on each side in the upp?.-, and two on each side in the lower jav-'.J

* Mustelitlw. t " Fur-bearing Animals : .a Monograph of North American Mustelid.-B " i Gtilo luscus.

§ The dental formula is — Incisore, ■^; canines, ^; premolars, *~~*; molar.", l~^ ^^ 38.

THE GLUTTON. 183

Tbe made of progression is semi-i)l;uitigraile, and the animal's movements are, com))areu with thoso
of its nearest allies, the Martens and Weasels, slow and clumsy ; unlike tliese, too, it is not a good
climber, although the older accounts of its custrms stated that it was in the habit of climbing ti-ees,
and di-oppiiig suddenly down upon large animals as they passed, and then destroying them as they fled
in terror at the unexpected attack. In this, as in many other instances, the imagination has largely
been called into play to supplement what was deficient in the actual observations of the writers.
Probably few^ animals have given rise to so many or such wild fables as the Wolverene. Its name of

(llntton is due to the mythical account of its habits given by an early %TOter, Olaus Magnus, who says:
•■ It is wont, when it has found the carcass of some large beast, to eat until its belly is distended like
a drum, when it rids itself of its load by squeezing its body betwixt two trees gi-owing near together,
and again returning to its repast, soon requires to have recourse to the same means of relief." It
need hardly be said that this stoiy must be taken cum grano salis maxhno.

Besides its great strength, the Wolvei-ene is noted for its excessive cunning, and the two qualitie;!
combined give it a power of destructiveness of which one would hardly expect any animal below
a schoolboy to be capable. One of its favourite tricks is to frequent the " Marten-roads " — that is>
the lines of traps for catching Martens — and one by one to demolish the ti-aps, and carry off either ths
bait or the imprisoned animal. To make matters worse for the unlucky trapper, the Glutton's
experience and knowledge of traps in general are so trrcat that he shows equal skill in avoidinf' these
20*

IM XATVUAL Rl-STURl.

set for his owii benefit as in ilespoiliug tliose meant for othere ; either he takes no notice of them,
or carefully pulls them to pieces, and so gets the bait and outwits the hunter, without danger to
Iiimself It is only in a trap constructed with the greatest care, and disguised so as to resemble
a " cache," or store of hidden food, that the wary beast can be caught. Mr. Lockhart, an American
^n•iter, quoted by Dr. Coues, gives some really charming instances of his own experience in trying to
get the better of hLs inveterate enemy. In one case, he had carefully buried a Lynx's skin in the
snow, to the depth of some three feet ; the snow was arranged so as to present a perfectly undisturbed
appearance, and the Lynx's entrails and blood were .strewed about, and its carcass left, so as to take ofl'
the scent. On returning next morning to his beautifully-made "cache," he found the carcass, ifcc,
gone, but everything else apparently just as he had left it. His joy was great, but premature ; for on
digging, no skin was to be found : the Wolverene had stolen it during the night, but had added insult
to injury by filling up the hole, and putting everything in statu quo.

Mr. Lockhart gives another equally astonishing instance of the Wolverene's abOity : — " At Peel's
Eivei', on one occasion, a very old Carcajou [the trapper's name for the Glutton] discovered my
Marten-road, on which I had nearly a hundred and fifty traps. I was in the habit of ^-isiting the line
about once a fortnight ; but tlie beast fell into the way of coming oftener than I did, to my great
annoyance and vexation. I determined to put a stop to his thieving and his life together, cost what
it might. So I made six strong traps at as many difierent points, and also set three steel traps.
For three weeks I tried my best to catch the beast, without success ; and my woi-st enemy would
allow that I am no green hand in these matters. The animal carefully avoided the traps set for
his own benefit, and seemed to take more delight than ever in demolishing my Marten-traps,
and eating the Mai-tens, scattering the poles in every direction, and caching what baits or Martens
he did not devour on the spot. As we had no poison in tliose days, I next set a gun on the bank of
a little lake. The gun was concealed in some low bushes, but the bait was so placed that the Carcajou
must see it on his way vq\ the bank. I blockaded my path to the gun with a small pine-tree, which
completely hid it. On my first visit afterwards, I found that the bea.st had gone up to the bait
and smelled it, but had left it untouched. He had next pulled up the pine-tree that blocked the
path, and gone around the gun and cut the line which connected the bait with the trigger just behind
the muzzle. Then he had gone back and pulled the bait away, and carried it out on the lake, where
he laid down and devoured it at his leisure. There I found my string. I could scarcely believe that
all this had been done designedly, for it seemed that faculties fully on a par with human reason would
be required for such an exploit, if done intentionally. I therefore re-airanged things, tying the string
where it had been bitten. But the result was exactly the same for three successive occasions, as I
could plainly see by the footprints ; and what is most singular of all, each time the brute was careful
to cut the line a little back of where it had been tied before, as if actually reasoning with himself tliat
even the knots might be some new device of mine, and therefore a source of hidden danger he would
])rudeutly avoid. 1 came to the conclusion that that Carcajou ought to live, as he must be something
at least human, if not woi'se. I gave it up, and abandoned the road for a period."

One very exti-aordinary habit of the Wolverene is sliared by very few animals except man. It ls
stated by Dr. Coues that, when it meets a man, it will often, if it be to windwai'd, approach within
fifty or sixty yards, and then, sitting calmly down on its haunches, will shade its eyes with one
fore-paw, and gaze cai-nestly at its enemy. This very human action it will often repeat two oi
three times before attempting to flee.

THE MAKTEN.*
The Pine I\Iarten is i)erhaps the most pleasing of the Weasel group, as far as appearance is
concerned Its long, lithe body attains a length of o\er half a yard ; its tail is about a foot iu length.
The legs are short, though not nearly so short as in the Weasels, and its paws have five digits, armed
with sharp claws. The suout is sharp and beset at the sides with long vibrissiB. The skin is very
beautiful, dark-brown for the most part, lighter on the cheeks and snout, and on the throat and under
side of the neck a light yellow.

THE SABLE. IS5

Tlic skull is much move floiigated than r-ither a Boar's or a Glutton'is ; the tympanic bulUe are
sliglitly swollen, and the jugal arches, beneath which the jaw muscles pass, are comparatively narrow
and slender. As in the Wolverene, there are thirty-eight teeth, eighteen in the upper, twenty in the
lower jaw, and tlie molars arc thoro'.iglily carnivorous in diaracter, being produced into sharp,
trenchant, cutting edges.

The Pine Marten occurs over a considerable portion of Europe and Asia, and, amongst, other
places, in Great Britain, where, however, it is becoming rare. The finest specimens are said to come
from Sweden.

Tliis animal is essentially arboreal in its habits, inhabiting chiefly thick coniferous woods, whence
its name of Pine Marten is derived. In the branches the female makes a nest of leaves or moss, and
sometimes saves herself this trouble by ejecting 8ijuirrels or Woodpeckers, and occuj)ying the vacant
dwellings. For its size it is, like all the .Vi'.^/e/idfB, extremely ferocious and strong. It attacks and
kills Fawns, notwithstanding their superior size ; from these down to mice, nothing comes amiss to it,
and nothing is safe from its attacks.

Tlie Beech Marten, or Stone Marten {Muslda foina), differs from the foregoing species in certain
characters of the skull and teeth, as well as in the fact that the throat is white instead of yellow. Its
habits are, on tlie wliole, similar to tho.se of the Pine Marten, but it is more often found away from
woods, on the sides of mountains and rocks, or in the neighbourhood of farnis. Its general
distribution is the same as that of the Pine Marten, but it is decidedly more common than the latter
in Great Britain,

THE PEKAX.*

The Pekan, or Pennant's ilarten, is a Noi-th American species. It is much larger than either of
the preceding, the body attaining a lengtli of thirty inches from snout to root of tail, while the tail
itself Ls about sixteen inches long. The face is more Dog-like than tliat of the Common Marten ; the
skin is brown, becoming lighter in the front part of the back, and presenting white patches on the chest
!ind belly.

Like tlie Pine Marten, it is a good climber, but, unlike it, .shows a partiality, not for the driest
parts of the wood, but for the neighbourhood of water. Its chief food seems to be Mice, but it is also
fond of stealing the tish used to bait traps — whence it is often called the Fisher — and Sir J. Richardson
.states that its favourite meal is the Canadian Porcupine, which it kills by a bite on its unprotected
I)elly, and eats, notwithstanding the quills. Sometimes it Is forced, by want of better food, to eat
1 leech-nv.ts.

THE SABLE.t

This is another species of the same genus, important from the fact that it is the most valuable of
the fur-producing animals. Its skin seems to have been even more precious in former times than now.
A writer in the sixteenth century states that " forty of the best quality, which is the quantity usually
packed in one bale, have been sold for more than a thousand pieces of gold."

The Sable is found in the northern parts of Asia, being especially abundant between the Lena
and Kamstchatka. It differs markedly from the trae Mai-tens in the form of its head, which is conical,
the apex of the cone being formed by the pointed snout, while from its base project the pointed, and,
for a Mustela, large eai"s. The legs and feet, too, are larger and stronger than in the other species of
this genus.

Sable-hunting is, naturally, a very important branch of industry, and fomis the chief occupation
of many of the Siberian tribes. The work is by no means an easy one ; it entails miles of travelling
in dark woods and thi-ough heavy snow-storms ; the track of the Sables may have to be followed for
long distances : and numerous traps must be skilfully set and visited dail}-. With all his trouble, the
hi^nter often finds that " an Arctic Fox, or some other Carnivore, has eaten up the costly booty, leaving
only a few fragments, as if for the express purpose of showing him how naiTowly he hv^ escaped
earning forty, fifty, or sixty silver roubles."

* Mmtela Peiinaiilii. t Husitla ziodlina.

]86 JS'ATVn.lL UlSTUlli'.

The American Sable (Mmtela americana), often called the Marten, is a closely allied species. It
attains a length of eighteen inches, not including the tail, which measures about a foot more. Its
capture gives the American traj)per his staple occupation. It " is ordinarily captured in wooden traps
of very simple constniction made on the spot. The traps are a little enclosure of stakes or brush, in
which the bait is placed upon a trigger, with a shoi-t upright stick, supporting a log of wood. The
animal is shut off from the bait in any but the desired direction, and the log falls upon its victim with
the slightest disturbance. A line of such traps, several to the mile, often extends many miles. The
bait is any kind of meat, squirrel, piece of flesh, or bii'd's head. One of the greatest obstacles that
the Sable-hunter has to contend with in many localities is the persistent destruction of his traps by the
Wolverene and Pekan. ... I have accounts from Hudson's Bay trappei's of a Sable road lifty

Ar^'MM'

miles long, containing 150 traps, everj' one of which was destroyed through the whole line twice — once
by a Wolf, once by a Wolverene. When thirty miles of the same road were given up, the
remaining forty traps vrere broken live or six times in succession by the latter animal."*

THE COMMON AVEASEL.f
The Wea.'jel, like the remaining members of the genus Putorius, are very oi^-en called " vermiform,"
and a better name could scarcely be applied to them, for anything more worai-like could hardly be
imagined in a hair}' quadruped. The legs are extremely short in relation to the body, which is atten-
uated in the highest degree, and almo.st regularly cylindrical from one end to the other. Then the
neck is of most disproportionate length, and can'ies the head out so tar, that the fore legs appear as

Cones.

t Pntorii

the Martens,

u!i/a>-is. The Weasel is very commonly referred to the genus .Vustela, but this name properly belongs to

COMMON WEASEL.

188 NATURAL MISTOMY.

if placed quite at the hinder end of the chest, instead of in the front of it. The liead passes almost
insensibly into the neck, and the neck into the body. The head is flattened, and bears little glittering
savace-looking eyes, and small rounded eai-s. The length from snout to root of tail does not exceed
eicht inches. The tail is about two inches long. The fur is light reddish-brown above, and white
below • in northern latitudes the brown parts assume a much lighter colour in winter, so that the
Weasel undei-goes a change of coat similar to, but less extensive than, that undergone by the Ermine.

The Weasel is a good climber, and makes use of its skill in this accomplishment to prey upon
birds, their eggs, and young. Rats and Mice are, perhaps, its staple food. Of tliese it makes great
havoc, and is therefore a useful hanger-on to the farm-yard, notvathstanding its occasional depredations,
in the hen-roost. Wlicu it, catches a Mouse or Eat, it gives it one bite on the back of the head,
piercing the must wiliinnMc piirt of tlie liraiu, and killini,' instantly. Professor Thomas Bell says ; —
"I have ol>ser\ri'i tli.il «lirii a Weasel seizes a small animal, at the instant that th-e fatal bite is
inflicted, it tlmnxs its long, lithe l.jody o^er its prey, so as to secure it should the first bite fail, an.
accident, liuwrvcr, which I have never observed when a Mouse has been the victim. The power which
the Weasel has of bending the head at right angles with the long and flexible, though powerful neck,
gives it a great advantage in this mode of seizing and killing its smaller prey." The first part eaten is
usually the brain. The stories of the Weasel's blood-sucking propensities ar<- probably false, or at any
rate grossly exaggeratr-d.

The Weasel will pursue its prey over fields, in trees, m s\ibterranean burrows, cr across water.
Like many of 111.' wild Cats, it kills far more than is necessary for its sujiport, and ui pursuance of
its favourite (x-<'upati(.u ..f slaughter shows an une(piidled eounige and pertinacity. Its power of keeping
its ])i-esenee of mind uiidei' \cr\- tryiiii;- eireumstauees is well sIkiwii in Uii' following anecdote related by

Jjj.Jl : A wciitleiiiaii. --^Nliile ri.liny' o\it liis L;rnuiL(ls. saw at a short di.stanee from him a Kite pounce

on some el.jert nii ihe ^roinnl. ;ina rise with i( in his talons. in a few moments, however, the Kite
lie"-an to show si:j,iis ol' great uneasiness, risnig rajiiillv in the air. or as (piiekly falling, and wheeling
irregularly round, whilst it was evidently endeavouring to force some olnKjxious thing from it with its
feet. After a sharp but short contest, the Kite fell suddenly to thr earth, not far from where
Mr. Pindar was intently watching the manoeuvre. He instantly rode n|. to the spot, when a Weasel
ran away from the Kite, apparently unliurt, leaving the liird dead, with a hole eaten through the skin
under the wing, and the laj-ge blood-vessels of the part cut through."

THE ERMINE.*

The Stoat, or Ermine, is an important species closely allied to the Weasel, from which it differs
chieth- by its greater size, and by the peculiarities of its colouring. In summer the upper parts vary
from yello\\-isli-brown to mahogany brown, while tla^ under side is white tinged with sulphur-yellow,
except on the throat, wjiich is pure white. The tail is tipped with lihick. The brown upper and vdiite
under surfaces are separated by a, perfectly distinel line .iC ,leiii.a,val i,ai. N\hielL extends from the snout
to the root of the tail, ili|i|>ing down at the limbs, s,, ;is lo nielude tlie out.a' surfaees of the latter in the

dark area. In winter, on ll tlier hand, the skin is, with the exception of the tip of the tail, which

always remains Maek, pure ulnle. tinged here and therewith sulphur-yellow. Intermediate states
between full winter dress and lull summer dress are often found, and these, curiou.sly enough, show
their half-way character in two ways. Sometimes there is an alteration in level of the line of demarcation
between the white and brown portions of the skin, the latter being occasionally found restricted to a
narrow strip along the back, but remaining still without any admixture of white hairs. In otlier cases,
again, the line of demarcation remaiirs unaltered, but the dark portions become gradually lighter and
lighter, until the final white dress is assumed.

As to the interesting question of the exact manner and cause of this change, it is sometimes
stated that the direct influence of cold produces a rapid lightening in the colour of individual hairs, while
there are also facts to show that the change is not due to an alteration in colour of existing hairs, but to
a renewal of the coat, the hairs of one colour being replaced by those of the other. Dr. Elliott Coues,
who has worked up the subject in an able and exhaustive manner, has satisfied himself that the

TBE POLECAT. 189

change may take place in eithei way. Some of liis specimens, "notably those taken in spring, show
the long woolly white coat of winter in most places, and in others present patches — generally a streak
along tha back — of shorter, coarser, tliinner hair, evidently of the new spring coat, wholly dark-bi-own.
Other specimens, notably autnniiial ones, denionsti'ate the tinning to white of existing hairs, these being
white at the roots for a varying distance, and tipped with brown. These are simple facts not open to
question. We may safely conclude that if the requisite temjwrature be experienced at the periods of
renewal of the coat, the new hairs will come out of the opposite colour ; if not, they will appear of the
same colour, and afterwards change ; that is, the change may or may not be coincident with shedding.
That it ordinarily is not so coincident seems shown by the greater number of specimens in which we
obser\-e white hairs brown-tipped. As Mv. Bell ccjuttiuls. temperature is the immediate controlling
agent. This is amply proven in the fact that tlif iioi tlu-rii animals always change ; that in those from
intermediate latitudes the change is incomj)lete, while llmsr from farther south do not change at all."
The advantage of the change to the animal is manifest; its colour becomes that of the snow over which

WEASEL (1) AND ERMINE (2) IX THEIR WINTER (T.i)TllIN(i.

it travels in pursuit of game, so that it is less easily seen an.l avoided. I'ufortunately for it, however,
a siraihu- "protective coloui-ing" is adopted l.y son,.- i.f its victims.

The habits of the Stoat resemble those ..f the Weasel ; it is dangerous both to the sheep-f(5ld and
to the poultry-yard, but partly atones for its poaching by the immense number of Rats and Mice it is
capable of destroying. Audubon relates that he " once placed a half-domesticated Ermine in an out-
house infested with Rats, shutting up the holes on the outside to prevent their escape. The little
animal soon commenced its work of destruction. The squeaking of the Rats was heard tluoughotit the
day. In the evening it came out, licking its mouth, and seemed like a hound after a long chase, imich
fatigued. A board of the floor was raised to enable us to ascertain the i-esult of our experiment, and
an immense number of Rats were observed, which, although they had been killed in diflerent parts of
the building, had been dragged together, forming a compact heap."

Both Weasel and Ermine are found over the greater part of Northern Eurojio, Asia, and America.

THE POLECAT.*
In form this animal does not differ very markedly from the Marten, except for the fact that its
head is broader, its snout blunter, and its tail very much shorter : the latter being about five and a

* Putorim fatidus.

190

NATUi:.-!]. niSTORT.

half inches, \
ably sliorter,

ile the he-id and bod\ too;(ther
lid the bod\ stoutei than m thi

le neiih a foot ml x hilf long. The neck is consider-
We.ib.d ,uid Stoit The fur is made up of hairs of two
kinds, the shoitei woolly and of a yellowish colour,
the lo.]<,'ei black oi brownish-black and shining.
One ot Its most maiked chai-acters is its hoirible
stench This is pioduced, like the scent of the
' \ ets, 111 a pail of glands near the root of the tail,
I ich seciete a Jello^Msh creamy substance of the
st fetid chaidctei
The Pol"t,it is also known as the Fitcliet
(Fitchew of Shakspeie), Foumart, or Foulimart :
the Idttei names aie said to be a contraction of
" Foul Marten," thus distinguishing it from the
Common or Sweet Marten, which is a compai-a-
tively inodorous animnl The name. Polecat is probably a contraction of Polish Ciit.

The Polecat is perha])s even more destructive than the other 3IustelidiB, and is certainly a far greater
2)lague to the farmer. Its ravage among Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges is immense, and if once it

SKIT.L OF rOLEC.\T.

/;

:1

W

«yi\t>vwW:

gets unobser\'ed into a poultry-yard, the fate of a very considerable number of the inmates is sealed,
as it possesses in a high degi-ee the ftimily love of slaughter for slaughter's sake. It has been known
to kill as many a.s sixteen Turkeys in a single night ; and, indesd, it seems a point of honour with this
bloodthirsty little creature to kill eveiything it can overpower, and to leave no survivors on its battle-
fields. It has, too, an unfortunate liking for eggs, as well as for game and poultry, and in this way
alone does great h.arm to preserves. There are also many accounts of its fondness of fish ; Bell also
quotes an instance in which a female Polecat was pursued to her nest, and was found to have laicj up,
in a side hole, a store of food, consisting of forty Frogs and two Toads, all of which she had skilfully
" pithed," that is, bitten through the brain, so that, although retaining a certain amount of vitality,
tliey were effectually provent:d from running away !

THE GUISOX. lyi

Tlie Polecat is found tlirouglioiit NovtlR-ni Eiu-oi)3, not extending south«-ards into tin- wanner
]iarts of tlio Continent, Init hmv^ quite :it home in snow-covered regions. It is essentially, like the
ilarten, a sub-arctic and temperate animal.

THE FEKRET.*

This is a domesticated variety of tlie genus Putnrins, of African origin. It shows its Southern
nature by being, uulilvc the Polecat, unable to endure great cold ; even an English winter Ls enough
to kill it if not properly housed. It is an interesting animal, zoologically, from the fact that it is a
true-breeding Albino, having the white fur and pink eyes of that peculiar " sport." It is a little
smaller than the Polecat, with which it will breed with perfeo-t readiness, producing hybrids inter-
mediate in chai'acter between the two parent species.

Ferrets are much \ised, both in Britain and America, chiefly for killing Eats and for driving
Rabbits out of their burrows. For the latter function the Ferret is muzzled, to prevent its killing the
Eabbit in the burrow ; the latter is either netted or killed immediately, as soon as it is driven out.
The Ferret is also frequently employed to Itill fowls for the table. Its particularly neat method of
slaughtering by one bite in the neck is much admired by Ferret-fanciers, who make quite a pet of the
animal. It, however, never shows the slightest affection for its master, and has usually to be con-
fined : the necessity of this is shown in an instance, quoted by Bell, in which a child was attacked
in its cradle, and only rescued after the veins of its neck had been severed, its face, neck, and arms
1-icerated, and its eyes so injured that the sight of one of them was permanently lost.

THE MIXK.t

This important fur-producing animal is found in the northern parts of both hemispheres under
various specific forms, the most important of which are the European Mink {P. lutreola) and the
American IMinlc {P. vlson). Although most nearly allied to the Stoats and Weasels, it shows a certain
resemblance to the Martens in its larger and stouter body, which attains a length of from fifteen to
eighteen inches, the tail being about seven or eight inches long, and bushy at the tip. Like most of
its allies, it has two kinds of fur — "a .soft matted under fur, mixed with long, stiff, lustrous
hairs." The colour varies from dull yellowish-brown to dark chocolate-brown ; the upper lip is usually
white in the European, dark in the American species. The scent-glands are well developed, and their
secretion is second only in offensiveness to that of the Skunk.

The habits of the INIink differ altogether from those of the other species of the genus. As Dr.
Coues observes, " It is to the water what the other Weasels are to the land, or tli.- ^Mni-ti ns !■> tlir trees.
It is as essentially aquatic in its habits as the Otter, Beaver, or Musk Eat, ami sjk'ikIs, jhi 1i:i]k. more
of its time in the water than it does on land. In adaptation to this mode of life, the jiei;iv;i' luis that
peculiar glossiness of the longer bristly hairs and felting of the close under fur which best resists the
water." It feeds chiefly upon aquatic or amphibious animals, such as fish, frogs, crayfish, molluscs,
and the like, but also preys largely upon the smaller Mammals. It is stated that it is not an indis-
criminate slaughterer, but kills only what is necessary for its actual wants.

In America the Mink has been regularly domesticated and trained as a Eat-catcher, like the
Ferret. " Minkeries" have been established in connection with farm-yards, and have proved in more
than one instance eminently successful. The animals soon allow themselves to be handled, and besides
becoming good Eatters, bring their owner a very considerable profit by their fur, for which alone it is
v.ell worth while to breed them, as the expense of keeping them is trifling.

THE GEISON.J
This is a Weasel-like animal, found only in South America, and distinguished from its nearest
relations, the Martens and Weasels, by the fact that the colour of the upper is lighter than that of the
iower sui-face of i*s !iody, the former being gi'ey, the latter dark brown. Its whole length is rather

* PiUorius furo. + PiUorius lutreola &Dii. P. iiso:i. J Galictes vitlata.

VJ-2 NATURAL HISTORY.

under a yard; of this not more than a third is taken up by the taO. It is found in phmtationg
and in the -neighbourhood of buihlings, and makes its abode in hollow trees, clefts in I'ocks, and holes
in the earth.

As to its disposition, some notion may be gained from a tale told by Bell of a tame specimen in
iiis possession. He says that it " was very fond of Frogs, but these were not the only animals which
were obnoxious to its voracity. On one occasion, in the winter, I had placed it in its cage, in a room
with a fire, v.diere I had also two young Alligators, which in general were stupidly tame. On going into
the room in the morning, I found the Grison at large, and one of the Alligators dead, with a hole
^'aten under the fore-leg, where the great nerves and blood-vessels were torn through ; and the other
Alligator began snapping furiously at every one who attempted to approach it."

THE TAYRA.*

This animal may be considered without exaggeration to be one of the ugliest in the whole
Carnivorous order. It is not unlike the Marten in shape, but of a dark brown colour, and with a
low, villainous, and almost debauched expression of face. Tlie head and body together attain a length
of rather more, the tail of rather less, than half a yard. The colour of the pelage is dark blackish-
brown, becoming lighter on the head and neck, on the under surface of which there is a yellowish spot.
It is found, like the Grison, in South America, where it extends from Brazil and British Guiana in the
north to Parag\iay in the south.

It lives in forests, preying upon small manunals and bird-i
moniing, starting for work at sunrise, and returning about midd

:d does its huntinc' chicflv

the

THE EATEL.t

This animal, sometimes known as the Honey Badger, is one of the exceptional animals whose
colour is lighter above than below. Its stiff, wiry hair is ashy-grey on the upper surface, while on the
mider surface, the muzzle, limbs, and tail are black. The line of demarcation between the grey and
black is so sharp, that the animal has the appearance of being really black, but covered, as to its back,
with a grey cloak. It is about three-quarters of a yard long, the tail taking up about a sixth of the
length. In the matter of teeth it is interesting, as its molars are reduced to one on each side in
each jaw : a reduction equal to that found in the Cats.

It is said' to live largely on Bees, and to show a great amount of skill in tracking to their nest

' Gal ides larbam.

+ MelUrora cnpcnsis aiul .V. iitdicu.

Tll£ HATEL.

the insects which it observes on the wing. Sparnnunn states that it seats itself on a hillock to look out
for the Bees, and shades its ej'es with one fore-])a\v against the rays of the setting sun.

It is a stupid animal, verj' sleepy during the day, and issuing from its burrows at sunset to seek
for the birds, tortoises, insects^ and worms on which it feeds. It is very tenacious of life, and is

'«S*S£&''

well protected from attacks by the thickness and looseness of its skin, and the thick subcutaneous
layer of fat. It also possesses an additional means, if not of defence, at least of oft'ence, in its tail
glands, the secretion of which is very strong and pungent as to its odour. It is still further advan-
taged Ijy its burrowing powers ; it will scratch up a hole, and disappear into it in an incredibly short
space of time.

The Eatels in the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park (where the habits of all the animals
will repay the study of the most casual observer) exhibit a remarkable peculiarity. We have
very frequently watched one of then) run round and round his cage in the usual purposeless

194 XATURAL HISTORY.

mamier of cai]ti\e animals, Ijiit v.ith this peculiurity ; ■\\lieu lie readied a particular corner of the cien,
he qi-iietly, and without effort, turned over head and heels, and then went on again. On one occasion,
after he had been doing this with great regularity for some rounds, he seemed to become abstracted,
and jiassed the usual spot without the somersault. When, however, he had proceeded a few paces,
he recollected himself, stopped for a moment, returned to the exact place, turned over as usual, and
proceeded without further let or hmdrance.

There are two species of Rate! , one, the Cape Ratel {MdJicora cnpensis), occurs in South Africa,
the other, or Indian Rate! (.1/. indica), being found in India,

THE COMMON BADGER.*

The Badger is the largest of the indigenous Carnivora of Great Britain ; for although the length
t f its body is not quite equal to that of the Fox, in bulk it far exceeds the slender and active Reynard.
It is, indeed, a heavy and somewhat clum.sy animal, long and stout-bodied, and shoi-t-legged, with
a tajiering and mobile snout, and a short scrubby tail. The long hair is of three colours : black, white,
and reddish, the mingling of the three producing a varying grey hue. The head i.s white, except for
;i black band on each side, which commences a little behind the nose, and extends backwards, including
the eye and ear, the tip of the latter being, however, white. The lower parts of the body and tlie
legs are black, the tail grey. The length of the body from snout to root of tail is about two feet three
inches ; that of the tail, seven inches and a half.

It is fond of retired places, such as sheltered woods, and in them it makes for itself a large
burrow or earth " which has but a single entrance from without, but afterwards divides into difl'erent
chambers, and terminates in a round apartment at the bottom, which is well lined with dry gi-ass and
hay." The Badger is consequently a very skilful digger, and for this purpose is possessed of strong
curved claws. Its diet is completely ir.i.xed : it eats roots, fniit, eggs, small mammals, frogs, insects,
■&C. It is quite susceptible of domestication, and is said to show a vast amount of affection and good
temper. As to its habits, we cannot do better than quote an excellent account of some half-do-nesti-
cated Badgers given in a letter to The Times by Mr. Alfi-ed Ellis, of Loughborough : — " About ten
yeai's iince, the Bad^r was established here, but it was not untU the thu-d attempt that my efforts
prospered. The Badgers then introduced, or their successors, have bred every year, and as not more
than one pair remain in permanent occupation it is probable that there are many more of these animals
in this country than is generally supposed ; but their shyness, their colour, and the short time
they require to obtain their food, and the recesses of the woods in which thej' delight to dwell, make it
no easy task to study thek life and habits. The deep earth in which our Badgers live is only fifty
yards from the window at which I write. The building of this house two years ago did not disturb
them, and they have shown an increasing confidence and trust. The Badger breeds later than the
Fox, and it was the middle of March this year before the preparations for the coming family were
made. These consisted in cleaning out the winter bed, and replacing it by a quantity of dry fern and
grass, so gi-eat that it would seem impossible the earth could recei^■e it. In June the first young
Badger appeared at the mouth of the earth, and was soon followed by three others, and then by their
mother. After this, they continued to show every ev^ening, and soon learnt to take the food prepared
for them. The young are now almost full grown, and, forgetting their natural timidity, will feed so
near that I have placed my hand on the back of one of them. The old ones are more wary, but often
feed with then- f^iniily, though at a more cautious distance. Their hearing and sense are most acute,
and it is curious to see them watch, with lifted head and eai-s erect, then, if all is quiet, search the
giound for a raisin or a date. But the least strange sight or sound alarms them, and they rush head-
long to earth with amazing speed.

" The Badger, like the Bear, ti-eads upon the whole heel, and its walk closely resembles that
i:niinal. They caress each other in the same grotesque manner while they gambol and play, and
i.t times they utter a cry so loud as to startle any one ignorant of its source. It is not unlike
the chatter of the Stoat, but many times louder. On fine evenings we can watch them di-ess their fur-

* Sides vulgaris.

THE BADGER. 19,5

]ike coats, or do kind ofllces for eacli other, and sciuvli I'ur pai-asites after the manner of Monkeys. No
creature is more ch>aiily iu its liabits. Over their earth hangs a birch-tree, from which grows a
horizontal bougli eighteen inches from tlie ground. On this they scrape theii' feet iu dii'ty weather,
and keep their house inodorous by depositing tlieir excrement at one place for many months and
covering it with earth. Tlie liibernatiou of tlie Badger is not like that of the Hedgehog — continuous
and complete — but is irregular, and is probably influenced by the character of tlie winter. I have
known the moutli of the earth covered with a coat of snow for fourteen days, and it might have been
much longer Ijefore tliey came fortli, while tliey may sometimes be tracked in a thin snow for a long
distance.

"As the winter approaches, the old bedding is replaced by dry fern and grass, raked together
by their powerful claws. This is often left to wither in little heaps till dry enough for their purpose.
Partially concealed, I have watched a Badger gathering fern and using a force in its collection
quite surprising.

" Bell, in his ' Quadrupeds' quotes Buffon as stating that Badgers are fond of Wasps' nests. This
is true, for, like the Bear, they love honey and sweet food. I once heard a pair of Badgers fighting,
and crept upon the ground imtil within a few yards of the angry conflict, but the bracken hid
them from view. Next morning I visited the place. A Wasjjs' nest had been stormed and eaten ;
very little of the comb remained, and not a dozen homeless 'Wasps. That summer I myself saw the
■svi-ecks of seven Wasps' nests taken by the Badgers in one field, and this autumn the}- ai-e iligging out
every one they can find.

" The Badger and and the Fox are not unfriendly, and last spring a litter of cubs was brought forth
very near the Badgers ; but theii' mother removed them after they had grown familiar, as she probably
thought they were showing themselves more than was prudent."*

Although far from common, the Badger is found in many parts of Great Britain and on the
Continent. Closely allied species occur over a gi-eat part of Northern Eiuope and Asia.

In former times it was in great requisition for the so-called sport of " Badger baiting," in which
charming and refined amusement the unhappy animal was put into a barrel and attacked by an unlimited
number of Dogs, amongst whom it was often able to do considerable execution, thanks to its sharp
teeth and j)0werful jaws.

THE AJIEEICAX BxVDGER.f

The distinction between this species and the European Badger consists chieflj' in the shorter and
more hairy character of the snout, and in the fact that the body is of a uniform whitish hue, sometimes
shaded with grey or tawny. The body and head together are about twenty-four inches long, the tail
six inches. It is found throughout the greater part of North America.

In its shyness, its general mode of life, and its habits, it differs but slightly from the-Common
Badger. Although in many parts it is so numerous that its burrows form a very serious obstacle to the
traveller, yet it is a comparativ^ely rare thing to see a specimen, so immediately does it retire to
its strongholds on the first intimation of man's approach. It can, however, be trajiped without much
diffienlty, and thousands are caught in this way every year. In 1873 the Hudson's Bay Company
.sold 2,700 in Loudon alone. Dr. Cones quotes an interesting account of the habits of a captive
Badger. He says :— " In running, his fore-feet crossed each other, and his body nearly touched
the ground. The heel did not press on the gi-ound like that of the Bear, but was only slightly
elevated abo-\-e it. . _ . . We have never seen any animal that could exceed him in digging. He
would fall to work with his strong feet and long nails, and in a minute bury himself in the earth, and
would very soon advance to the end of a chain ten feet in length. In digging, the hind as well as the
fore-feet were at work, the latter for the purpose of excavating, and the former (like paddles) for
expelling the earth out of the hole ; and nothing seemed to delight him moi-e than burrowing in the
ground. He seemed never to become weary of this kind of amusement ; and when he had advanced to
the end of Ids chain he would return and commence a fresh gallery near the moutli of his first hole.
Thus he would be occupied for hours, and it has been necessai-y to drag him away by main force. He

* The Times, Oct. ■24th, 1877. + Taxitlca amerkana.

196 XATVEAL MliSTURY.

lived on food terms with the Kacooii, Grey Fox, Prairie Wolf, and a dozen other si)ecies of animals.
He was said to bs active and playful at night, but he seemed rather dull during the day, usually lying
rolled up like a ball, with his head under his body for hours at a time."

THE TELEDU.*

This animal, sometimes called the " stinking Badger," is found only in Java and Sumatra, and
in those islands only on mountains having an elevation of more than 7,000 feet above the sea.
It is a little more than a foot long ; has a pig-like head, a stout body, very short legs, and a stumpy
tail, not more than an inch long. The feet are plantigrade. It is of a dark brown colour, with the
exception of a white band running along its back. But one of its chief characteristics is its power of
ejecting, from its taO-glands, a volatile fluid, the odour of v/hich is said to be even as bad as that of
the Skunk.

The Teledu lives in burrows during the day, and comes out at night to seek its food, which
consists chiefly of earth-worms, insects, and their larvie.

THE C-iPE ZORILL.\.t

An ally both of the Skunks and Badgers, the Zorilla may be said to take the phice of the former
animals in Africa, through the whole of which continent it extends, reaching also into Asia Minor.
The body, which attains a length of about a foot, is moderately stout, of a shining black ground-
colour, and marked with white bands and spots. The snout is elongated like that of the South
American Skunk {vide infra) ; the tail is bushy, about eight or nine inches long, and striped or spotted.

The Zorilla lives upon small mammals, bii-ds, and their eggs, as well as amphibia and Crustacea.^
It is a determined enemy to poultry, and entails gi-eat loss to the inhabitants of the districts where it
is found, but is often tamed, and used to catch Eats and Mice. In the matter of scent, the secretion
in its tail-glands is worthy of comparison with that of the Skunk itself.

An allied form is the Indian genus HeUciis, a Weasel-like animal with a long body, and of a grey-
brown colour, white underneath, and marked along the back with a white st)-ipe. The tail is long and
bushy. This animal is found from Nepaiil to Java in the south, and Formosa in the east.

THE COJIJION ISKI-N'K.i

This notorious American species is a stoutly-built animal, with short legs, a long conical
head with a truncated snout, and a long bushy tail. The general colour of the fur is black, or nearly
so, but on the forehead there is a white streak, and on the neck a white patch, from which two broad
bands of the same hue proceed backwards along the upper surface of the body. The length from tip
of snout to root of tail is something over a foot ; the tail itself is less than a. foot in length. The
general ajipearance of the animal is decidedly Badger-like ; it has, in fact, a good deal of resemblance
both to the Ratel and to the Teledu. As in the Weasel, Ermine, and Polecat, there is one molar on
each side of the upper, two on each side the lower jaw ; altogether there ai-e thii-ty-four teeth. It
occurs thro\ighout the whole of the temperate portion of North America.

We have mentioned that several of the Weasel family enjoy the distinction of being able to eject
a foul-smelling fluid from glands at the root of the tail. In this accomplishment the Skunk is the
undoubted chief. It can eject its perfume to a considerable distance, and with unerring aim : and the
smell ! The " odour of mingled guano and Polecat," which, according to Mr. Kingsley, distinguishes the
ancient Cornish dainty squab-pie, is simjjly nothing in comparison with the horrible stench emitted by
this little animal. It is so durable, that the spot where a Skunk has been killed will often retain
the scent for days, or even weeks ; indeed, Audubon relates that at one place where a Skunk had been
killed in the autumn, the odour was quite perceptible in the following spring after the snow had melted.
Clothes defiled with the secretion cannot be thoroughly cleansed by any ordinary means : for even if
the scent seems to have disappeared, it will make itself evident every time the wearer goes near a fii-e^

* Mt/daus meliceps. i Ictonyx zorilla. + Itlcphitis mcphitica.

THE

sKiyr.

or into the Kiin. Notwithstanding this, furriers have found out a way for effectually purifying Skunk-
skins, wliicli arc now a good deal used as furs. In Britain, where the Skunk is not known in the
tlesh, these furs are called by their right names, but in America, wlierc the inhabitants do not enjoy
the same blissful ignorance of this noxious beast, they are dignified with the appeUation of " Alaska
sable."

But the sceut of the secretion is not its worst feature. Sir John Richard.son quotes Mr. Graham
as saying " that he knew several Indians who lost their eyesight in consequence of inflammation,
produced liy this fluid having been thrown into them by the animal," and continues, " I have known
a dead Skunk, thrown over the stockades of a trading-port, produce instant nausea in several women,
in a house with closed doors, ujiwards nf a Innulred yards distant." Dogs often sufier from inflauuua-

tion of the eyes after being squirted with the fluid, and appear to be almost distracted with the pain.
Curiously enough, tlie secretion has been recommended as a cure for asthma. " The story is told of
an asthmatic clergyman who procured the glands of a Skunk, which he kept tightly corked in a.
smelling-bottle, to be applied to his nose when his symptoms appeared. He believed he had discovered
a specific for his distressing malady, and rejoiced thereat ; but on one occasion he uncorked his bottle
in the pulpit, and drove his congregation out of church." *

The efiicacy of the secretion as a defensive weapon for the not otherwise formidable animal is.
greatly enhanced by the distance to which it can be ejected. This is probably as much as twelve or
fourteen feet, while the smell itself can be perceived for a comparatively immense distance.

Besides its perfume, the Skunk has yet another claim to careful avoidance : its bite has been
known in many cases to produce hydrophobia, in a form quite indistinguishable, according to an
American surgeon, Dr, Janeway, from that induced by the bite of a rabid Dog.

198

y.iTUii.LL MlSTUJliY.

All allied species, the Little Striped Skuiik,* is less than a foot long, and the tail is shorter than
the body. The fur is black, and marked with mimerous white stripes and spots. It Ls found in the
.southern part of the United States, and is said to be readily capable of dome.sticatiou, proving very
serviceable as a Mouser. Of course, under these cii-ciuiistauces, the glands are removed while the
animal is young.

The White-backed Skunkt is the South Ameiican form of the genus. It occurs throughout tliat
Continent as well as in Mexico and the south-western portions of the United States. It is much
larger than the northern species, attaining a length of from eighteen inches to two feet, and is further
distinguished by its short white tail, wliicli does not exceed nine or ten inches in length, its pig-like
snout projecting a full iiieli licyoud tin- monlli, and its wiiite back sometimes marked by a median
black stripe. The rest of tin' fur is, as usual. Mark.

Our friend, Mr. Piiidie, whose acipiaintance with the Skunk in South America has been of the
most practical kind, assures us that when about to discharge its secretion, the animal invariably fiices
round, so as to Isok its enemy full in the face, throws its tail over its back, and allows the breeze to
carry the fluid in the desired direction. This method of discharge seems highly uiiaccountalile, and
difficult to reconcile with the anatomical facts ; but it would be certainly going too far to say that it
is impossible. Dr. Colics, who has repeatedly observed the North American Skunk, states tliat the
animal iiivariablv tui'iis its liack to its intended victim.

THE CdJIMOX (.)TTER.+
We now come to the most thoroughly aquatic of the Fissipedia, the sub-family of Ottere, animals
i'liich, although quite capable of acti\e and unemban'as.sed movement on land, are yet thoroughly

at home only in the water. In accordance
with tills mode of life, the toes are webbed,
and provided with very short claws, and the
tail IS long, tapering, and flattened, so as to
sei\ e the precise purpose of the corrcbponding
ajijiendai^e in a fish. The length of tlie head
lal lioh is ilM.ut t«M f^, t tint (.f the tail,
. 11 t^ It In I iial, I la tui Is of a soft

laowu coluiu, be Loiiiiun liijliti'i on the under
side of the throat and the breast, and consists
of long, coarse, shining hairs, with a short
under-far of fine texture, well calculated to
preserve equality of temperature as the animal
resorts alternately to land or water. The
skull is greatly elongated, and flattened from
above downwards ; the ftvcial part of it is small, as compfired with the brain-containing or cranial part.
The region of the .skull between the ejes is \ci\ ii.iuow xnd its flooi is ^\idt and thin In all these
points, save the first mentioned, the skull of the
Otter approaches that of the Seal. As to tlie
teeth, there is one premolar less on each side
of the lower jaw than in the Martens § and
both molars and premolars have shai p pointeil
cii.sps, quite like those of the othi i l//'^
telida'.

The habits of the Otter are so eiitii.l\
aquatic, that in the good old times it v, is
thought to be a sort of cross between a b^a^t
and a fish, just as the Bat was thought to be

intermediate between a beast and a bird. So deeply rooted was this opinion that the Otter's flesh

* Mephitis (or Spiloijale) piUoriiis. t Mephitis (or Coiiepatus) mapurito. t Liitra vulimria.

§ The dental formula is— Incisors, r^; canines, J~-| ; premolars, 3^; molars, ^., = 36.

II or COMMON OTxrii (-lyjfi Col(f«)

THE UTTER. 190

was considered ciuite fishy enough to he eaten by devout Catholics on fast day^. To this Izaak
Walton alludes in a well-knowu passage in his " Complete Angler."

' ' risc'itor. ' I pray, honest huntsman, let me ask you a pleasant question : do you hunt a lioast or a fish ? '
"Jliiiitsmaii. ' Sir, it is not in my power to resolve you : I leave it to be resolved by the College of Carthusians,
who have made vows never to eat flesh. But I liave heard the question bath been debated amonsj many great clerks,
and they seem to differ about it, yet most agree that her tail is fish ; and if her body be fish too, then I may say that a
fish win walk upon land.' "

The movements of the Otters in water are marvellous. They swim about in families, performing
the most astonishing pranks, from mere exuberance of spirits and excess of energy. Nothing can give
a better idea of their acti\-ity, than the description of them in that most delightful of natural history
books and fairy tales, " Water Babies."

" Suddenly Tom heard the strangest noise up the stream; cooing, and grunting, and whining, and
squeaking, as if you had put into a bag two Stock Doves, nine Mice, three Guinea-pigs, and a blind
puppy, and left them there to settle themselves and make music. He looked up the water, and there
he saw a sight as strange as the noise ; a gi-eat ball rolling over and over down the stream, seeming
one moment of soft brown fur, and the next of sliining glass: and yet it was not a ball] for
sometimes it broke up and streamed away in pieces, and then it joined again ; and all the while the
noise came out of it louder and louder.

" Tom asked the Dragon-fly what it could be : but, of course, with his short sight, he could not
even see it, though it was not ten yards away. So he took the neatest little header into the water,
and started off" to see for himself ; and, when he came near, the ball turned out to be four or five
beautiful cres^tures, many times larger than Tom, who were swimming about, and rolling, and diving,
and twisting, and wrestling, and cuddling, and kissing, and biting, and scratching, in the most charm-
ing fashion that ever was seen. And if you don't believe me, you may go to the Zoological Gardens
(for I aiii afraid that you won't see it nearer, unless, peiluips, you get up at five in the morning,
iiud go down to Cordery's Moor, and watch by the great withy [lollard which hangs over the back-
water, where the Otters breed sometimes), and then say, if Otters at play in the water are not the
merriest, lithest, gracefullest creatures you ever saw."

The Otter makes a sort of nest in hollows in the liauks uf the river in which it lives, but does not,
as is sometimes stated, construct complicated burrows : its claws, indeed, are too weak for any such
work. It usually confines itself to rivers, but is sometimes found on the sea-shore.

Otter hunting was formerly a very fiivourite sport. It was conducted with a special breed
of Dogs — the Otter-hound — (see p. l-il), and the spear was used for killing the animal when brought
to bay.

Otters are quite capable of domestication, and may be taught to catch fish for their masters. For
this purpose they must be caught young, and gradually brought to live upon bread and milk.
Whenjthis end is attained, they are taught to fetch and carry, like a Dog — first sticks, <&c., then a
stuffed fish, then a dead one. When this part of their education is perfect, and they make no attempt
to mangle the fish given to them, they are sent into the water to catch living fish. Otters are trained
for this purpose in India, and also in China, where they are used by the fishermen of the Yaug-tse-
kiang. Mr. J. Thomson* says: — "We noticed men fishing with trained Otters in this part of
the river. There were a number of boats, and each boat was furnished with an Otter tied to a cord.
The animal was thrust into the water, and remained there until it had caught a fish ; then it was
hauled up, and the fisherman, placing his foot upon its tail, stamped vigorously until it had dropped
its finny prey."

There is one peculiar habit of the Canadian Otterf which is worthy of mention. " Their
favourite sport is sliding, and for this purpose in winter the liighest ridge of snow is selected, to the
top of which the Otters scramble, when, lying on the belly, with the fore-feet backwards, they give
themselves an impulse vnih their liindlegs, and swiftly glide head foremost dovm the declivity, some-
times for the distance of twenty yards. This sport they continue apparently with the keenest enjoy-
ment until fatigue or hunger induces them to desist."

* "Malacca, Indo-China, and China." + Luii-a canadensis.

COMMON OTTERS.

TlIK SEA OTTEB.

201

In the Margineil taileil Ottei ^ the '
Otteib, esptcialh the luiiiowuess of the
legion, aie so evaggei.vted, that the aniiuj

Lull characters, which we have mentioned as dis-tiiictive of
legion between the eyes, and the shortness of the nasal
I approaches towards the Sea Otter, of -wliich we shall speak
next. The Margiued-tailed Otter, which is
foimd ill Brazil and Surinam, derives its name
from a longitudinal ridge on each side of its
conical tail. The fur is of a bright bay-brown

P: .y, '.jUnt^ ^^^ \ colour, both above and Ijelow.

' '^.^EC^ 'Ml 5C^^%r""% }-^t \^ '^^^ ^^-^ OTTEK.t

This interesting animal differs in many
important respects from the Common Otter,
and in all such points shows an approxima-
tion to the structure of the Seals. It is a large
animal, about three feet long, not counting
the tail, which is about a foot more. Its fur
is dark brown, both on the upper and lower

surfaces, and ])resents a frosted or silvered appearance, owing to the fact that the long stiff hairs,

which differ greatlj fiom those of the undei fui lie giej oi colouiless it the tip The he id is

veiy short, the snout niked the ejes extiemel} smxll md pi iced low do^vu on the sides of the head

and the whiskers aie shoit b^t stout and stiff ml ni i th hicctel do^\n\^alds iltogethei theie is

something very Se il like about the fiee The 1 i linil m 1 t et lie sin ill the paw s i itliei Cat like in

their rounded form md the claws lie quite

are flat and expanded bem^ no less thai i\ in li 1 lu 1 \ t ui 1 i

or a Seal's flippers , thej diffei ho\ve\ei ti m th s il in th ii t th

the inner to the outPi suit bothil)0\t in 1 btl « ih \ ii l \ei 1 wit

short, stout claws, lli lull is both in its u mi il iiiltuiili it

with its width than lu th i linu\ Ottus it 1 i i \ti lu 1\ 1

jaws bear on each side ouh i^lit t i th tli it th i u dt ^ 1

than in the Connnoii Ott i I Ihi himuuti u in nninl ti is li \\^

t ui to thiee

SIDE VIEW OF SKULL OF SE,\

The hind iitt
1 il lnl^^ 11

the ttliei hind
11 Ihl l)ucksteet
m 1 1 II 1 u^thticm
11 «l 1 1 init liil the

1 1 til U| I 1 II 1 1 vei
two ttith m 1 ui k s
is ■Bill be seen fioin the

owei incisois fioii thiee

f oidinai\ Cimnoies
iflei fiom flesh cl

formula below, by leducm., tlu

to two on each side The ioim of the giindeis

diflfers altogether fiom whit we h x\ e found not

only in the jMustehdie but m ill the L in 1 C u

iiivores. Their giuidmg suiface piesent n

sharp cusps, or jagged cutting edges is m mo i

Carnivorous forms neitliei aie the\

with 'numerous small tubeicles md iid_

the Bears ; but the sui-f ice of eicli i

into a small nunili i t i in 1 1 < iniii

minding one of tli li i nt nut

glacial district, or l)i ( mes leini

fering fn.m tlir

as water- wi 11-11 pi

angular pieces of i ic)

The Sea Ottei is found in the Noith Pa
cific, chiefly in the regions of Kamstchatka and
Alaska, and extends as fiir south as California.

Like the Seal, the Sea Otter is gi-egarious, being often found ■• in lumds nuinlxning from fifty
up to hundreds. When in rapid movement, they make alternate undulating leaps out of the water,

DER VIE\\ OF SKILL OF .SEA OTTEK.

* Pteroinn-a Sf,iiilha-hii.

% Dental firmulii— Incisors, izj ;

t Bnhydn
; premolars, ]^

202

NATURAL HlSrOKT.

plunging again as do Seals and Porpoises. When in a state of quietude, they ai-e much of the time
on their backs. They are frequently seen in this posture, with the hind flippers extended, as if catch-
ing the breeze to sail or drift before it. They live on Clams, as well as Crabs and other species of
Crustacea ; sometimes small fish. When the Otter descends and brings up any article of food,
it instantly resumes its habitual attitude on the back to devour it. On sumiy days, when looking,
it sometimes shades its eyes with one fore paw, much in the same manner as a pereon does -ftath the
hand."* This curious habit, as we have seen, is adopted also by the Glutton. The supine jjosition
is so habitual that the females actually sleep in the water on their backs, with the young ones clasped
between theii' fore j)awa. While in this position, too, the Otter will toss a piece of sea-weed back-
wards and forwards from paw to paw, like a ball, and the mother play with her offspring for hours
together.

The fur is very valuable, and the animal is consequently hunted regularly ; so regularly, that
there is every possibility of the species becoming speedily extinct unless some check is put upon the
chase. For taking some action in the matter, there is the further reason that the natives of the

Aleutian Isles, the chief resort of the

luimal, are dependent on its hunting

^^^^ ^^ ioi their subsistence, and it has been

shown that the people have diminished
in numbers coincidently with the
Otters.

" There are four piincipal mothods
of capturing the Sea Otter, namely, l>y
iint-shootinij, by spearingsHrrouadSjhy
dubbing, and by ivits.

" The siu-f-shooting is the common
method, but has only been in vogue
unong the natives a shoi-t time. The
\oung men have nearly all been sup-
plied with rifles, with which they patrol
the shores of the island and inlets, and
whenever a Sea Otter's head is seen in
the surf, a thousand yards out even, they fire, the gi-eat distance and the noise of the surf preventing
the Sea Otter from taking alarm until it is hit ; and in nine times out of ten, when it is liit in the
head, which is all that is exposed, the shot is ftital, and the hunter waits until the surf brings his
quany in, if it is too rough for him to venture out in his ' bidarkie.' Tliis shooting is kept up now
the whole year round.

" The spearing-surround is the orthodox native system of capture, and reflects the highest credit
upon them as bold, hardy watermen. A party of fifteen or twenty bidarkies with two men in each, as
a rule, all under the control of a chief elected by common consent, start out in pleasant weather, or
when it is not too rough, and spread themselves over a long line, slowly paddling over the waters
where the Sea Otters are most usually found. When any one of them discovers an Otter asleep, most
likely, in the water, he makes a quiet signal, and there is not a word spoken or a paddle splashed
while they are on the hunt. He darts towards the animal, but generally the alarm is taken by the
sensitive object, which instantly dives before the Aleut can get near enough to throw his spear. The
hunter, however, keeps right on, and stops his canoe directly over the spot where the Otter disappeared.
Tlie others, taking note of the position, all deploy and scatter in a circle of half a mile wide round the
point of departure thus made, and patiently wait for the re-appeai-ance of the Otter, which must
take place within fifteen or thirty minutes, for breath ; and as soon as this happens the nearest one to
it darts forward in the same manner as his predecessor, when all hands shout and throw their spears,
to make the animal dive again as quicklj' as possible, thus giving it scai-cely an instant to
recover itself. A sentry is placed on its second diving-wake as before, and the cii-cle is drawn anew ;

* Capt. C. M. Scamicon, "American Naturalist," Vol. IV.,

CUSCLVDlMi REMARKS. 203

and the surprise is often repeated, sometimes for two or tlivee hours, tmtil the Sea Otter, from in-
terrupted respii-ation, becomes so tilled with air or gases that he cannot sink, and becomes at ouce
an easy victim.

" The clubbing is only done i-i the winter season, and then at infrequent intervals, which occur
when tremendous gales of wind from the northward, sweeping down over Saauach, have almost blown
themselves out. The natives, the very boldest of them, set out from Siianach, and scud down on the
tail of the gale to the far outlying rocks, just sticking out above surf- wash, where they creep up from
the leewaixl to the Sea Otters found there at such times, with their heads stuck into the beds of kelp
to avoid the wind. The noise of the gale is greater than that made by the stealthy movements of the
huntei-s, sjho, armed with a short, heavy, wooden club, dispatch the animals one after another without
disturbing the whole body, and in this way two Aleuts, brothers, were known to ha\e slain seventy-
eight in less than an hour and a half."

The nets used by the Atka and Attorr Alcuis •■ aiv fium sixteen to eighteen feet long, and six to

ten feet wide, with coarse meshes made nowadays of twine, but formerly of sinew. On the kelp-beds
these nets are spread out, and the natives withdraw and watch. The Otters come to sleep or rest on
these places, and grt entangled in the meshes of the nets, seeming to make little or no effort to escape,
paralysed, as it were, by fear, and fall in this way easily into the hands of the trappers, who have
caught as many as six at one time in one of these small nets, and frequently get three. . . . No
injury whatever is done to these frail nets by the Sea Otters, strong animals as they are ; only stray

Sea Lions destroy them The salt water and kelp .seem to act as a disinfectant to the net,

so that the smell of it does not repel or alarm the shy animal."*

GEyERAL EEL.\TIONS OF THE LAND CARXIVORA, EECEXT AND FOSSIL.
From very ob\dous reasons we have l)eeii compelled to d6.scribe the various forms of Land
Carnivora of which we have been able to take account, one by one, beginning with Cats, and ending
with the Otters. But the reader will already have discove^'ed that a linear arrangement like this gives
no true conception of the relations existing between the various femilies of which the sub-order is
composed, or of the various genera which are included in the families. For cross-relationships of the
most puzzling and often complicated description are perpetually turning up : among the ^Eluroids, for

* H. W. Elliott, quoted by Coues, " Fiu:-bearing Aniiu.ils.''

204 ISATURAL HISTORY.

instance, we found Cryptoiirocta to be intermediate between Cats and Civets, and yet, if we had
followed the order indicated by this relationshij), we should have had to ignore the close connection
between Cats and Hyasnas, and that between Hyoenas and Civets, through the intermediation of the
Aard Wolf.

It is necessary, then, to devise some method of \vi-iting do^vn the names of the families, other than
that of j)lacing them one under the other, if we are to get anything like a clear notion of then- mutual
relationships. The method adopted by Professor Flower is perhaps the most convenient, antl following
liim, we arrange the groups thus : —

FeLID.K. HY.BNID.Ti. tiliSID.B.

CuYPTOPKOCTiD.i:. Protelid.e. Caniu.t;. Pkocvoxid.i;. Ailvuiu.t;.

VlVERRID.E. MuSTELID.Ti.

In this scheme we see an expression of the fact that the Dogs (Canidtt) form a central group, from
which the families of the ^luroidea — those to the left — divei-ge in one direction, and the families of the
Arctoidea — those to the right — in the other direction. The Civets ( Viverridce) and the Weasel family
(Mustelidm), being the least modified of the ^luroid and Arctoid sections respectively, are placed at
the bottom of the table, the Cats (Felidce) and Bears (Crsida:), being the most modified, are placed at
the top. The two latter families, again, are placed at opposite extremities of the table, as far from one
another as possible, to indicate the great gap which separates the digitigrade, short-skulled, active,
carnivorous Cats, from the plantigrade, long-skulled, clumsy, herbivorous Bears. To be quite accurate,
such a scheme should take account not merely of families, but of genera : in our table, for instance,
there is nothing to show the immense amount of specialisation undergone by one section of the
Mtistelidce — the Otters — to fit them for aquatic life ; but such A, detailed arrangement is quite beyond
the scope of the present work.

In considering the chief forms of Carnivora existing at the present day, we liave by no means
exhausted this varied and interesting group, for a number of its members, the forerunners of those
now li\'ing, have vanished from the face of the earth, and are known to us only by their bones, wliich
we find here and there entombed in the strata of which the crust of our earth is composed.

In the newest, that is the most recently deposited, set of strata, those which together form
t!ie beds of the Pleistocene period, we find a very curious change in the flesh-eaters inhal)iting
England. Instead of having nothing but Wild Cats, Wolves, and Bears — the only wild beasts known
to have existed in the historical period — we have the enormous Cave Lion {Felis spelaa), besides the
Cave Bear {Urms spelceus), and the Cave Hysena {llymia speUm), the last being merely a variety
of the Spotted Hyrena {IhjKna crociUa) of tlie present day. The presence of the first and last of

these would seem to indicate that the climate
of Britain was warmer in the Pleistocene
period than it now is ; but the i)resence
of the Glutton, as well a? of some non-car-
nivorous Arctic ammals, tends to the other
opinion, namely, that the climate of England
was sub-Arctic. Very probably the Cave Lion
and Hyasna were provided with thick woolly
fur, and so, like the Mantchurian Tiger and the
Northern Leopard (see pp. 34 and 42), enabled
to bear a degree of cold exj)erieneed by but few
of their relatives at the present day.

In beds of the same age in South America
is found a true Cheetah, a species now confined
to the Old World. But the most wondeiful
animal belonging to this period is the gi-eat Sabre-
toothed Tiger {MacJuerodus), a gigantic animal, with canines six or eight inches long, and jagged at their
edges like a very fine saw. It would almost seem as if Dame Nature, in producing this terriltle beast, had
actually got to the end of her tether in the matter of specialisation for carnivorous habits ; the canines

SKI-LL OF MACII-HKOnV

FO^miL CARyirORA.

20.)

of Machivrodus were so long that lie must have hud some ditiioulty in opening his nioutli sutheieutly
wide to take in anything large, and thus it would seem that he actually overshot the limit of
perfection, and died of over-specialisation. The canines of the Sabre-toothed Tiger are, however,
not its only peculiarity : there is one less premolar on each side of the tipper jaw than iu the
modern members of the C'at family, so that the total number of teeth is reduced to twenty-eight,*
the smallest number fovmd in any of the Carnivora.

On descending to the rocks of Pliocene age, we tuid, amongst many forms existing at the
jiresent day, an animal called Galecynus, about the size of the Fox, and possessing many characters, in
its teeth, limbs, itc, intermediate between those of the Dogs and those of the Civets. Anotlier genus,
Hijamarctos, is almost exactly half-way between Dogs and Bears ; its molars have less of a cutting
character than a Dog's, and less of a grinding character than a Bear's, ami its front premolars, though
much smaller than a Dog's, do not fall out altogether, as in the Bear.

In the Pliocene, or Late Miocene strata, remains ha\-e been found of many existing genera, such
as Cats, Civets, Hyjenas, Dogs, Weasels, Ratels, and Otters ; but amongst these are several genera not
occurring in any of the more recent strata, and all, or nearly all, tending to bridge over the gaps which
separate existing families from one another. For instance, a perfect gradation between the Hyenas and
Civets is afforded by two genera, Hycenictis and Ictit/wrium ; while LtUrictis shows atfinities both with
( 'ivets and Ottere, Hemlcyon with Dogs and Gluttons, and Dinictis with Cats and Weasels.
Another very interesting genus, Promephitis, belongs undoubtedly to the Weasel fiimily, but is inter-
mediate between its three sul>families, the Weasels proper. Badgers, and Otters. Siiitocyoii, again, an
animal about the size of a Leopard, is described as having the canines of a Cat, the molars of a Dog, and
jaws shaped like those of a Bear. Lastly, Ainphicyon is a large plantigi-ade animal. Bear-like for the
most part, but with trenchant molars, like a Dog's, and having a small additional or third molar on
rach side of the lower jaw, the number of its teeth being thus brought up to that which may be called
the typical Mammalian number, namely, forty -four.f

In the Eocene, or Lower Tertiary, still more remarkable forms occur, along with several genera
existing at the present day, such as the Cryptoprocta, Civet, Dog, and Marten, all of which are found
in the upper or more recent strata of the Eocene
formation. But lower down the genus Cyan
'/nil also connects Dogs with Civets ; and in
the very lowest beds occurs a large plantigiade
animal (Arctoci/on), ■vrith a very small biamcist,
\\ide jugal arches, a complete set of foitj foui
teeth, and altogether of a generalised charactei
In the Eocene of North America, Linmoti/on and
I'rototomns occur low down, and in the Middle
Kocene a form as large as a Lion has been dis
covered, to which the name Limnofelis has been
i;iveii, and also Orocyon, and some allies of the
If /(modon

But^\ehl enot ^Pt leiu ed illthit Pal«ontolog> >. Ill I i li ii il mt the history of the Carnivora.
In the Eocene and Lowei Miocene lieds aie found aiiim iK i t lud to the genera Ilycmodon, I'terodou,

Pala >ia hi, md Proviverra, which, not content

tipsp issmg on the boundaries between existing

1 I tuill} wander outside the Carnivorous

It ^ thei, and approach so nearly to the

M (iMi| I il (Kangaroos, Opo.ssums, iSic.) that many

L )inp( tent matomists have proposed to plaee them

in tliL httei gioup. The premolars and molai-s

lu these extinct inimals have sharp cusps, and

X

/"

21

* Theilental foinnilu is -Incison
f Tile dental formula is — Incisor;

I ; canines, f:^, ; premolars,
; premolars,

nolars, ,^ = 28.
molars, 3—3 = 44.

XATUSAL HISTORY.

incieise giaduilly iii si/e fiom befoit liick-rtaid'
piemohi IS tlie siiiilkst, uul tlip List luolai the

SKULL OF PHO-viVERRA. (AJtei Gaudi y.)

Tlic roof of Ilie skull IB supposed to 1)6 cut awny to show the form of the br;

as deduced from a natural east of the interior of the skull.

case in these forms was very small, and a cast of
M. Gaudry,* shows that the brain must have had

We thus see that a considerable
number of the existing genera of
Garni vora took their origin in tlie
Eocene epoch, where they co-existed
with creatures curiously intermediate
between the various existing families,
and with others intermediate between
Camivoia and Marsupials. In tin-
rocks of the Secondary period (chalk,
oolite, lias, &c.), none of the Carnivorn
have as yet appeared, and only Miii-
supial remains are found.

so that, of the wliole grinding scries, the first
largest Now we have seen that the rule among
existing Carnivora is for the last molar to be a
small tooth, and for the largest of the set to be
the fourth premolar in the upper jaw, and the
tust molar in the lower jaw. On the other
hand, the regular increase in size is very
chaiacteristic of the flesh-eating Marsupials,
imongst which the Thylacine, or so-calle;i
Tasmanian Wolf, shows a considerable re-
semblance, as to its teeth, to Hymiodmi and
Pldodon, w.hile Palaonictis and Proviverra aro
more nearly allied to the Opossums and to
the Dasyure, or Tasmanian Devil. The brain-
the interior of the skull of Proviverra, figured by
an extremely low chai'acter.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI.

(VfVERRID.^, CIVET FAMILY.)
THE C'YNOGALE.t
Although in all essential respects a
true Viven-ine, the Cynogale, or Mam-
palon, differs very considerably in
external appearance from all the mem-
bers of the family we have hitherto
considered. It has none of a Civet's
lithe and slender appearance, but is
stoiit and plump. Its tail is very
short, not more thiui six inches long,
or a quarter the length of the head
and body, which together attain a
length of aboiit two- feet. The snout
is long and pointed, the muzzle bald,
and the ears very short ; the whiskeis
are decidedly extensive in their de-
velopment, foi" besides the usual hairs
on the snout, there are two large

bimdles of long bristles on the cheeks, one a little in front of and below the eye, the
front of the ear. The limbs are short and stout, and the digits are five in number,

other ill
slightly

' Les Enchainemeiits du blonde

I les temps gcologiiiues

s, W78.

t Cynoi/ak Bcnnettii.

TUE SVKICATE.

•laws.

Tlie (.-lose tlii

ck fui

• is of a yellowisli

and c

iver the eyes,

and d

arker on the legs

webbed at the base, and ])rovided with short, retractile
brown colour, lighter on the under side of the heail.
The mode of progi-ession is nearly plantigrade.

There is not much known of the habits of the C'ynogale, exce[it that it frequents the neigh
bourhood of water, ;ind is also a good climber. It is found in the island of Borneo.

THE CYNICTI.S.*
This animal, a near relative of the Ichneumons, is found in South Africa, where it is represented
by three species. The head and body attain a length of about half a yard ; the tail of about a foot.
The pelage is smooth, of a reddish colom-, darker on the head and limbs ; the tail is bushy, of a
greyish colour, and tipped with white. There are live toes on the fore foot, three on the hind foot.

\^{ €-' r-,

1^ /.T^

"»% : *'■

THE MAXGri-:.t
, The Crossarchus, Maugue, or Kusimanse, presents a good deal of resemblance to the Cynogale, but
diffei-s from it in having rough fur and a comparatively long tail It is also a much smaller animal, not
exceeding fomi^en or fifteen inches in length from snout to root of tail, which latter appendage is about
eight inches in length. The body is thick and stout ; the fur brown, becoming lighter on the head ;
the ears are short, and the snout is long and flexible, projecting some distance beyond the mouth,
.somewhat like that of the Coati. The secretion of the tail glands is very fetid.

The single species of Crossarchus is found in tropical Africa. Very little is known of its habits
iji a wild state ; in captivity it soon becomes tame, and seems to prefer animal to vegetable food.

THE .SUiaCATE.J
This is a South African species, and, as in the case of the last two form.s, little or nothing is
known of its habits in a state of nature. It is about the size of the Crossarchus, the body an(^ head

Cj)n idis pill killata.

t Crossaixhiis ubaeunts.

NATVIiAL HISTORY.

attaining a length of aliont tliirteen, the tail of about six inches. The body is of a g)-eyish-brown
colour, marked along the back with yellowish-grey transverse stripes. There is a black patch round
the eye, bordered by a lighter area, and the ears and the end of the tail are also black. As in the
Cynogale, the head is rounded, the snout long, and the ears short. The legs are much longer than in

either of the preceding genera, and the feet are distinguished by being provided with only four instead
"of five toes. The claws are very long and curved, and, as might be judged from this, the animal is
addicted to burrowing.

There are several of these pretty little animals iu tlte Zoological Gardens, where their innocent
faces and quiet ways distinguish them very favourably from their relatives, the Ichneumons, which ai-e
perpetually (luarrelling iu the most outrageous fashion.

William Kitchen Parker,
Thomas Jeffery Parker.

THE AQUATIC OR MARINE CARNIYORA.
CHAPTER I.

IXTUODl'CTION — THE WALRVS, OR MOUSE.

I'innipedia lUstinctly Aquatic— The Three Famihes— Theii- Common Characteristics— Skeleton— Mobility of Figure— Feet-
Dentition— Skull— Tongue— Stomach— Intestine— Peculiar Disposition of Blood-vessels of Liver— Limgs— Sense of
Smell— Lai-ynx —Brain— Sense of Hearing— Tlie Walrus Family— Characteristics— The Walrus, on Morse —
Geographical Distribution — Fossil Forms— Weight— Size — Appearance in Old Age— Mode of Walk — Habits — On
Guard— In the Water — Attacked— Tusks — Dentition of the Young— Uses of the Tusks—Food— Long Fasts— Story of
" Jamie," a Tame Walrus— The Young— Maternal Affection— Massacre-Wahrus as-an Article of Diet.

The Wall-US, the Sea Lions, and the Seals, collectively termed the Pinnipedia,-' or by some Pinni-
gi-ada,t constitute the second well-marked group or sub-order of the Carnivora. They are truly
inliabitants of the high seas, the land being to them only an occasional resort, when pi-ocreation or
other causes induce short visits, or temporary residence thereupon. In the previous chapters it has
been notetl that certain of the so-called Land Carnivora, the White Polar Bear, or the Common Otter
i^Lutra), for example, take freely to the water, and even subsist on finny and other prey derived there-
from, but nevertheless, as a rule, such Carnivora only peradventure are semi-aquatic. The one notable
instance to the conti'ary is the Sea Otter [Enhydra), an animal seldom seen on land, though
rai-ely met with far from rocky reefs and islets. Besides mere habit, the Polar Bears and Otters in
.some points of their organisation — particularly the confonnation of the skull of the first, and webbed
toes and abundant under-fur in the two last — show a partial gradation and tendency of structure
towards their strictly marine brethren, the Seal tribe.

The group of the Pinnipedia is one in which considerable interest is centred, and this for
several rea.sons. Their history, as handed down by classical lore, has a shade of the mythical, and well
shows how fable has become engrafted on fact. Within the last two centuries thpir pursuit has been
brimful of incident and adventure. As articles of commerce, tlie oil ami tlie fiir.s of certain kinds
of the Seal tribe are of immense importance ; whilst the mere hides of all, besides the Walitis tusks,
are commodities of great value. Indeed, to the natives of the Arctic regions, Seals are ijidispensable
as a means of every-day existence. But to the naturalist the fact of their being Carnivores peculiarly
atlapted to an aquatic life, and the study of their habits generally, are subjects of intense interest.

Moreover, the gradual, in some instances sudden, diminution of Seal life at the hand of man,
points to a possible early period of their extinction, as in the case of the Whales and Manatee triljes>
and warns, like the Roman story of the Sybilline books, that if we would read the history of tlie
past, the knowledge must be culled ei-e the records are swept beyond recall.

The three families of the Pinnipedia are denominated in teclmical language the Trichechid»,J the
Otamd»,§ and the Phocidfe.H The first has but one living representative, the Walrus, or Mor.se ; the
second contains the so-called Sea Lions and Sea Bears, more distinctively known as Eared Seals ; in the
third family are ranged the ordinary Seals, contra-distinguished as Earless Seals. Sufficiently different
among themselves in general aspects and habits, as to be recognised at a glance, the three families,
nevertheless, have characteristic features common to all, wherefrom the sub-order has received its
name. Their toes are united nearly throughout by a web of membrane, as in a duck's foot, which
converts the paws into broad, fin-like organs (the flippers), well adapted for summing purposes. This
feather-footed, pinnipedal condition is associated with a shoi-tening of the upper segments of the limbs,
and such peculiar attachment especially of the hind-legs as to leave little more than the feet free. The
body is long, usually ample and fleshy at the neck and shoulders, but narrows taperingly behind
towards the rump. The head is either flattish and elongated or more or less rounded, but in all cases
relatively small to the bulk of the animal. External ears are absent save in the Otary family, which
possess a diminutive, conical, or pear-shaped ear-conch. The eyes are full, and often expressive,
though usually on land bearing a drowsy look, from their vision being adapted for a watery medium.

* Pinna, a fin ; pes, a foot. t Pinna, a fin ; grajus, a step. % From the Greek, flpi'f, a hair, and ex«j, I have.

§ From the Greek, of s, un6%, an ear !| From the Greek, ^un.i, a seal.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Unless as the merest rudiiiient, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows. The muzzle is dog-like, but with
long, stiff, though exceedingly mobile moustaches. In the Walrus, howe\'er, chiefly on account of its
huge tusks, this part of the face is immensely dilated, fle.shy, and covered with great pliable bristles,
like knitting-needles in calibre ; these latter and tusks being adaptations suited to the animal's mode
of feeding. The skin of the body fits loosely, and there is a thick layei- of oily fat beneath, its amount
depending on general condition, season, and sex. The hairy covering is of two sorts, a stouter, coarser,
and at the roots a miich shorter, softer kind. As it appears ordinarily, the hair seems uniform and
short, and when wetted it clings close to the skin, so that the surface then is smooth and polished,
Isecoming rougher as it dries. Now, it is the soft under-wool, which is in great abundance in
some of the Sea Lions only, that constitutes the fur of commerce.

In the skeleton it is to the amount of cartilage between the bones, along with the gristly
rods attaching the libs to the back and breast-bones, that the extraordinary mobility of figure

SKELETON OP OT.tRI

Ecduccd ajicr Jfiirw.)

on land, and easy motions of swimming in the water, which belong par exeeUence to the Marine
Oarnivora, are due. Add to this that the hip-bones ai-e narrow and remarkably compressed,
the thigh-bones excessively short, the shank-bones long and tied in behind, while gi-eat hind-flippers,
like doulile oars reai"wards, cb-ive or steer vnth sculling sweep. The bones of the fore-limb and its
modified foot altogether are strong, and remarkably so in the powerful- swimming Sea Lions. All four
feet have excessively long toes, the thumb-bones being longest, the fingei's lessening to the little toes ;
in the liind-foot the three middle toes are shorter than the two outer ones. There are tiny nails on
each toe at the bone ends, beyond which is a flat spatula-shaped cartila.ge, of excessive length in the
(")tary family. The webbed flat feet are thus altogether veiy peculiar, and when used the entire sole,
even including wrist and ankle-bones, is laid flat on the ground, so that two families of the Pinnipedia
are really more plantigrade than the Bears. The Common Seals, or Phocidse, however, never use the
hind-feet on land, and the fore-feet but sparingly, while their naUs are more claw-like than in their
marine congeners. In none of the Seal tribe, though, are the nails or claws retractile, as previously
has been shown (p. 12) in the Cat and Lion.

The skidl in the three families presents modifications partly adapted to their difierent habits and
modes of life, and partly to their race characters. In none, however, do we find the peculiar scLssor-
!ike or cutting teeth (see p. 1 3) of the typical Land Carnivora, but, as in the Bear tribe, the den-
tition exhibits a diminution in the. cutting form of the teeth, and a tendency in some of the
creatures to a levelling and conical production of the crown of the molars, while in others these latter
show a serrate or saw-like character. For example, in the Walrus all the teeth, save the canmes, are

THE IXTERXAL AXATOMl' OF THE MARIXE CAIiXIVORA.

211

LPPER SlUriCE or BRAIN OF OT\BIA
[Aflcr Millie.)

short and simple-faiiged, tlie ciiniues themselves, or, as they are more comnionl} teimed lu tin

tusks, being of inordinate length and strength. In the Otariida^, the lanines, tliouij

good size, are small in comparison with those of the Morse

tribe, while the incisors and single-rooted molai-s are more

conical and prominent. The dentition of the Phocid;e

^•aries considerably, in some the occasionally double-rooted

niolare acquiring a tuberculate, in others a saw-like oi'

serrate character, while the incisors are notch-crowned.

The bony cavity for the eye is open behind ; the facial

legion i.s less prominently produced than in some of the

feline C'arnivora. The region of the brain-pan Ls relatively

full, while the skull, as a whole, is elongated and flat. In

youth, the cranium of the Pinnipedia has a predominating

brain area, and the entire bony surface is smooth and

featureless. As age advances, however, in certain of the

genera at least, the relation of parts changes, and the f.ue

acquires prominence, while great bony crests arise on the

summit and back of the head. The tongue does not possess

the spines met with in the Cat tribe, though the surface

is roughish. In the Seals, but not in the Walrus, the tip i.s

slightly cleft. The stomach is single-chambered. The in-
testine is considerably longer than in the Felid», averaging

fifteen times the length of the body, or thereabouts. The

glands of the internal coat in some of the tribe are very exten-
sive, and co-ordinate with the excessively rapid digestion.

A curious point in connection with the veins entering the liver
is their enormous dilatation. This, by some writers, has been
regarded as the means whereby the animal is enabled to remain
submerged, the blood being held in these reservoii-s instead of
passing on towards the heart and lungs to be aerated. But whether
this peculiar disposition of the blood-vessels is necessai-ily connected
with diWng powers, up to the present time has not been satisfactorily
decided. Whatsoever the relation between structure and habit in
this respect, it has been observed that the staying-power of the Seal
tribe under water increases from youth to age. In the Pinnipedia,
the lungs, relatively, are capacious, the animal rising to breathe air
at intervals from ten minutes to half an hour or more, when at the
surface taking a long and deep inspiration. The nostrils are under the
influence of strong fleshj^ bundles, which firmly compress the orifices
when below water. Their sense of smell is well developed, and the
larynx simple. The brain in all is not only large, but far surpasses
in volume and in amount of convolutions that of the Land C'arnivora
as a whole. Their docility and intelligence, especially when young,
are often remarkable. The voice is plaintive or bellowing, but want-
ing the great compass and strength of the Felidse. The nerves sup-
plying the organs of smell, sight, and hearing are large, and the last is
most unusually acute. Indeed, it is possibly to hearing more than to
the other senses that the Seal ti-ibe are dependent for their safety and

living. The facts of sound readily travelling under water, of solid ice being also a good conductor,

•and of the quietness of the frozen regions, all tend to render this faculty of the highest service,

nay, a necessity, to the creatures possessing it. Particularly is the faculty of hearing essential

when the Pinniped goes on land, for in the rarer medium of the air its vision is defective,
struction of the lens, &c., being that Ijest fitted for sight under water.

TOXfJVE Axn It.VCK PARTS OP MOUTH
OF OTAHIA. (Eeduced after Murie.)
to, Rigbt Tunsil; 7(, Vvula, or Curtain;

con-

NATURAL HISTORY.

I.-THE WALRUS FAMILY (TRICHECHIDiE).
This family in some points resembles the Eai-ecl Seals, or Otaries, and in others approaches
the Earless Seals, or Phociihe. The characters of the family are mainly, if not wholly, dei-ivecl

from the Walrus, the only living representative.
There are no external ears, but a faii'-sized
opening indicates the passage. Both sexes,
when adult, possess two immense tiisks in the
upper jaw, quite a notable feature. Along with
this, there is full development of the bony pai-ts
to accommodate them, and the huge, though
abnijjtly truncated nmzzle, is garnished with
long and remarkably strong bristly moustaches.
The semilunar-shaped nostrils, situated above
these, are dilated or powerfully compressed at
will, by the thick, fleshy muscles of the upper
lip. The eye is smaller than in the Otai-iidw
and Phocidse. The body, especially its hinder
pait, is also heavier. The tail seems absent,
though, in reality, nearly reaching to the heels,
but a broad flap of skin stretches across from
leg to leg, and binding these, hides the tail.
The hind limbs appear shorter than in the two
neighbouring families, but the above tail -mem-
1^, ,A , a nr 1 brane is wider, and allows greater freedom to

HEAD or W.tLRrS. (Modi/crl n/lci-Mld-Rj ' "

the legs and feet. Tlie thi-ee middle toes are
shortest, as is the case with the Common Seals, but not the Otaries. The fore-legs are of inter-
mediate length, strong, stumpy, and although the thumb is biggest, there is a certain equality in
the length of the toes. The fore feet, as well as the hind feet, are sufficiently free to be laid flat on
the ground. The nails are diminutive, and not claw-
like, and the soles of the feet are unusually rough
and warty. The tongue is smooth, and not cleft at
the tip. ' The dental series is as follows : — Incisors,
J~-' ; canines, J~J ; premolars, ^£|; molars, J=% = 24
The tusks, or upper canines, lie outside and almost
in front of the dental ax-eh. The incisor and gi mding
teeth are uncommonly alike, being short, cylindiical,
and obliquely truncated at their crowns. The teeth
alone are very distinctive of this family, and modified
for uses and a diet sui ge^ieris. There is no such
development of a thick coating of under-fur, as in
certain of the Otary family, the root hairs benig
sparse, and the larger sort softer, shaggier, and nut
so close pressed as in the Seals.

The Walrus, or Morse.* — So far as looks
are concerned, scarcely a more uninviting fellow cin
be conceived than this animal, which the Gieen
landers and Eskimo call " Awiik," from its ])pculiir
J guttural cry. It is better known among oui own
countiymen as the Sea Horse, though naturalists
more frequently prefer Waliiis, or Morse, words
respectively modified derivatives from the old Norse and Lapp languages.

I \M1 DENTITION or \\ II lU s

and. Muric.)
I of OJd Animal ; n. Pnlate and Dentil

Dt Maiiiulir

1 Dentition of Young.

Its present range

TUE WALRUS, OR MORSE. 213

is a narrow belt girding Labrador, Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and skirting the East Greenland
coast towards Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, and still farther stretching on to Behring's Strait
and the islands off Alaska. Certain writers arc inclined to regard the animal found in the
North Pacific as a different species from that inhabiting the North Atlantic seas : but on this
heiul no very justifiable evidence is yet offered. Meantime, its geographical distributiou, biiefly
defined, is the Ai-ctic Cu-cle. Here, thinned by its hereditary enemy, the Polar Bear on the
land side, and stricken down wholesale by man seawards, the day of its extermination seems
not far tEstaut. The living Walrus, indeed, presents to us a solitary example of a family once
more numerous and widespread, and doubtless coincident with a period when climate was different
from that now existing where their fossil remains have been discovered. In the deposits of Virginia,
on the American Continent, in the Suffolk crag, and possibly in contemporaneous beds around the
neighbourhood of Antwerp, bones of Walruses allied to the present northern form have been dug up.
But othei-s, moreover, have been found which, from greater size and characteristic peculiarities,
evidently belonged to at least two genera {Trichecliodon and Alachtherium) distinct from the Arctic
animal. Thus, by degrees, the more massive representatives of the family Trichechidie have
died out, while the last of the descendants visibly diminish amongst the bergs of their secluded,
ice-bound home.

The Walrus of the present day is a creature which attains large dimensions. Elliott mentions a
great fellow, shot in the Behring Sea, nearly 13 feet long, and with a girth of 14 feet ; and he estimates
the gi-oss weight of an ordinary full-gi-own male at 2,000 lbs. Well have some likened the hide,
which is of a ta\\Tiy brown colour, to a tough, flexible coat of mail, which harpoon and even bullets
penetrate with difficulty. In old age these creatures do not only become obese, shapeless masses, but
their gnarled hide, scarred by tusk-marks, bullet, or harpoon woxinds, gets blotchy, pustular, and
hairless. This, with small, tierce, bloodshot eye, in marked contrast with that of the Seals, and for-
midable pair of tusks, gives it a ferocious and demoniacal look.

The imusually flattened head seems disproportionately small to the gi-eat neck and sack-like body,
the tusks and moustaches being all in all either in profile or front view. Then- movement on land is
very awkward and droll. With high-set shoulders and low hind-quai-ters, and squat limbs to their
heavy bod}', the fore feet are successively thrust flat forwai-ds from the wrist, each followed by a hitch
and swing of the hind foot, as from a pivot on the heel, ending in a sudden sort of jerk or check.
Thus they straddle in a clumsy, indolent way along the rough ice, in emei-gency exerting themselves
into a kind of hobbling canter.

This ungainly creature, though so repellent in features, is in reality quiet and inofiensive, unless
attacked or roused in love-time, when woe betide those who measure his strength, especially if he
reach his native watery elejnent. They ai-e very gi'egarious, seldom bemg met with singlj', biit often
in herds from a dozen to several hundreds, as Captain Cook long ago observed. They wowd up from
the water on to the rocks or ice one after the other, grunting and bellowing. The first arrived is
no sooner composed in sleeping trim, than a .second comes prodding and poking with its blunt tusks,
forcing room for itself, while the first is urged farther from the water ; the second in turn is similarly
treated by the third ; and so on, until numbers will lie packed close, heads and tails resting against
and on each other, in the most convenient and friendly manner possible. There they sleep and snore
to their hearts' content, but nevertheless, according to Elliott, keep guard in a singvilai- fashion.
Some one would seem to disturb another ; then this fellow would i-aise his head listlessly, give a grunt
and a poke to his nearest companion, who would rouse up a few minutes, also gi'imt, and pass the
watchword to his neighbour, and so on through the herd, this disturbance always keeping some few
on the alert. Danger announced, they scuttle pell-mell and topsy-turvy into the water.

Once in the sea, their sluggish deportment vanishes, and activity is the order of the day.
Curiosity aroused, or attack threatened, as Lamout remarks, the herd keep near each other. One
moment a crowd of grisly heads and long, gleaming white tusks are above the waves ; then follow
snorting and hasty bi-eathing ; immediately thereafter, a host of brown hemispherical backs, followed
by paii-s of flourishing hind-flippei-s, and the lot have dived, again to appear at an interval, and the
same peifonnance be gone through. If one gets injui'ed, or a young one is in danger, the host of
Walruses close round the boat, gninting, rearint;, and snorting, and if their wrath be roused, they
21*

214 ^■ATUliAL EI8TUUT.

rush simultaneously to tlie fight, and attack the boat. When a young Sea Horse is wounded, the
parent becomes desperate, and fearlessly exposes herself, or seizes the youngster under her fore-flipper,
and makes off, or defends herself and progeny to the death. There is no security to the hmitev
on the ice, which the animal in its fury will break through, even when six inches thick.

The tusks vary from eight inches to two feet long, and may weigh from five to fifteen pounds ;
in the males they are generally supposed to be thicker and more divergent. These teeth continuously
grow, and, as they wear away, their interior becomes filled with tooth bone. In the young Walrus,
there appears to be more teeth than in the adult; but the.se, as Profes.sor Flower has shown, are
exceedingly diminutive denticles, and may or may not remain through life. The first tooth of the
molar series in the upper jaw, as in the Dog and other Carnivora, has no predecessor ; Isut the second
and third are preceded by milk teeth. In the lower jaw there are three milk teeth.

The formidable canines, when employed as offensive weapons (Lament notes), not only are used
downwards, but by a quick turn of the neck the animal strikes upwards and sideways with equal dex-
terity. Again, in raising the Ijody out of the water on to the ice-floe after the fii'st jerk forwards, the
tusks are dug into the ice wth terrific force, and thus the body is hauled on till footing is gained.
Broken tusks are by no means rare. But the most important function performed by the tusks is as
instruments for procuring food. A part of its time is spent by the Morse on banks and among shoal
water, where lie buried in the mud sheU-fish in abundance. Certain kinds of Mus.sels and Cockles are
here dug up by the tusks and gulped, often shells and all ; but occasionally it swallows Slirimps, Star-
fish, and marine worm.s. Dr. Robert Brown states that whenever killed near a Whale's carcass, the
stomach of the Walrus was invariably found crammed with the Whale-flesh. Some say they eat sea-
weeds ; but the young animal pos.ses.sed by the Zoological Society, though tried by Mr. Bartlett,
refused these, but greedily took Mussels, Whelks, Clams, and the .stomachs and intestines and other
soft part of fi.shes cut small. This said young one could not swallow anything larger than a walnut,
and from the way in which it used its mouth bristles, in brushing backwards and forwards the food
and sucking everything through them, their use as a sieve was very manifest.

Whatsoever their diet they thrive ou it, and store up much fat, though less proportionally than
Seals. Like some of the Sea Lioiis, they have the curious habit of swallowing stones, the economy of
which is imperfectly understood. But there can be no doubt of the fact, or of another equally strange,
that of their protracted fasts. During tlie autumn months the Sea Horses will muster in force
on land, and quite lethargic there doze for days or weeks without tasting food, thus recalling the
hibernation of the Bear tribe. The Walrus is infested with skin-parasites and inte.stinal-worms, and
the pebble-swallowLng habit is supposed to i-elieve the irritation of the latter.

Not unfrequentl3f a troop will be found sleeping bolt upright in the water, and so soundly that a
boat can approach close to them before they awake. The}' can lemain under water, some say an hour,
before requiring to take breath, but the length of time doubtless depends on circumstances ; and
ordinarily, or when suddenly disturbed, barely a third of that time.

The brain is largely developed, and has many sinuosities, so that in comparison with the Dog or
Cat tribes the Walrus ought to possess considerable intelligence. Acts displaying this quality,
liowever, are only spaiingly manifested in the young where domestication has been attempted.

A sui'geoii who accompanied one of the Dundee sealers relates how a juvenile Walrus, being
captured, because in a few days quite at home, and a general favourite among the crew. It qiiickly
formed a friendship with an Eskimo Dog which was on board. They ate out of the same dish,
although " Jamie," the Walrus, took good care always to secure the larger share. Whenever the Dog
retired to his barrel to sleep, "Jamie" bundled his own fat carcass right on the top of him, and as
doggie rebelled against such an tin wieldly bedfellow it usually'ended in " Jamie " having it all to himself
The latter ate blubber, beef, pork, and almost everything given him, but his fiivourite dish was pea-
soup. Into this he would plunge his face, which procedure left him a most comical countenance. He
seemed to know his name well, for even if fast asleep the in.stant any one cried out " Jamie !" he would
rouse up, gaze anxiously about, gi'unt, grunting in reply. But the most remarkable trait in
his character was an intense hatred of solitude. When alone on deck he appeared a picture of misery,
grunting and endeavouring to make his way down " 'tween deck " after the men ; and on more tlian
ono occasion precipitated himself, to his peril, ]iliuni> down tlie main hatchway, a height of about nine

THE YOrXG WAlIiCS. 215

feet. If the cabiii-door were open he at once Wiuldlecl in, hiid himself before tlie stove, and went to
sleep ; but if the cabin were empty he would not remain a moment. Nothing made him .so angry as
to shake a piece of paper in liis face, or to run suddenly away after caressing him; he then followed
with open mouth in a great passion. When a Whale had been killed, and the ship's crew busy
on deck, " Jamie " was in liLs glory in the very midst of the men covered with gi-ease and oil. At these
times he was a perfect nuisance, hindering the men in their duties by continually poking his head first
l)etween one seaman's legs and then another's, and so on, meantime running a chance of being
cut down in the " flensing " operations. He evinced no particular attachment to any one individual
on board, liking all equally from cabin-boy to captain. But he knew full well when he did auything
WTong ; for if a rope's-end were shown him in a threatening maimer, " Jamie " instantly would slink ofl'.

fiu-tively casting a look over his shoulder to see if he were followed. After being on board four
months he fell ill and died. The expression of this creature's countenance during his sickness
was indicative of a gi-eat desire for sympathy from any one who came neai-. He took his medicine to
the last, and when his remains were committed to the deep, regret was felt by all on board.

The Walrus, inilike the Sea Lions, is believed to be monogamous. It is known, however, that in
the islands of Behring's Strait the female gives birth at nme months to a single young one, usually on
the ice-floes. The Seals show a remarkable change in the colour of their coat at difierent periods
of their life ; but the young AValrus resembles its parents, though it has no tusks, these not protruding
to any gi-eat extent for two years after its birth. The young evidently suckle their mother up to the
period just mentioned, and this seems necessary, because in the absence of tusks the former are
unable to procure the shell-fish and other nourishment by digging. It is quite pos.sibIe that the
attachment and maternal instmct of the helplessness of her great full-grown baby to forage and pro-
tect itr-elf m part lead to that abandonment of self conspicuously showni in the heartrending stories
of hunters. Whether the Morse has the marked migratory habits which we shall afterwards show

216 NATURAL HIHTORY.

obtain among the Seals is uncertain. Circumstances rather tend to prove it to be more permanent
in its resorts, though occasionally some individuals must straggle from the herd, since at intervals its
occurrence on the British coast has been recorded. Undoubtedly its area is decreasing, and the
remaining few seek unfrequented spots in high latitudes less accessible to the sealers. In former day.s
their abundance is historically handed down to us in the fact — as Dr. Rink, Dr. E-obert Brown, and
others tell us — that the Greenlanders " paid their tribute to the Crusades in the shape of Walrus-
tusks, delivered in Bergen in 1.327, and their weight is noted in a,receipt which is still in existence."
But a century ago theii' numbers were enormous, on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, sixteen
hundred being slaughtered at an onset. Among the first voyagers to Spitzbergen it was no uncommon
thing to slay hundreds in a few hours. Lamont tells a story of four boats' crews, in 1852, massacring
nine hundred Walruses in a herd of some thousands which they discovered in one of tb,e small islands
to the south of Spitzbergen. So greedy were the huntei-s that half of their spoil had to be left behind,
and the rotting carcases afterwards raised such a stench that the animals deserted this previously
favourite haunt, a sad le-sson of man's inhumanity and savage lust of gain.

The more general opinion is that the flesh of the Walrus is tolerably palatable, and certainly the
Eskimo consider the hide a dainty for dessert. The tongue, at least, is excellent, and a favom-ite dish
amongst the whale-fishers and the crews of the various Ai-ctic expeditions. Lamont, dining on
stewed Walrus veal, mentions its being slightly insipid, but good eating notwithstanding ; the old
animal's flesh, however, is by no means so imiversally admired, although Arctic crews, at a pinch,
much prefer it to salt junk.

At one time a considerable trade was devoted to Walrus-hunting, but the diminishment of their
numbers has practically reduced it to the lowest ebb. The tusks alone have now any commercial
significance, but formerly Walrus hides were used for various purposes, such as machine-bands,
carriage-springs, rigging of shijis, and the like.

CHAPTER II.

II.— THE SE.\ LIOX FAMILY (OTARIID^).

Various Names— Peculiarities of Distribution— Characteristics of the Family— Dentition— Skull— Fossil Remains — Dis-
tinction between Fur and Hair Seals— Preparation of the Seal-skin— The Northern' Fur Seal— History— The
Pribyloff Islands— Male, Female, Young — " Hauling-grounds "' — Wintering— Males at the Islands in Spring— Despe-
rate Battles for Seaward Positions — Apin'oach of the Females — Struggles for Wives — The Young — Abstinence from
Food, AVater, and Sleep for more than Two Months— Neutral Ground in the " Rookeries "—Habits of the Young-
Food — Annual Slaughter— Estimated Numbers— Mode of Killing— Steller's Sea Lion— Gilliespie's Hair Seal
—Hooker's Sea Bear— The Wreck of the Gi-ttftoH- Musgrave's Narrative— Sufferings of the Castaways— Their
E.xperiences among the Sea Bears— The White-.necked Otarv— Distribution -Description— " Counsellor Seal "—The
Patagonian Sea Lion— Historical Associations— Impetus to the Study of the Family— Francois Lecomte— Its Docility
and Intelligence— Its various Performances— Voracity— Lecomte's Observations— Habits— The Falkland Island Fur
Seal— Habitat— The Hunters' Boats— Driven fjom their Haunts— Captain Weddell's Obsei-vations- Great Wariness
and Speed— Size —Habits— The South African, or Cape Fur Seal- The New Zealand Fur Seal— The Ash-
COLOURED Otart — Peron's Services to Science.

The old voyagers have termed, and the present race of sealers know, members' of the Otary family
by such names as Sea Lion, Sea Leopard, Sea Bear, Sea Wolf, Sea Dog, &c., and these terms have
even ptissed from seamen to science. Tlie Otariidw, like the Common Seals, are found both in the
northern and southern hemispheres, but it is a remarkable fact that the species (some would even say
genera) inhabiting the northern and southern regions are perfectly distinct the one from the other. Nay
more, the one seems representative of the other. For example, there are a certain number of Fur-
bearing Seals, and a certain number of Hair Seals, distributed over a wide area of the Arctic and
Antarctic Circles, which, in either case, are spread hither and thither into more tempei-ate latitudes.
Indeed, the most recent observations tend to .show that these animals are migratory in habit, and fre-
quent certain given localities at regular intervals.

Much confusion for a long time reigned concerning the species of the Sea Lions. This difficulty

SEA LION.

licit 1)1 /he Zoolod'tcal Gardens, London.)

CUAHACTEltlliTlCS OF THE OTAniES.

lias arisen from several reasons. 8ealer-s have long distinguished the two kinds, namely. Fur HkiaIsk
and Hair Seiils ; but among the thou.Siuids and tliousands of skins amuially brought home, little
attention was paid to the animal from which the diflerent skins were obtained, other than to its mere
market value. While skins, and occasionally skulls or skeletons, found theii- way into our museuins,
seldom have these specimens been certified as belonging to one and the same individual ; and in otlun-
cases they have been so mixed that identification has been little short of a riddle. Failing precision
with regard to skins and skulls, the anatomists have been too prone to found genera and species on im-
perfect data, ignoring dilterences of sex, age, and the like, and thus many technical di\isions have bccji
introduced which we hardly think it worth wliile here rigidly to follow.

Tlie famUy Otariidje, or Eared Seals, was distinguished, and so named t.\ tin Fiiii.li n.ituialist
M. Peron early in this century, from the animals of this section
possessing a small scroll-like external ear, an appendage wanting in

the Seals generally. They moreover differ from the latter, ami ,<^*"**'*'''^^.'

resemble the Walrus, inasmuch as they can freely progress on all-fours ..^'^^i^^

on land. Theii- skull is somewhat Bear-like, the neck being long. ^ '-" N;,

The fore-limbs, set well back, are tolerably free, and rest on a thin,
broad, but flat hand of great size, encased in a leathery-like substance.

The thumb is remarkably stout, and far exceeds the other fingers in t

length, and on all the merest indications of nails are present. Each '■'' "

finger is tipped with a long spatular cartilage, as are the toes of the hind h tt tlius ^n \\\<s, tin m gi< U
flexibility. The hind limbs are not so loosely attached by the tail membrane is ni the \\ ill us uid tin
short tail is apparent close to the heels. The great toe is by far the longest ind stiongest, si/x
dimuiishing from this to the little toe. As a rule, this family are nimbler on 1 md th m is the Wall us
family, though both walk flat-footed in a somewhat similar fashion. The gait of the Otaries, however,
from the slightly gi-eater restraint of their closer-linked hind quarters and legs, and from the
lengthening of their fore-fiippei-s, is ridiculously peculiar. The fore-flippers, as Mr. Frank Buckland

igger pei-formance. From the wrist they flop,
flop, in a semicircle as right and left foot is

drolly observes, remind one of Bob Ridley's shoes

n

^mw^

alternately raised, while the hind quartcjis
hitch, hitch, as each hind foot comes wobble,
/^^ wobble, under the belly, the great toes even

T overlapping the fore-flipper. The Sea Lions
j have.le*ig, stout, exceedingly mobile whiskers,
though these are by no means so profuse,
thick-set, or strong as in the Walrus. Their
skeletons differ from the latter in several
particulars of minor importance, the chief
distinctions being in the skull and dentition.
There are on each side three incisors in the
upper jaw, and two in the lower. The middle
ones are smallest, the upper outer ones more
TEETH OK oTARiA. (Afler Be Blainrmc.) often very large. The canines are still larger,

and reciu'ved ; but though powerful, not to
be compared with the gi'eat tusks of the Moree. There are more commonly five teeth of the molar
series, of which the crowns are bluntly conical, and the roots simple. The milk-teeth are mo.stly shod
before bii-th. The dental formula of the Otariidije may be represented thus :- -Incisors, |£f ; canines, \Z\ ;
premolars, ^E,,; molars, jEj = 36. The fore part of the skull is not so swollen out and abrupt as in the
Walrus, the smaller size of the canines not requiring such space. In youth the skull is long, lo^v,
and flat, but in the old males there arise bony crests and processes, altering the shape, especially
behind, so that recognition of the species is even diflftcult.

As the habits of the family of the Eared Seals are in the main very similar, and seeing
how difficult it is from mere outward inspection to tell one species from the other, it seems
advisable to follow jNIr. J. W. Clark's mode of treatment, and consider all under the single genus

NATURAL HISTORY.

Otaria, though incidentally alhi.siou will be niaile to such forms as arc indicative of generic
distinction.

We have in passing mentioned two kinds, namely, Fur and Haii- Seals, and we have also stated
that these Eared Seals are not confined to one hemisphere, but equally inhabit northern and southern
regions. Taking these facts into account we submit the following table as a kind of provisional
arrangement for the i-eader, that he may carry away a notion of what may be termed a combination
of commercial and geographical divisions.

Island Fu

The Northeun Fik Seal.

Stelleu's Sea Liox.
Gilliesi'Ie's Haik Seal.

Fi'E Seals.

i-The Falkland Island Fuii Seal.

I The South African, or Cape Fir Seal.

I The New Zealand Fir Seal.

'The Ash-Coloured Otaky.

Hooker's Sea Bear.
White-necked Otary.
. The Pataoonian Sea Lion.

Tlius eliminating doubtlul fonns,. or such a.s naturalists are not unanimous upon, there are, so to
say, some ten well-marked species of Otaries, whereof five belong to the so-called Fur, and five to the
so-called Hail- Seals. In the northern region there are but three peculiar to the "West American coasts,
<tc., whereas seven inhabit the southern region. These latter range over a wide area, from warmer
latitudes to the frigid zone. But it is very remarkable that in the whole of the Northern Atlantic
none of the Sea Lions are now to be found. It is, however, noteworthy that in the neighbourhood
of Antwerp, Professor P. J. Van Beneden has descril)ed some few fragmentary remains of a Seal allied
to Otaria, which he has named Mesotaria ambigua. These fossil bones, along with numerous other
remains of Pinniped ia and Cetacea, have been dug out of the upper Tertiary strata of Flanders.

As regards the precise geographical distribution, this will be referred to in connection with the
species themselves. The absolute distinction between Hair and Fur Seals is one rather of degree than of
kind, for as we have before hinted, all the family possess, at least in their early condition, evidence of
under-fur, sparse or otherwise. But undoubtedly as age advances in some kinds it is very abundant,
in others quite the reverse. Hence this character, though so apparent in some cases, is not one
thoroughly to be relied on so far as zoological divisions are concerned, though very considerable stress
has been laid upon it by some writei-s. So far as the skin is looked on as a mercantile commodity
it unquestionably is a most useful mode of division, but a classification foimded thereon must be taken
with the accustomed "grain of salt."

If we look at a lady's Seal-skin jacket, we at once observe its rich brown colour, and the velvety
softness and denseness of the fine haii's composing it. If this be compared with the coarse, hard, or
salted dry Seal-skin as imported, or, still better, with the coat of the living Fiu- Seals, one is struck with
the vast difierence between them, and wonders how the coarse or oOy-looking, close-pressed hau- of the
live animal can ever be transformed into the rich and costly garment above spoken of. Passing our
finger among the hairs of the Cat or Dog, we may notice short fine hau-s at the roots of the longer, coarser,
general covering of the animal. This is the so-called under-fur. It equally obtains in most of the land
as in the aquatic Carnivora. But in the gi-eater number of these
animals the short haii-s are so few and often fine as to be compara-
tively speaking lost sight of among what to our eyes constitutes
the coat. The remarkable feature, then, in the Fur Seals is its
abundance and density. The operation which the skin under-
goes to bring out, so to say, the fiu- may be briefly described
as follows : — The .skin, after being washed rid of gi-ease, <fec., is
laid flat on the stretch, flesh side up. A flat knife Ls then
passed across the flesh substance, thinning it to a very con-
siderable extent. In doing this the blade severs the roots of
the long strong hairs which penetrate the skin deeper than
rough hairs are then got rid of, while the fur retains its hold. A
in which the 2'K'^t is softened and preserved, are next gone through.

Biaffnmot i \
Real 8li «ii

does the soft delicate under-fur. The
variety of subsidiary manipulations.

THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL. 219

These we need not enter into, but only fiu-tlier state that the fur undergoes a process of d3'emg which
produces that deep uniform tint so well known and admired. We may, however, mention that it is
the dyeing process which causes the fur to lose its natural curly character and to present its limp
ajjpearance.

The Northern Fur Seal.* — The habits and life history of this animal ai-e probably more
acciu-ately known than those of any other of the Eared Seals. Fully a himdred and twenty
yeai-s ago Steller, a naturalist in the employ of the Russian Government, spent a season in
Kamstchatka and the islands in the neighbourhood of Behring Strait. During his sojourn
he carefully studied the habits and anatomy of an animal termed by him Sea Bear, which
• existed in. innumei-able quantities in the region in question, publishing the results of liis obser-
vations in the " Ti-ansactions " of the St. Petersburg Academy. A missionary, Krasheninikoff
by name, some yeara later, under the title of Sea Cat, also gave an account of the same animal,
but possibly deriving his information from the preceding -(vriter. For a long period little was
added to theii- narratives. In 1868 the Russian Government ceded to the United States the territory
of Alaska, including several of the Aleutian Islands, and among others the Pribyloff group. These
latter are remarkable and important, inasmuch as they are the resort of literally myriads of Seals, some
of which are exceedingly valuable for their fur. A Captain Pi-ibylofF had discovered the small island
which bears his name in 1786, and thereafter a Russian company established themselves, carrying on an
extensive trade in skins and oils u]) to the date of cession. The Russian Bishop Veniaminov, in 1840,
gave an accomit of the Seals of the Pribyloff group, containing a statistical table of their probable
numbers and evident decrease unless measm-es were taken to prevent their wholesale extermination.

The American Government wisely appointed agents, the result being reports by Captain C. Bryant
and Ml-. H. W. Elliott, which contained wondei-fully gi'aphic histories and descriptions of this Fur
Seal and others of the gi'oup. To these gentlemen's reports we are chiefly indebted, and do not hesitate
to abstract without stmt.

The " Kautickie " is the name given by the Rtissians to this Fur Seal. It repairs to the Pribyloff
Islands to breed in almost fabulous numbers, between the beginning of May and the middle of
September, some few stragglers occasionally remaining even to the close of December ; but between
the beginning of June and end of September, they remain on the islands in gi-and force. The haunts
of these creatures during the winter season, after leaving the islands, are doubtful ; but it is supposed
that they take up quartei-s by a southward migration to the Pacific coasts of the United States.
At all events, it is known that in the stomachs of the voracious Killer- Whales and Sharks the
remains of these and other species of Seal are not tmfrequently obtained by the whalers in the
region in question ; and likewise the Indians of the North-west American coast, as low as California,
then capture them in numbers.

The males, when full-grown, are between six and seven feet long, the females not being over four
to four feet and a half in length, from head to tail. The former will weigh between four to six
hundred pounds, the latter scarcely reaching one hundred pounds, but oftener eighty or less. The
male, with a greyish shoulder, has the rest of the body varying from a reddish-grey to deep, almost
pure, black ; the nose and lips are brownish ; the breast and abdomen with more of an orange and
reddish-brown tint ; the naked parts of the hind limbs are much blacker. The female is considerably
lighter, bemg nearly uniform grey above, and brownish-grey on the sides. The young, previous to the
first moult, is uniformly glossy black, ^\■ith a yellowish-brown tint on the under parts. As it grows
older, it becomes gradually lighter, especially in the females, and the two sexes tlien can hanlly
be distingui.shed. The distinction even in the young animal between the long, coarse hairs of the
outer coat, and the dense silky fur of the inner coat, is very marked. There is occasionally some
variation in the colour of the sexes, both as regards age and otherwise, but the above is that most
common. The male of this Fur Seal does not attain its full size until about the sixth year,
although it breeds at the fourth year. The females bear their first young when three years
of age. The breeding-gi-ound, or "rookery," as the colony of the Seals is termed, lies among the
belt of loose rocks along the shores, between high-water line and the base of the cliffs, and varies
in width from 60 to 150 feet. There are, besides, sand-beaches of large extent, and these stretch

*Otaria iirsinus, the genus Callorkinus of certain authorities.

NATURAL HISTORY.

ROOKERY OF FUR SEALS.

more inland to grassy hillocks ; the said areas are used as temporary resting-places, playgrounds,
and neutral territory, where young, old, and infirm or wounded may resort to midisturbed. To these
sandy beaches and uplands the term " Hauling-gi-ounds " is given, from the manner in which the Seals
drag themselves out of the water in going towards them.

From whatever reason, the adult males seem to leave the herd and betake themselves to the
Pribylofl' Islands in the spring months, when, in the first few days of May, they make their
appearance, and in a suspicious, doubtful manner swim idly about, apparently reluctant to land.
Soon, however, the older "bulls" approach the loose rocky shore, and commence to locate themselves.
Each individual animal takes possession of a piece of ground about ten feet squai-e, and, as those fresh
from the sea approach, there begins a series of battles as to which is to retain the groimd first occupied.
All during the month of May, and even to the first week of June, this terrible warfare proceeds
incessantly, and those next the water have to resist all comers, or themselves be forced farther back.
Meantime, from the beginning till almost towards the end of June, the pregnant females make
theii' appearance, first in small numbers, imtil the gi-eat body arrive in mass at the close of the month.
Each male retains his position as best he can, whilst some of the females hesitate to land, calling out
as if in search of some particular mate. The males coaxingly strive to inveigle them ashore, and no
sooner do the females a])proach than they are laid hold of, and a general warfare among the whole
"rookery" ensues. The quiet, unoflfending, small-sized females are subjected to dreadful usage.
The strong and powerful males secure, where possible; from twelve to fifteen partners in then-
seraglio, but to retain these is indeed a most serious business. Day and night the males, who
have never left their station for at least six weeks, have still to keep watch and ward over their
accommodating spouses, the only sense of meum and tuitm being force. If the master of the
harem dare for a moment to doze, down comes his more wideawake neighbour from behind, to obtain

HABITS OF THE NOliTREliN FUM HEALS.

by foul means wliat lie cannot obtain bj' fail- ; or some slippery partner, desirous of change, seeks to
escape the bondage of her loi-d. Then ensues internecine and domestic strife, in which all the neigh-
bouring males join, whenever there is a chance of capturing a coveted female. The poor wives suffer
equally with their spouses — trampled, bitten, and dashed about. It results that he alone keeps who
has the power to withstand his numerous assailants. Some of the females may have the fortune
to get more comfortably settled than others, which are bandied from one location to another, until
most of the males obtain a few partners, the lucky ones in front securing and holding the greatest
number, those behind being obliged to content themselves with half-a-dozen or thereabouts.

A few days only have elapsed, and matters settled down more quietly, when the females give
birth each to a single one. The little fellows soon find their voice — a kind of bleat like a young
lamb's,— begin paddling about, and then suckle. They gorge themselves heartily with the rich creamy

.SEAL rioin.

milk. But, strange to say, the mother seems remarkably indifferent to her offspring ; and, if it stray
beyond the limits of the family group, it may be abducted by the other Seals for all that she cares.

About this time, many of the old males who have successfully held their position become
exhausted, and now and again the less fortunate or single males behind, in stronger or fresher
condition, drive the former from their posts, and the latter take their places. There is no wonder
that exhaustion succeeds. Indeed, one of the most remarkable features in the history of these
Sea Lions is that for two months and more these heroic males, that arrived fat and plump from
their winter quarters, have held their positions on land against all comers, and this without tasting
food, water, or almost sleep during this pei-iod. It seems scarcely credible that animals incessantly on
the watch, excited and bearing the biimt of sanguinai-y contests, should be able to undergo starvation
under such circumstances. This fact is almost unique in natural history ; for, though hibernation for
long peiiods is common to the Bear, Hedgehog, Ac, their winter sleep is accompanied by cessation of
all bodily exertion, and the functions of cu-culation, respiration, and digestion are comparatively at a
standstill. In truth, how this and other species of Otaria, for the habit is not limited to the Fur Seal,
endure such a lengthened abstinence, physiology fails to explain.

While the families, in groups as afore mentioned, with their dominate lords, hold the favourite

■22-2 NATUHAL MISTOJiY.

grounds, tlie great mass of the younger members of the community are not thoroughly excluded from
the domains of the "i-ookerj\" By common consent, here and there long nai-row lanes of neutral
ground are left open from the beach upwards, and along these continually pass to and fro the non-
breeding animals. These go to the rear, where they pack tliemselves iii a kind of general medley,
theii- gregarious nature leading them there to swarm.

The young animals in the beginning of August begin to take to the water, with which they soon
become familiar, frolicking about, and returning like lazy Dogs to sleep after their exertions. They
grow fast, and gathering in squads swarm over the whole " rooker}-." The colony now begins to break
up from the family-parties first instituted. Some besport themselves, or possibly feed in the neigh-
bourhood ; others range on the sandy and grassy uplands, in groups of hundreds to thousands,
and seem to plaj- and enjoy themselves in a rollicking, lively manner. Their gambolling is very
good-natured, then seldom quarrelling. They appear to delight in dashing through the breakere,
and " hauling up " on the surf-beaten shore. In dull, foggy weather, they crowd close together
in myi'iads, and a bright, warm day sends them ofi" quickly to the water, seemingly to avoid heat.

What they live on during all tliis pei-iod it is difficult to state, for the fish round the island appear
to be driven oft' on the arrival of the Sea Lions. They, nevertheless, subsist and thrive. In the
stomachs of most of the older animals several pounds' weight of pebbles are usually found.

At one time 100,000 young males were killed annually, the females not being interfered
with. This will show how enormous the number of Seals on these islands was. But the
slaughter has not always been wisely regulated. When the Russian American Company first
hunted, up till 1837, they ran great danger of exterminating all, killing every animal regardless
of sex ; and complications have occasionally arisen between the United States and Great Britain
about the right of fishery, the former Government being desirous of preventing the extinction of
the Seals, and on that account claiming a wide jurisdiction in the Behring Sea. Mr. Elliott, by
roughly numbering the animals in a family group, and estimating the given area of the " rookeries "
when the greatest mass are on shore, calculated the total numbers at between four and five millions.

The killing of these Seals is quite a peculiar occupation of the islandera. After the breeding
season, the hunters take advantage of the dull and foggy weather, and creep down between the
herd and the water. Then suddenly rising and shouting together they drive landwards the
affrighted animals, though many of course escape. Closing on them, they allow the females and the
very old males by degi-ees to pass, and then di-ive the remainder at a slow rate towards the
killiug-gi-ound, some distance off. Watchers remain over night with them, and in the moi-ning,
when the Seals have rested and cooled down, the work of slaughter begins. Squads of forty or
fifty are separated, and the islanders then surround these in a body, the animals meantime hud-
dling together and treading over each other's flipper's, cannot well attack or defend themselves, and
they are then clubbed by blows on the head. While this liloody process is going on, a number
of the men dexterously skin the animals, and othei-s look after the blubber, and such parts as
are useful for food and other purposes.

Steller's Sea Lion,* or the Hair Seal of the Pkibyloffs, is an animal in some respects
not unlike the Fur Seal originally described by the aforesaid Russian naturalist. But it is
a much more powerful animal, and though in contiguity to its congener originally named by this
author Sea Bear, it differs in habits as well as in other particulars, besides the broad fact of
its possessing such sparse, and, when old, such absence of under-wool that it comes to be classed
as a true Hair Seal. The male and female animal are of unequal size ; the former attains a bodily
length of eleven or twelve feet, and a weight of l,0001bs. and more, while the latter is barely more
than half the dimensions and weight of her partner. The male has quite a leonine appearance and
bearing, and often exhibits great ferocity of expression. His colour is of a golden rufous tint, darker
behind, or occasionally with brownish patches, the limbs more nearly approaching black. Some variation
occurs with regard to the brindling and hue generally, the female being slightly paler than the male.

Their movements on land, though in many respects similar to, are not so free as those of the Fur
Seal, and never are they found far from the water. Some of them herd along with the Fur Seals,
their powei-ful organisation enabling them to hold and retain the shore locations. They, however,
* Otaria Stelleri. the genus Eumetopias of Gray .mil others.

STELLER'S SEA LIOX.

congregate iii breeding-gi-oiinds slightly apart. "While polygamous, they have not the regular system,
nor give such attention to their harem as does the Callorhinus. In comparison with the latter, their
numbers on the Pribyloffs are not great, in all between thirty and forty thousand. They are shy
creatures, and, as Elliott remarks, on the slightest approach of man, a stampede into the water is the
oertain result.

Their voice is said to be a deep and grand roar, and when in mass has been likened to the howling
of a tempest. The males come 'to these islands in the beginning of May, and the females a month later.
The young are .soon born, and at birth average twenty to twenty-five pounds, and two feet long, and
then are of a dai-k chocolate-brown colour, with gi-eat watery grey-blue eyes. They shed their coat in
October and become lighter, but do not precisely resemble their jiarents until they grow more adult.

This animal being destitute of fur, its skin is of little value; but their hides, their lat,
their flesh, their sinews, and intestines, are all useful to the Aleutian islanders. The last, the throat-
linings, and the skin of the flippers, are tanned into excellent leather, and both waterproof coats and
the natives' boots [tarbosars) are made out of them. Oil-ves.sels are made from the stomachs, the

22-1

NATlUtAL HISTORY.

sinews are used for threads for liindiug their .skiu-canoes, and to the flesh of this species there is given
a decided preference

Steller's Sea Lion lias a wider distribution, probably, than 0. ursina, and stretches around Kamst-
chatka and the Asiatic coast to the Kurile Islands. Moreover, on the American coast as far as Cali-
fornia they are occasionally met with. Indeed, one of the sights at San Francisco is the " Ocean House,"
a large hotel opi>osite the Seal Rocks at the mouth of the bay, whence a good view is obtained of a
" rookery " of Sea Lions, now rigidly preserved by the American Government. They also inhabit the
Farallone Islands about thu-ty miles from San Francisco.

The natives of Kamstchatka, to the coast of Siberia, capture the Sea Lions diflerently from
the Pribyloff Islanders. In the summer months, Salmon swarm at the moutLs of the rivers, the
Seals following and preying on them. • Strong wide-meshed nets, made of Seal-thong, are staked
in a curve open to the confluence of the stream. The fish find a free passage, but the pursuing
Seals become entangled, and the natives in flat-bottomed skin-boats approach and despatch the
victims with rude bone implements. In the spring and fall they capture them on the floating ice, and
during winter watch for their rising out of their breathing-holes to rest awhile, while the hunter deals
destniction from behind a snow-bank or ice-cake. These natives convert the prepared hide for the Dog
and Reindeer sledges and other purposes, and the blubber is a godsend.

Gilliespie's Hair Seal,* or Schlegel's Japanese Otary. — This animal also inhabits the bays
and islands of the Californian coast, but the first good account of it came from the jien of Professor
Schlegel, of Leyden, in his " Fauna Japonica," though, curiously enough, he confounded it with
Steller's Sea Lion It undoubtedly frequents the Japanese coasts, and, possibly, other spots in the
Noith Pacific Di Macbain, m descnbmg a skull from California, showed its specific distinction.
Indeed, fiom its liwing one pan less of uppei molais, a narrow muzzle and facial profile, and great

skull ciest, it

been ]il i

otli^

111 a Sep XI ite genus {Zalophus). But as before indi-
cated, we jM-efer to consider the whole of
these Sea Lions as belonging to Otaria.
The colour of this animal much resembles
that of the last, or slightly more of a pale
brownish-grey, underneath yellowish, but
also darker in the limbs. The sexes a]>-
proach each other in this respect. It is
smaller in size than 0. Stelkri, the largest
kiio\vn male being little over six feet long,
and the female relatively smaller.

Hooker's Sea BEAR.t — Among the
collection obtained during the eventful
voyage, under Captain Sir J. C. Ross, in
the Erehus and Terror to the Antarctic
legions, were the skin and skeleton of a Sea
Bear from the Auckland Islands, which Dr.
Gray named after the celebrated botanist
of the Expedition, Dr. (afterwards Sir)
Joseph D. Hooker. No account of the
life-history of the animal accompanied
these remains, but the narrow skull,
deeply concave palate-bones, and other
osteological features, clearly showed its
sEi i)E\K sE\ Liov specific distinction. The precise geogra-

phical distribution of this Sea Bear there
after became a knotty point, and from general outward resemblance of the Otary tribe one to the
other it has been confounded with several of them. The investigations of Mr. J. W. Clark of Cam-
bridge, however, set this at rest, and without enlarging into particulars, we shall briefly say that
♦ Oturia OllliespiL f Otaria, ffookei-i, the genus ArdocepkaJus and Pkocarctos of Gray.

THI-: CASTAWAYS OX T1IV. AUCKLANItS. 225

lio lias shown that besides the English voyagers, the French Expedition in the Astrolabe (1826-29),
suid Captain Thomas IMusgrave (of whom I shall say something immediately), obtained it at the
Aucklands. Moreover, the French, in their last Transit of Venus Expedition— to Campbell Islands

there met with it, and j\Ir. Clark identified it with a sub-fossil form found by Dr. Hector on

the coast of New Zealand.

The original specimens of this Hair Seal in the British Museum are throughout of a darkish gi-ey,
inclining to yellow, or yellowLsh-brown, and what appears to be the male is about five feet long, while
the female is smaller and yellower in coloui-.

The little that we know of the habits of this creature is chiefly derived from Captain Musgrave's
extraordinary narrative, "Castaway on the Auckland Islands." In 1863, the schooner Grafton, of
Sydney, was wrecked on the islands in question, where captain and crew were condemned to reside for
twenty months. His journal of theii- sufferings on these desolate rocks was written in Seal's blood,
and the editor of the gallant captain's narrative appropriately quotes worthy old Richard Hakluyt's
words: — "How shall I admire your heroicke coui-age, ye marine worthies beyond all names of
worthinesse ! "

Before the distressed seamen had been a week on shore, the captain notes " that the Seals are
very numerous here, and go roai-ing about the woods like wild cattle ; indeed, we expect they will
come and storm the tent some night." They found the sucklings delicious eating, exactly like
lamb, but the flesh of the old males was rejected. Indeed, stewed, boiled, or roasted Seal's ttesli
and liver, wth roots fried in oil, and occasionally mussels and fish, constituted dainties ; for it
happened at times they wei-e driven to extremities for lack of fare. For a while a few crumbs of
biscuit were regularly laid on the table, but only to look at, " or point at," as Paddy would say. On
a single occasion they obtained the milk of a slain female, which they considered to be rich and good,
and superior to Goats' milk. Needful of clothing, blankets, and shoes, by a rude manipulation with lye
of a.shes, drying and rubbing, and by tanning with bark, the skins were thus rendered available.
Seals' tracks were foimd at the top of a mountain four miles from the water. They run fast in the
bush, and where it is thick have an advantage over men, even climbing rocky clifls and steep sli]ipery
banks almost inaccessible to the latter. Captain Musgi-ave believes their sense of smell to be very ke^n,
Iiut neither hearing nor sight acute on land. The old " bulls " have long, coarse, almost bristly fur on
their neck and shouldere, which ruffles up when attacked, and this, with their great teeth, gives them
rather a fonuidable leonine appearance. These "bulls" are savage, and so fierce that caution is required
in facing them : they even are so bold as to leave the water and chase a man. One gi-eat and very
old dark-coloured fellow, " king of a mob," was christened " Royal Tom," whose daring and dignity
would barely allow him to move off when driven hard. On board the vessel which rescued the
Cii-staway survivors was a very large courageous Dog, which would fasten on the Otaries, but
get di-eadfully torn, and was no match in point of strength. Their tenacity of life is extraordinary.
For instance, one received two bxUlets, had its head split open with an axe, and brain hanging out,
but nevertheless dragged along the beach the men who were trying to keep him out of the water by
hanging on his hind flippers. The males arrive in October, fat, choose ground, fight fui-iously, and
remain until the end of February. The females go with young about elaven months, and bear a
single offspring in February ; but previous to pai-turition, in December and January, the smaller
tiiuid females wander in the bush bellowing in a dismal manner. The new-born young are black,
Itecome gi-eyer after a few weeks, and when older brownish, the adult colouring following. Musgi-avo
recounts the amu.sing manner in which the mother coaxes the young towards the water, which at fir.st
it is averse to enter, and she often displays ingenuity in getting it in. She puts it on her back, swims
along gently, while the little bleating fellow slips or splutters oft' into the .sea ; the mother again gets
underneath, or even becoming angry, gives it a cruel bite or slap with flipper. Ultimately, after such
diilling, the yoimgsters' take to the water of their owi accord, and paddle about or play on shore in
groups. There is a periodical migration of these Hooker's Sea Bears, but it is not so regular as in
some other sj>ecies, several remaiumg in the same quarters all the year round. They shift their-
camp, though, in the bays, and sleep a.shore only at night. When in the water Captain Musgi-ave
.issures us their speed is very great, not exceeding twenty miles an hour, and they have a most
extraordinary power of arresting their jirogress instantaneously.

226 NATURAL HISTORY.

White-necked Otary,* or Australian Sea Lion. — Under these two names, and those of the
Counsel] or Seal, the Cowled Seal, and Gray's Australian Hail- Seiil, has the Sea Lion been called
which inhabits the shores of Australia. Two localities are specially noted— Houtman's Abrolhos
and King George's Sound, on the west and south-western parts of" the continent — though Mr. Scott
mentions that this species was formerly very abundant in Bass's Strait, as also on the noi-th-west
coast of Australia, and that it is still found tolerably numerous on the Seal Eocks off Port Stephens,
a short distance north of Sydney. "Very old males of this animal are stated to attain a length of
twelve feet, and to be as large in girth as a Horse, but adults from eight to nine feet long are more
commonly met with, the females being still smaller. Mr. J. "W. Clark deftly catches the salient
points as follows : — " The adult has the face, front, and sides of the neck, all the under surface, sides,
and backj dark or blackish-brown, passing into dark slaty gi'ey on the extremities of the limbs ; the
hinder half of the ci-own, the nape and back of the neck, rich deep fawn-colour. It is the peculiar
shape of thi.s stripe of light colour stretcliing over head and neck which has given it the name of
' Cowled Seal,' and jjerhaps the appellation ' Counsellor Seal,' which I find is also applied to it, may
have been suggested from a fancied resemblance to a barrister in his wig." The males and females
differ in colour, the latter being lighter in tint. The white neck-spot, it ls suggested, distinguishes
the males. The " pups " are born black, and have an abundant coat of soft fur which diminishes
with age, and in the old animal is entirely wanting. The skins, therefore, are of no gi-eat value,
but as a commercial product the oil is of more importance.

The Pataoonian Sea LioN,t or Cook's Otary. — Magellan, after whom^ the Strait dividing
Tierra del Fuego from Patagonia is called, in his eventful voyage (1520) found, off the Rio de la
Plata, what the Simniards knew as a Sea "Wolf {Lohos de mar), doubtless the Otary above named, for
even in the jjresent day the Government of Buenos Ayres protect the colony of Seals of one of the
islands at which the celebrated navigator touched. Now these animals are scarce, and their range
somewhat limited, but when the buccaneers carried fire and sword into the Spanish provinces they
were of frequent occurrence, not only around Patagonia and the neighbouring islands, but up the
Peruvian coast. Few of the voyagers that afterwards pas.sed along these shores but had some slight
adventure to relate conperning these creatures.

It was this animal that attracted the attention of Captain Cook and his naturalist, Forster, both
describing it, the latter giving it the specific name oijubata, from the Latin juba (a mane), a featui-e,
however, that some naturalists of the present day are inclined to deny. But the fact is that at that ,
date many exceedingly old, large, and nigged individuals of this species existed which are no longer to
be met with.

Apart from the historical connections attaching to this creature, inasmuch as many famous
voyagers' names have been associated with it, in our own generation it is remarkable as that first
brought alive to England. The individual in question was latterly purchased by the Zoological
Society, and died in their Gardens in 1867, in consequence of having swallowed a fish-hook among the food
given to it. This notable animal created an interest in the Eared Seals (hitherto little studied) which
since has led to the introduction of several living examples and of different species. To those who only
knew the Seal tribe from the common sort, this Otaria seemed a mai-\-el of docility, and at a glance most
distinct in appearance, habits, and intelligence from anything heretofore exhibited. It was originally
captured in the neighbourhood of Cape Horn, and Francois Lecomte, the French sailor into whose pos-
session it fell, exhibited the animal for a short time in Buenos Ayres before bringing it to London, where
for a time he earned a living by .showing it off. By kindness and dint of training he taught it to become
quite a performer in its way, mounting a ladder with perfect ease, and descending indifferently, head
or tail foremost. It fired a small cannon, and went tln-ough .several other performances indicative of
the teachableness of its disposition and the successful assiduity of its trainer. From being cribbed,
cabined, and confined, the animal, on its transference to the Zoological Gardens, was allowed the use of
a .spacious pond, and along with others of the Seal tribe exhibited greater freedom and naturalness of
habit. So well known have its appearance and little tricks of mounting chairs, catching with ojien
mouth fish thrown towards it, kissing its keeper, and so on, become, that it is needless to enter
upon a detailed account of these matters. There is no doubt, however, that this animal, and
* Otaria aHikollis, the Nenph/ica lohata of Gray. f Otaria juhata.

r.lT.lGOXIJ.y S£A LK

227

others of dift'eient sjifLR^ siuo shown it the Zoological Gardens, Brigliton Aqnai-iiun, and elsewhere,
have m inifested tiaits ot In im powi i of a superior kind. One feature has struck all, namely, its
voracit\ , t\\ent} h\e pounds ot hsh i d i} l)eing barely more than short commons. If we estimate this

LION DOZING ON HI;

LION lAST ASLEEI'.

amount to each individual, namely, an equivalent of 9,000 pounds a year, and remember that there exist
colonies of these animals more than a million in number, the wonder arises that the linny tribe is not
exterminated in those spots inliabited by the Seals.

SEA LION CLIMlilN

The success accompanying the above animal's exhibition led to the Zoological Society's sending
Lecomte to the Falklands to })rocure more. Although he obtained a number, most met mishaps and
dietl before reaching London. His account of their habits and nature coiToborates the earlier

SEA LION LICKING HIS LEG

obser\-ers. According to liim, f\unilies range from six to twenty, a dozen being the average, while a
herd would be composed of several families. Located iii the islands and isthmuses, an old male guards
as sentinel, and signals, by a growl, approaching danger. Between sleeping and procuring food they

228 NATURAL BISTORT.

\vMiH tbeir time, often lying huddled in a di-owsy condition. At high tides, night and day,
tliey take to fishing near the entrance of fresh- water rivulets into the sea. at such times remaining for
a whole tide dabbling after fish and crustaceans. In captui-ing their prey, they swallow it above or
below the water. The animal at the Zoological Gardens, as a i-ule, came to the surface to swallow, but
the other Seals more often did so underneath. This Otaria, Lecomte affirms, never drinks water, that
which he first brought to England not receiving fluid for a year, but he had seen the Common Seals
suck water like a Horse. He certified to the fact of their pebble-swallowing propensities. The general
habits of this animal are but a repetition of what has been said of other species, and need not detain
us. The greater number migrate towards the south from July till November, between these months
remaining in the neighbourhood of the Falklands. The young are of a deep chocolate colom-, when a
year old becoming paler, the females being nearly grey, the old male of a rich bi'own hue, the flippers
in all being dai-ker. There is a sparse under-wool in the young, which sensibly diminishes with age.

Captain Cook says he met with immense males, twelve or fourteen feet in length, and eight or ten
in circumference. Such big customers now no longer exist, though the truth of what the cii'cum-
navigator asserts would seem to be substantiated by the fiict of skulls of enormous size being found
hither and tliither, weather-worn, on the beach. These exhibit the remarkable peculiarity of prodigious
crests, so that they have been compared with the characteristic change shown in the Gorilla, to wliieh
allusion has already been made (Vol. I., p. 17).

The Falkland Island Fur Seal.* — The head - quarters for the capture of this valuable
species of commercial Fur Seal are the Falkland Isles, and the South Shetlands within the
Antarctic Cii-cle, but it is also found on the coast of South America, namely, around Pata-
gonia, Cape Horn, and the islands bordering Chili. It doubtless also betakes itself to several
of the .small southern oceanic i-slets, such as the New Orkneys, South Georgia, and indeed very
])0ssibly migrates to the ice-bound areas surrounding the Southern Pole. Captain Abbott, who
was formerly resident on the Falklands, says that Seal skins and Seal oil are two of the principal
products of these islands. The boats employed in collecting these articles " are usually from twenty to
thirty tons in measurement, and are manned by four or five men. They are sent out laden
with ]3rovisions, casks for the oil, and salt for preserving the Seal skms ; they are fi-equently out
for months together, cruising about the islands, and seldom return without a full cargo." The favourite
locality of this valuable Fm- Seal at the Falklands is the Volunteer Rocks at the northel-n entrance to
Berkeley Sound, these rocks, owing to the heavy swell, being inaccessible except in fine "weather and
after many days' calm. The truth is the huntei-s have driven these animals nearly away from their
old quarters, the few that still remain being excessively shy. The best, almost classical account of the
liabits of this species, is that of Captain Weddell, in his " Voyage towards the South Pole," between
1818-1821. When he visited the South Shetlands, so little did they apprehend danger from man,
that they lay quietly by while their neighbours were being killed and skinned. But, as he says,
they soon acquired habits for counteracting danger, by placing themselves on rocks whence they
jirecipitated themselves into the water. Their agility is very great, outstripping men running fa-st in
pursuit. The absurd story of their throwing stones at their pursuers with their tails, Weddell accounts
for by their awkward trailing gait, and in an attempt to scamper, scattering rocky fragments hither and
thither behind them. He mentions their exceeding disproportion of size, the males, as in other species,
being the more bulky, the latter being six to seven feet long, the females seldom more than four feet,
and often less. He computed the females at about twenty to one male. They assemble gi-egariously
on the coasts at difierent periods and in distinct classes. Like the Northern Fur Seals, the males
separate and go ashore in November, where they await the arrival of the females. By December these
latter begin to land, and the seraglio and system of battle resemble what has lieen described in the Fur
Seal of the Pribylofi" Islands. The period of gestation is about a twelvemonth, probably less, and
the young are born in December. By the middle of February these lattei-, said to be taught to swim
by their mothers, take to the water. At first they are black, a few weeks later become grey, and after-
wards, as they frequent the sea, moult and acquire their peculiar furry coats. What the marinei-s call Dog
Seals, that is, those a couple of years old, land in crowds as February terminates and March goes on.
But by the end of April they once more make for the water, and scarcely laud again until June wanes,

* OUirki Jalklandira, placed under the genus Ar(tJ)phoca by Peters, and Euotaria by Gray.

rilE SOVTH AFRICAN Fl S SEAT

J^;^%>^.**

\ \ I III 1

?ALKLANU ISLAND FVK SEAI..

then they occupy irregularly the laud and water for several weeks. Towards the close of August the
herds of young Seals of both sexes again return on shore for a few weeks, and retire ultimately to the
water, to be succeeded by the old and more powerful males, as abo^e stated. Excepting the difference
of season, their habits much resemble those of 0. ursinus. As in the other Otaries, colour varies with
ago. The darker tint of the young, as they grow older, tones down to a rich brown, with the under
parts yellow, the hairs being tipped with gi-eyish-white. The haii-s are by no means .so strong as in
the Hail- Seals, while the under-fur is thick, soft, and of a ruddy brown hue. Their skins are among
the most valuable in the market.

The South African, or Cape Fur Seal.* — We are stUl, as Mr. J. W. Clark remarked a
f<ew yeai-s ago, in a " lamentable state of ignorance about the Sea Lions of the Cape of Good Hope
— indeed, we cannot say with certainty wliether there are one or two species — though, from that
centre of trade,^ cargoes of 60,000 or 70,000 skins come amiually to the London market." In
1875, the Zoological Society obtained, presented through Sir Henry Barkly, a living specimen
of Sea Lion, taken at the Cape, wliich was smaller in size than the Patagonian Sea Lion (O.jtibata)
exhibited along with it. This individual had a whitish-red coat, gi'izzled with blackish hairs,
the under side of tlie body, as likewise the short fur, being of a richer reddish-brown. When
it came out of the water, its then sleek skin closely resembled that of the latter well-known
example of a Hair Seal. The process of dressing the skin we have already described, doubtless,
would bring out the fact of its possessing the rich fur coat not obvious in the living animal. This
would appear to agi-ee with the barely adult stage of the animal. Flat skins, apparently of this
same species from the Cape, figure largely in the trade sales, and those similar to the above in age are
technically called " middUngs." The smaller sorts of the sale catalogue, " pups," or " black pups," have
smooth, soft, polished, black hairs more ruddy beneath. The large skins with a slight mane, the
"large wigs" of the dealei-s, have whitish fur intermixed with black hairs and short reddish umler-fur.
The habits of the«live animal in confinement quite resemble those of the other Sea Lions living
alongside.

The New Zealand Fur Seal. t— The investigations of Mr. J. W. Clark ("Proceedings of
the Zoological Society," 187-5) tend to the conclusion that the Fur Seals originally met with by
Captain Cook on the shores of New Zealand, and also by him and Flinders in Bass's Strait
* Otaria piisiUa, the Arctocephi'Jus antarctieus of Gray. + Otaria Fovsleri, the Giipsophoca tropicalis of Gray.

2aO

lyr.

IL Ul.siDK

and the coasts of Tasmania, belonged to one and the .same species. J. R Forster, the naturalist
who accompanied Cook, made some spu'ited sketches (now in the British Museum) of the living
forms, which agi-ee in most respects with animals obtained in 1871—5 by Dr. Hector in New
Zealand. In 1773, during his second voyage of circumnavigation, Captain Cook cast anchor
in Dusky Bay, New Zealand, and records that he saw gi'eat numbers of Seals on the small rocks
and islets in this neighbouihood Forster made careful notes thereon, besides his drawings. He
says the\ lie Seals with eais hinds fice, feet webbed on the under surface, naked between the hngers,
haidly niiled Gieg.iiious in habits, they are timid, and fling themselves off the rocks into the sea at
the appio.idi of in in but the most jiowerfnl resist when attacked, bite the weapons used against them,

and even venture ti) assail tlie boats. They
swim with such rapidity under water that a
boat rowed by six sti'ong men can scarcely keep
up with them. Tenacious of life to a degree, a
tVaotured skull did not despatch them. The
weight of the full-grown is 220 lbs., of cubs
scarcely 12 lbs. ; the former are six or seven
feet long, the latter barely two and a half! The
hair is .soft, black, with reddish-gi-ey tijis and
a delicate reddish under-fui-.

Mr. Clark and Dr. Hector agree as to the
general colour. The young are black when wet,
when dry, lighter below ; individual hairs pale
yellow at base with light yellow tips, and a
dense under-fur of the same tint. The older
animals have hairs tipped with white. Bound
the mouth and ears are pale yellow. These
Seals are fast disappearing or retiring to the
Soutliern Antarctic Ocean. They possibly may
lie found in some of the smaller islands south of
New Zealand, such as Auckland and Campbell
Islands. On this point, howe\ei, infoimation is required, but it has been shown at least that Hooker's
Sea Bear frequents these latter, and, as already oljserved, is known in a sub-fossil state u\ New
Zealand.

At the beginning of this century the sealing-trade of New South Wales was at its height, and vessels,
manned by ci-ews of from twenty-five to thirty men, pursued the craft. Mr. Scott, on the authority of
Mr. Morris, an old Sydney sealer by profession, remarks that " to so great an extent was this indiscri-
minate killing carried, that in two years (1814-15) no less than 400,000 .skins were obtained from
Penantipod, or Antipodes Island, alone, and necessarily collected m so hasty a manner that very many
of them were but imperfectly cured. The ship Perjasus took home 100,000 of these in bulk, and on her
arrival in London, the .skins, having heated during the voyage, had to be dug out of the hold, and
were sold as manure — a sad and reckless waste of life."

The Ash-coloured Otary.* — It is to be regretted that a memoir on the Eared Soals from
the pen of the admirable Peron was lost to science by his lamented early demise. The French
savant, when sojourning on the South Australian coast at Kangaroo Island, found a new species
of the genus, which he named 0. cinerea, this attaining a length of nine to ten feet. He stated
that the hair of this animal is very short, hard, and coarse, but its leather is thick and strong, and
the oil prepared from its fat is as good as it is abundant and he recommends pursuit of it
and the other Seals with fur of good quality.

Most likely it is the same animal to which Flinders alludes when he says, speaking of
Kangaroo Island, which abounded -with Kangaroos and Seals : "They seem to dwell mainly together.
It not unfrequently happened that the report of a gun fired at a Kangaroo near the beach brought out
two or three bellowing Seals from under the bushes considerably farther from the water-side. The

*' Otarid (Emtariu) rinerca.

LEFT FOKE (

Flit ■^E^L

THF, EAKLESS SEAL FAMIIY. TA

Sea), iiulfod, seems to be mucli the more discerniny auiinal of the two ; for its actions bespoke a
knowledge of our not Ijeing Kangaroos, whereas tlie Kangai'oo not unfrequently appeared to consider
us to be Seals."

It evidently is to Peron's animal, or one otherwise not to be distinguished from it, that the
naturalists of the Astrolabe, fully twenty years after, referred as the ■Phoqu.e cendree frequenting Port
Western, Australia. This appears to be a distinct animal from others hitherto described, though so
little is positively known that I shall merely draw attention to its colour. It is grey on the back, lighter
on the muzzle, and rusty-gi-ey on the lower parts of the body. It has sparse reddish under-fur, and
Clark states of the somewhat dilapidated skin preserved in the Paris Museum that it has a length of
Ijetween seven and eight feet.

CHAPTER III.

III.— THE EARLESS SEAL FAIIILY (PHOCIDiE).

General Characteristics— Peculiar Formation of the Hiiul Legs— Dentition— Swimming -The Common' Seal— Range- Fight
between a Seal and Salmon— Colour— Appearance— Annual Catch— Use of Skins in Greenland— Habits— The Rinued
Seal— Appearance— Various Names— Odour— Flesh— Skin Clothes— Haunts— Modes of Capture— Range— The Green-
land, or Saddleback Seal— Habits— Appearance— Names— Range— Migi-ations—" Seals' Weddings "—Five .Stages of
Colour— Females— Wei -it— Seal Fisheries- Hunting— Implements of Slaughter— Various Operations— The Sealers-
Oil, Skins, &c.— The Bearded Seal— The Grey Seal— The Mo.sk Seal— The Crested or Bladuer-Nose Seal—
Range— Size— Ferocity— Character of the so-called Crest-Dentition-Colour— The Elephant Seal— Peculiar Range-
Proboscis — Scamraon's Account— Habits — Hunting — Hardships of the Hunters — Recreations of the Men — Blubber, Oil,
and Skins— Ross's Large-eted Seal— The Sea Leopard— Weddell's Seal— The Crab-eating Seal— Concluding
Remarks — The Slaughter of Seals — Remedies.

Though the want of external ears is quite characteristic of this family, in contradistinction to the
la.st, the fact of the Common Seals' limb-construction being such as to prevent them from using their
four feet on land is a point of special importance.
In the general shape of the body and the appear-
ance of the skin they resemble the Sea Lions
more than the Walrus. The fore limbs of the
Phocidre are relatively and absolutely shorter
than in the Otariidje. They are so attached to
the body as to leave little else free than the
hand. The nails are generally longish and claw-
like, and the thumb does not so greatly exceed
the other fingers as it does in the Otaries. It
is on the hind legs that the main distinction is
based. While the thigh-bones are uncommonly
short, the leg-bones are relatively long, and
directed bacKwards in a line with the siiinc,
and clasely bound to the_tail by membrane as i'ar
as the heel itself. This mechanical ari-angemeut
prevents the leg from being thrown forwards, am
therefore it is of no use in land progression. Tli'
hind feet accordingly mostly rest in a line wit
the axis of the body, and when spread out form '"^" fLiiiEus of Risfr seu (o , i »i v .nv.)

,.,„,,.„ ,11 ■ A opened out B closed

a kind of broad pair of oars ; or the soles approxi-
mated give a long rudder or fish-tail-like termination. The tail itself is quite conspicuous behind the
heels. The outer or great toe, and the inner or little toe, are almost of equal length, the preponder-
ance being in favour of the former, while the three middle toes are smaller in size, and the nails of
all are claw-like. Tlie head in general is rounder than that of the Otaries, the eve is much larger and

232

NATURAL HISTORl

to® I

the whiskers somewhat less profuse. Their brain is more spherical. In several minor particulars the
skull differs from that of the Otaries, and especially in the dentition is there a marked difference.
Thi-ee types prevail, of which the Common Seal, the Sea Leopards, and the Crested, or Hooded Seals, are

examples. In the tii-st, the dental formula is^
Incisoi-s, ~ ; canines, t^J ; premolars, ^^ ; molai-s,
?^I = 34. The differences in number and shape
the two others we shall notice in the context.
With respect to the skeleton generally, bone for
bone, the distinctions rather lie in their relative
igth.s and dimensions than in special diffei'ence
of construction. The hip-bones, the hind leg-
imik _m bones, and those of the fore feet, appreciably

differ and correspond to the peculiarities of pro-
gression, (fee, in the two groups. On land, this"
family {Phocidm) lies on the beUy, throws the
hind feet back, and by a series of short jerking
movements, so-called saltatory efforts, or a curious
kind of dragging motion, giovels abdominally on
the ground, the short fore-paws either pressed
against the body, or, on rocky rougher gi'ound,
otherwise slightly aiding action. This movement of the Common Seal doubtless most people
have witnessed, and it is quite unique not only amongst the Carnivora, but the whole of the
Mammalia. In .swimming, the Seals seldom use their fore feet, while the Otaries use them as power-
ful sweeps. On the other hand, in the Seals the hind limbs have a kind of scullmg movement, com-
parable to a fish's tail, the sinuous strokes bearing some analogy to those of a screw-propeller. Less
swift than the Otaries, they nevertheless move with extraordinary rapidity and power in the water.

In the last family, the Eared Seals, it was pointed out that they had a peculiar geographical
distribution, wherein certain forms had alone a northern habitat, and similarly others pertained to a
southern. Almost identically, the Earless Seals have northern and southern representatives, but tlie

TEETH UF COMMON

S'.CELETOX OP SEAL.

Elephant Seal ranges both north and south ; and the Monk Seal, which, though ))roperly speaking
belonging to the northern area, inhabits a strip running east to west within the Temperate zone, indeed
nearly approaching the Ton-id. It is also worth mention that Van Beneden, Leidy, and others have
described quite a number of sub-fossil species, and Phocine genera ; though the data fo)- the latter are
by no means complete, and probably future researches will considerably modify the conclusions arrived
at by these authors. These Seal remains have all been obtained in the Temperate parallel, and regions
where the sea no longer flows. In i-eferring to the Earless Seals, as in the case of the Otaries, we shall
somewhat follow their geographical distribution.

The Co.mmon Se.\l.* — This most familiar species of the group is as ludicrous in its gait on land
i s it is surpassingly elegant in its movements in water. Its range is widespread, namely, the Black

■ Phuca vitulimi, the ge;

' 'aUoC€ph<dits of

THE COMMOX SEAL -THE SINGED SEAL. 23.3

Sea and the Mediterranean, and seaboard facing the Atlantic from Spain to Spitzbergen, from Florida
along the American coast to Greenland, also near Iceland and Jan Mayen. It likewise abounds ou
the Scandinavian coasts, and in the Baltic, the British islands being favoured with many visitors.
Being a shy, timid, though inquisitive animal, it now frequents the wild, lonely shores of Scotland
and Ireland ; but in former times even the Isle of Wight and the Cornish coast were famous for the
number of their Seals. Still they sometimes visit river-mouths. For example, in 1877, between
seventy and eighty large and small Seals, and of different colours, were seen sunning themselves on the
sands at low tide at Abertay. Some of these must have gone up the river towards, or even beyond,
Dundee, for at West Ferry a desperate and protracted fight between a Seal and a huge Salmon was
witnessed, not far from the shore, by several parties. The encounter lasted for more than an hour, the
Seal dashing wUdly about after its equally agile prey. The Salmon was occasionally tossed into the
air, after the fashion of a Cat with a Mouse. Spite of the exertions of the noble fish, it could not
escape its pursuer, and at length becoming fairly exhausted, succumbed. The victor frequently rose
to the surface with its quivering prey in its mouth ere finally fea-sting on crimped Salmon.

The Common Seal is of a yellowish-grey colour, spotted above with black and brown, so as to
give a mottled appearance, while below it is of a whitish or silvery grey. Ordinarily the hairs are
shining and stiff, the colour being dependent somewhat on theii- being moist or dry ; when the
foi'mer, dark grey predominates. In length it varies from three to six feet, the head being al)Out a
tenth part. The roundi.sh head has a short muzzle, prominent whiskere, and large expressive eyes.
The skull is distinguished by peculiarities in the shape of the palate and cheek-bones, and by the
oblique position of the molar teeth.

Although as valuable as certain other foi-ms hunted by the sealers, its numbers iu the Polar
regions are comparatively smallei', so that it is not sej^tarately pursued by them, though the Green-
landers have a high appreciation of its worth. Dr. R. Bi-own says the flesh is looked upon as the
most palatable of all '• Seal-beef," and he further i-emarks, '• that no more acceptable present can be
given to a Greenland damsel than a skin oi the Kassii/ ink." Or. It ink estimates their annual catch in
Danish Greenland between 1,000 and 2,000, and he h.ays that the skin is highly valued for making
clothe.s. It is found all the year round on these coasts, though it more frequently dwells near the
river-mouths, and hence has been called the Fresh-water Seal. It beai-s a variety of names, both local
iuid in iliflferent countries, and also according to age. In Greenland the young are produced in June.
Tlie cub is at first pure white, a few days later becoming darker, and changing as age proceeds.
Though very quiet in disposition it can take its own part when attacked, as the reader of Scott's
"Antiquary" (Chapter xxx.) may remember, where Captain Mclntyre's adventure with the Phoca
is narrated with Sir Walter's usual gi-aphic power. The same author's lines —

" Rude Heiskar's Seals through surges dark
Will long pursue the Minstrel's bai-k,"

are in reality no poet's licence, inasmuch as many instances are recorded of music — a fiute, or even
whistling, for example — bringing them to the surface. Their docility and intelligence ai'e noted fi-om
the times of Pliny, and Professor Trail relates how one became a regular sociable kitchen pet. Of
another, kept for six months in Shetland, the domesticity was quite marked. Called from a distance,
even when in the sea, it would answer plaintively, swim ashore, and make its ungainly way over stones
and grass to its lodge. This "Sealchie" amusing herself in the sea one day, a sudden snowstorm came
on, during which some wild Seals approached and coaxed her oS". A great number of interesting
stories are .related of the Common Seal, which Phoque lore, however, I need not stay to co)\sider.

The Rixged Seal.* — This animal has considerable likeness to the last, excepting the fact that it
is a very much smaller animal, seldom reaching more than three or four feet in length. It is blackish-
grey above, the spotting being marked with oval whitish rings. Below, it is paler in colour, and
its hair is softer and usually i-ougher than the Common Seal's. Besides these external features,
the foi-mation of the cheek and palate bones, and the straight line of the molar, distinguish it from
Ph. vitulina. In addition to the above name, it is also called Fcetid and Fjord Seal. It is the

* Phum fixtida, or T'lwca /(ispi(/<r; the semis Parjomiis of Gray.

234

AATUJIAL RiarORl.

" Neitsik " of tlie Greenlanders ; " Floe Rat " of the sealers ; and is known as " bodack," or " old man,"
ill the Hebrides. Other popular names are given it in diflerent countries. The callous Eskimo are not
insensible to the disgusting odour exhaled fi-om the old males, and hence the name FcetiJa. Dr. Rink
says that when the large fellows captured in the interior ice-fjords are brought into a hut, and cut up
on its floor, a smell is emitted resembling something between that of assafoetida and onions. The liesh
of the young, notwithstanding, both he and Dr. R. Brown aver, is sufficiently palatable to an educated
taste ; and the latter even states that after a time he and his companions became " quite epicurean
connoisseurs in all the qualities, titbits, and dishes of the well-beloved Neitsik. The skin," he goes
on to say, " forms the chief material of clothing in North Greenland. All of the o! ttoAAoi dress in
Neitsik breeches and jumpers; and we sojourners from a far country soon encased ourselves in the
somewhat hispid, but most comfortable, Neitsik nether garments. It is only high dignitaries like
' Herr Inspektor ' that can afford such extravagance as a Kassigiak {Ph. vitulina) wardrobe ! The Arctic
pelles monopolise them alL" The young are of white, though slightly yellowish tint, and the hair is
curl}'. A favourite haunt of the Floe Rat is the great ice-fjord of Jakobsha^-n. They resort to the
ice-floes in retired bays, seldom frequenting the open sea. Dr. Rink calculates that 51,000 are
annually captured in Danish Greenland. On an average, he reckons their weight at about 84 lbs.
each. He says this Seal, which is also termed " Utok," is almost exclusively that captured by means
of ice-nets. Two nets are used across the track of the Seals near shore, in certam sounds between
G3' and 66° N. lat. One is lowered to the bottom, and over this the animals pass ; the other intercepts
them, and the former is hauled up, and they are then caught in immense numbers between the two,
running their heads into the net-meshes. This ruinous slaughter has in many instances driven the
" Utok " Seals from their fiivourite inlets. The Seals form oblique passages through the ice-crust only
large enough to allow their getting up and down, and in the sunny days of May are fond of basking
on the ice-heaps close by. Towards this hole, usually termed " atluk," equally adapted for rising to
breathe or diving agaui, the Eskimo hunter cautiously approaches, or, covering his face with his
Sealskin jacket, imitates the actions and manners of a Seal, and creeps towards his prey. In other

cases, with a wooden frame,
covered by white cotton,
he pushes this shooting-
sail slowly befoi-e him
towards the animal. When
sufficiently near, he de-
spatches the creature with
his gini, though it is neces-
sary to inflict a severe
wound in the skull or neck
vertebrse, else the Seal
(juickly rolls down the hole
and is lost. At other times,
a couj>le of hunters will
keep watch at the margin
of an '• atluk," and, while
one is on the outlook for
the animal's rising to
bi'eathe, the other plants
his harpoon in the creature,
the rope securing the
victim. This method of
liuuting requires gi'eat patience, caution, and dexterity, for the acute .sense of hearing keeps the
animal always on the qui vive, and on perceiving the least mischievous stir it instantly escapes.

The geographical area of this species is round the southern coast of Greenland, Iceland, onwards
to Spitzbergen, and high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean, towards Nova Zembla and the Russian coasts.
It is also asserted that either this animal, or a closely-allied and l)arely-to-be-dLstinguished species.

THE GREEXLAND OR .SADDLE-BACK SEAL.

235

lUNTElts 4T

once different physical condition of tlie areas

is that which ii>h;iljits Lake Baikal, in North Central Asia, and Lake Ladoga, in Finland. On
this head there is some discrepancy in the writings of authorities. M. Dybowski regards the
Lake Baikal animal as distinct, and names it Phoca baicalends. Nilsson again avers that the Seal
of the Casjpian Sea is a distinct

;;pecies (Phoca caspica). On _.

the other hand, Wallace anil
Van Beneden take a broader
%'iew, with which I am in-
clined to agree, that one, or
more likely both, animals may
1)6 regarded as the Ringed
Seal {Phoca hispiJu). It is
very plausibly remarked that
in former epochs of the world's
history, as is well known,
geologists show that a large
area of what is now called
Kussia in Asia was partially
submerged, or, at least, the
lakes in question were in
more diieet CDnnnunication
with the Arctic <Jeean. The
Seals hence, one might say,

had their oceanic connection eskimo i

cut off, and thus,- on that

account sliglitly Tuoditied, remain as evidence of
concerned.

The Greenland, or Saddle-back Seal.-' — It is this species that forms one of the chief objects
of chase both in the Spitzbergen and Newfoundland seas. In habits it agrees with the ordinary Seals
though said to be careless and stupid, and easily captured. It feeds on small fish, Crustacea, and mol-
lusca. The- males and females differ in appearance, and the changes from the younger to older stages
are also very remarkable. Indeed, one may say scarcely two animals are alike. These peculiarities have
given rise to a great variety of names — White Coats, Harp Seal, Blue Sides, and other common appel-
lations— besides •■ .\tak " of the Greenlandei-s, and '• Karoleek " and " Neitke " of the Eskimo, ifec.

It has a wide geographical range, namely, along the North American coast to Davis Strait,
round Greenland, the Scandinavian coasts, the Arctic Ocean eastward to Behring Strait, and even
to Kamstchatka. According to Rink, though migratory, it may nevertheless be considered at home
on the Greenland coa?t, on account of its haunting the shore and ninning over the sounds and fjords
diu-ing the gi-eater part of the year. There it appeai-s regularly along the southern coast in September,
travelling in herds from south to north between the islands. They are then fat, but their blubber
still increases towai-ds winter. In October and November they are most numerous ; in December
they dew-ease, become scarce in January, and almost disappear in February. In May they return
from southwards, and get more northerly in June, when they are very lean. The lierds again
disappear in July, and return in September. Thus the Saddle-back deserts the Greenland coast
twice a year. As to their whereabouts during their absence, infomiation is defective. In spring,
early in March, and till the beginning of April, it is found in immense numbei-s in the proximity of
the dreaiy Island of Jan Mayen, and in the Spitzbergen waters, in a. belt of ico which the sealers
terra " South-east pack." To these great broken ice-fields the Seals in vast numbei-s resort.
At such times, as Dr. R. Brown observes, they may be seen, half a million and upwards, of both
sexes, '■ literally covering the frozen waste as far as the eye can reach, with the aid of a telescope,
from the crow's nest." At this season, the females give birth to their young— one, or occasionally
two, in number. Then it is that the sealing-ships bear up towards the pack-ice ; and, whenever
nn * Phoca groenlandica ; the genus Payophilua of Gray.

KATVItAZ EI^TOMl'.

oppoi-tunity iiemiits, after the young are ))ut a few days old, land and commence tlieii- slaughter. As
the young increase in strength and take to the water the female parents gradually leave them, and
join the males, which have already gone north. In July flock-s of Seals, termed by Score.sby " Seals'
weddings," have been seen at times in the pai'allels of 70° and 77° N. lat. Opinions are at variance
respecting the migi-ation from the west coast of Greenland towards Spitzbergen, and eastwards ; and
Eink, at least, holds that the Seals of Baffin's Bay go in the spring down the west side of Davis
Strait to Newfoundland and Labrador, where vast numbers are annually killed.

At birth the Saddle-backs are pure woolly white, this gi-adually assuming a yellowish tint when they
talcc to the water a few weeks old. Tliey then begin to change to a dark speckled, and afterwai-ds a

ON THE ICE.

spotted hue, and are called "Hares" by the sealers. Next they become dark-bluish on the back, while
the breast and belly are of a sombre .silvery hue. They are now " blue-backs." Getting more spotted,
the peculiar saddle-shaped band begins to form as they approach maturity. While in the fifth and
la.st stage, the male acqukes that well-developed half-moon-shaped mark on each side, the veritable
saddle from wliich this Seal derives its vernacular name. An adult male is five or six feet long, the
female seldom as much. The former is tawny-grey, or with a tinge of yellow or even reddish-brown in
the spots, and marked by the saddle or lyi-e-shaped doi-sal bands ; hence also the cognomen of Harp
Seal. The muzzle and head are dai-k. The adult female is dirty-white or tawny-bluish, or dark-gi-ey
on the, back, with widely-distributed iiTegular spotting, but seldom or never shows the saddles.

. Jftink says a full-grown Saddle-back weighs about 2-501bs., the skin and blubber over, and the flesh
umlcr. Kiiilbs. The winter blubber may amount to 801bs., but in summer little more than a quarter of
that. Ill Itanish Greenland alone about .3.5,000 are captured annually. Its skin forms the useful
(■p.yyring oi the " kayaks," or Eskimo canoes. The above number is, however, not a tithe of the
^^^•mpus quantities of these creatures that are each year destroyed in the Greenland {i.e., Spitzbergen),
and Newfoundland Seal-fisheries. Of this important branch of British cominerce it does not behove
n,s, to enter into detail, however interesting or'apiiropriato to the subject. Suffice it to say, now chiefly
from Dundee, afleet of ships and powerful steum -i s Imilt I'n- the trade, proceed, at the end of February
and the beginning of March, with a stoppage at t!i.' Sin tlauds to ship hardy seamen, to the pack-ice in
the Arctic Sea. Heavy, dark, and dreary welitlier ofteii avvaits thfe mairiners as they coast along the fields

THE GSLKXLAXD SEAL— THE BEARDED SEAL. -lot

of ice. Into tlie brokeu-up tioes tbey now and again push their way, and as fortune wills it they may
or may not discover from the mast-head a held in the distance. Occasionally, even dunng the night,
the noise of a family in these dismal regioils will be heard, and the ship is soon made fast to the ice
hard by, for the Seals during the breeding' season frequent such areas of the ice as enable them to have
easy access to the water. Then all becomes activity and excitement on board, every man having an
interest and share in the expected plunder. The object Ls, if possible, to approach \mperceived, sui'-
round, or get between the animals and the water, and, above all, to secure the young, which are more
easily killed, and the more lawful prey. The sealers are provided with spiked clubs, sharp knives,
seal-gims, and '' ruer-ruddies," or ropes attached by broad belts over their shoulders. Watching theii'
chance the men land in bands, appi'oach cautiously, and commence their dreadful operations. The old
Seals abide and guard theii" young, even endangering their own safety, and will raise themsehes lip,
face, and severely bite the unwary hunter. Crack, crack go the guns, as the older animals endeavour
to escape through the holes or towards the water. All and sundry are attacked ; a blow of the club,
or kick of a heavy sea-boot, despatches the young, while the more aged receive rougher usage ere they
succumb. The work of murder goes on apace without stoppage, for once disturbed, ho second chance
may be allowed the hunter. Told off in batches, some of the men commence the work of skinnLng, and
quickly turn out hide and blubber, throwing aside the (to them) useless' carcass, while the skins are
heaped iu piles. Some collect these, fa.sten bundles by the rope, and drag them towards the boats,
where other sailors are ready to receive them. Thus the murderous operation goes on while there is
Seal to be killed, or weather pei-mits the men to remain on the floe, for sometimes the latter will break
up, a gale arise, and the poor fellows run even other untold risks. As for the personal appearance of
the sealei-s, as they labour at the work of slaughter, they look the most ruffianly set of men in
existence. They are dressed in the queerest caps and coats of various shapes, with smuggler-looking
breeches and long boots ; moustaches and beards are covered with a mass' of frozen tobacco-jiliice,
hoar-frost, and Seal's blood. Their matted hair, gory, gi'eafey, unwashed faces and hands, reek and
smell with a strong taint of butchery: In truth, a spectator, seeing the lot, might almost fancy
liimself back amongst some of the old bloodthii'sly pirates of the Spanish Main. Ho-\vever, they
woi-k very hard for theii- hii-e. The hides are dropped pell-mell hito the hold, and as soon as
suiting time arrives, the blubber is sliced off, the skins roughly salted, and in this condition the
material is retained for the few weeks uiitil their voyage leads the " fishers" home again. Arrived
at Dundee, the cargo is quickly landed, weighed, and the materials placed in the hands of the
skiimer. The fat is cut up by a variety of cutters driveii by steam, and then steamed, to' facilitate
the rendering of the oil. The greater part of the oil thus- obtained is tasteless, iiiodorous, and pure
as water. The remaining blubber, after the first oil is taken off, is placed iit bags and pressed, and
froni these pressings most of the brown and inferior quality of oil is had. The former is by far the
juore valuable. Seal-oil has, of course, vai'ied considerably in price during' this century, in 1876-7
averaging £32 a ton, the inferior sort less in propbrtioii. With regard to'the skins, these, after being'
soaked, and the salt got rid of, pass through the usual tanning processes. Relative absence of under-
fur gives value only to the leather. Eoughly speaking, they fetch fivd-to' Six .shillings apiece. ■ ■'' '
The Bearded Seal.* — ^Abo'utthis'animalther'd se'e'uiii to be a certaiii amount of ambiguity, or want?
of agreement among naturalists, whether more thaii o'lie sjiecies be not irielitded under the Phs hcirhakf
of Fabricius. This missioiiary reffers to the "Ursuk,'' the big, fat, or great! Seal of the (Jivrulaudcr.s.
The Eu.5siau naturalists Steller; Pallas, aiid Middendorf; speak of a Seal by difierent a^iH-llatums. I,ut
.noSt' evidently this animal, as inhelMting the lieighbfjtirh'ood of Behring Strait and Kamstiliatka.
Schrenck and' Temminck refer to it as huhig foUiid',' the' former oh- the' ijoast of Amoor landj the
latter in Japan; where its'ski'ti is sold as an article tff commerce. Tli^ 'Leporine Seal of Peiinant
may be r'e^atded fis stiH nriotlipr syiioin-Wi 6f the same creature. If siich b6 thfe case, this iii-eat Bearded
Sfei h8fe"sC'geogrAphica:l nmu-i- from the west '6f 'Gi-eeuland to the Sea of J;Vpari,'an'area smiifwhat ecu-re-
spoiidingtb that'of thfe SaJ.lir-bark. though les^sprea'd' ini' the North Atlantic. '^ Eink alhi'drs r<i it as
the ''Thong Seal," the Eskimo cutt'inLr'thr skin circularly into a long stiipi which •■ alliinak." .,] hide
rope', theVuse' for harpoon lilies. Abniit l.iifMI aiv ca'j.tnn .1 annii.ally .'.ii thn ( he, ulan.l 'oii.r. I'l. !{;■
Bro'wh- i-egards it 'as the '' Ground Seal" of the S]iitzV*rgrn scalers, and says that the bhil.r.e'r iVnici;.-!;
* Pfioca' barbafai- -'-^'Sk \

233 KATUItAL HISTORY.

delicate in taste,, and most liiglily prized as a culinary dainty. Unlike the otliei- Seals, it lias no
" atluk," but dejjends on broken places in the ice. It is generally found among loose ice and breaking-
up floes. Its great size, occasionally ten feet long, and bulky body in proportion, is its important
feature. It is of a tawny colour, darker above, and the young is supposed to be of a lighter hue.

The Grey Seal.* — Its range is a limited one compared with that of the last. It frequents the
British coasts, especially Ireland and the Hebrides, and from the Scandinavian coast it stretches towards
and round tlie southern shore of Greenland. It also is of enormous size. One old male, shot in 1869,
at the Eagle Rock, Connemara, Mr. A. G. More states, weighed nearly -tOOlbs., was eight feet long,
and had a girth of body over five feet. Its colour is yellowish-grey, lighter beneath, with varied dark
grey spots and blotches. Fabricius first described it, and the Swede Professor Nils.son ranked it as a
separate genus, the distinguishing characters depending on the form of its skull and molar teeth, small
brain-case, and large nasal orifice, the muzzle being deep and obliquely trimcated. To Mr. Ball, of Dublin,
we are indebted for a tolera'bly good account of its habits and other particulars, he having shown it to
be the same as Donovan's Orkney Seal, the so-called Ph. harbata. In bringing the matter before the
British As.sociation in 1836, Professor Nilsson recognised it as his H. grisens, the same animal described
by Fabricius in 1790. On the British coasts it breeds in October and November, though Nilsson
asserts that on the Swedish coasts it breeds in Fehi-uary, a contradiction hitherto not clearly explained.
A male and female from Wales were exhibited in the Zoological Gardens in 1871, and Mr. Bartlett
particularly noted that it was both greedy and savage as compared with the other Seals under his
charge. This accords with Mr. Ball's account, who foimd it insusceptible of domestication ; this he
attributed to its small brain relatively to the other Seals. At the mouth of a cave at Howth he was
fortunate in harpooning one. Some state that they are solitary in their habits, others that they
associate in paii-s, and still others that they congregate in groups of ten or a dozen. At all events, they
■select such remote and unfreqiiented situations that it is no very easy matter to follow them. They
are not so lively, watchful, or timid as the Common Seal. Those of the county Galway are said to
utter most dismal howls in choiiis. Their young they leave on the exposed barren rocks, and suckle
them every tide for the space of a fortnight. When born, they are of a dull yellowish-white, in a few
weeks becoming darker, and by degi-ees gaining theii- gi-eyish coat. Under the name of Black Seal,
probably this species, an animal (besides the Common Seal) occasionally fi-equents the Bay of St.
Andrews and the Tay mouth, where it is very destructive to lish and nets.

The Monk SsAL.f — Who has not heard or seen something of the " wonderful leai-ned talking
fish," if only from placard or fanciful sketch hung outside the showman's caravan, with the occasional
attractive announcement that " the amphibious creature has the sense of hearing in its nostrils, and fins
bearing the impression of five fingers?" A visit soon dispels the illusion, as the imploring look of a
hungry but bright-eyed Seal in a tub of water greets the sight. These " talking fish " generally belong
to this species, and have often been exhibited in Britain and on the Continent. A full-grown
animal reaches between seven and eight feet long, and upwards. It is dark-brown mixed with grey
above, and whitish below, and has short hair and small claws. It entirely difiers from all the pre-
ceding in being confined to the Mediterranean aiid Black Seas, and the African coasts neighbouring
Madeira and the Canaries. Buifon's classic description of the White-bellied Seal refei-s to this species,
and Pennant names it the Pied Seal. Its geogi-aphical limits are as above stated, unless it be the
same as a Seal from Jamaica, which Gray terms M. tropicalis, in which case it would traverse the
Atlantic, a fact that is more than doubtful. Their mild disposition and teachable nature have led to
their frequent exhibition. They go tlu-ough many tricks, utter sounds construed into speech, present
the fore-paw to " shake hands," kiss the visitor when desired, obey other trifling commands, and allow
themselves to be freely handled. Little is known as to its times of breeding and rearing of young,
though its habits in a state of nature are believed to be very similar to those of the Seal tribe generally.

The Cre.sted, or Bladder-nose Seal. J — ^The geogi-aphical range of this animal agrees best
with that of the Common Seal, that is, it sweeps along the North American coast from Florida right
up into Baffin's Bay, thence to the south coasts of Greenland, across the North Atlantic, skirting
Britain and Scandinavia, to Spitzbergen. Named from the remarkable pi-ominence of the front upper
I art of the head, this is one of the largest and most powerful of the Northern Seals. Certainly it
*' Haliolmras yryphus. f Monaclivs albiventer. J CyMaphora cristata.

VHE CRSHTED, OP. BLADDER-XOSE HEAL.

23)

is the fiercest luul most (Uingerous, as the Eskimo know to their cost in attacking it i'roni their kayaks,
[t does not hesitate to return an assault, and the crest, it is said, aflbrds some protection from wounds
inflicted by the chilj. These brutes light ferociously among themselves, and the roaring during such
ice-battles, Ln the stili Arctic regions, is said to be audible four miles off. The bo-called crest, hood, or
bladder, is in reality nothing of the sort, but only a peculiar enliu'geraent of the nasal passages, more
particularly develoj)ed in the old animals of both sexes. The configm-ation of the head of this creature
is hemispherical, and proportionally broad and short. The bony ii;n ts of tlic snout, and the cartilaginous
septum of the nose and nostrils generally, are so formed as to allow ^iiat ilihit.ition of these parts. That is
to say, the two passages of the nostrils are^ in the full-grown animal, e\ciMilini;ly capacious fleshy tunnels

CRESTED SEAL.

From j'outh onwards, this region acquires prominence, and, paitly through habit and growth of the
structures in later life, the animal when roused inflates, by compression of the muscles of upi)6i--]ip and
nose, the cavities in question, so much so as to produce the expansion on the forehead which has given
rise to its specific soubriquet. All engi-avings, even our own, represent this stiiicture as reaching fai-ther
back on the head than the absolute anatomical conformation of the parts warrants, but in the live
animal the skin of the head rearwards to some extent swells in unison with the puffed nostril, and
hence to a certain degree simulates a hood or crest. Some sealers regard the so-called bladder as an
air i-eservoir for buoyancy, an idea totally at variance with its true nature. The teeth of this genus are
peculiar, the incisors being fewer in number. The formula is — Incisors, jEi ; canines, j^i ; premolars,
^ ; mo'ars, ^[=30. From eight to tweh-e feet in length has been given as the limits of size it
obtains. The young are pure white ; when a yea*- old they become gi-eyish, and the hue deepens, becom
ing deep chestnut and black above, though the lighter shade is retained on the wider parts ; chiefly

240 NATURAL HISTORY.

Oil tlie back are black siiots and rings of white. The muzzle is hairy, and the hair on the rest of the
body long, with thick soft nnder-wool. It visits Greenland in May and June, leaves in July, and
again returns in August and September. Fubricius states that they are polygamous. This animal
is one \\Lich thr- soalnrs hunt, it frequenting the outside of the ice-packs. Rink estimates the average

annual catch in Greenland at 3,000. An individual
will yield 120 lbs. of blubber, and as much as 200 lbs.
^ Nv of flesh.

The Elephant Seal.* — This creature, like the
last, has a peculiar geogi-aphical range, but is unique,
inasmuch as it is found north and south of the
equator. It should, however, be stated that Dr. GUI
has designated the northern form by a separate name
{Macrorhinus angustirostris), though the distinctive
charactere have as yet not been substantiated by other
naturalists. Meantime, we may be justified in re-
garding them as one foim. It existed formerly in
luimbei-s on the Californian coast. But it is best
known as frequenting, during the beginning of this
century, such islands as Juan Fernandez, the Falk-
lands, New Georgia, South Shetlands, Tristan
TnLTi. oi THE CUE-TED sE iL. d'Acunha, Kergueleii's Land, and, indeed, several of

the islands scattered in the Antarctic Ocean. In the
young and females, the characteristic feature, or so-called proboscis, is deficient, but in the old males it
extends quite a foot beyond the angle of the mouth, and hence the name of Elephant Seal. The
females are nine or ten feet, the males fourteen, sixteen, and even twenty feet in length. The colour
varies with age from brown to leaden-grey. It seems that they bring forth their young at different
seasons in the southern and northern latitudes, in the latter about Mayor June, in the former somewhat
earlier. Accounts difler as to its food, some saying cuttle-fish and seaweed are its principal nutriment.
Lord Anson, Captain Cook, and M. Peron, each give accounts respecting its extraordinary abun-
dance in southern regions, but their numbers have since been decimated. Captain Scammon
describes them as crawling out of the surf towai-ds the ravines half a mile distant from the water,
where they congregated in' hundreds. Unless when excited, their movement on land is slower
than that of the ordinary Seals, but they ascend broken elevated ground fifty or sixty feet above
the sea. He says that when sailors are destitute of tobacco-pipes, they hollow its short canine
teeth into bowls and use the quills of the Prlicau for shanks. Their hunting in Desolation and
Herd's Islands is a most exposed and solitary ]iuisuit. The ship is manned -with a double crew,
and some of the men are landed on the dangerous, ever-stormy coasts of these islands. Food and
necessaries are provided, and rude shanties erected of rough boards, tarred canvas, and pieces of
lava-rock. In this dank habitation, planted between an iceberg on the one side and a bluff volcanic
mountain on the other, they are left to hunt as best they can, in a climate windy, rainy, cold, and
often snowy. Nevertheless, undergoing hardships and privations of no common kind, excitement and
prospecl; of gain compensate for their fatigues and temporary banishment. By the flickerings of a
jnurky oil lamp, and fat and coal diffusing heat, these reckless adventurers pass the long, dreary, cold,
evenings in card-playing and boister.ous fun. Sea Elepliants' tongues and water-fowl are gladly inter-
mingled with coarser fare. The men divide themselves into groups, and scour the coast in all direc-
tions, killing such numbers as fall in their way. They either transport the blubber and skins to their
stores, or buiy it for a time until opportunity of its removal is afforded. Afterwards it is placed in
casks, and these are rolled by the gangs to the beach, when their vessel an-ives. The casks are then
launched into the surf, pulled through the rollers by the boats to the ship, where they are duly stowed.
In the Californian district, the skin of the animal is ripppd ,up along the back and reflected ; the
blubber is cut into " horse-pieces," about a foot square, and a hole made through whicli a rope is
passed. The pieces are again strung on a raft-rope, a line is made fast to this, when they are dragged
* Macrorhiiius elephantinus : the gemxa Morunga oi Gr&y.

THE SEA LEOTARD.

Wr^Blp'

thi-ough tlie breakers to the small boat, and towed to the vessel. On board, large pots set in a brick
furnace are ready prepared, where the blubber is rendered, tlie oil extracted being very superior for
lubricating purposes. In these voyages the ci-ews, unlike the Dundee fishers, hunt both Seals and
Whales at the same time, the Americans ha^'ing quite a monopoly of this special trade.

Ross's Large-eyed Seal.* — In the voyage of the Erehus i\vA Terror to the Antarctic regions,
1839-4.3, there was obtained a Seal named after the commander of the Expedition. Little or nothing
is recorded of its special habitat and habits, the main peculiarities resting in its skeleton. The stufied
.skin, now in the British ^Museum, is of a gi-eenish-yellow colour, with close, oblique, yellow stripes on
the side, pale beneath,' and the fur is close-set and rigid. The skull is broad, with great orbits. This
genus has six molar teeth on each side of the upper and fi\ e on each side of the lower jaw. The canines
are of very moderate dimensions, and the teeth, ;« a \\liole, are iclati\ely small. Its specific name is
derived from its great eyes.

The Sea LEOPARO.t — Under the nanu's .'^.m T.oo],:ii(1 ;m<l Leopard S-al, indiscriminately used by
the sailors or Southern sealers, two animals, appari'iitly distinct, Iiave evidently been confounded by
them as well as by naturalists. Indeed, another seemingly totally diir.Tciit iiiiiiiinl of the Nortli
Pacific has also been named Leopard Seal by Scammon. That to which the title Si;i L.npard appears
most applicable is what De Blainville and others called the Small-nailed Seal (I'liMr,, /•q.toiii/.r), and F.
€uvier the Narrow-muzzled Seal {Stenorhijnchus kptonyx). Its precise distribution is uncertain, but it
lias been found on the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, Falkland, Campbell, Auckland, and Lord
Howe's Islands, and tlic Antarctic Ocean (on pack-ice). It may possibly be met with elsewhere, but
the foregciii- aiv antlirutirat.'il localities. Mr. A. W. Scott describes male and female stuffed speci-
mens in the Sydney Musema, The old male measures twehe feet in length ; the glossy spotted skin is
of a light silvery grey, with pale yellowish-white in patches, Ijroueht into relief by black-grey shading ;
its back and sides are darker, and belly lighter. The younger but adult female is seven feet long.
Her colour above is darkish-grey, almost black in the middle line, intermixed by narrow markings
of darker hue, and of yellowish-white, and the under parts without spots and also yellowish-white.
A specimen kept alive for several days at Port Jackson had a long muzzle, a long thin neck, and in its
habits generally it resembled the Seal tribe. Dr. George Bennett killed a male in Shoalhaven River
(August, 1859), several miles above salt-water reach, which had a water-mole in its stomach. Dr. Knox
states that those &e examined in New Zealand contained in their stomachs fish-bones, gulls' feathers,

atophoca Rnssii.

f Sknoi-hi/nchus kptonyx.

irEDDELVS SEAL-CHAB-EATIXG seal. 243

and seaweeds. Captain Musgiave, in his forced residence on the Aucklands, already referred to,

alludes to this animal as the Black Seal, and describes a tight between one and a Sea Lion (Otaria);

the flesh, he says, is rank. So far as liis observations

go, they remain at these islands pretty nearly all the year

round, but othei-s think that they occasionally migrate.

or, at least, at certain seasons less frequently ai)proach the

land. The skull is remarkably elongated ; the double- rooted

molar teeth are compressed and serrate, or have a three-

lobed crown, the middle being the longest. This animal

has but four incisors above and four below, and the canines

are of moderate dimensions. The nails on the hind feet

are almost absent.

Weddell's Seal.* — A couple of stufled specimens
and a few skulls of tliis Seal in the British Museum, and

a stuffed specimen in Edinburgh, are the sole material teeth of thT'sea Li:or.\ED.

on which this species is founded. Dr. R. Hamilton,

in the " Naturalist's Library," described the latter as the Leopard Seal {Plwca leopardinn,
Jameson). Captain Weddell had brought it from the Southern Orkneys, and, according to him,
daring life the animal is pale gi-eyish above, yellowish beneath, and the back spotted with pale
white. • Dr. Gray mentions the London male specimen as fuhous, witli a blackish-grey line down
the back, the fepiale and young corresponding to Cajitaiii Wcildfll's description. The distinction
between this and the la-st species is barely appreciable fioiu tlicir ixtrrual coat, .such differences as exist
being in the skull. Weddell's Seal, or, as Oray names it, tin- False Sea Leopard I^Leptonyx Weddellii),
has a relatively shorter and broader skull, fuller in the brain-piiu, largish Orbits, and a weak lower jaw.
The molars are not tri-cusped ; the front one in each jaw is single-rooted, and the rest double-rooted.
The Antarctic Expedition brought home skulls, and skins and skulls were afterwards obtained by
Captain Fitzroy, R.N., from the River Santa Cruz, Patagonia. Neither tliey nor Weddell give us
any information respecting the life-habits of this animal. It will thus be seen that its geographical
area, and especially its geograjAical relations towards the previous species, are at present uncertain.
On account of the peculiarities of cranium and dentition. Gray forms it into a sepaiate genus.

The Crab-eating Seal, or Saw-tootii Sterrinx'k of OwEN.t — Tlie interest in this creature lies
probably not so nuich in the nature of its food as in the greater savz-like cliaiacter of its molars, which
strongly resemble those of the fossil Zeiiglodon, an animal of the Whale ti ibc. The Crab-eating Seal
inhabits an undefined area of the Antarctic Seas. Above it is of a nearly uniform olive colour, below
and the sides of the face yellowish-white, and there are a few often confluent spots of a light colour on
the flanks. The five-toed fore feet, whose wrist is said to be very short, are clawed, but the hind ones are
clawless. In number, the teeth agi-ee with the Sea Leopard's ; tlmuuli the lirst, second, and third front
upper and the first front lower molars are single-rooted, the rest ddulile-idcited. Moreover, nearly all
the molar teeth have two or three cusps behind the middle strong cunical lobe, while in front there is
usually only a single small conical elevation. Thus the hinder border of these molars is considerably
more saw-like than in the Sea Leopard. It difl^ers also from the latter both in the lower jaw and upper
parts of the cranium, but more particularly in the nasal and facial regions. Little is known with
regard to its life-history.

The last three Seals some have considered under three distinct generic names, for reasons already
given. If importance be attached to the dentition, this separation is allowable ; but on the other
hand there are considerable resemblances which others regard as only of specific weight. The
generic term Stenorhymhus, fii-st used by?F. Guvier in 1824 for the so-called Sea Leopard, and which
has been at times indiscriminately applied by different naturalists to all three animals with multi-
serrate cro^vned teeth, but here partially restricted to the first two, is a name well known and stili
applicable to one or other. Nevertheless, Lamarck, in 1819, had designated a genus of C'rabs

00* * *''-"<"'''i""^''"* (Leptoiiiix) Weddellii. t Lobodon caninop/wria.

244 XATURAL fflSTOSY.

Stenorhynckus, universally accepted, and also in current use up to the jiresent time. Some confusion
having thus occasionally resulted, Professor Peters drew attention to the awkwardness of the
circumstance, and proposed that the term Ogmorhinus should replace Stenorhynchtis, as applied to
the Seals ; Lamarck's name having prioi-ity being retained for the Crabs. This well exemplifies
one among the many difficulties and cross-purposes incident to nomenclature, I'c, of Natural History,
where, in the vast array of names and facts presented, glaring discrepancies will arise, despite the
constant revision of those devoted to its study.

Before closing this chapter, there is one subject which I believe deserves mention, however
briefly. The enormous slaughter of the Seal tribe is a matter of serious consideration, if only in
a mercantile spirit. Among the sealers, neither sex nor age is spared, and thei-efore at the present
wholesale re.te of destruction it is easy to foresee early comparative, if not absolute, extinction of the
tribe. Nothing can be clearer than the fact that since the Americans in then- Alaska territory have
adopted the plan of killing a presci-ibed number annually of the young and male Seals only, in other
words, of protecting the breeding females, the Fur Seals have shown no tendency to diminution, but
rather an apparent increase. Nature has her limits, and the Seals have other enemies to contend
with Vjesides man. Yet the latter, taking advantage of the maternal affections, and with the aid of
deadly firearms and the like, in a certain space of time commits more fatal havoc among them than all
their other foes combined. Sevei-al persons have lu'ged a close-time. The fact is there are great diffi-
culties in the way of this, for even in well-protected British rivers and fisheries generally, Salmon
and others of the finny tribe are caught at forbidden times, in spite of Acts of Parliament and other
regulations. Who is to watch the sealers in far-off inhospitable climes ? Certainly in the Northern
sealing-grounds the departure of tlie ships could be made somewhat later, as has, indeed, to some
extent been done, but of course at the risk of a diminished catch. In the long i-un beneficial results
■doubtless will follow. But the plan mo.st tipplicable to both Northern and Southern Seal-capture
would be the insistancs of the simple rale of sjxirinff the hreedinij femahs wlienever possible. If our
merchants at home would take the matter in hand, and, but for a few years, refuse to receive
female skins, the sealers would be practically forced, aiid in fact find it to their benefit, to look to their
interests from a more hiunaue point of \-iew.

J.\ME3 MURIE.

ORDER CETACEA.— WHALES.

Whales— Vulgar Notions— Characteristics External and Internal — Laryn
WHALES— Zeuglodons—Squalodons—Phocodons -Kiveii D
—Habits— Teeth— Inia—IVintoporia—Ziphioiu Whaii^ i i v
Whale— New Zealand Berardius— Bottleheah, hi; ( ..mmmn
Sperm W'HALE-Description— Range— Fisheiy— Incidents of t
Carcass — Short-headed Whale, or Snub-nosed Cachalot

-Tail -Skeleton— Classification -THE TOOTHED
i.rmxs— Srsr. ok Ganuetic Dolphin— Description
,i:'.s Whai.k \'an liENEDEN's Whale — Soweiiby's
.1 AKi li Whai.k— Sri-.RM Whales, or Cachalots —
t- L'li:i.se Habits Harpooned— Treatment of the
-Dolphins — C^v^MNG, or Pilot Whale— Risso's
Grampus— Common Porpoise— Killer Whale, or Orca— Ferocity— True Dolphins— Common Dolphin— Bottle-
nose Dolphin— White AVhale— Narwhal— THE WHALEBONE WHALES— WTialebone— Greenland, or Right
Whale— Biscay Whale— Japan Whale— Cape Whale— South Pacific Whale— Description of the Greenland
Whale — Their Food and Mode of Feeding- Habits— Hunting— Treatment of Carcass— Humpbacked Whales —
Fin Whales, or Rorquals— Sibbald's Rorqual -Sulphur bottom Whale— Common Rorqual, or Razor-back —
Lesser Rorqual— Concluding Remarks.

The Whales form one of the most extraordinaiy gi-oups of the Mammalia, for they ai-e warni-^blooded,
air-breathers, and sucklei-s of their young, and are most strangely adapted for life in a wateiy element.

Oddly enough the term '• Fish " is still applied to them by the whalers, though they have nothing in
common with these creatures save a certain similitude in shape.
The vulgar notion of a Whale is an enormous creature with an
extremely capacious mouth, but the fact is that many of the
Cetacea are of relatively moderate dimensions, though doubtless,
on tlie other hand, the magnitude of some is perfectly amazing.
Thus, in size they are variable as a group, a range of from five
or six feet (equal to the statui-e of man) to seventy or eighty
lii-t nhiiiij sufficiently wide limits. With certain exceptions,
i;nt\\ itlistaii<ling length, an average-sized Whale by no means
comcys to the eye tlie same idea of vastness, say for instance,
as does an Elephant. The reason is that most Cetaceans ai'e of
a club shape, the compact cylindrical body and long naiTOW
tapering tail reducing the idea of size. The head is in such
continuity with the body that of neck there seems nothing. In
some there are upright fleshy back fins ; in othere these are
wanting. The gristly caudal fin is horizontal and not upright or
rayed like a fish's. The body is smooth and devoid of hail-.
The eye is remai-kably small and without eyelashes, and the ear
orifice is so diminutive as to seem deficient. The head is either
rounded, massive, or has a long snout. There are no hind limbs,

and only in the enormous Whaleboiie Whales have the

rudiments of any been found. Small pelvic bones, how-
ever, are present, embedded in the flesh at the setting-
on of the taU. The fore-limbs, which are ordinarily

termed flippere, have the usual bones extremely

broadened and flattened ; the free part — equivalent to

the hand — being encased in a rigid or stiff" nailless

membrane ; and in a few instances the phalanges are

yxceedingly numerous, producing a long-fingered pecu-
liarity met with ui no other Mammal. The two

mamma; adjoin the pehic bones, the nipples being sunk

in slits. In one section only, the Mysticete, is the

mouth very large. In them great plates of the so-called

whalebone, a horny substance, occupy the place of teeth.

In another section, the Denticete, with moderate-sized

mouth, teeth are present in few ,or greater numbers.

These are implanted in simple sockets withoiit successors

■—i.e., there is no milk and adult dentition as in the forego:

stomach op pilot ■bhale Hfli

(c, ffisoithngua, or gullet ft, bile duct (, i
1,1*,2, 3, 4, represent thc\ arious clioiubei - i
denoting the dlrettlon food lakes In passlnj

UPPER SURFiCE or THE BU UN OP THE POEPOISE.
(Afla Liiiir(and6ia(io!tf.)

orders. The tongue cannot be thnist

246

NATURAL EISTOET.

out. The "uUet is narrow in some, and wider in others, but the stomach in all is peculiar, and composed
of three or more cliambers with narrow passages between ; in this respect corresponding to that of Sheep
and cattle. The ijitestijies are long, glandular, and full of little pouches. There is no gall-bladder. The
brain is of considerable calibre, globular, and remarkably convoluted. The
heart is distinguished only for great size, and the blood vessels are exceedingly
capacious and numerous. But what is remarkable in the vascular system is
a great mass composed of enormous numbers of minute tubes, forming a so-
called rete mirabile, like that formerly described in the Lemui-s. It is situated
witliin the body along the inside of the spine. This, in the Whales, has been
)posed to be a respiratory provision to enable them to remain long sub-
merged ; but I have shown elsewhere that its connection witli the glands of
the lymjthatic system may render it functionally suljservient to nutrition and
purification of the blood. The lungs are large, but the most extraoi-dinar^'
features are the larynx and nasal passages. The nostrils, often a single
crescentic aperture, open right on the top of the head, except in
tin Speuu Whale and not in fiont i>, in dl othci Mammalia. In
some theie iie sm dl pouchc s ii n tli uli t i.v blowhole of
In fiont of tlu liiv i\ i mm we all know
thcio is m (hstR lid the epiglottis,
which folds ovei md jnotects the air-
j)issigc IS iood IS sw dlowed. The side
c 11 til iges constitute the walls of the
01 gm of voiC( tnd piotect the vocal
cords Now in the comparatively
voiceless Wh ilf the ciitilages including
the epiglottis foim a long rigid cylin-
drical tube which is thrust up the
passage at the liack of the palate in
continuity with the blowhole. It is
there held in place by a muscular ring. With the larynx thus retaiired bolt upright, and the
blowhole meanwhile being compressed or closed, the Cetacean is enabled to swallow food under
water without the latter entering the lungs. Respiration, "blowing" or "spouting," takes place
at intervals as the animal reaches the surface, and the volume of air thrown up along with sur-
rounding moisture and condensed vapour in some rises in a gi-eat jet. The flesh of the body

GRAMPUS. (After Mitrie
a!, gland; «r, tiacliea. Thi-

SKELETON OF SPERM
. Sjiei-mact'ti Cavity ; v, Nasal Passage,

terminates in long cords of tendon running to the tip of the tail. These tendons, like a telegrajihic
cable, bound together in the smallest compass, are moved by the enormous fleshy masses of the
body, and thus their vast force is conveyed to the caudal appendage, whose great power as a pro-
pelling agent (and even a destructive one) enables the Whales to be truly roamers of the aea. Save
the tail and flippers, the body is covered by a dense layer of fat, the blubber. In the skeleton the
neck- bones are often soldered into one or two separate pieces, rigidity being' needful in front, while the

THE SEAL-TOOTirED IVHALES

247

remairuDg vertebra?, tapering to exceedingly small hones in the tail, are each separated by thick elastic
(ibro-cartilaginous cusliions, thus giving great flexibility behind. The breast-bone is often in a single
tlat piece. The skull is greatly modified and by no means uniform throughout the gioup. Among
the Doli)hins and others (DelphiiiidEe) it is strangely distorted, so that the one side does not agi-ee
with the other. The upper jaw-bones (maxiUce) and the pair i>t" bones above and between them
{premaxilloi) are unusually produced, and this production in t'lont, with corresponding extension of
lower jaw, gives a lengthened facial region and snout accordingly. The bones siuTounding the occiput
and brain-pan ai-e directed upwards, the former occasionally forming a great horseshoe crest. The
bony nasal passages instead of coming forward lead nearly direct upwarils towards the summit of the
cranium, nasal bones themselves being all but absent. The orbits are often small and open behind.
Curiously enough, thougli deficient m ears, the interior tiny ear-bones of other Mammals are in the
Whales great massive structures and exceedingly dense, so much so that they are frequently preserved
fossil when other osseous structures are destroyed.

Cetacea have been a troublesome gi-oup to luiravel, being ooean-dwellers, and many of them huge
brutes. To study them in the live state has been ditficult, and their carcas(>s when eajjtured or stranded
on shore are as unmanageable for purposes of examination. As to tliiir classitication the two sub-
orders— Denticete, Toothed Whales, and Mysticete, Whalebone Whales — ar.' uiiivrrsiUy accepted. As
regards the families, the main groups are tolerably well agreed upon, llinugli ilitierently named by
authorities. Among the" sub-families, the genera ami the species, tliciv i> l.-ss unanimity. The
grouping of the living forms proposed by Professor Flower is in (Jrrat J'.ritaiu luore frequently
adopted, while MM. Gervais and Van Beneden, in their urcat
have collated the living and fossil forms. Some >[i rifs au.l ^v;
given areas, as are the Seals, but of the habitat of uiauy otlir
defined limit can be assigned. The great majority are migrato
solitary in disposition. A few are quite fluviatile ; but most ai
the above piimary divisions, we give precedence to

..11 '■

( )steographie c

les C(=taces,"

.f v.-i,

.ales are restr

icted within

:nuh :

M. littl.. is kn,

:.wn that no

THE TOOTHED WHALES (DENTICETE.)
Except the possession of teeth, no other available common charaotei' need here be

RESTORATION

THE .SEAL-TOOTIIED WHALES (PHOCODONTIA Oil ZEUGLODOXTIA).
We begin with these, as they are sui)posed by some authorities to be intermediate between the
Seals and Whales. This extinct family, judging from the various mutilated remains found, comprised
several difli'erent
genera. The most
notable of these
are Zeuglodon,
Squalodon, and
Phocodon. The
Zeuglodoxs may
have attained a
length of fifty or

sixty feet. Their vertebral column was cetacean in character, but the neck-bones were separate,
though considerably flattened from before backwards. Some assert that their skull bore resem-
V)lances to that of the Seals in several respects. Theii' brain-cavity undoubtedly was remaikably
small, and relatively less than that of known Whales ; but the supposed Seal-like skull structure
is open to question. The teeth were of two kinds : those in front being conical, pointed, and
lengthened; and those behind laterally compressed, serrate, and double-rooted. The dental
foi-mula is stated to have been — Incisoi's, -t? ; canines, '^ ; molars, ^ = 36. Hind limbs may
iiave been absent, but the fore limbs suggest rather than furnish precise data showing approxi-
mation to the Seals. The Squalodons are known chiefly from the skull, which, as a whole, has
strong resemblances to those of the curious Amazon Dolphins, called Inia and Pontoporia, but the
dentition, however, .agrees rather with that of the Dolpliin of the Ganges, Platanista. They

248 KATVIiAL BISTOSY.

a long, naiTow snout, but no special crest on the summit of the head, and the Ijlow-holes were situate
as in the foregoing three last-mentioned living genera. Van Beneden has given the following formula
of the dentition : — Incisors, —^ ; canines, tj ; molars, J|=y = 60. Their teeth in most respects re-
sembled those of the Zeuglodons. Much less is known of the Phocodons, our information regarding
them being cluefly derived from the teeth. These latter were not unlike the rearmost of those of the
Zeuglodons and Squalodons. The Zeuglodons have been found in the Eocene and Miocene strata of
North America. Tlie first remains from Alabama were considered by Dr. Harlan to be those of an
enormous rejjtile (Basilosaurus), but Professor Owen proved theii- Mammalian character from the
teeth being implanted in distinct sockets. The Squalodons and the Phocodons have not only been
found in the United States, but in Australia, and in France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, and England.
Of course notliing is known respecting their haVtits other than what may be legitimately inferred
from their skeletal peculiarities. To all intents and purposes, so far a.s we know, the balance lies in
favour of theu- having had the habits of Whales. They may have been rivei'-frequenters, and judging
from the dentition theii- food would be similar to that of the Ganges and Amazon Dolphins.

THE raVER DOLPHINS (PLATANISTID^E).
Three living forms come under this heading, which, however, barely present such characters in
common as to render them a compact group ; and some authorities even incline to regard them as
representative of sub-families. As in the Seal-toothed Whales theii- neck vertebra} are separate.

The Susu, or Gangetic Dolphin.* — This remarkable Cetacean is never found in the saltwater,
or at best only in the brackish water of the Sunderbunds ; its habitat being the rivers Ganges and
Indus from their mouths upwards, and their various tributaries almost to the mountain ranges in the
north. Specimens have been got at least 1,000 miles beyond Calcutta. It measures from six to
twelve feet in length, and in colour is entirely sooty black. Its long body has a moderate girth, and
just behind the middle of the back there is a slight elevation which can barely be called a fin. The
tail is broadish ; the flippers are short, very broad, fan-shaped, and not pointed as in most WJiales.
The head is globular, with a long, narrow, spoon-shaped snout. The opening of the blow-hole, unlike

that of other Whales,
excejiting the Inia, is
not transverse, but a
single longitudinal slit.
The eye externally,
situated above the angle
of the mouth, is so
diminutive as barely to
be visible. We may
compare the Susu to the
Mole in this respect, for
in an adult eight feet
long the whole of the
eyeball is no bigger than
a pea in size. Small
though this eye is,
nevertheless it is perfect
in lens and humours, (fee.
The ear-orifice behind
the latter may bo com
pared to a pin-hole. The
naiTow rosti-um of the

upper and of the lower jaw is implanted with a series of teeth, more pointed and conical in front, and
nan-ower and laterally flattened in those behind. In the young animal the difl"erence between the

' Plataiiista gunrictica.

F SKILL ; (c) REAKW.tRD AXD [d] FORWARD TOOTH OF
UOLI'HIX. {Aftcf Genais a7ld Fan Beneden.)

THE aVaU, OR GANGETIC JJOLPHIX. 249

anterior and the posterior teeth is exceedingly marked in size, the former being very long, the latter
very short, while as age advances quite the reverse is the case. The back teeth also wear down very
considerably in the crown, and increase in breadth in root-siibstance ; indeed, as Dr. J. Anderson
has shown, the true dental material is worn away, and finally nothing but bone is left. The head
of the male is about two-thirds the length of that of the female, and in both its point is slightly
upturned. The apparently rounded skull behind the snout has broad thick zygomatic arches, and
above and in front of these the cheek-bones {maxilke) each send forwards and inwards a gi-eat
roughened sheet of bone or crest, which forms a kind of open helmet. In the large hollow between
these bony plates, and somewhat behind, are situated the nasal orifices, which are slightly awry.

The Susu frequents the deep reaches and creeks of the river, Dceasionally coming to the surface to

blow, and although often heard are but seldom captured. Ordinarily their movements are slow, but
at times they seem exceedingly active. Their food is chiefly fish, shrimps, &c., which they grovel for
among the mud, something like Pigs wallowing in the mire. Grass, rice, and shells have been found in
theii- stomachs, but Dr. Anderson has clearly shown that they are not vegetable feeders, for in the rainy
season, when gi-eat tracts of land are under water, these animals pursue the fish
right into the submerged " paddy-fields," and the grass is thus most probably
swallowed with tlieir prey. The Hindoos have religious superstitions concern-
ing the Susu. It certainly is one of the oldest known Cetaceans, since Pliny
and .^lian both allude to it. It has been supposed that the kind which in-
habits the Indus was a separate species, but this error has doubtless arisen from
the gieat difference in size of the skulls of the two sexes. This animal must
be all but blind, the optic nerve being no thicker than a thread ; but the fact
of its living habitually in muddy water render sight less necessary than it

otherwise might be. Its peculiar dentition, so like that of the ancient Squalodons in many respects,
is of exceeding interest. The following is the dental formula of one specimen, ^|'~^" = 117. The broad
roots of the rearmost teeth are usually gi-ooved, and this gives them a deceptive appearance of pos-
sessing more than one fang ; moreover, differing as the teeth do front and rearwards, still distinctions
as to incisors, canines, and molars can hardly be said to exist.

250 NATURAL HISTORY.

The Inia, or Amazon Dolphin,* is another of the reniark;ible fresh-water forms. The former
name is tliat given to it by the Indian tribes of Bolivia. It ranges from the mouth of the river up
the whole of its affluents of any magnitude, 2,000 miles from the sea. Mr. Bates, in his " Journey
on the Aniazon," tells us that when it rises the top of the. head is the part first seen; it then blows
and immediately afterwards dips head downwards, its back curving over, exposing successively the
whole dorsal ridge with its fin. It seems thus to pitch heels over head, but does not show the tail fin.
It generally goes in pairs. Exceedingly numerous throughout the Amazons, it is nowhere more
jjlentif ul than in the shoaly water at the mouth of the Tocantins, especially in the dry season. The
Indians ha'Ve a story that the " Bouto," as they also call this creature, "once had the habit of assuming
the shape of a beautiful woman, with hair hanging loose to her heels, and walking ashore at nights in
the streets of Ega, to entice the young men down to the watei-. If any one was so much smitten as to
follow her to the water-side, she gi-asped her victim round the waist and plunged beneath the waves with
a triumphant cry." It is held in veneration, and on this account the Indians can hardly be induced to
harpoon it. They have a superstition that blindness results from the use of its oil (which nevertheless is
excellent for lamps), and though Mr. Bates prevailed upon an Indian to capture one, the fellow repented
of his deed the day afterwai-ds, declaring that his luck had there and then forsaken him. This animal is
.seven or eight feet long. Its colour commonly is bluish above, passing into a pale flesh-colour beneath,
the tail and flippers being bluish, but the tints vary considerably, and even differ with age and season.
The head is furnished with a long beak. There is a kind of keel-shaped dorsal fin, and the flippers
are of fair size, liroadish and tapering, thus diflfering from those of the Susu. The skull has a certain
resemblance to that of the Gangetic Doljjhin, but without the great cheek-crests peculiar to the latter,
besides other minor differences. In both jaws there is a long series of stout conical teeth of a pretty
uniform size. These vary in number in different specimens, ixa the following formidie in two separate
individuals show ^|^^=104; ^|;=1,31. The muzzle of the young is hairy; while both the eye and
the ear-hole are much better marked than in the Susu. It is a fish-eater, and the mother exhibits
great affection and devotedness towards her young.

The PoNTOPORiA.t — Like Inia this is a South American form, and is now known to inhabit the
mouth of the La Plata and other rivers entering into the Atlantic on the coasts of the Argentine
Republic and Patagonia. But, unlike the two preceding forms, it is not confined to the rivers, for it
ranges along the sea-coast. The very few specimens met with show it to be a small animal, not
more than four feet long, .of a blackish tint, pale beneath, with a white streak along each side from
behind the blow-hole. It has an unusually long narrow beak, but not such a prominent head as in
the two others. This animal has a well-marked triangular doreal fin, and the fore-flipper is somewhat
fan-shaped and broadish, and not pointed as in the Inia. The crestless skull has characters intermediate
between the river Dolphins and the marine Dolphins to be described farther on. The teeth are small
and very numerous, somewhat fewer in the young animal, conical in shape, with a swollen ring round
their base. The dental formula is as follows :— »:^=212 ; or ^lrg=222.

THE ZIPHIOID WHALES (ZIPHIID^).
These singular Whales form a very compact group, closely united by common attributes, but they
are readily separated by definite characters from others. Until the beginning of the present century,
the Bottlehead (or Butzkopf) was that only known. Since then, at irregular intervals, chiefly solitary
individuals have been caught or stranded in various parts of the world ; but even now the numbers
coming under observation ha-\'e been few. Their apparent comparative rarity in the present day is in
great contrast with the frequent discovery of their remains in the Norfolk Crag formations, where frag-
ments, principally of their dense solid beaks, show that they must have been at a long distant period
exceedingly numerous. On these grounds the supposition has been expressed that the present paucity
of forms is indicative of a survival of an ancient family that once played an important part in Nature.
The living forms range from fifteen to thirty feet in length, but their ocean habits are extremely ob-
scure. Their common characters ai-e long narrow beaks, elevated heads, a small but well-marked dorsal
fin jjlaced Itehind the middle of the back, .short flippei-s with rounded extremity, a pair of short throat-

• Inia Geoffrcnsis. + Pontopm-ia Blaimillii.

ZU'HlOllI WHALES. 251

furrows of a V-shajie (point in front), a single somewhat crescentic blow-liole, placed crosswise in tiie
middle of tlie liead, absence or only rudiments of teeth in the upper jaws, and one or two pairs of
very peculiar teeth, variable in size, in the lower jaws, along with certain other peculiarities of the
skull. We shall refer but to a few of the group.

Of the genus Zlphius we may admit Cuvier's Whale* and Van Beneden's WHALE.t Theii- size
appears to vary from sixteen to twenty-four feet, and their colour is said to be steel-grey, with irregular
white body streaks, the abdomen also being whitish. The head is less prominent than in the Bottle-
head, and the snout is a trifle shorter, with the lower jaw slightly upturned, fuller than the upper, and
furnished with two teeth at the tip. The flippers are short and somewhat pointed, and the doi-sal fin
is situated well behind, and not very large. There is. a deep hollow at the base of the rostrum or beak,
over which the skull rises crest-like from behind forwai-ds. The genus Ziphius was originally based on
a supposed fossil skull from near the mouth of the Rhohe ; living species, however, have been since

recorded, and of one from South America Burmeister gives a detailed notice under the name of
FpioJon avstralis : still it is doubtful whether this is not one of the two above-mentioned anunals.

Sowerby's Whale J is repi-esentative of the genus Mesoplodon. This animal is black above,
white below, and the sides marked with wriggly white streaks. The small doi-sal fin is situated well
back, the flippers are small and narrow, the head is rather low, sloping towards the beak, and the upper
jaw is shorter than the under. It also has two teeth in the lower, and none in the upper jaw. Thus
externally it bears strong resemblance to Cuvier's Whale, but it differs in the slender beak, without a
hollow at its base. Sowerby's Whale is interesting from having been first obtained in 1800 off" the
Elgin Coast, and described by Mr. Sowerby as the Two-toothed Cachalot (Physeter bklens). The genus
Mesoplodon has since given rise to considerable discussion, various names being assigned to it.
Professor Flower points out that of the various Ziphioid Whales obtained on British coasts,
France, the Cape, and New Zealand, described as different genera, &c., he recognises seven species
of Mesoplodon, Sowerby's Whale being the type, and the othei-s differing chiefly in the form of the
teeth. Another of this curious family is the New Zealand Berardius,§ of which some four
specimens only are known to science. Dr. Julius Haast recoi-ds the captm-e of one near Canterbury,
New Zealand, in 1868, which animal was 30i feet long, velvety black, with greyish belly. One of
the observers who saw the creature alive stated that it protruded its teeth— a remarkable fact if

Z. cavirostris.

t Z. iiidicvs.

I M. So\

Berardius Arnouxi.

2.52 NATURAL HISTORY.

true. In its stomach were fonncl half a bushel of the homy beaks of a species of Octopus. Professor
Flower has described its skeleton, and affirms that it is truly ziphioid in character, but on the whole
approaches nearer to the tiiie Dolphins : whereas the Bottlehead is modified in the direction of the Sperm
Whales. The Bottlehead, or Common Beaked Whale,* is a constant visitor to the coasts of Britain,
many in.stances having been recoi-ded of its capture, and one classical example came under the scalpel
of the celebrated anatomist John Hunter. It inhabits the breadth of the North Atlantic, and accord-
ing to Eschricht veiy probably spends the summer fai- north in the Polar Sea, and migrates southwai-ds
towards autumn or winter. Dr. R. Brown regards it as rare in the Greenland Seas, three or four,
however, being occasionally seen at the mouth of Davis Strait. On the French and Scandinavian
coasts small herds have sometimes ran ashore. The female gives birth to a single young one in
autumn. They feed chiefly on cuttle-fish, but also upon soft-bodied Trepangs {Holuthuria). It ranges
from twenty to forty feet in length, accorduig to age and sex, and is of a unifomi blackish hue, lighter
beneath, but not white. The skull is most peculiar in having two crests at the occiput, of nio.st
unequal size and figure, and the cheek-bones at the root of the beak raised into a pair of huge eleva-
tions. The upper jaw is toothless, and the lower jaw has only two or three small concealed teeth.
The neck vertebi-se are united ; and moreover the stomach is remarkable even among Cetacea for the
number of chambers it contains, there being some six or seven divisions.

THE SPEEil WHALES, OR CACHALOTS (PHYSETEEID.E).
This family includes but two forms : the valuable Sperm Whale {Physeter) and the Short-headed
Whale [Kogict). They are unlike in many respects, but they agi-ee in having no teeth, or only
rudimentary ones in the upper jaw, while the lower jaw is proHded with a series of conical teeth.
The dorsal fin Ls .small, either hump-like or high and falcate ; the flippers are very short, and situated
along with the small eye near the angle of the gi-eat mouth. The neck vertebrae are fused together.
The upper surface of the broad shoe-sliaped skull has a large basin-like cavity, wherein in the soft
parts the material known as spermaceti is lodged. The blow-hole is single, and in the case of the
S])erm Whale is .situated quite in front, but is placed farther back in the Kogia. In both, however,
it is somewhat of an^-shape obliquely placed, the left extremity being much wider than the right.

The Sperm Whale, or C'ACHALOT.f — Next to the Greenland Whale the Cachalot is by far
the most important animal of the Whale tribe in a commercial point of view. A rare interest,
moreover, is attached to it from the daring deeds and hair-breadth escapes of the whalers pursuing it,
inasmuch as in certain eases it Ls among the fiercest of the Cetacea. At times it not only attacks
boats and their crews in pursuit of it. but there are also well-authenticated instances
of ships themselves being assailed and sunk by this jjowerful monster of the deep.
It attains a size varying from forty to seventy feet, the average of old males being
about sixty feet, while the females are much smaller. It is black above, lighter on
the sides, and silveiy-gi-ey on the belly parts. Its head is of enormous propor-
tions, forming nearly half the bulk of the animal. The snout is extraordinarily
dilated and terminates abraptly ; the upper jaw quite overhangs the lower,
and the bones of the latter are united close together for a long distance, and are
furnished with from twenty to thirty teeth on each side. As shown in the woodcut,
tach tooth is conical and slightly curved, hollow at the base, but elsewhere it is
tlense and solid. When the lower jaw is closed the teeth fit into hollows in the
u]>per lips, in this respect somewhat resembling what takes ])lace in the Croco-
dile's mouth ; but besides the remarkable lower jaw, the Sperm Whale's skull rivets
attention from the extensive basin-shaped .spermaceti reservoii- already alluded to.
SPEKM WHALE.' ^'^® throat is very large as compared with that of the Greenland Whale. It
was believed that there were several species of Cachalot, but only one is now
acknowledged, the Kogia really belonging to a difierent genus. The Sperm Whale is seldom found in
inland waters, but is met with in all the oceans, from the Polar to the Antarctic, though it chiefly
inhabits the tropical or sub-tropical seas. Among the favourite resorts of the whalers are the coasts

* Hi.penodon rostnUiis. t HimUcr macroccphahis.

SFEILV WHALE FISHEIIIES. 2o3

of New Guinea and adjacent parts, Australia, New Zealand, and several of the Polynesian islands, the
coasts of Peru, Chili, and California, the Japanese and Chinese waters, the Molucca- group, and the
mouth of the Persian Gulf. Its appearance in the Atlantic has of late years been irregular and seldom,
though at one time it was of tolerably frequent occui-rence in the South Atlantic and American
coasts, and near the Bahamas. Its steady pursuit for a long series of years has gi-eatly thinned its
numbers. About 1770 the Americans, and a few years later the British, in small ships of 100 tons
and over, established the Sperm Whale Fishery with very moderate success. Before 1780 the British
Government issued bounties to encourage the trade, and this led to tlie sending out of larger vessels,
while Mr. Enderbv, a London merchant, pushed the fishery into the far-distant shores of the Pacific.

Tlie vessels, of much larger tonnage and better manned, were absent for two or three years, and the
scenes of the chase, they say, at times almost defied description. Surgeon Beale's incident, though
tolerably well known, is worth notice. On the coast of Japan, in 1832, some three boats pur.sued a
Whale all day long. By a dexterous move the animal was at last lanced, when it spouted blood, sud-
denly descended about forty fathoms, and as quickly rose and dashed the boat into the air in fragments.
The men clung to the oars and broken wood, and, in spite of the vicinity of Sharks and the Whale
itself, were saved by the other boats, the crews of which avenged themselves by ultimately killing
the Whale. Of fighting Whales there are numbere of stories, that of one old male, familiarly known
as "New Zealand Tom," being still traditionally recounted in the foreca.stle. In 1804 tXie Adonis
and several other ships simultaneously attacked the fellow, who destroyed some nine boats before
breakfast, but in the end was captured, when a host of harpoons were found in its body. Tliei-e
can be no doubt that the Sperm Whale is a migi-atory animal, though its migi-ations are l)y no
means clearly understood. It is a gregarious creature, " schools " of a dozen to fifty or sixty being

254 XATUIiAL HISTORY.

occasionally met with. At otliei times great fellows are found liere and there on lonely jiiigrimages,
while still at other times a few together will be seen en route to fresh feeding-grounds. Adult females,
or those with young in their company, evince a strong aS'eetion for each other, and when one is
killed or sustaii^s injury, parents or companions hover about and even render assistance. The whalers
take advantage of this trait, and often kill a number ere the others make off. When, however, a
company of young male Whales are found, and one is attacked, little love or intex-est in each other's
welfare is manifested, every one rushing off helter-skelter in all directions, to the whalers'. chagrin.
The old " bulls," on the other hand, are more sedate and less easUy frightened, and unless roused by
injury to retaliate on their pursuers are more readily harpooned. The Sperm Whale is easily known
from all others, even at a great distance, from the regularity of its blowing and the manner in which
it throws up a volume of vapour obliquely forwards. It traverses the ocean surface in a steady
methodical manner, at the rate of four or five miles an hour, its great head or hump-like back occasion-
ally ap])P:uiug above water. It will remain on the surftxce from ten to fifteen minutes, and then will
<l(sc(ii(l. staying below an hour or more, but the females and young remain up and descend at more
fLiijupiit intervals. At times, instead of quietly swimming on the surface, they proceed more quickly
by a kind of lounging motion, the head being thrust well out of the water, a mass of spray, technically
called " white water," accompanying this mode of progression. Occasionally they .spring headlong out
of the sea (" breaching "), or violently beat the surface with their tails (" lobtailing "), or at other
"times dash about in a variety of attitudes. Sometimes tliey move their tins as if feeling around for
enemies, or throw theii- bodies awry, bringing the mouth well to the surface. It is pretty certain
that Cuttle-fish form a large proportion of their food, though there is reason to believe that they do
not despise fish and other marine creatures. It is still a moot point how they feed, and to what
use they put their teeth. Some assert that in the depths the xinder jaw is lowered, and the glistening
jiearly teeth fully shown ; attracted by the latter, its prey approach and the trap is closed. Blindness
at times supei-venes. Still more curious are instances where the lower jaw is twisted like a shepherd's
crook, and strange to say, notwithstanding this deformity, these Whales seem fat and hearty — this
fact giving rise to much .speculation whether such malformation has arisen from fighting and
distortion of the jaw in youth, or from other causes not yet ascertained. The Sperm Whale lias
its enemies, the Thresher Shark leaping on it and attacking it from above, while the daring Killer
Whale (Orca) assaults it from below. The female, it is said, breeds at all seasons, producing one,
but occasionally two, at a time.

The double-bowed whale-lwats are manned by six men, and when they approach the Whale one
.steers aft with an oar while the harpooner plies his craft. As soon as it is struck the rowers " back "
away. Meanwhile the creature dives, carrying harpoon and line, or rolls rapidly round coiling the rope
on its bod}'. The other boats approach, and as it rises hai'poons and lances are dexterously used, and as
the blood escapes in volumes, despite its vast efforts the creature succumbs. Immediately after its
death the boats are made fast to the carcass, and the ship reached as circumstances best permit. Secured
alongside, a man descends, cuts a hole behind the head, inserts a hook, often under most dangerous con-
ditions, especially if the sea is rough. The fat or blubber is cut by sharp spades in a long spiral strip,
and pulleys applied, and these skin and blubber strips, termed the "blanket pieces," are thereupon hove
on deck. The carcass afterwards is rolled round and the opposite side similarly treated. The great
head meantime is cut off, and floated astern until the trunk is deprived of its blubber. Tiie
head is then opened from above, and among the coarse fat and blubber of the forehead — the
so-called " case " — is a fluid oily matter, the spermaceti. This substiince is handed up in bucket-
fuls, and preserved in casks. On its removal the wedge-shaped oily and fibrous headpiece, the
"junk," is next secured; head and trunk are then sent adrift. Then follows the "trying out,"
that is, boiling the fatty masses and extracting the oil, which operation is done in furnaces, the scraps
jf fat mainly serving as fuel. Finally, the oil and head matter are caaked up, and a fresh look-
cut from the masthead is kept for more Whales. The crow's nest is a large barrel on the cross-
trees, where a watcher is stationed during the whole voyage. No sooner is a Wliale spied than the
shout, " Tliere she blows ! " or, as the Americans have it, " There she spouts ! " is replied to from the
deck by a hurried nish to the boats, for each seaman's kit and provisions are beforehand ready pre-
pared in a bundle, and before a few minutes have passed, the hardy mariners are on their way towards

TEE CAAING, OR PILOT WHALE. 256

their gigantic spoil. Sperm oil, we need hardly say, is exceedingly valuable. The quantity obtained
between 1835 and 1872 by the Americans alone is reckoned at 3,671,772 barrels, and the wholesale
price has varied during these yeare from four to ten shillings per gallon.

The Short-headed Whale, or Snub-nosed Cachalot.* — Under this name, and possibly also
that of Gray's Kogia,t an animal has been described which, far smaller in size and in many respects dif-
fering from the Sperm Whale, nevertheless is more closely allied to it than to any other of the Cetacea.
Whether the two names belong to different or the same species may be left open for the present. At
all events, specimens have been obtamed at the Cape of Good Hope, the East Indies, and Australia,
which so closely resemble each other as probably to belong to one and the same species. This animal
measures from six to ten feet in length, and is almost Porpoise-like in general appearance. It has a
well-marked dor.sal fin behind the middle of the body, short flippers, and the snout is said to be
turned up with a margin somewhat like a Pig's. The upper surface of the body is black, and the
under parts have a tinge of yellow or light flesh-colom-. The few specimens hitherto obtained afford
no information regai-ding its habits. The peculiar construction of its skull, short, broad, distorted, with
a bony division in the .spermaceti cavity and other skeletal characters, give it an interest as being an
intermediate form between the Cachalot and the Dolphins proper.

THE DOLPHINS (DELPHINID.E).

This group possesses considerable diversity in outward form, in skeletal characters, and dentition ;
nay more, many of the genera blend into each other. The Narwhal by its peculiar teeth, and the
White Whale by its coloui-, besides some few other points, stand apart. The Porpoise and the Neo-
meris agree in teeth and skull ; the Killer Whales are distinguished by their broad flippera; the Pilot
Whales, on the contrary, by the extreme length and naiTOwness of theii- flippei-s ; the Dolphins proper
have long narrow beaks and numerous teeth ; while several other genera unite characters so that it is
difficidt to define where one commences and another ends. Nearly all have dorsal fins. Excepting in
the Narwhal, numerous teeth exist in both jaws. The lower jaws are united only for a short distance,
and there Ls no di.stinct skull crest behind the nasal orifice, while the tieck vertebrae in most are
soldered together. The difliculty in giving the natural sequence, the genera, and species of this group,
for reasons aforesaid, leads us to commence with one "which has a .singular prominence in the forehead,
composed of a soft blubbery material intermingled with strong fibres, one might say, a kind of modified
spermaceti substance.

The Caaing, or Pilot Whale, or Deductor. J is one of the best known Whales that frequent the

OK PILOT WHALE.

British coasts, herds of hundreds having often been run ashore in the Shetlands, Orkneys, and even
in the Fiith of Forth. Adults average from sixteen to twenty-five feet in length, are of a jet-black
colour, but lighter or whitish on the abdomen. The body is cylindrical, tapering to the tail ; the dorsal
fin is high, placed at the middle of the back ; the flippers are unusually long and narrow, and the fingers
possess an unusually gi-eat number of bones, as many as fourteen to the second digit. The head is quite

* Kogia hreviceps ; the Phmeter simus of Owen. f K. (Etiphyseifs) Grayii oiMacIxnj. * Glolwcephalm melas.

256 NATURAL JIISTOItY.

characteristic, having the form of a massive boss. The teeth are somewhat numerous, namely, ^|-|j = 9G.
When these Whales are seen gambolling in the bays of the Scottish shores, the hardy fishermen
start in their boats and fonn a cordon seawards. Then by gunshots, shouts, splashings, and throwing
stones they drive them towards the shore ; and as the animals madly plunge to shallower water, pressing
through fear one over the other, the men da.sh into tlifi water and begin havoc with harpoons, scythes,
.spears, picks, or spades — indeed, whatever weapon comes handiest. Thus numbers, from even fifty to
as many as two hundred, foil an easy prey. Such an encoimter took place in 1867 near Prestonpans
on the Frith of Forth, when one Whale wounded by harpoons struck seawards, hauling a boat and crew
of twelve men nearly as far as Inchkeith ere it succumbed. There may be more than one species of
this Whale, widely distributed, but whether or not, their habits and general appearance have much in
common.

A rather remarkable form is Eisso's Grampus,* inasmuch as its colouring and marking are so
variable, and \i\ some cases so characteristic ; indeed, no two specimens yet obtained can be said to be
alike. The head is fuller and rounder than that of the Porpoise, and its flippers longer and narrower
— in these respects approaching the Pilot Whale. The prevailing tint is grey, darker above, and
under parts paler, and in some there are a few indistinct and ii-regular lighter-coloured bandings. In

is-u's GIIAMPIS. (Aflcr Flou-cr.)

other examples, notably one obtained by M. Risso in the Mediterranean, and by Professor Flower on
the British coast, the side of the body and even top of the head exhibited a mass of intercrossing,
wavy, scratched lines and spots of white and grey, following no special pattern. It has been found
both on the French and English coasts in spring and summer, but is suspected to be migratory, visiting
Europe in summer, and proceeding to the African or possibly the American continent towards winter.
The vaiiation in colour has given rise to diflerent specific names. Somewhat intermediate between the
foregoing and the Porpoises, are certain forms found on the Indian coasts and even the Irrawaddy
River ; the genus Orcella, for example, combining the head of the Pilot Whale with the body and
flijjpers of the Porjioise.

The Common Porpoise,! the vinnionhi of the French or meersclncein of the Germans, is tlie
most familiar Cetacean of the I'.iitish and adjoining coasts. Their average length is four or five
feet, though often more. The ci.l.riu s!i-litly varies with age and sex, more usually a polished bluish-
black tint on the upper parts, merging into a pink or mottled grey or whitish below. The dorsal fin
and flippers are both of moderate dimensions. Their head is roundish, and not so blunt or bomb-like
as in the Glohiceps, nor so sharp-nosed as-'in the true Dolphin tribe. Its diminutive eye, no visible ear,
tapering body, and broad tail are all markedly Cetacean in character, so that, though small, it gives a
very good idea of the Whale tribe generally. The semilunar transverse blow-hole as it rises to the
surface slightly opens, but in a tank no lofty jet of vapour is thrown up as Ls the case with the large
Whales at sea. In looking into the pink-coloured mouth one sees above and below a row of small
equal-sized simple teeth, and a flat tongue which is not protrusible. The dental formula is =]gU=:SO,
or |Jr^==104. In structural detail, both internally and in the skeleton, it is a fair type of the group
Delphinidse. Porpoises either of the common sort or species barely to be distinguished from it have a

* Grampus griseus. + PhoK

THE KILLER WHALE. 257

tolerably wide distribution, being found all over the Mediterranean, Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic
regions. Tliey evidently migrate, as they appear in Davis Strait in the spring, and stop there till
November. They are true fish-feeder.s, and lierd in enormous numbers. A prettier sight can scarcely
be conceived than a large shoal frolicking, dashing, and spi-inging in all manner of fantastic cui-\-es
with an amazing rapidity. Woe betide the " schools " of Herrings, Mackerels, and Pilchards that are
followed by these rapacious creatures, which cause great havoc among them ! They give birth to their
young about May. Mr. H. Lee, on Mr. Scott Siddons' authority, relates that in the surveying voyage
of the Herald the natives of Moreton Bay entreated the seamen " not to shoot their tame Porpoises."
These crowded lazily near the shore, and when a shoal of fish entered the bay the people roused the

Porpoises, which dashed among the fish, ate some, and drove the rest ashore. Porpoise flesh, though
no longer an article of diet, was once held in high estimation, and even graced the royal table as late
as the time of " blufi' King Hal." Porpoise meat was generally eaten with a kind of mint sauce, and
jiorpoise pudding was not an unusual dish during Lent as coming under the denomination of supposed
fish. " Porpoise leather " now in vogue is in reality the skin of the White Whale.

The Killer Whale, or Orc.\,* is truly the terror of the ocean. Not only Porpoises, White
Whales, and Seals spring out of the water and run ashore in fear of it, but the great Sperm Whale and
the Greenland Whale stand in deadly awe of its attack. It ranges in size from eighteen to thirty feet
long, and its fierceness and voracity are unbounded, as is well shown in an example which came under
Eschricht's observation. From the stomach of this individual he took thirteen Porpoises and fourteen
Seals, and the atrocious glutton bad been choked in tlio attempt to swallow a fifteenth ! Hollbiill saw
a herd of White Whales driven into a bay in Greenland where they were literally torn to pieces by
these voracious Sea-wolves. Scammon says that three or four do not hesitate to gi-apple with the
largest Baleen Whales ; the latter, often paralysed through fear, lie helpless and at their mercy. TJie
Killers, like a pack of hounds, cluster about the animal's head, " breach " over it, .seize it by the lips,
and haul the bleeding monster under water ; and should the victim open its mouth they eat its

2S8 NATURAL BISTORT.

tongue. In one instance he relates that a Californian Grey Whale and her young were assaulted ; the
Orcas killed the latter, and sprang on the mother, tearing away large pieces of flesh which they greedily
devoured. These bnites have been known to attack a white-painted herring-boat, mistaking it for a

Beluga ; and it is stated that occasionally they wUl boldly lay siege to Whales kOled )>y the whalers,
almost dragging them perforce under water. Near some of the Pacific sealing-gi-ounds they con-
tinually swim aboyt and swoop off the unwary young ; even the large male Sea Lions hastily retreat
ashore and give these monstei-s a wide berth. The Walrus also, with his powerfid tu.sks, cannot keep
the Killers at bay, especially if young Morges are in the herd. The cubs on such occasions will mount
upon theii- mother's back for refuge, clinging for dear life; but the Orca, diving, comes suddenly up
with a spiteful thud, and the cub losing its balance falls in the water, when in an instant it is seized
by the remoi-seless Whales. These latter do not restrict themselves in diet solely to their own or the
Seal tribe ; for Scammon asserts that they even make marauding expeditions up strong-flowing rivers

EOTTLE-NOSE

TUE TRVE LULPMINS. 2rJ

ill piu-xuit of the Salmon and other fishes, a statement corroboratcil l>y o'jservers on British coasts.
The great swiftness of these creatures is best realised by the fact that they pursue and overtake
the 4uick-swimming Dolpliins, literally swallowing tliem alive. They are not gregaiious in the sense
of being found In lai-ge herds, but follow their prey in small sqvads. At times they move rapidly
near the surtace, theii- great back-fins projecting, or they tumble and roll about, even leaping out of
the water and cutting all manner of capers. They have an evenly-rounded head, blunter than the
Porpoise's, the upper jaw a trifle longer than the lower. Their flippers are broad and oval-shaped,
and what renders them peculiar and easily recognised is theii- gi-eatly-lengthened dorsal fin, in some
species said to be equal to one-fifth of the whole length of the animal. Though slightly varying
in colour, thev are usm;i11\- L:ln>s\^ lil:ick ^il.nx-r, -.y\A \\\{\\>- )»■],,« , tin- tints sli:if|.ly defined. Above

the eye is a white patch, and occasionally there is a greyish saddle mark on their back. Their
capacious mouth is provided with eleven or twelve teeth on each side above and below, and each tooth
is most powei-ful, conical, and .slightly recurved.

The True Dolphins, from which in fact the group Delphinidm takes its origin, are associated in
mythology and poetry to a considerable e.xtent. The car of Amphitrite drawn by these oceanic
animals is well known. The Common Dolphin * and the Bottle-nose Dolphin t of Briti.sh coasts
are kinds familiar to fi.shermen and sailors, the former evidently being that known to the ancients.
Naturalists have recognised many genera and numerous species of the Dolphin tribe, but into these
and their distinctions we shall not enter. If we take the common Dolphin as a representative, it will
be seen that the head has a well-marked rostnim or beak, and an abruptly-rounded forehead ; the
doi-sal fin is high, and the flippers of moderate size. When adult they average from six to eight feet
in length. Their colour is . black above and brilliant white beneath ; though many of the species of
Dolphins are particoloured, white predominating. The teeth vary in number from forty to fifty <^a

* Dclphinus ihlphis. t D. tursio.

260 NATURAL EISTOUY.

each side, aljove and below— tliat is, from IGO to 200 in all. Tliey feed on fish, medusa?, and
crustaceans ; and they congregate in great herds, never being seen alone. This species inhabits the
North Sea, tlie Atlantic, and the Mediterranean ; but the different genera and species of the Dolphins
have a wide range over the seas of the warmer and of the temperate zones ; some even ascending river.s
after their prey. As a group their habits are considerably alike, and they are all excessively playful
and active, and seem to delight in gambolling around vessels,

'• Or dive 'belo'J-, or on the surface leap,
And spout the waves, and wanton in the deep."

The White Whale, or Beluga.*— In September, 1877, a White Wliale nine feet and a half long,

which had been captured on the coast of Labrador, iiined it tlie Wc-tiiunstei Vciniuuiii Tliouirli
not of the largest size — for they attain a length of e\en sixteen fctt — this cximph n(%nthL.hss w \s
characteristic. Symmetrical in form, creamy white in coloui, \\ithout dois\l fin, with shoit stum]i\
flippers, and a bulging- rounded forehead, thei-e could bo no mistaking the species. Unfortunately
it lived but a few days, though Mr. Barnum was more fortunate in keeping these creatures alive in a
tank iu his museum at New York. The dental formula of the Beluga is J-" =32 ; or JJj£||J = 40 ; the
small conical teeth are implanted only in the front of the jaws, and frequently drop out earlj' in life.
It is abundant over a wide area of the noi-thern ■ regions, and is veiy partial to ascending livei-s
after fish, for a long distance. Dall records one taken 700 miles up the Yukon river, and Nordmann
mentions that it ascends the river Amoor. It is well known in the St. Lawrence and Labrador
coasts, as also in the White Sea, where there is a regular White Whale fishery ; but withal it is truly
a Greenland Cetacean, being found there all the year round. Like the Narwhal it is very gregarious,
* Beluga hucas.

TUB XAIiirJIAL, OR SEA VXICORy.

261

pporti\e, and migrates in numbers, botli sexes associating in tlie droves. It is fearless and inquisitive,
i;pproacliiiio; tbe sliij) with an easy roll, occasionally emitting a wliistlLng sound ; hence seamen call
rhem " sea canaries." The female gives birth to a young one iii the spring months, and this is of
a bluish-grey colour, paling with age. Theii- docility and indeed intelligence, when captured, are well
illustrated by one in America, which was trained to draw a car round the tank. It recognised its
keeper, and allowed itself to be freely handled. It would play with a Sturgeon and a small Shark as a
Cat woidd with a Mouse, but without injuring them ; at other moments it would splash about and toss
.stones with its mouth. The Greenlanders dry their flesh for winter use, hoard then- oil, and capture
them by nets at the enti-ance of the fjoixis and inlets whenever chance permits. Five hundred or
more every year are thus obtained. Dr. Rae says that the Beluga is similarly caught by nets in the
8t. Lawrence. The Indians also paint their canoes white and sail promiscuously among them,
harpooning betimes. Every part of the animal is valuable to the natives of the north, the skin being
manufactured into capital leather. A white Porpoise-looking Whale visits Amoy and other southerly
liarbours of China, but it is a true Dolphin (Z). sinensis), and not a Beluga.

The Narwhal, ok Sea-Usicorx.* — Of all Whales this is the most unique On account of its
so-called horn, or rather tusk, or, still better, enormously-developed canine tooth. Most museums
contain examples of this extraordinary object, which seems like a solid rod of ivoiy, tapere from root
to tip, has a kind of striated spii-al surface, and is often from five to seven feet or more in len,gth,
thus being the longest tooth in the Mammalia. The adult animals vary frora_ten to sixteen feet long,
and, like the Beluga, have a blunt short head, no dorsal fin, and very small flippers. It is essentially a

rgen, and Siberia, though

northern form, inasmuch as it frequents the ousts ut' (Jiciiilaiul. S|i
<iccasionally met with ofl"
.Scandinavia and Britain, its ^-1

favourite haunts, however, _fii^-

being 70° to SC! N. lat. It
travels in great herds, and
Dr. E. Brown avers that he
saw thousands in their .summer
migrations following tusk to
tusk and tail to tail like a
i-egiment of cavalry, and swim-
ming vntli perfect, regular,
Tindulating movements. These
herds ai-e of both sexes. The
Narwhals have gi'ey backs,
mottled with black, the sides
and belly paling downiwards
to white, and equally spotted

with gi-ey or darker tint. The females are more spotted than the males, the young are darker, but some
animals are much paler than others. The crgscentic blowhole externally is single. Occasionally they
utter a gurgling noise. In the stomachs of captured Narwhals, fish-bones, Crustaceans, Molluscs, and
Cuttle-fish remains have been found. They swim with great velocity, and are most active creatures.
They dash and sport about apparently with much glee, and Scoresby says that in their playful moments
they parry horns as if fencing. He suggests that the hoi-n may be used for spearing fish, as he found
a large flat Skate in the stomach of one. Others imagine that it may be for stirring up food from the
bottom ; but it has been very deftly remai-ked that the female would thus fare badly, seeing she is desti-
tute of the tooth in question. Fabriciu.s' view, that it was to keep the ice-holes open during the winter,
has a touch of truth in' it, inasmuch as one among other instances has been recorded where it usefully
supplied siich a purpose. Dr. R. Brown mentions that in 18G0 a Greenlander observed in a hole in
the ice hundreds of Narwhals and White Whales protruding their heads to breathe. It was likened
CO an Arctic Black Hole of Calcutta, so eager were the creatures pushing towards it. The natives
gathered around, harpooned and shot the creatures by the dozen, though many were lost, such was the
* Monodon monoceros.

262

\ATURAL VIS Turn

•Iml possesses only two teeth : the giv^-atly-developed or left canine, and within
ide the rudiment of a similar tooth which seldom is protruded ; although in certain
I developed. Along the jaw or gum there is a scolloped
In the palace of Rosenberg, Dr. R. Brown states, there
is a throne manufoctured of Narwhal ivory, and Captain Scoresby had a bedstead made of the same sub-
stance. A Greenlander's dainty is Narwhal skin boiled to a jelly, this dish of mattak being a bonne bmie/ie
offered to strangers. The oil is very superior, the flesh extremely jialatable. Though so peculiar in
appearance and dentition, tliis veritable unicuru in all otlier structural peculiarities is truly a Dolphin.

scramble. The Nar

the jaw on the right

rare cases, instead of one, the two tusks ai

appearance foreshadowing as it were teeth.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES (MYSTICETE).
These are distinguished from the Toothed Whales by their great upper jaws being j)rovide<l
baleen jilates instead of teeth ; in eai'ly life, however, rudimentary teeth occasionally are

present, but these never

project beyond the gums.
Their skulls are symme-
trical and not distorted as
ill the Denticete. The
organ of smell is distinctly
developed, and there is a
double aperture to . the
blowhole. The separate
bones in the lower jaw
arch widely outwards. The
upper jaws are relatively
narrow and project forward
at the same time with a
great fore and aft arch, but
are encompassed by the
lower jaw arches. The
head is proportionally of
immense size, and admits
of an extraordinarily capacious mouth. The palate is but a narrow median line, and the huge mouth
little else than an enormous dome of whalebone plates whose inner lower maa-gins are frayed. Thus
while the whalebone is longer than the depth of the closed mouth, it nevertheless is accommodated by
being tucked in below at its flexible extremities. A gi-eat broad massive tongue fills the interspace
lietween the lower jaws. From this peculiar mouth-formation, the bony area of and around the
brain-pan is relatively small.

Most people have seen a large plate of whalebone, dark-tinted or occasionally lighter, and one
extremity ending in a fringe of bristle-like hairs. The whalebone blade of dense horny-like material
is in the early stage composed of a brush of hair-like bodies, which, lengthening, solidify and assume
the hard horny appearance afterwards known in the blade. The gum of the upper jaws has a series
of these plates, the one in front of the other, which elongate as growth proceeds, but leave the free
extremity with a fringe of separate hairs. Again, the blade towards the gum is embedded in a fleshy
substance similar to the roots of our finger-nails. It grows continuously from the roots, like the
latter, and in many respects corresponds, save that the free end is always fi-ijiged. Baleen, therefore,
though varying from a few inches to a number of feet long, in fact approximates to a .series of so to
say mouth nail-plates, which laminse have a somewhat transverse position to the cavity of the mouth,
and thus their inner split edges and lower free ends cause the mouth to ajjpear as a great hairy
archway, shallower in front and deeper behind. The animal in opening its mouth gulps a quantity
of water containing its minute marine food, and then closing the mouth the liquid escapes and the
small mollusca, ifec, are entangled in the hairy me.shes. Some of the Whalebone Whales are dis-
tinguished as smooth- skinned and as wanting dorsal fins — the family Balsenidse, or Right Whales.

,i'f|l:'

. A!«i-«r 1. ,. iliL i^^rte). J]

TUE GREEyLAXD. OR RIG ITT WHALE.

263

Others have either a liump-like protuljoranoe or dorsal fin or a series of longituduial skin-plaits on the
tlu'oat — the BaI;enopterid;e, or Humpbacks, and Eorquals.

The Greenland, or Eight Whale.* — Among the Cetacea this, jmr excellence, niaj- bo
t'.enominated the Wliale, for mueh of the popuhxr knowledge, interest, and commercial value of the
group has centred in this animal. It is the well-known form followed b\ the Greenland whalers into
the Arctic seas. The stories of its hunting lud
authenticated accounts of its vast size iLc dssoci ite
it in many minds as the most typicil ot the While
tribe. But the truth is, it is unusiml ui many le
speets, and not even quite represent iti\ e of the
group of Whalebone Whales as x whole Moie
over, it is as well at first to take notice of the f i t
that of the genus Balana, that to which the temi
Greenland or Eiglit Whale is Applicable is no<^
the only species. For a long time it v\ as belie\ ed
that this Whale inliabited a very luge aiex of the
oceans. Later data, however, go to show thxt \t
least five species have existed oi still e>.ist each
restricted within a moderately defined iiei B
mysticetus reaches from the Gulf of St Liwience
up Baffin's Bay and Smith's Sound and westwiids
by Barrow Strait, &c., to the extiemity of the
North American continent, and desc nds to
Behring Strait, Kamstchatka, and the S x of
Okhotsk. It moreover passes don^ the Autic
Ocean from Behring Strait to Spitzbei^en and
the east of Greenland, that is, it lus a cucum polii
area, in the two jjoints already n imed descendin_,
to lower latitudes.

The Biscay Whale (B. bucayen'^i ) diffeis
in a proportionally smaller head shoitei thic' ei
and more brittle baleen ; smoothei thicl ei skin
and slightly bluish .shade of coloui Fiom the mew tiiih tr^te po itiom inp xRifTii e o> p\lees
eighth to the tenth century the Bisque pc 1 1 ^^ ' ' ^ f * i > t » r i. !

established a Whale fi.shery right in the midtU i
the Atlantic, and even to the beginmng of the 1
century it was known that the sime 1 ind of

animal was pursued across the xVtlmtic is fai as Florida and beyond Ciext Biitain towards
Iceland. But theso hardy seamen followed the Whale with such Mgour as to dinnnisli md is mis.
believed, drive it within the Arctic ciicle xn assumption \\lii !i h i lisappeaied befoi il In \\1 1
that it differs from the so-called Cieenlxnd Wlixle Vim t litween the sxme ] i 11 1 in tli
Pacific Ocean from the American to the Asiatic shoies is mothei — the JiPW W n \i i (/ / y ) —

pursued by English, American, and J ipxnese whxle & This blxck animil ^\ itli iwlit \ ] I m 1
paler on the chin and belly, has .slendeiei but equxllj long bxleen and m ceit uii 1 i M tui

is regarded as specifically distinct Anotliei While the C\pe Whale {B aintiai ) i i fi lu

the Cape region across the South Athntic to the coxst of South Imeiici below I i il \\ 1 il i
fifth, the South Pacific Whale {B anhpodaiiim) occuj les i <.tiip fiom the South \i i i t

to New Zealand and Australia, The two littei hx\e joint in common ^\lt]l tli i i 1 i

only disting-uished as separate species by supposed stiuctui il ^ imtiLiis

The habits of all these animals aie exceedingly xlike and onlv m the hist tw d is tlieit
very decided distinction in appearxnce Such being the c^se we may lefei in detul to tlie t leenlind
Whale, Bowhead, or great Polai Whale of the Ameucaiis This cieatuie oidmiiilv itt ims a
* Bala la mysliceU s

^fe^=^^'^S=^^^j

2(J4 XATURAL HISTORY.

length of fifty or sixty or not more than seventy feet. The females are said to be larger
and fatter than tlie males, to produce one or rarely two young ones in the spring, which are
suckled for a twelvemonth, and they exhibit a constancy and afi'ection for this offspring not
surpassed by any other of the tribe. The bulky body is largest about the middle, tapering
rather suddenly towards the tail, the flukes of which are occasionally over twenty feet from tip to
tip. The flipper is short and broadish ; while the head is a third of the length of the
animal. The small eye is placed very low, but nevertheless above the angle of the great arched-
mouth. The head is surrounded by a large swelling, at which point the double orifice of the blowhole
forms an obtuse angle. The adult is almost black, the young bluish-grey, the lower parts of the
thi-oat cream-colour, and occasionally dispersed whitish markings on the body. Gregarious in habit,
they go in twos and threes, but sometimes in greater riumber.s, even in large flocks ; b\it the herds
now are indeed rare. Among the most remarkable peculiarities in this Whale are the nature of its
food and its mode of feeding. In the high latitudes there floats in immense quantities a small soft-
bodied Mollusc {Clio borealis), an inch long, with expansions like wings ; and besides it there are numerous
small Crustaceans and Jelly-fish of various kinds. These, curiously enough, feed on infinitesimally minute
Jelly-speuks, Diatomacew, &c. These latter thus form subsistence to the former, which in their turn
are the Whale's food ; so that, as Dr. Robert Brown has remarked, tliis enormous marine monster in a
secondary manner is sustained by incredible numbers of organisms of which 1,000 or more might be laid
on a shilling piece. Captain David C4ray, a well-known successful whaler, has given a good account of
the mode of feeding. When the animal opens its mouth to feed, the whalebone springs forwards and
downwards so as to fill the mouth entii-ely. When in the act of shutting it again, the whalebone
being pointed slightly towards the throat, the lower jaw catches it and carries it up into the hollow
of the mouth. They choose a space between two pieces of ice, and swimming backwards and forwards
secure the food near the surface. They will continue feeding in this way for hours, afterwards
disappearing under the ice to sleep, and again suddenly reappearing as hunger compels them.
When the food is submerged ten or fifteen fethoms, after feeding the Whale comes to the surface to
breathe, and swallows its mouthful. It then lies still a minute, raises its head pai-tially out of the
water, again diving, throwing its tail in tlje air as it disappears. At such times the whalers succe.ss-
fully harpoon them. Occasionally they are easily captured, but more often are approached
with great danger. The periods of sui-face-breathing and descents in the Right Whale are very
different and irregular compared with tho.se of the Sperm Whale. At intervals of from five to fifteen
or twenty minutes they rise to breathe, and remain on the surface for about two minutes. Their
ordinary rate of travelling is nearly four miles an hour, but if alarmed or wounded theii' pace is
considerably increased. Like the other Whales, they travel head to the wind. They appear to have
periods of migration. In May they are found off West Greenland ; at the end of June they cross
Baffin's Bay, towards Lancaster Sound and Eclipse Bay, whence in August and September they strike
south, and in November or later reach Hudson Strait and the coast of Labrador. It is supposed that
the young are produced in these lower latitudes, and in spring the Whales are believed to proceed
again northwards. This ordinarily quiet, harmless, but unwieldy creature, whose time seems to be
divided between feeding and sleeping, oc;asionally disports itself in fun and frolic, like its more
elegant but smaller congeners. It will then throw itself clean out of the water, " lobtail," " breach,"
and so on.

The whaling ships, which are now most powerfully built .screw-propellers, leave Britain in the be-
ginning of May for the Greenland seas, and endeavour to come across the track of their prey in the
Baffin's Bay districts. The men in the crow's-nest have a weary and cold outlook, and as opportunity ofl'ers
chase is given in the whaleboat in these dreary regions under circumstances well calculated to test the
bravest spirit. The vessels often hover on the edges of the ice, or ram and bore their way through it,
and when Whales are announced they are assailed by the boats' crews with harpoons, lance, and at
times harpoon-guns. These Whales when struck will occasionally nni out more than a mile of cable,
but return to breathe at no gi-eat distance, when the lance is used, and the extraordinary loss of blood
weakens the monster and lays him at the mercy of his pursuers. Whales that have once been attacked
and got free become very cunning, and instead of diving dii'ect go straight along the surface,
dragging boats and even ships into most dangerous positions, or cutting the ropes as they seek shelter

lie I ■

tig I '

THE GREEyiANTK OR RldUr WHALE— THE HUMP-ISACKED WHALE. 265

binder the ice. The Auierioau wlialers on tlie Okhotsk Sea vary their mode of pursuit according to
tiio district, often lauding and even making night whaling expeditions, being guided by the phos-
jihorescence accomi)aiiying the creatures' mo\'ements. An oi'dinary-sized Whale, between forty and
tifty feet, will yield, according to Scammon, ft'om sixty to eighty barrels of oil, and 1,000 lbs. of
baleen. The usual manner is for the Whale to be brought along the port side of the. vessel, its tail
forwards, belly up, and head aft. Tackled at each extremity, the men with spiked boots
commence to strip the blubber, which i.s hoisted on deck. When the belly and right side
with flipper are disposed of, the carcass is canted and the other side is similarly treated.
The material is hastily put. a.side until the first quiet opportunity admits of it being cut in
[)ieces and finally .stowed in the holds, wliere it is kept in perfect safety until the return of
the vessel. The skin and waste pieces of flesh or '' kreng " are thrown away, and as the
carcass and such useless matter are abandoned, they are quickly seized by the Killer Whales,
Threshers, and Greenland Sharks, and by enormous numbers of sea-fowl that hover in the
wake of the whaler.

The Hump-backed Whales.* — Of tliis genus three, four, or even more species are
named liy naturalists. The Long-fijiued {M. longiinanu), or Kepokak of the Greenlamlers,
inhabits the North Atlantic ai-ea as far as Davis Strait. A southern form, the Cape
Hump-back {M. Lalamlii), is distributed over the South Atlantic, also towards both
continents. There is a South Pacific form (M. novte zelandue), the New Zealand Hump-
back, stretching to the American coast, and still another, the Japanese Hump-back (J/.
kuzira), which ranges to tlie Aleutian and Californiau coasts. These Whales ai'e by no
means as valuable for oil or baleen as the Right Whale, and are not very frequently
hunted. An adult averages fifty feet in length. The skin of the throat and belly is plaited
longitudinally like corrugated iron with nanow fun'ows. The flippers are very long, one-
third or one-fourth the length of the animal, their edges often undulating. The charac-
teristic feature or hump, is a low dorsal fin, situate behind the middle of the body. They
have a bulky, stoutish body, and a broad flat head, and the neck vertebras are usually
separate. Tliey are black, occasionally paler below, and some have white flippers, but the
baleen is black. Dr. Rink says that when struck with harpoon, the Kepokak rushes along
the surface without diving. They rest lazUy near the surface, beating theii' flippers
.scratching themselves. The Greenlanders steal up to them when asleep, and stab them
with lances. All the species, at times, seem to delight in endless springing and dashing out
of tlie water. They vnW yield from twenty to thii-ty ban-els of oil, and a few hundred-
weight of an inferior quality of whalebone. The Hump-back of the Pacific, according to
Scammon, proceeds north in summer, and returns southwards on the aj)proach of whiter ;
but they have been observed with young following them at various times and seasons. '^P**'

Considerable interest is attached to another Cetacean of the North Pacific, which Capt. V

Scammon names the California Grey Whale.+ The female of this animal is from forty to mErooN
forty-four, and the male seldom more than thirty-five feet in length. In shape it may be said
to be somewhat intermediate between the Right Whale, the Hump-backs, and the Rorquals, though in
most respects nearest the last two. It has no back fin or hump, but instead a series of cross ridges
•on the hinder part of the back towards the tail. Occasionally individuals are nearly black, but the
more common and characteristic colour is a mottled-grey or speckled patches of white on all the
upper parts, underneath being dai-kest in body-tint. The flippers are fully six feet long, broad in
the middle, but taper to a point. The head arches downwards from the blowhole forwards, and the
baleen is remarkably short, bro^vnish-white, and coar.se in texture. From November till May this
Whale frequents the Califomian coast, and then the females enter the shallow bays and lagoons, and
give birth to their young, while the males keep seawards. During the summer months they all
jonrney northwards along the coast, and congregate amidst the ice in the Arctic Ocean and the
Okhotsk Sea. So regular are their migi-ations, and so close in-shore do they swim, that Eskimo
and Indians alike keep watch at the proper season, and as they pa-ss successfully attack them in
their canoes. The flukes, lips, and tins form native dainties, the oil is bartered for reindeer, a
23 * -^^''^"^'"'" '■ ""■''"• g''<=*'. and TTTtpoi., fin. t Shachianectcs glaums of Cope,

KATUUAL UI>iTORl'.

sauce is made of the entrails, and the Eskimo dogs feast on the flesh. .Since 1851 a system of
coast and bay whaling has been profitably pursued by the Americans along the Californian shores.
At first' 1,000 Whales would daily pass the outlook stations, though not a tenth part are now seen,
so »reat has been the havoc and so shy of the land and whale-boats have the Californian Greys
become. In calm weather these Whales will lie motionless for an hour or so on the sui-face of the
water, but they nevertheless seem to delight in dashing and splashing among the surf and breakers.
At other times they huddle together in shoal water, almost getting aground, while their young swim
freely about in sportive play. The dam's attachment to her offspring is very great, and hence lagoon
whaling is most dangerous. Casualties are of constant occurrence in these narrow passages, the old
Whale^in her frenzy dashing her head against the boats, and lashing all around with her tail-flukes ;
hence the sailors call them " Devil-fish," and " Hard-head," while " Mussel-digger " is applied to
tliem from their habit of probing among the mud. They often roam among the seaweed-banks,
whei'e the whaler shoots them with the harpoon-gun, as he lies in wait in a small boat or sailing
craft. Thus this piebald Whale runs every chance of early extinction, seeing that whether in warm
or cold latitudes, it is relentlessly pursued by its du-e enemy— man.

The Fin-Whales, or Rorquals,* as a group, vary exceedingly in size. Although at times of
great dimensions, they are not so bulky in form and unwieldy as the foregoing whalebone groups.
Their elongate bodies," smaller-mouthed heads, shorter baleen, plaited throats, and relatively narrow and
small flippers, with a dorsal fin behind the middle of the back, high laterally-compressed tail-root, and
separate neck-bones, besides other osteological characters, distinguish them sharply from the preceding.
The amount of blubber and baleen in these Whales being exceedingly limited, coupled ^^dth then-
gi-eat muscular activity, restless disjiosition, difficulty and danger of approach, causes them to be
seldom hunted. Their capture in fact is not remunerative. As a consequence, their numbers
m some districts are considerable though scattered ; even off British coasts certain species create

* Balcenoptera : ii,i\ana, n wliale, and irrepoi', flu.

FJXyEJiS, OR RUliQFALS. 267

gi-eat havoc in the herring and otlier fisheries. There may exist from eight to a dozen fau-ly-
lecoguised sjjecies, and quite as many more doubtful ones. They have been divided into several
genera by various naturalists, though thei-e is a tendency to revert to the single term
Bakenoptera. So migratory are they, so active, and changeable towards localities, that little ix
known of their precise geographical distribution. They are found in the Polar seas, throughout
tlie whole of the Atlantic, in the Indian, Pacific, and Antarctic Oceans. In their habits they
have much in common. Ordinarily they do not congi-egate in large herds, though twos and
threes, and occasionally more, keep company ; others seem even more solitary in disposition. They
are all more or less fish-eaters, and they commit great devastation among the Cod-bearing banks
and HeiTuig shoals— six and eight hundred fish having been found in the stomach of an indi-
vidual. A few attain the enormous length of even 100 feet, and sixty or seventy feet is not an
uncommon average, though some of the species are by no means distinguished on account of size.
One of the lai'gest forms is Sibbald's Rorqual (^B. SihbahUi), black above and slate-grey below,
varied with whitish spots. The Icelanders term this animal " Steypireythr," and it is rather
abundant in that region and South Greenland. Another of immense dimensions is known to the
Pacific whalers as the Sclphur-bottom Whale {B. (Sibbaldius) suljureus). This glides with gi-eat
velocity over the ocean, and is known at a distance by the vast amount of vapour it sends forth in
blowing. Its yellowish belly gives its specific name. At times they appear in considerable numbers
on the Californian coasts. One is recorded to have followed a ship for twenty-four consecutive days,
and rifle-shots, ifcc, did not drive it away. The captain and crew at first had gi'eat fears of mischief,
but at length the companionship of " Blowhard," as they called him, and his close approach, became
a subject of interest and merriment to them. The Common Rorqual, or Razor-back (B. ihusguIus),
black above and brilliant white below, with an average length of sixty or seventy feet, is a well-
known frequenter of British coasts. The Lesser Rorqual {B. rostrata) resembles the last, but
never reaches more than twenty-five or thii-ty feet. It frequents the North Atlantic and Arctic
Ocean, and is supposed to stretch even as far as Labrador, Davis Strait, and the Aleutian Isles. It
likewise has been met with several times in British water's, but it is best known as the " Seigval," or
Cod-Whale of Finland, and from the fact that it is a regular summer visitant to Norway.

A great many of the remains of Fossil Whales found in the Miocene and Pliocene deposits
in vai'ious parts of Europe belong to the Fin-backs. One genus, the Cetotherium, Brandt has
suggested, might form a transition between the Whales and our next order, the Sirenia. This
supposition, however, is not bome out by facts, siich features as denote likeness being rather
deceptive. The Rhytina, a Sirenian, wanting teeth and with a somewhat Cetacean-like tail, how-
ever Whale-like in outward figiu-e, in other respects is quite different from any member of the Order
Cetacea, which taken as a whole cannot possibly be affirmed to show substantial links of close afiinity
either with the other Marine Mammalia or with the Land Mammalian gi-oups.

James Murie.

COMMON BOliaUAL. (After PUrwer.]

ORDER SIRENIA (THE MANATEES).

-I'osition— (ieiieral characteristics of the Order -Steller's Rm-TINA— Hahits-
[iil)its— Uses— Teeth— Manatee— Distribution — Peculiar Mouth — Mode of Feediug-
Maiiatee— Ilalitheuum and other Fossil Forms.

Introductory Remarks— Mermaids
Extinct— DuGONG- -Range -
Story of " Patcheley," a tarn

This order of the Miu-ine Miimmalia comprises only a few animals, which, however, possess
a ])ecaliaj- interest to the zoologist. But two genera are now found aJive, and a thii'd genus was
utterly extirpated about a century ago. Othei-s are only known from fossil remains. Notwith-
standing the ungainly, almost positively repulsive, appearance of the living forms, they yet have
a hold on the populai- imagination on accomit of theu- being the actual representatives of the
famed Sirens and Mermaids of yore. The ancients, in their voyages to Eastern climes, gathered
stories concerning the existence of strange creatures, half woman, half fish, chiefly frequenting the
shores of Taprobane (Ceylon) ; and fancy, with oft-told but unchecked repetition of tales, soon lent
a charm to the sujiposed beings, by confening on these searuymphs imaginary flowing tresses, and
sweet dulcet voices, by whose luring wiles the unwai-y mariner was entrapped, or led to destruc-
tion. Howsoever ridiculous such notions ipay now be regarded, they are, nevertheless, to be satisfac-
torily explained, for the singular Dugong, with its fi.sh-like tail, roundish head, and mammse on
its brea.st. Las the habit of occasionally raising half of its body perpendicularly out of the water and
clasping its young to its breast. These actions have, doubtless, given a colourable pretext to all
the fables of mermaids — those " missing links," which even yet our children delight in, when nar-
rated in " The Little Mermaid," by the talented pen of a Hans Andersen.

The Manatee or Dugong gi-oup, partly from aquatic habitat and some outwai-d resemblances,
for long was classed among the Whales ; by F. Cuvier they were termed the Grass-eating ("les Cetaces
herbivores") in contradistinction to the flesh-devouring Cete, or Whales proper. Early in this century
Illiger signalised and defined them as a separate sub-order " Sirenia," theii- organisation distinctly
differing from that of the Whales ; while De Blainville, later on, pi'essed their Elephant^like structures
as entitling them to close proximity with these creatures — his " Gravigi-ades."

Among the general characteis of the Sirenia is a long, compact, cylindrical body (without back
611), naiTOwiug towards the tail, which terminates either Whale-like, in forked flukes, or Beaver-like,

SKELETON

in a gi'eat, flat, fibrous expansion, in either case set horizontally. The fore-limbs are encased, flat, and
flipper-like, exceedingly flexible, and more completely formed than in Whales. The extinct and fossil
Halitherium alone is known to have possessed rudiments of hind-limbs, though pelvic bones are
present in all. Ears are wanting, and the eyes are very small, whilst two valvular nostrils are
situate over a full prominent muzzle, -which is provided with a copious supply of peculiar short
bristles, while the inside angles of the month are hairy. Their dark skin is Elephant-like, tough,
rough, sparsely hairy, or smoothish and Whale-like. The two mammse are on the breast close to
the ai-mpits. One genus (Rhytina) was toothless, but the othei-s had ample dentition. Moreover, in
all the front of the upper and lower jaws is provided with curious, roiigh, horny pads or plates.
The larvnx difiers from that of the Cetacea and resembles that of Land Mammals. The midriff, or

(liapLragin, is most unusually lengthened backwards. The ajiex of the heart is cleft, giving the ap-
l)earance of a double organ, aiul the blood-vessels almost everywhere in the body and limbs split
into rete mirabile. The stomach has two main digestive chambers, and to the first is addeil a pair of
small divergent horn-shaped appendages, besides a remarkable finger-shaped gland. Unlike Whales
or Elephants their small bi-ain has few convolutions. All the bones ai'e dense and lieavy, and are the
most solid among Mammals. Mauatus is unique among the living Mammalia in having but six neck
vertebras, and, as in the other Sirenia, they are all sepai-ate. The ribs ai-e uncommonly thick. The skull
is relatively much smaller than in the Cetacea, is low set, somewhat elongated, and truncated at each
extremity. The side bones (pariefals) meet above, the occiput is small, the orbits well defined, and
the nasal passages are directed forwai-ds ; the lower jaw has a high vertical limb (or ramus) behind,
and in the Dugong the upper and lower jaw-bones are strangely bent down. The Sii'enia are
animals of slow habit, and are most inoffensive. They feed .solely ou aquatic vegetation. As being
the most Whale-like in size and shape of tail, we shall first introduce to notice the Rhytina.

Steller's Rhytina,* the Morskaia Korava of the Russians, and alone representative of the
genus, is a creatm-e now extinct, but which was living and in tolerable abundance a hundred and fifty
yeai-s ago. When the Russian, Behring — after whom the Sti'ait is named — first visited that region
and the neighbourhood of Kamstchatka, there existed a huge animal, of which, under the name of
Manatee, or Northern Sea Cow ( Vacca marina), the naturalist Steller, who accompanied him, gave a
classical account. It had a small oblong head, a full bristly snout, a dark-coloured body, protected by
a rugged, gnarled, warty, hairless skin. The fore limbs were quite short and stumpy, hairy at theii-
ends, and they had no finger-bones beyond the wrist. The tail was black, ending in a horizontal,
stiff, half-moon-shaped, narrow fin-blade, fringed with a fibrous whalebonerlike material. It had
no teeth, but horny, almost bony plates, corresponding to the horny gum-pads of the Dugong and
Manatee, served the pui'pose of mastication. According to Steller, it attained a length of from twenty
to twenty-eight feet.

Though stupid, voiceless, animals, they were of a very affectionate dLsposition, and were readily
tamed, even allowing themselves to be handled. Their conjugal affection was strikingly developed.
A male, who in vain attempted to relieve his partner, stuck by her, in sjiite of repeated blows, and
when she died he retm'ned to the spot for some days, as if he expected to see her again. They were
very voracious, and fed on seaweeds, with their heads under water ; and every now and then they raised
their noses to breathe, and made a snorting noise. They appeared in families, each consisting of a
male, female, one half grown, and a cub born in autumn ; and sometimes these families united into
gi-eat herds. As they were very good eating (far preferable to salt junk), Steller recommended them
as articles of diet to the sailors ; and so faithfully wjis his advice observed by natives and seamen, that
within twenty-seven years of his first visit the last Rhytina was killed, namely, in 1768. They
were hunted with a boat-hook attached to a long rope, which, when the animal was struck, was
passed to a company of men on shore, who, with considerable difficulty, managed to land the huge Sea
Cow. This animal ajjpears to have had an extremely limited range, having never been met with any-
where but in the small Behring I.sland, off the coast of Kamstchatka. Then- sudden extinction is a
most noteworthy fact, and but for Steller's admii-able account nothing whatsoever would have been
known of the habits, internal structure, or outward appearance of this singular Sii'enian. Though the
adults were toothless, yet by some it is supposed from analogy that in early life functionless teeth may
have existed, though these never appeared above the gums. The Rhytina, in its forked taO, somewhat
down-bent jaws, and other points, resembled the Dugong ; while in skidl characters and .skin it was
like the Manatee ; and though somewhat whale-shaped, it was a true Sii-enian.

The Dugong, t typical of the genus Halicore, is a living form, ordinarily from ten to twelve
feet long, though very old males are said occasionally to reach as much as eighteen to twenty feet.
Its distribution is rather widespread, namely, from the Red Sea and East African coasts to the west
coast of Au.stralia; and they are even yet not unfrequently met with within tliese limits, on the
coa.sts of Mauritius, Ceylon, and the Indian Archipelago, though in numbers fast becoming thinned.
Outwardly they difler from the Rhytina in being smoother-skimied, and in having the fore-limbs
longer, and the tail semi-lunar, but deeper or less fluked, and not marginally split. Their colour is
* Rliytiiia SicUti'i. f Haikorc ditffotKj.

270 NATURAL HISTOIiY.

slaty-brown or })luish-black above, and whitish below. The earlj' traveller, Leguat, speaks of droves
of several hundreds grazing like Sheep on the seaweeds a few fathoms deep in the clear waters of the
Mascarene Islands. Usnally this tropical animal frequents the shallow smooth waters of the bays,
inlets, and river estuaries where marine vegetation (fucus and seaweeds) is in abundance, and there
it leisurely feeds, being lethargic in disposition, but an immense eater. When they have not been
much chased they are not shy or timid, and even allow the natives to handle them ; on which occasions
the admiring spectators generally manage to abstract the smaller and fatter cubs as dainties, for they
are considered uncommon good food. So highly prized are they, that the Malay king considers it a
royal " fish," and he claims all taken in his dominions. The flesh of the young, when cooked in a
variety of ways, is certainly wholesome — by some compared to veal, and by others to beef or pork —
but the older animals are tougher. The Moreton Bay colonists call them " Sea Pig." They yield a
clear oil of the best quality, which is free from all objectionable smell, and it is strongly recommended
as a remedial agent in lieu of cod-liver oil. Hence an Australian Dugong fi.shery has been established ;
but its equipped boats' crews are fast sweeping off the once plentiful numbers. The stories of their
being found a,shore, browsing on land herbage, are not supported by fact ; indeed, the inadequate
strength of their fore-limbs, tlie absence of hind extremities, and their unwieldy bodies, prevent them
from travelling on land. This is borne out by the statements of the natives of Sumatra to Sir Stam-
foi-d Raflles, as well as other travellers. The Red Sea Arabs told Dr. Euppell that they had feeble
voices, a fact that other Australian observers have corroborated, although the roaring of Seals has
been mistaken for them. In the s^Dring months the males do battle for partners, and the young are
born towards the end of the year. Like the Rhytina, the Dugong shows intense maternal affection,
for if the young be taken, the mother suffers herself to be speared in following her offspi-ing. In its
strange bristly-clad muzzle the Dugong resembles its congeners, but its skull and dentition are
singular. Thus, the fore or premaxillary region of the upper jaw is elongated, sharply crooked
downwards, and overlaps the very deep lower jaw, which is similarly down-bent. The two opposed
surfaces bear the horny tuberculated plates which rub and gi-ind the vegetable food. The dental
foi-mula ordinarily is — Incisors, JE5 ; canines, Jprj ; molars, jE^ = 14. The pair of incisor tusks are
lodged in the down-bent upper jaw, and protrude in the male, but in the female they are diminutive,
and retained within the bone. Beliind them there is a considerable space devoid of canine, and then
come three slightly laterally compressed ovoid molai-s without enamel. The molars, however, may
occasionally be five in number, the fore ones dropping out, and others behind taking their places,
but not succeeding vertically. In some instances the males have an additional lateral small incisor.
Thus as many as twenty-four teeth may be developed, but these are never in use at one and the
.same time. This peculiar dentition, and the successive displacement of the anterior molars, fore-
.shadows what is regularly found in the Elephants and Mastodons.

The Manatee, or Lamantin of the French, inhabits the African and American Continents.
In Africa it ranges along the west coast, and ascends the Senegal, Niger, Congo, and other rivers,
where it not only frequents the lagoons, but even has been captured in Lake Tchad. This animal is
known as M. senegalensis. In America two forms are supposed to exist — one, the M. latirostrw, of
Florida, is said to have closer resemblance to the African form than to its fellow-countryman ; the
other, J/, americanus, is found in Surinam, Guiana, Jamaica, the Amazon and its tributaries,
and, indeed, in the various rivers, bays, and inlets of the tropical American coast. These creatures,
like the foregoing, browse upon the aquatic vegetation of the shallow lagoons and river banks,
apparently, however, having a pi-eference for fre.sh-water plants. Their- habits and mode of feeding
are, in a measure, similar to those of the Dugong and the Rhytina, The full-gi-own Manatee is
from ten to twelve feet in length. Its long body terminates in a thin, wide, shovel-shaped, fibrous,
horizontal tail, proportionally broader, but resembling somewhat that of the Beaver. The fore
limbs, or flippers, have diminutive flat nails. The skin of the body can be compared only to that
of the Elephant, not in colour alone, but also in its coarse, ^vl•inkly texture, and widely-scattered,
•delicate, but long hairs. Its deep-set, minute eye is surrounded by skin wi-inkles. As in the preceding
-genera, the muzzle is peculiar — a kind of half-moon-shaped .swelling above, with deep crossing wrinkles
set with short stiff bristles. Beneath this there projects a mass of hard gum, covered with a roughened
horny plate. The lower jaw also has a gum plate, underhiuig by a bristle-clad lower \\\>. The

THE M.IXJT£E.

4,^^

nostrils are two semi-lunar, valve-like slits, at the ai)ex of the muzzle. When the luoutli is opened,
the marginal inner cheeks, are seen to be haii'-eovered, and the liard, horny jialate to he very
conspicuous above and below. This remarkable muzzle and mouth are specially adapted to the
animal's mode of feeding. Steller long ago remarked that the Ehytina's muzzle was exceedingly
prehensile ; but in a live Manatee exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens, Professor Garrod
observed and has recorded the remai'kable manner and use of this lip-structure. In gi-asping its food,
the bristly-clad outer angles of the upper lip at first diverge, and then approximate like a pair of
pincers, holding the object firmly, which is then ch-a^^ni inwards by a backward movement of the lips.
The homy pads again on the closing of the mouth further bruise the vegetable matter. In 1866,
the Zoological Society sent Mr. Clarence Bartlett to Surinam, to bring home a young Manatee. This
suckling, christened " Patcheley," had been obtained when quite a baby by the Indians, and duly
transferred to a lakelet, where he had his freedom. Although fishy in form and fondness for the
water, he had nevertheless to receive daily a good quatitum of Cow's milk from a bottle. He soon
got fond of the " black Jack," as well as of his keejier. Mr. Bartlett, as wet nurse, had a difficulty in
trauiing his charge. Loosely attii-ed, he waded about and coaxed his pet to the water's edge, where,
after a stolen suck or two, he permitted himself to be raised partly on his knees, and then sucked
away might and main till the bottle was dry. His appetite satisfied, he seemed in high glee, tumbled
and rolled about a while, then got (piieter, retired to the ]30ol, and slept lazily near the surface.
At times his disposition was more rollicking, and Master Patcheley would overturn his nurse into the
mud, where the two spluttered and floundered for possession of the bottle. Clusius recounts how a
pet " Mato " was kept by a Spanish Governor for twenty-six years ; it came at call to the side of the
lake to be fed, and would even allow boys to mount on its back while it liai-mlessly swam about. For
long the pur.suit of the Manatee has been a favourite amusement with the native.s. One instance
is '-elated of Indians on the Mosquito shore sjiearing it from canoes, when the animal darted ofi" as

272 NATURAL HISTORY.

lie felt the weapon, dragging the canoe after it round and round the bight until exhausted. Mr.
Alfred R. Wallace says the natives of the Amazon capture them alive, in strong nets, at the mouth
of the streams, and afterwards kill them by thrusting wooden plugs up their nostrils. The Manatee
has no milk-teeth, though when young there are two rudimentary incisors in each jaw, which after-
wards become covered in. Canines are entu-ely absent, and the molars vary in number from nine
to eleven in the upper and lower jaw on each side. Those in the upper series are three-rooted, in
the lower series two-rooted ; all the molars are broad, square-crowned, and with transverse ridging or
cusp structure like that of the Hippopotamus or partly like that of Mastodon. The molar series are
never simultaneously in jjlace and use, those in front dropping out and making room for those behind.

Fossil Sirekia. — The Halitherium is the name given to certain fossil remains which have
been found in the Miocene strata of Germany and various other parts of Eui'ope. These remains
show that there may have been several species, but all are tnily of a Sirenian character. The
fossil remains were intermediate, though possibly most closely allied to the Manatee, some of them
being slightly larger than this animal. The dentition is unusually interesting, inasmuch as there-
appear to have been vertical successors ; anteiiorly there are simple, cylindrical premolars,
and posteriorly larger, complex molars, while the somewhat bent-down upper jaw bore tusk-
like appendages. But the most peculiar and interesting point in coimection with the Halitheria,
is that they were provided with rudiments of a hind limb, a thigh-bone some few inches in length
having been found by the late Professor Kaup, though cuiioiisly enough no fui-ther vestige of it
has since turned up. Judging from the almost complete skeletons obtained, and from compai'ison
with what we know of other Sirenia, the Halitherium must have closely resembled the living
Manatee, and possibly have lived in the lagoons and brackish water.s of mid Europe and elsewhere,
for in the Eocene and Miocene times these regions, now high and diy, formed watery areas in
communication with the ocean.

Besides the foregoing, within the last few years our knowledge of Sirenoids has been considerably-
augmented by the discovery of other fossil remains indicating several new genera. Prorastomiis is
founded by Owen on a skull from West Indian (doubtful) Tertiary strata. C'rassitherium is applied by
Van Beneden to vertebra;, and part of a skull from "deposits near Antwerp. Felsinotlteritim (with
but ?3^ molar teeth) is a form described by Capellini, fx-om Pliocene beds in Bologna. P achy acanthus,
found in strata in the neighbourhood of Vienna, Brandt supposed a Cetacean, but Van Beneden
regards it as a Sirenian. The Rhytiodus, of Lartet, is based on some fossil teeth bearing resemblances,
to those of the Dugong. Lastly comes (in the cast of a brain), the still more remaxkahle Eotherium of
Owen, from the nummulitic Eocene of Egyjit. Some of these fossils are of intense interest, foi-
example, Prorastomus, the Tapir-like dentition of which i.s- — Incisors, ^^ ; canines, ]=| ; pi-emolars, ^ ;
molars, ^^^ = 48. Very interesting also are Pachyacanthm, with possibly but six neck vertebrae, like-
the Manatee ; and Halitlierkim, with its hind limb bones, and which also, along with Felsinotfierium^
foreshadows the molar pattern of Hippopotamus. Thus, taking these facts into consideration, to-
gether with many other structural peculiarities. Elephant-like and other\vise, and notwithstanding
that the Sirenia are aquatic and Whale-like, their structural relationship with the Proboscidea and
TJngulata is not so far-fetched as at first sight might seem. But the gap is not yet liridged, and,
until that is done the order Sirenia must be retained.

James Murik

SKELETON OP INDIAN ELEPHANT.

ORDER PROBOSCIDEA (ELEPHANTS).

Order Proboscidea — Antiquity of the Elephant— Referred to in the Bible— Mentioned m the Apocrypha — War Elephants —
Their Accoutrements — Hannibal's Elephants— Elephants amongst the Romans-Skull— Dentition — Vertebra;— Odd
Delusion about its Legs— Proboscis— Species— The Indian Elephant— Size-Range— Habits— Various Modes of
Capture— Keddah— Used as a Labourer or Nurse— Sagacity— White Elephants— The African Elephant— Cliaracter-
istics — Range — Habits and Haunts — Hunting — Pitfalls — Aggageers Chasing — Elephant -Shooting — How the Natives
Cut it up— Fossil Elephants and their Allies— Absurd Stories— Mammoth— How it was first Found — Story
of the Fourth or Benkendorfs Discovery— Range— Mastodon— Dinothekilm.

The Elephants, Horees, Rhinoceroses, Tapirs, Coneys, Pigs, and Hippopotami, were all grouijed
together by the older naturalists under the order of Pachyderms,* or thick-skinned animals provided
with hoofs, but not furnished with a complex stomach for rumination, or chewing of the cud. They
are now divided into three different orders — the Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and Ungulata — which we
shall define and describe each in its proper place.

The order Prosboscidea, or animals possessed of a proboscis, or trunk, consists of two living species,
the Indian and African Elephant, and two extinct genera known as Dinotherium and Mastodon. The
Elephant, from its large size and its singular sagacity, attracted the attention of man ua the earliest
times, and was always looked upon with feelings of awe and revei-ence. At the present time the
African savage, in the region of the Congo, compasses its death with the mysterious aid of the medicine-
man, according to Mr. Winwood Reade, as well as by the ordinary means of hunting. The animal, in
early times, was used both for purposes of war and peace, and figures, at the present time, alike in the
gorgeous retinues of Indian princes, and ministei-s to the more humble and more useful services of the
husbandman. The ivory furnished by its tusks was known in the remotest antiquity. The firet

23*

thick ; 6(^f>o, skin.

274 NATURAL HISTORY.

undoubted mention of the Elephant in the Bible relates to the use of ivory, which certainly was
employed by the ancient Greeks, Assyi-ians, and Egyptians early in their history.

Kill" Solomon had a throne of ivoiy, which was obtained through the Phoenician traders
iirobably from Africa. " For the king had at sea a navy of Tliarshish (Cilicia) with the navy of
Hiram ; once in three years came the navy of Thai-sliish, bringbig gold, and silver, ivory, and apes,
and jieacocks" (1 Kings x. 22.) Elephants are also mentioned in 2 Chron. ix. 21; and at con-
siderable length in the first and second books of Maccabees, where their use in war is described
(1 Mace. vi. 28—30; 43—46).

The Elephants were used in war also by the Indian nations, and were looked upon as most formid-
able engines in battle. By the aid of these huge creatures, to a large extent, they conquered and held
possession of the region of Central Asia west of the Indus.

It appears that the relative force of Elejihants in a gi-eat army corps was one to each chariot
of war, with three horsemen and five archers, the latter beii^g perched on the Elephant's back
within a houdah of a defensible nature, denominated a castle, the whole forming what was termed
a patti, or squad, comprising altogether not more than eleven men, with the drivers or attendants.
This shows that in India, which furnished Elephants and the manner of arming them, only four or
five archers, with or without the mahout, or driver, were told off to each animal ; consequently,
when the successors of Alexander uitroduced them in their wars in Syria, Greece, and Italy,
they were not encumbered with more than one or two additional persons before a charge. Indeed,
considerable trouble apjiears to have been taken that a war Elephant should not be nearly as heavily
laden as one simply used for carrying burdens ; therefore the number of thirty-two soldiers given in
Maccabees as seated upon each Elephant must somehow or other be a mistake. These Elephants were
well trained, and taught to hold out one of their hind legs horizontally, when it was necessary to
mount them in a hurry. They appeared to take considerable delight and satisfaction in the gaudy
trappings with which they were usually decorated. In some cases. Elephants have proved more
dangerous to the army in whose ranks they were serving than to the enemy, by being suddenly
confronted with objects previously unobserved. On such occasions they turn in haste, and spread
terror and death into their own ranks. Careful, judicious, and long-continued training was the only
remedy against these sudden surprises.

African Elephants jn-obably were never so well trained and subdued as the Indian ; nevertheless,
they were used by the Carthaginians in the first Punic War (264 241 B.C.) with much success, and
to the di-scomfiture of the Komans. In the second Punic War (218-216 B.C.) Hannibal performed
the most astounding and remarkable feats of crossing the Pyrenees, making his way through Gaul,
crossing the Alps with tliirty-seven Elephants, and defeating the Romans at the Ticinus. Most of the
Elephants, however, died shortly afterwards from the excessive coldness of the weather and the
fatigue they had undergone. Various accounts are given in Roman history regarding the manner in
which the Elephants crossed the Rhone. One story goes that they were assembled together on the
bank, and the fiercest of them being provoked by his keeper, pursued him as he swam across the
water, to which he had run for refuge, and that the rest of the herd followed. There is, however,
more reason to believe that they were conveyed across on rafts. It is said that one raft two hundred
feet long and fifty broad was extended from the bank to the river, and was then secured higher up by
several strong cables to the bank, that it might not be carried down by the stream. The soldiers then
covered it over with earth, so that the animals might tread upon it without fear, as on solid ground.
Another raft one hundred feet long, and of the same breadth as the other, was joined to this first. The
Elephants were diiven along the stationary raft as along a road, and then, the females leading the
way, passed on to the other raft, which was fastened to it by lashings. This, on being cut, was drawn
by boats to the opjiosite shore. The Elephants gave no signs whatever of alarm, while they were
driven along as it were on a continuous bridge; but a few became infuriated when the raft was
let loose, and fell into the river, finding their way, however, safely to the shore.

The trappings and armour of a war Elephant have been described by the author of the " Ayeen
Akbery " as follows :— " Five plates of iron, each one cubit Inn^ ;iim1 four fingers broad, are joined
together by rings, and fastened round the ears of the Elephant by torn- chains, each an ell in length ;
and betwixt these another chain passes over the head, and is secuied beneath; and across it are

WAR ELEPHANTS.

275

four iron spikes, witli ratasses and iron knobs. There are otlier chains with iron spikes and knobs,
Ining luuler the throat and over the breasts, and others fastened to the trunk ; tliese are for ornament
and to frighten Horees. Pakher is a kind of steel arrnoiu- that covers the body of the Elephant ; there
are other pieces of it for the liead and proboscis."

History informs us that when Timour, or Tamerlane, attacked the dominions of the Sultan
Mahmoud (a.d. 1399), the Elephants, of which the lattei" had 'a considei-able number, caused gi-eat
terror and alarm ; and that the preparations made
by Timour to overcome the Elephants were of the
most extraordinary Jiatux-e, for not only did he
surround his camp with a deep ditch and bucklei-s,
but also had Buffiiloes tied together round the
i-ainj)ai-ts, with huge brambles on their heads,
which were to be set on lire at the approach of tlie
Elejihants. The forces of the Sultan, besides the
Elephants, consisted of a large number of horse
and foot soldiers armed with swords and poisoned
daggers. Attendant upon the Elephants were men
armed with tire, melted pitch, and other honi<l
missiles, to be Inu-led at the invaders. The Ele-
phants also, besides being armed, were decorated
witli all sorts of articles, such as cymbals and bells,
and other objects likely to create a noise and con-
fusion. Notwithstanding all this terrific display,
Timour's foi-ces fought with gieat courage, actually
defeating the Sultan's forces, and putting the
Elei)hants to flight, the unfortunate creatures
undergoing severe usage to their trunks by the

swordsmen, who appeared soon to find out the more vulnerable parts. It is said that the trunks of
many of the Elephants were left scattered on the battle-field, having been severed by the sword. The
l>elief in the invincibility of the Elephants was then for ever gone ; and it is even said of Timour's
gi-andson, then quite a boy, that he himself wounded an Elephant, and di-ove it in as a capti\-e to his
grandfather's camp.

We are told that in ancient times the number of Elephants annually lirought from Africa to
Eome, to be trained for the cruel and disgusting practice of fighting in the theatre, was very great.
It is said of Pomi)ey that, at the dedication of his theatre, no less than five hundred Lions, eighteen
Elephants, and a number of armed men, were all at one time in the circus. In the second considate
of Pompey (54 b.l'.) Elephants were opposed, in the circus, to Getulian archers; and, according to
Pliny, this exhibition was characterised by some uncommon circumstances. One of the Eleiihiuits,
although fui-ious from a wound, is recorded to have seized upon the shields of his adverearies, and to
have thrown them in the air with a peculiar movement, doubtless the effect of training, which caused
the shields to whirl round before their fall. It is also stated that an Elephant, having been killed \>y
a thrust of a javelin tln-ougli the eye, the othei-s rushed forward in a general charge to sa\e him, and
that on their coming with terrific force against the iron i-ailings, the latter gave way, and several
of the spectators were either injured or killed. On another occasion, when some Elephants, with other
wild animals, were fighting together in the arena, the spectators so compassionated the unfortunate,
creatin-es, who were raising their trunks to heaven and roaring piteously, as if imploring aid of the
gods, that the}' rose from their seats, and, disregartling Pompey's jiresence, demanded that the Elei)hants
might be sj)ared. The destruction of Elephants in sport by the Romans, as well as the increased
demands of the ivory trade, have caused the African Elephants to disappear from those regions of
Northern Africa which they once iiJiabited. In the days of the Carthaginians, the animal was
foiind north of the Sahara, where at present it is unknown.

The skull of the Elejihant is remarkable for its great size, and the comparatively small cavity
occupied by the brain. The latter is small in coini);nison to tlie size of the animal, in bulk not much

276

NATURAL HISTORY.

SIDE VIEW OF MOLAU TOOTH
ELEPHANT.

exceedino- tliat of man. Altliougb the bones of tlie skull are so large, they are not solid, their
interior being occupied by hollows divided from each other by thin partitions, by which means the
skull is rendered lighter than might be supposed ; and altogether it forms a beautiful instance of
a pi-ovision for increasing the surface for attachment of muscles,
without being too great a biTrden to its possessor. The skull of
the Indian Elephant is of a much more pyramidal and less shapely
form than that of the African.

The dentition in the Elephants presents several points of con-
siderable interest. In the Indian species, the males alone have
■well-developed incisors ; while ^both sexes of the African species are
provided with them. These — more commonly known as tusks —
grow to an enormous size, sometimes reaching the weight of
from a hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. There are no
ower incisors, and only two of the molar teeth are to be seen at
c-ach side of the jaw at one time. There are six of these in each side,
ur four-and-twenty in all, in the lifetime of the Elephant, and these
iu(;sent a gradual increase in size as they successively appear,
teeth move forward into their working place in the jaw in
icgnlar succession, from behind foi-wards, each being pushed out by
Its successor as it gradually becomes worn away. The teeth are
worn away, not merely by the food on which the animal lives, but
so by the particles of sand and grit entangled in the roots of the-
herbs torn up for food, and theii- wear is compensated by the growth
and development of the succepding teeth. In a state of captivity,
however, whei'e the food is much more free from extraneous sub-
stances than in a state of nature, the teeth are not worn away fast enough to make room for the
development of the successors, and it therefore frequently happens that the tooth is defoi-med by a
piling over of the plates of which it is composed.

The molar or grinding-teetli of the Elephant are for the most part b
little more than a surface for mastication above the gum. Each is
composed of a number of transverse perpendicular plates, built
up of a body of dentine, covered by a laj^er of enamel, and this
again by a layer of cement, which fills the interspaces of the plates,
and binds together the divisions into one solid mass. Each of
these enamel plates, however, in the perfect tooth is unitetl at
the base. When these plates of enamel — which stand out in the
transverse plates on account of their superior hardness, and cause
the grinding surface to be uneven — are worn out, the animal either dies of i
becomes weak, and falls a- prey to wild beasts.

The difference between the grinders of the Indian and African Elephants is well defined. In the
former, the transverse ridges of enamel are naiTower, more undulating, and more numerous than
in the African, in which latter species the ridges are
less parallel, and enclose lozenge-shaped spaces. The
cervical vertebrje fonn a short and stiif series, allowing
lut a limited motion of the head from side to side, a more
extended action being rendered unnecessary by the flexi-
bility of the tnnik. With regard to the dorsal vertebi-te,
they appear to vary in number in both species. In the
African species the number varies from twenty to twenty-
one, and in the Indian species from nineteen to twenty. As might be expected, the limbs of the
Elephant are massive and powerful. In ancient times it was a popular delusion that the legs of an
Elephant possessed no joints ; and even now people are to be found who believe that the Elephant's
joints move in a contrary direction to that of other quadrupeds. Shakspere evidently enjoyed the-

■d in the socket, and present

digestion, or more often

LAST LOWEU TOOTH OF

CSARACrHRllSTICS OF THE ELEPHANT

popular Itelief.
AchUles, savs :

In TfoUus and Cressida, Ulysses, speaking of the stiti' demeanour of Ajax towards

" The Elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy,
His legs arc legs for necessity, not for flexure."

Anil so in C'Lapi

Inima (1605) oi AU Fooh we read :—
" I hope you are no Elephant, you have joints."
These ideas originated from the peculiar gait of tlie Elephant.

lark that the

*

The shape of the Elephant is so familiar to every one that it is only necessary to rt
ponderous body, clad in a thick and almost haii-less skin,
has the fore-quartei-s higher than the hinder parts, and that
the thigh in the hind leg is long and straight when the
animal is standing. The knee is visible below the body,
and bends so as to bring the foot in the rear. On com-
paring an Elei)hant and a Carnivore, and their skeletons as
well, the arrangement of the joints of the hind quarters
\vill be noticed to be different. In fact, the bend of the
Elephant's knee gives the gait of the huge creature an
appearance unlike that of any other animal. It stands on
the ends of its five toes, each of which is terminated by
comparatively small hoofs, and the heel-bone is a little
distance from the ground. Beneath comes the wonderful
•cushion, composed of^membranes, fat, nerves, and blood-
vessels, besides muscles, which constitutes the .sole of the
foot. The fore-foot is larger than the hind one, and as the
ereatui-e does not I'equii-e to climb, or to lift its fore-limb
very high, there is no collar-bone. In the yomig thei ( is
more hair on the body than might have been exj)eLte(l
and they have a set of milk teeth.

The brain is gi-eatly convoluted on the surface, but
the little brain, or cerebellum, is not covered by the brum
proper.

The tmnk or proboscis of the Elephant, from which the
name of the order to which this animal belongs is derived,
is certainly a remarkable and wondei-ful organ. It is really
a prolongation of the nose, of a sub-conieal form, consist-
ing of two tubes di^'ided by a septum. At the extremity ""^"^ "\ i ko.,o»us or i^lki-hant.

*~ J I J A, Jlusclea and Tendon's, B. Transverse Section.

on the upper side, above the opening of the nostrils, is a

lengthened process to be looked upon in the light of a finger ; beneath this finger is a tubercle,
opposable to it, and acting, so to speak, as a thumb. With this organ, which is nearly eight feet in
length, of con-sidei-able stoutness, and extreme sensibility, the Elephant is enabled to uproot or shake
trees, lift a cannon, or pick up a pin. By its aid, food and water are carried to the mouth, and when
necessaiy, it can be converted into a syringe or a shower-bath. The length of the organ does awaj
with the necessity of a long neck, a short and nniseular neck being absolutely requued for the
support of the enormous head and tusks.

The principal cliaracters of the Indian species, as comjiared with the African, are the small ears,
<>oncave forehead, small eye, lighter colour, and the jwssession of four instead of three nails or hoofs on
the hind foot. Tliere is also a veiy remarkable diffei-ence in the teeth, those of the Indian species being
built up of a series of plates much more numerous and more closely packed together than in the
African species.

The Indian Elephant. *^There are but two living species of Elephant — the Indian (Ekphas
'udicus) and the African (Ehphas africanm), although some naturalists have considered the Elephant

* EIrphas imticus.

27S NATUSAL RISTOUY.

of Sumatra and Ceylon to be a distiuct species, and Schlegel has separated it from both the Indian
and African, and defined it as E. sumatrensis. It has been, however, shown by Dr. Falconer and
others, that although certain differences are to be noticed, they are not of sufficient value to create
.- new species ; but they are still of sufficient imi)ortance to form a variety.

In size, notwithstanding the differences of opinion to be found between certain writers on this
subject, some saying that the Indian and others that the African Elephant is the larger, it seems
perfectly clear that there cannot be much diiference between the two species, and that the maximum
height is about eleven feet.

The Indian Elephant (where the progress of civilisation has not interfered with it) is fouud over
the greater part of the forest lands of India, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Cochin-China, the Malay Peninsula,
and Sumatra ; but it is doubtful whether it is indigenous to any of the other islands of the Eastern
Archipelago. Unlike the African species, to a certain extent, it appears to have a partiality for cool-
ness and shade ; indeed. Sir J. Emerson Tennent says that " although fouud generally in warm and
simny climates it is a mistake to suppose tliat the Elephant is partial either to heat or to light. In
Ceylon, the mountain tops, and not the sultry valleys, are its favourite resort. In Oovah, where the
elevated plains are often crisp with the morning frost, and on Pedura-talla-galla, at the height of
upwards of eight thousand feet, they are found in herds, whilst the hunter may search for them without
success in the hot jungles of the low country."

In some parts of the country Elephants are exceedingly destructive to crops of grain. And in
various parts of India, notwithstanding the care and trouble taken to watch the crops, they do much
injury. When the rice approaches maturity it is necessary to place watchers throughout the night in
places which they frequent. Stages are erected on posts twelve or fourteen feet high, and on one side
of the stage a small shed is made for the watchmen, two of whom always mount the same stage. One
feeds a fire kept constantly bvirning on the open part, while the other in his turn is allowed to sleep,
and when any Elephants come into the field, he is awakened and both join in shouting and making all
the noise they can with sticks and drums.

The food of the Elephant appears to be considerably -varied, and chosen by the animal with no
small amount of daintiness ; sweet-tasting fruits, seeds, and blossoms he has the gi-eatest partiality
for, and in their selection much destruction is occasioned by a herd of these huge animals.
Tennent says that in Ceylon, where the food of the Elephant is most abundant, the animal never
appears to be in a hm-ry to eat ; but amuses himself with playing with the leaves, shaking the trees,
tearing the bark, and now and then pausing to eat, altogether taking the whole affiiii- in a very
leisurely sort of way. He is especially fond of the fruit of the. palmyra palm, and never fails to make
his appearance in the districts where these trees grow when the fruit begins to fiill to the ground.
Although the amount of food consumed by Elephants in their wild .state is very large, there is reason
to believe that many stories told of their extraordinary eating capabilities ai-e much exaggerated. It
by no means follows that because an Elephant in a tame state will eat so nuich bread, turnips, hay,
itc, that it consumes the same quantity of its natural food in a wild state. The Elephants are believed
to drink nigJitly in very hot weather, but in cool weather only evei'y third or fourth day, and for this
purpose they travel long distances to their watering-places, even as far as ten or twenty miles,
refreshing themselves by a bath and a drink at the same time when they reach their destination.

Various modes are used for catching Elephants ; but the usual practice is to drive them into
what is termed a keddah. The keddah is a large area surrounded by a broad ditch, and towards the
entrance is a similar construction to the main body, but smaller, acting as a sort of funnel, into which
the Elephants enter when driven from the jungle, and which assists in getting them into the keddah itself-

On discovering a large herd of Elephants, a Ijody of men, often numbering six or eight thousand, are
collected to surround them, caiiying all sorts of instrinnents likely to create a noise, such as firearms,
drums, trumpets, kc, Elejihants being exceedingly alarmed by any unusual noise.s. By this means
they are gradually driven into the keddah, sometimes from a distance of thirty or forty miles, which
frequently occupies some days. When the Elephants find themselves fairly entrapi)ed, they become
violent and use their utmost endeavours to break down the barriers.

Formerly, it was the practice to starve these ca])tured Elephants into submission; now, however,
by means of two tame ones, trained for the purpose, they can be captured without injury, one by one,

^^-

280 NATUliAL HISTORY.

ami aftei-wards bouud to a tree. To accomplisli this tlie trained animals are sent into tlie enclosure,
ajid on a wild Elejjbant being singled out, the two trained ones place themselves one on each side,
and attract its attention while the attendants are occupied in binding its legs, which having been
satisfiictorily accomplished, the' captive is dragged to a ti-ee and fastened tirmly, where it remains until
i;educed to submission and obedience by kindness and good feeding.

"The vast jungles in the south-eastern portion of the Mysore territory are infested with herds of
■wild Elephants, whose depredations on the adjacent lands liave retarded agriculture to a serious extent.
A project was set on foot by Mr. G. P. Sanderson, a young and energetic officer in the ser^■ice
of the Mysore Government, to convert these Elephants to some use by cajituring and taming them.
]\Ir. Sauderson,'s design was to drive a herd into a .strongly embanked channel leading out of the
Houhole river, escape being cut oft' at one end by a deep ditch, and the other o]jening on the river,
guarded by Elephant chains supported by strong posts. On the 9th June, 1874, the Eleithants being
reported in the neighbourhood, a large party of natives, led by Mi-. Sanderson and two other ardent
sjjortsmen, hurried to the spot, and quietly drove the animals towards the channel. The leading
Elephant being pushed from behind by his companions, tumbled over the bank, and the latter soon
followed. This having been eftected, the embankment was quickly strengthened, large lires lighted at
intervals along it, and watchers pjaced for the night. The next point was to move the Elephants
into a still smaller enclosure, which was prepared close by. It was funnel-shaped at the mouth, and
formed of trunks of trees, firmly fixed in the ground, the snare being disguised by luanches and brush-
wood. Over the neck of the funnel, so to speak, a drop formed of two large cocoa-nut trees lashed
together was suspended by a rope, to be severed at a stroke when the Elephants were all in. The herd,
terrified by tirebi-ands, rockets, and gums, were driven towards the keddah, and led by a troublesome
tusker, who had long kept the others at bay. marched majestically one by one through the gate.
After a short pause, owing to a stand being made by^ few of the most refi-actory, the last of the herd
went in with a rush, closely followed by a frantic native waving a firebrand. An officer sitting ready
on a branch of a tree now cut the rope, and the drop fell amid loud cheers, thus cajituring the rich
prize of fifty-three Eleplmnts, which were brought out one by one with the assistance of tame
Elephants. The latter advance in a body and gi-adually cut one oflF from the herd. WhUe amusing
it, and distracting its attention, its legs are warily tied by trained men. After this no difficulty
is encountered. The capture described included twelve valuable tuskers, and its value was estimated
at over £4,000."*

Indian Elephants are also sometimes captured by means of pitfalls formed in a similar manner to
those used in Africa. There is, however, one great objection to this mode of capture, which is, that
the animal is rendered very liable, from the heavj^ fall it sustains, of being seriously hurt, and indeed
injuries thus received have often proved fatal.

Another way of catching these animals in some districts of India is by means of the lasso. Two
trained females are procured for the purpose ; these are provided with a long rope which is fastened to
their girdle, and then coiled on their backs. Its end forms a noose, which a man, who sits on the back
of the trained female, throws round the neck of the wild Elephant ; the tame one then walks away until
the captured one is almost strangled. In the meantime, the people, assisted by another tame female,
endeavour to fasten ropes to his legs, and he is dragged to a place where there are trees, to which he
is fastened until he becomes tame. The Elephants caught in this manner are usually small, and the
majority, for some reason or other, die, probably from the rough usage they have undergone.

Elephant shooting, especially in Ceylon, was considered to be the acme of sport ; but from
the number that were wantonly destroyed, an order was issued by the Governor prohibiting
theii- destruction. The Elephant is invaluable as a labourer ; its assistance in road-making, bridge-
building, jJoughing, piling logs, lifting weights, and other similar operations, is of the utmost service.
Even as a nux-,se for young children, its ser\ices, we are told, are sometimes required. An Indian
officer relates that he has seen the wife of a mahout (for the followers often take their families with
them to camp), give a baby in charge of an Elephant, while she went on some business, and has been
highly amused in ob.seriing the sagacity and care of the unwieldy nurse. The child, which, like mo.st

* Graohrt, June 12, 1875.

2S2 NATURAL MlSTuUY.

cluldreii, Jiil not like to be at rest iii one jjositiou, would, as soon a.s left to itself, begin crawling about,
in which exercise it would probably get among the legs of the animal, or entangled in the branches of
the trees on which he was feeding, when the Elephant would in the most tender manner disengage his
charge, either by lifting it out of the way with his trunk, or by removing the impediments to its free
progress. If the child had crawled to sucli a distance as to verge upon the limits of his range (for the
animal was chained by the leg to a peg driven in the ground), he would stretch out his trunk and lift
it back as gently as possible to the spot whence it had started.

Endless other stories are told of the sagacity of this noble animal, some of them, howevei-, probably
not ungarnished with considerable exaggeration. However, this creature does undoubtedly possess a
most wonderful amount of intelligence, and it is believed that the Indian .species, both in sagacity and
docility, surpasses the African.

The White Elephants, held in reverence in Siam, and extremely rare, are not distinct from the
rest ; they are merely albinoes, or white varieties, and are to be viewed in the same light as white
Blackbirds or white SpaiTOWs.

The African Elephant* is distinguished at once from the Indian species by the great size of its
ears, its larger eye, convex forehead, darker colour of its skin, and by possessing only three instead of
four nails or hoofs in the hind foot. It is indigenous to Africa, being found south of the Sahara as
far as Cape Colony, and from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. It formerly lived north of the Sahara,
and in the Pleistocene age of geologists was found in Europe, in Italy, and in Spain, to which points it
probably crossed at the time when the submerged barriers between Sicily and Africa, and Gibraltar
and Africa, were above the level of the water.

Unlike the Indian species, both the males and the females are provided with tusks. The African
differs also considerably in his habits, for while the Indian enjoys coolness and shade, the African is
mors or less exposed to the burning sun.

According to Sii* Samuel Baker, " in Africa the country being generally more open than in Ceylon,
the Elephant remains throughout the day either beneath a solitary tree, or exposed to the sun in the
vast prairies, where the thick grass attains a height of from nine to twelve feet. The general food of the
African Elephant consists of the foliage of trees, especially of mimosas. Many of the mimosas are
flat-headed, about thirty feet high, and the richer portion of the foliage confined to the crown. Thus,
the Elephant, not being able to reach to so great a height, must overturn the tree to procure the
coveted food. The destruction caused by a herd of Elephants in a mimosa forest is extraordinary, and I
have seen ti-ees uprooted of so large a size that I am convinced no single Elephant could have over-
turned them. I have measured trees four feet six inches in circumference, and about thirty feet high,
uprooted by Elephants. The natives have assured me that they mutually assist each other, and that
several engage together in the work of overturning a large tree. None of the mimosas have tap roots ;
thus the powerful tusks of the Elei)hants applied as crowbars at the roots, while others pull at the
branches with their trunks, will effect the destruction of a tree so large as to appear invulnerable."

The following account by Gordon Gumming, which, on some points as to the habits and haunts of
the African Elephant does not agree with that of Sir Samuel Baker, may be explained by the diffei-ent
nature of the country hunted by him: — "The Elephant is widely diffused through the vast forests, and
is met with in. herds of various numbers. The male is much larger than the female. He is pro\ided
with two enormous tusks. These are long, tapering, and beautifully arched ; their length averages
from six to eight feet, and they weigh from sixty to a hundred pounds each. In the vicinity of the
Equator the Elephants attain to a larger size than to the southward ; and I am in possession of a pair
of tusks of the African bull Elephant, the larger of which measures ten feet nine inches in length, and
weighs one hundred and seventy-three pounds.

" Old bull Elephants are found singly or in pairs, or consorting together in small herds, varying
from six to twenty individuals. The younger bulls remain for many years in the company of their
mothers, and these are met together in large herds of from twenty to a hundred individuals. The
food of the Elephant consists of the branches, leaves, and roots of the trees, and also of a variety of
bulbs, of the situation of which he is advised by his exquisite sense of smell. To obtain these he turns
up the ground with his tusks, and whole aci-es may be seen thus ploughed up. Elephants consume ait
* Ja/cphas afrkanus.

m^i ^^

i*i|i'iii*

"^^iN^

,M-vVi'^'")^

\U Ii \N 1 II H\^T.

2S1 i^ATUIiAL m.siuiii.

imiiiciise quantity of food, and pass tlie greatei- jiart of the day and night in feeding. Like the
Wlialf^ in the ocean, the Elephant on land is acquainted with, and roatos over, wide and extensive tracts.
He is extiemely jiai'ticidar in always frequenting the freshest and most verdant districts of the
fore.sts, and when one district is pai-ched and barren, he will foreake it for years and wander to greiit
distances in quest of better pasture.

" The Elephant entertains an extraordinary horror of man, and a child can put a hundred of them
to fliglit Ijy i)assing at a quarter of a mile to windward ; and when thus disturbed they go a long way
before they halt. It is surprising how soon these sagacious animals are aware of the presence of a
hunter in their domains. When one troop has been attacked, all the other Elephants frequenting the
district are aware of the fact within two or three days, when they all forsake it, and migrate to dis-
tant parts, leaving the hunter no alternative but to inspan his wagons, and remove to fresh gi-oimd.

" This constitutes one of the greatest difficulties which a skilful Elephant-hunter encounters. Even
in the most remote parts, which may be reckoned the head-quarters of the Elephant, it is only occasion-
ally, an;l with inconceivable toil and hardship, that the eye of the hunter is cheered by the sight of one.
Owing to habits peculiar to himself, the Elephant is more inaccessible and much more rarely seen than
any other game quadruped, excepting certain rare Antelopes. They choose for theii' resort the most
lonely and secluded dejjths of the forest, generally at a very great distance from the rivers and fountains at
which they drink. In diy and warm weather they visit these waters nightly ; but in cool and cloudy
weather they drink only once every third or fourth day. About sundown the Elephant leaves his distant
midday haunt, and commences his march towards the fountain, which is probably from twelve to
twenty miles distant. This he generally reaches between the houi-s of nine and midnight, when,
having slaked his thirst and cooled his body by spouting large volumes of water over his back with his
trunk, he resumes the path to his forest solitudes. Having reached a secluded spot, I have remarked
that full-grown bulls lie down on their broadsides about the hour of midnight and sleep for a few hours.
The spot which they usually select Ls an ant-hill, and they lie around it with their backs resting against
it. These hills, formed by the white Ants, are from thii-ty to forty feet in diameter at their base. The
mark of the under tusk is always deeply imprinted in the ground, proving that they lie upon their
sides. I never remarked that females had thus lain down, and it is only in the more secluded districts
that the bulls adopt this jiraotice ; for I observed that, in districts where the Elephants were liable to
frequent disturbance, they took repose standing on their legs beneath some shady tree. " Having slept,
they then proceed to feed extensively. Spreading out from one another, and proceeding in a
zigzag course, they smash and destroy all the finest trees in the forest wliich happen to lie in theii-
course. The number of goodly trees which a herd of bull Elephants will thus destroy is utterly
incredible. They are extremely capricious, and on coining to a group of five or six ti'ees they break
down, not unfrequently, the whole of them, when, having perhaps only tasted one or two small branches,
they pass on and continue their wanton work of destruction. I have repeatedly ridden through forests
where the trees thus broken down lay so thick across one another that it was almost impossible to ride
through the district ; and it is in situations such as these that attacking the Elephant is attended with
most danger. During the night they will feed in ojjen plains and thickly-wooded districts, but as
day dawns, they retu-e to the densest covers within reach, which nine times in ten are composed of the
impracticable wait-a-bit thorns ; and here they remain drawn up in a compact herd during the heat of
the day. In remote districts, however, and in cool weather, I have known herds to continue pasturing
throughout the whole day."

The African Elephant is not now hunte 1 for domestic purposes, but for the sake of the flesh and
of the ivoiy ; and its death is a gi-and affair for the natives, since it affords oppoi-tunity not merely
for a feast, but for obtaining fat for internal and external u.ses. There are vai-ious methods of killing
them. Pitfalls are most common, and are generally placed in the neighbourhood of a drinking-place,
the natives showing great skill in felling trees, so as to turn the Elephants into them. According to
Sir Samuel Baker, " the pits are usually about twelve feet long, and three feet broad, by nine deep ;
these are artfully made, decreasing towards the bottom to the breadth of a foot. The general
.Elephant route to the drinking-places being blocked up, the animals are diverted by a treacherous
path towards the water, the route intersected by numerous pits, all of which are carefully concealed
i)y sticks and straw, the latter being usually strewn with Ji:iephants' dung, to create a natural effect.

ELEVHANT-H UNTING.

285-

Should an Eleiihant chiring the night fall through the deceitl'iil siuface, hia foot becomes jammed
ill the bottom of the narrow grave, and he labours shoulder-deej), with two feet in the pitfall so fixed
that extrication is impossible. Should one animal be tluis caught; a sudden panic seizes the rest of
the herd, and in their hasty retreat one or more are generally victims to the numerous pits in the
vicinity. Ouce helpless in the pit, they are easily killed with lances."

The same author also relates that sometimes the Elephant-hunters, or aggageers, of theHamram
tribe, use swords for killing Elephants. They follow the tracks of the animal, " so as to arrive at their
game between the hours of 10 and 12 a.m., at which time it is either asleep or extremely listless, and
easy to approach. Should they discover the animal asleep, one of the hunters would creep stealthily
towards the head, and wifcli one blow sever the trunk while stretched upon the gi'ound ; in which case

AGOAOEEKS- HrVTIXB AN ELEPHANT.

the Elephant would start upon Ids feet, while the hunters escaped in the confusion of the moment.
The trunk severed would cause a loss of blood sufficient to insure the death of the Elephant within
about an hour. On the other hand, should the animal be awake upon their arrival, it would be
impossible to approach the trunk. In sucl: a case, they would creep up from behind, and give a
tremendous cut at the back sinew of the hind leg, about a foot above the heel. Such a blow would
disable the Elephant at once, and would render comparatively easy a second cut to the remaining leg.
These were the methods adopted by poor huntere, until by the sale of ivory they could purclui.se Horses
for the higher branch of the art. Provided with Horses, the party of hunters should not e.vceed, four.
They start before daybreak, and ride slowly throughout the country in search of Elephants, generally
keeping along the coui"se of a river until they come upon the ti-acks where a herd, or a single Elephant,
may have drunk during the night. When once u]ion the track, they follow fiust towards the retreating
game. The Elephants may be twenty miles distant, but it matters little to the aggageers. At length
they discover them, and the hunt begins. The first step is to single out the bull with the largest
tusks ; this is the commencement of the fight. After a short hunt, the Elephant turns upon his

2BG yATVSAL HISTORY.

pursuers, who scatter and fly from liis headlong charge imtil he gives up the pursuit ; he at length
tunis to bay when again pressed by the hunters. It is the duty of one man in j)articular to lide up
close to the head of the Elephant, and thus to absorb its attention upon himself. This insures a
desperate charge. The greatest coolness and dexterity are then required by the liunter, who, now
the huiittd, must SO adapt the .speed of his Horse to the pace of the Elephant that the enraged beast
gains in the race, until it almost reaches the tail of the Horse. In this manner the race continues.
In the meantime, two hunters gallop up behind the Elephant, unseen by the animal, whose attention
is completely directed to the Horse almost within his grasp. With extreme agUity, when close to the
heels of the Elephant, one of the hunters, while at full speed, springs to the gi'ound witL his drawn
sword, as his companion seizes the bridle, and with one dexterous two-handed blow he severs the back
sinew. He immediately jumps out of the way, and remounts his Horse ; but if the blow is successful,
the Elephant is hamstrung, and, as it cannot run rapidly on three legs, is easily killed."

The Fans in the neighbourhood of the Gaboon settlements, according to Mj-. Winwood Reade,
are in the habit of employing the same mode of capturing Elephants as the natives of India, namely,
by enticing them within an enclosure or fence of posts and rails, where they are afterwards killed
with cross-bows, spears, and trade-guns.

Elephant shooting, although not unattended by danger, appears to be on the whole accom-
plished with considerable success, five or six Elephants having been killed occasionally in a very short
.space of time by one man ; and many are the tales of hair-breadth escapes related to us by Gordon
Gumming, Tennent, Baker, and others. But it appears the forehead-shot, so much in ftivour in
shooting Indian Elephants, does not answer with the African species, the form of the head and the
position of the tusks preventing the bullet from reaching the brain.

" The only successful forehead-shot," says Sir S. Baker, " that I made at an African Elephant
was shortly after my arrival in the Abyssinian territory, on the Settite River ; this was in thick,
thorny jungle, and an Elephant from the herd charged with such good intention that, had she not
been stopped, she m\ist have caught one of the party. When within about five yards of the muzzle of
my rifle, I killed her dead by a forehead-.shot ^vith a hardened bullet, and we subsequently recovered
the bullet in the vertehne of the nech .' TliLs extraordinary penetration led me to suppose that I
.should always succeed as I had done in Ceylon, and I have frequently stood the charge of an
African Elephant until close upon me, detei-mined to give the forehead-shot a fair trial, but I
have always failed, except in the in.stance now mentioned. It must be borne in mind that
the Elephant was a female, with a head far inferior in size and solidity to that of the male.
The temple-shot, and that behind the ear, are equally fatal in Africa as in Ceylon, provided the
hunter can approach within ten or twelve yards ; but altogether the hunting is far more difficult,
as the character of the country does not admit of an approach sufficiently close to guarantee a
successful shot. In the forests of Ceylon, an Elephant can be stalked to within a few paces, and the
shot is seldom fired at a gi-eater distance than ten yards. Thus accuracy of aim is insured ; but in the
open ground of Africa an Elephant can seldom be approached within fifty yards, and should he charge
the hunter escape is most difficult. I never found African Elephants in good jungle, except once,
and on that occasion I shot five quite as quickly as we should kUl them in Ceylon."

Gordon Cumming gives us the following information as to how the natives cut up an Elephant
fcir food and other purposes. " The rough outer skin is first removed, in laige .sheets, from the side
which lies uppermost. Several coats of an under skin are then met with. I'his skin is of a tough
and pliant nature, and is used by the natives for making water-bags, in which they convey supjilies of
water from the nearest ' vley,' or fountain (which is often ten miles distant), to the Elephants. They
remove this inner skin with caution, taking care not to cut it with the assegai ; and it is formed into
water-bags by gathering the comers and edges, and transfixing the whole on a ])ointed wand. The
flesh is then removed in enormous sheets from the ribs, when the hatchets come into play, with which
they chop through, and remove individually, each colossal rib. The bowels are thus laid bare ; and
m the removal of these the leading men take a lively interest and active part, for it is throughout and
around the intestines that the fet of the Elephant is mainly found.

" There are few things which a Bechuana prizes so highly as fat of any description. They will
','o an amazing distance for a small portion of it. They use it jirincipally in cooking their sun-dried

FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 287

biltong, and they also eat it with their corn. The fat of the Elephant lies in extensive layers and
sheets in his inside, and the qnantity which is obtained from a full-grown bull, in higli condition,
is very gi-eat. Before it can be obtained, the gi'cater pai-t of the intestines must be removed.
To accomplish this, several men eventually enter the immense cavity of his inside, where they
continue mining away with their assegais, and handing the fat to their comrades outside until all
is bare. While this is transpii-ing with the sides and intestines, other pai-tie" are equally active in
removing the skin and flesh from the remaining parts of the carcass.

" The natives have a hon-id practice on these occasions of besmearing their bodies, from the ci'own
of the head to the sole of the foot, with the black and clotted gore ; and in this anointing they assist
one another, each man taking up the till of both his hands, and spreading it over the back and shouldei-s
of his friend. Throughout the entire proceeding, an incessant and deafening clamour of many voices
and confused sounds is maintained, and violent jostling and wrestling are practised by every man,
elbowing the breasts and faces of his fellows, all .slippery with gore, as he endeavours to force his
way to the flesh through the dense intervening ranks, while the sharp and ready assegai gleams
in every hand. The angry voices and gory appearances of these naked savages, combined with their
excited and frantic gestures and glistening arms, presented an efiect so wild and striking that, when
I fli-st beheld the scene, I contemplated it in the momentary expectation of beholding one-half of the
gathering tuni theur weapons agamst the other.

"The trunk and feet of the Elephant are considered a great delicacy, and are baked in
holes in the earth, which have been heated by fii-es biu-nt in them. The flesh of the Elephant is
then cut into .strips, varying from six to twenty feet, and about two inches in breadth and thickness.
It is then placed on poles, and allowed to dry in the sun for two or three days, after wliich it is
packed into bundles, each man carrying ofi" his share to his wife and family."

FOSSIL elepiia:s'ts and their allies.

The Proboscidea, repre.sented, as we have already seen, by two species only among living animals,
both of wliich are met with in and near the tropical regions of the Old World, in the fossil state are
met with over neai-ly the whole of the Old World, and of the New ; and are divided into three
genera— Elephas, Mastodon, and Dinotherium.

The teeth and bones of these creatures found in Europe were assigned in the sixteenth, seventeenth,
and eighteenth centuries to giants, and many are the stories which were commonly reported about them
— as, for example, that of the giant of Daujihine, in the reign of Louis XIV. His remains were
discovered by a surgeon, who stated that they were enclosed in an enormous sepulchre covered with
a stone slab, bearing the inscription Tentohochns rex; and that in the vicinity there were also found
coins or medals, all of which showed the remains to be those of a giant king of the Gimbri, who fought
again.st Marius. However, the original owner of these bones, though not of the coins, was proved to
have been an Elephant.

The story of Teutobochus is even excelled by that of another giant, called the giant of Lucerne,
whose remains when dug up were examined by a celebrated Professor of Basle, who described them as
of human origin, and was skilful enough to put them together so as to resemble a giant no less than
twenty-six feet high. For some time the deluded people of Lucerne paid homage to this Elephantine
prodigy, until the .scales were removed from their eyes by Blumenbach, who pronounced to their
astonished senses that the giant, as it lay in state at the Je.suits' College, was but the skeleton of an
Elephant.

The Tertiary or thii-d gi-eat period into which the geologists divide the life history of the earth
consi.sts of the following divisions : — Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Preliistoric, and Historic,
and it is in the Pliocene stage that the Elephant firet appears in Europe and America.

The large, straight-tusked Elephant (E. meridio nails), with large grinders composed of tliick and
coarse plates, is found ranged over the whole of France, Italy, Britain, and Germany in those times,
in company with another narrow-toothed species, also with straight tusks, described by Di-. Falconer
under the name of Elephas antiquus.

By far the best known and most important of these huge creatures is the far-famed Mammoth

2SS XATUH.1L HISrORT.

(Ekphas primigeniiis). This Ek'phant has been found frozen in Siberian soil beautifully J)reser^•ed,
with the hair and tissues 'u\ so good a condition that microscopical sections have been made of them.

The story of finding the tirst Mammoth imbedded in ice has been often told, but is still of sufficient
interest to be related again. A Timgoosian fisherman, named Schumachoff', about the year 1799, was
proceeding, as is the custom of fishermen in those parts when fishing proves a failure, along the shores of
the Lena in quest of Mammoth tusks, which have been there found in considerable abundance. During
his rambles, having gone farther than he had done before, he suddenly came face to face with a huge
Mammoth imbedded in clear ice. This extraordinary sight seems to have filled hiju with astonishment
and awe ; for instead of at once profiting by the fortunate discovery, he allowed several years to roll on
before he summoned courage to approach it closely, although it was his habit to make stealthy journeys
occasionally to the object of his wonder. At length, seeing, it is presumed, the terrific monster miide uo
signs of eating him up, and that its tusks would bring him a considerable sum of money, he allowed

SKELETO.V OF MAMMOTH.

the hope of gain to overcome his superstitious scruj^les. He boldly broke the barrier of ice, chopped off
the tusks, and left the carcass to the mercy of the Wolves and Bears, who, finding it palatable, soon
reduced the huge creature to a skeleton. Some two years afterwards a man of science was on the
scent, and although so late in at the death, found a huge skeleton with three legs, the eyes still in the
orbits, and the brain uninjured in the skull.

In addition to the peculiarity of the Mammoth ha\dng its body covered with long woolly hair, it
was also remarkable for the extraordinary formation of its enormous tusks, which curved upwards,
forming a spii'al.

The eminent Siberian e.xplorer, Dr. Middendorf, in 1843, met with a second instance of the
Mammoth being preserved to such a degi-ee that the bulb of the eye is now in the same museum as the
skeleton of a Mammoth found by Mr. Adams in 1S0.3. ]\[iddendorf found it in latitude 6G° 30 N.,
between the Obi and the Yenisei near the Arctic Circle. In the same year he also found a young
animal of the same species in beds of sand and gravel, at about fifteen feet above the level of the sea,
near the river Taimyr, in latitude 75" 15', associated with marine shells of living Arctic species, as
well as with the trunk of the larch. But the fourth, and by far the most important, discovery of a
Mammoth is described by an eye-witness of its unearthing, and the record is so valuable in its bear-
ings that we give it at some length. A young Russian engineer, Benkendorf by name, employed by

liI><rn\'Ei;Y (iF IILE M.lJl.VOTir -««

the Government in a survey of the coast of the mouth of the Lena anJ Incligliirka, was despatched up
the latter stream, in 1846, in command of a small iron steara-cuttei-. He writes the following account,
which we translate, to a fi-iend in Germany : —

" In 1846 there was uncommon wai-m weather in the north of Siberia. Already in May unusual
rains poured over the mooi-s and bogs, storms shook the earth, and the streams earned not only ice to
the sea, but also large tracts of land, tliawed by the masses of warm water fed by the southern rains.
. We steamed on the tirat favourable day up the Indighirka; but there were no thoughts
of land. We saw around us only a sea of dirty brown water, and knew the river only by the
rushing and roaring of the stream. The river rolled against us trees, moss, and large masses of
peat, so that it was only with great trouble and danger we could proceed. At the end of the second
day, we were only abont forty verets |one verst = 1,166^ yards English] np the stream. Some one
had to stand with the sounding-rod in hand continually, and the boat received so many shocks
that it shuddered to the keel. A wooden vessel would have been smashed. Around us we saw
nothing but the flooded land. For eight days we met with the like hindrances, until at last we
reached the place where our Yakuts were to have met us. Farther up was a place called Ujan-
dina, whence the people were to have come to us, but they were not thei-e, prevented evidently
by the floods. As we had been here in former yeai-s we knew the place. But how it had changed !
The Indighirka, here about three versts wide, had torn up the land and worn itself •?» fresh channel,
and when the waters sank we saw to our astonishment that the old ri^■er-bed had become merely
that of an insignificant stream. This allowed me to cut through the soft earth, and we went recon-
noitring up the new stream which had worn its way westwai-ds. Aftei-wai-ds we landed on the
new shore, and surveyed the undermining and destructive operation of the wild waters, that carried
away with extraordinary rapidity masses of soft peat and loam. It was then that we made a wonder-
ful discovery. The land on which we were treading was moorland, covered thickly with young
plants. Many lovely flowers rejoiced the eye in the warm beams of the sun, that shone for
twenty-two out of the twenty-four hours. The stream rolled over and tore up the soft wet gi-ound
like chatf', so that it was dangerous to go near the brink. While we were all quiet, we suddenly
heard under our feet a sudden gurgling and stining, which betrayed the working of the disturbed
water. Suddenly our jager [hunter], ever on the look-out, called loudly, and pointed to a singular
and unshapely object, which rose and sank through the disturbed waters. I Lad already remarked
it, but not given it my attention, considering it only drift wood. Now we all hastened to the spot on
the shore, had the boat drawn neqr, and waited until the mysterious thing should again show itself.
Our patience was tried, but at last, a black, horrible, giant-like mass was thrust out of the water, and
we beheld a colossal Elephant's head, armed with mighty tusks, with its long tl-unk moving in the
water, in an unearthly manner, as thoiigh seeking for something lost therein. Breathless with
astonishment, I beheld the monster hardly twelve feet from me, with his half-open eyes yet showing
the whites. It was still in good preservation.

" 'A Mammoth! a Mammoth!' broke out the Tschermomori, and I shouted ' Here qiaekly ! chains
and ropes ! ' I will pass over our preparations for securing the giant animal, \\]i<isf licidy tlic water was
trying to bear from us. As the animal again sank we waited for an oi)portuiiity ti< tlimw the ropes
over his neck. This was only accomplished after many efibrts. For the nst we had no cause for
anxiety, for after examining the gi-ound I satisfied my.self that the hind li'^s of the Mammoth still
stuck in the earth, and that the water would work for us to unloosen tlieni. ^^'^' therefore fastened a
rope round his neck, threw a chain round his tusks, that were eight feet long, iho\ e a stake into the
ground about twenty feet fi-om the shore, and made chain and rope fast to it. The day went by
quicker than I thought for, but still the time seemed long before the animal was secured, as it was
only after the lapse of twenty-four hours that the waters had loosened it. But the position of the
animal was interesting to me ; it was standing in the earth, and not lying on its side or back as a dead
animal naturally would, indicating by this the manner of its destruction. The soft peat or marsh land
on which he stepped thousands of years' ago gave way by the weight of the giant, and he sank as he
stood on it feet foremost, incapable of saving himself, and a severe frost came and turned him into ice,
as well as the moor which had buried him ; the latter, however, grew and flourished, every summer
renewing itself; possibly the neighbouiing stream had heaped plants and sand over the dead body.

290 NATURAL UISrUUY.

God only knows wliat causes bad worked for its preservation ; now, however, the stream had once
more brought it to the liglit of day, and I, an ephemera of life compared with this primeval giant, was
sent here by heaven just at the right time to welcome him. You can imagine how I jumped for joy.

Picture to yourself an Elephant with a body covered with thick fur, about

thu'teen feet in height, and fifteen in length, with tusks eight feet long, thick and curving outwards
at their ends, a stout trunk of six feet in len.gth, colossal limbs of one foot and a half in thickness, and
a taU naked up to the end, which was covered with thick tufty hair. The animal was fat and well
gi'own ; death had overtaken him in the fulness of his powers. His parchment-like, large, naked ears
lay fearfully turned up over the head ; about the shoulders and the back he had stiff hail-, about a foot
in length, like a mane. The long outer hair was deep bi-own and coarsely rooted. The top of the head
looked so wild, and was so penetrated with pitch, that it resembled the rind of an old oak-tree. On
the sides it was cleaner, and under the outer hair there appeared everywhere a wool, very soft,
warm, and thick, and of a yellow brown colour. The giant was well protected against the cold. The
whole appearance of the animal was fearfully wild and strange. It had not the shape of our present
Elephants. As compared with om- Indian Elephants, its head was rough, the brain case low and
narrow, but the tnink and mouth were much larger. The teeth wei-e very ])owerful. Our Elephant
is an awkward animal, but compared with this Mammoth it is as an Arabian steed to a coarse ugly
Dray-horse. I coidd not divest myself of a feeling of fear as I approached the head ; the broken,
widely-opened eyes gave the animal an appearance of life, as though it might move in a moment and

destroy ns with a roar. The bad smell of the body warned us that it was time to

save of it what we could, and the swelling flood, too, bade us hasten. First of all we cut off the
tusks, and sent them to the cutter. Then the people tried to hew the head off, but, notwithstanding
theii- good will, this was slow work. As the belly of the animal was cut open the intestines rolled
ovit, and then the smell was so dreadful that I could not overcome my nauseousness, and was obliged
to turn away. But I had the stomach separated and bi'ought on one side. It was well filled, and
the contents instructive and well preserved. The principal were young shoots of the th- and pine ; a
quantity of young fir cones also, in a chewed state, were mixed with the mass."

This most graphic account aflbrds a key for the solution of several problems hitherto unknown.
It is clear that the animal must have been buried where it died, and that it was not transported from
any place farther up .stream to the south, where the climate is comparatively temperate. The presence
of fir-spikes in the stomach ])roves that it fed on the vegetation which is now found at the northern
part of the woods, as they join the low, desolate, treeless, moss-covered tundra, in which the body lay
buried, a fact that would necessarily involve the conclusion that the climate of Siberia, in those
ancient days, differed but slightly from that of the present time. Before this discovery, the food of
the Mammoth had not been known by direct e\'idence. The circumstances under which it was brought
to light enable ns to see how animal remains could be entombed in the frozen soO without undergoing
decomposition, which Bai-on Cuvier and Dr. Buckland agi-eed in accounting for by a sudden cataclysm,
and Sir Charles Lyell by the hypothesis of their having been swept down by floods from the temperate
into the arctic zone. In this particular case, the marsh miist have been sufficiently soft to admit of
the Mammoth sinking in ; while shortly after death the temperature must have been lowered, so as
to arrest decomposition, up to the very day on which the body arose under the eyes of M. Benkendorf,
in the exceptionally warm year of 1846, when the tundra was thawed to a most unusual depth, and
converted into a morass permeable by water. Had any Mammoths been alive in that year, and had
they strayed beyond the limits of the woods into the tundra, some would in all human probability
have been engulfed ; and, when once covered up, the noi-mal cold of winter would suffice to jn-event
the thaw of the carcases, except in extraoi"dinai-y seasons, such as that in which this one was discovered.
Probably many such wai-m summers intervened since its death, but as it was preserved from the air,
they would not accelerate putrefaction to any great degree. In this way the problem of its entoinb-
ment and preservation may be solved by an appeal to the present climatal conditions of Siberia. Tht
difficulty of accounting for .such vast quantities of remains in the Arctic Ocean, especially in the
Liickhow Islands off the mouth of the Lena, is also explained by this discovery, as well as the asso-
ciation of maiine shells with the remains of the Mammoth. The body was swept away by the swollen
floodof till- Tndighirka, along with many other waifs and strays, and no doubt by this time is adding

MAM3WTH, MASTODOy, AXI) DIXUTMEIilUM.

291

to the vast accumulation in the Arctic Sea, It was seen by a mere cliance, and must be viewed
as an example of the method by which animal remains are swept seaward. In all probability, the
frozen morass in which it was discovered is as full of Mammoths as the peat-bogs of Ireland are of
Irish Elk, and have been the main source from which the Arctic i-ivers have obtained their supply
of animal remains. The remains of the Mammoth ai-e met with in incredible numbei's in the river
deposits of Middle and Northern Europe, as well as in those of North America, showing that in
ancient times the animal ranged over a tract of land e.xteuding from the Mediterranean to the Arctic
Sea, and from Behring Strait to the Gulf of Mexico. It is also met with in the caves in Middle
Europe, having been dragged into them by the Hyieuas, or having fallen a prey to tlie ancient hunter.
AVe owe, indeed, to the
skill of the latter an inci-
sive sketch of the animal
as he appeared to the
inhabitants of Auvergne,
in the i-emote geological
period known as Pleisto-
cene ; the long, hairy mane,
and spirally-curved tusks,
are faithfully depicted liy
the artist, and, were it not
for the strange chance
which has preserved to us
the whole animal in the
frozen ice-cliffs of Siberia,
would have seemed to us
merely imaginative details.
In another example, also
from the caves of Auvergne,
the Mammoth is repre-
sented with his mouth open,
and his trunk lifted up in
the attitude of charging.

Remains of other extinct species of Elephants are found ; one, which is of exceedingly small
stature, standing not much higher than from two and a half to three feet, has been discovered in the
bone-caves of Malta. The genus Mastodon, which in many respects resembles the true Elephants,
diflers from them in the formation of the teeth, the gi-inders being much simpler, more tubercular, and
with crowTis free from cement. In most cases, also, there were two .small tusks in the lower jaw, as
well as those in the upper. In Europe they appear in the Miocene and Pliocene strata, and in
America they survived into the Pleistocene. The most extraordinary-looking, perhaps, of the fossil
Proboscidea, and that furthest removed from the living Elephants, is the Dinotherium, of the
Miocene age. It possessed no tusks in the upper jaw, but its lower jaw was armed with two long
curved tusks, projecting downwards. It i)robably possessed the haluts of the Elephant, and these
tusks may have been used for uprooting trees, or hooking down boughs, so as to obtain the leaves
and shoots for food.

W. Boyd Dawkins.

H. W. Oakley.

MAMMOTH (/?.s

ORDER HYRACOIDEA (CONIES).

What is the Coney ?—JIentiou in the Bible— General Aiipearanee- Real Place— Range— Vaiieties— Coney of the Bible

—Cape Coney— Ashkoko of Abyssinia -Mr. Wiuwood Reade's Account of the Habits of the Cape Coney— Skull,

Dentition, Ribs, &c.
The order of animals known to naturalists as Hyracoidea (derived from the Greek ipal, a Shrew, and tiSos,
form) contains but one genus, called Hyrax. Belonging to this genus are hut two or thi-ee species of
small animals, which, however, are of considerable interest, both from their peculiar oi'ganisation,
and from their mention four times in the Bible under the name of Shaphan, improperly translated
Coney, wliich has given rise to considerable controversy, as to what animal was meant. Some pei-sons.
considered, and naturally enough, that Coney meant nothing more or less than the Rabbit; but now
no doubt exists, as has been shown from its characters and habits, that the animal referred to is
the Daman, or Hyrax st/fiams.

The followdiig are the passages literally rendered, iu which tht- Hyrax i.s mentiuneil ui the Bible :
"Likewise the Coney, because he cheweth the cud, and di^-ideth not the hoof; he shall be unclean
unto you " (Leviticus xi. 5). " But these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, and of them
that divide and cleave the hoof only ; the Camel, nor the Hare, nor the Coney ; for they chew the
cud, but divide not the hoof ; therefore they shdl be unclean unto you" (Deuteronomy xiv. 7).
"The high moimtains are for the Goats; the rocks are a refuge for the Conies" (Psalms civ. 18).
" The Conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks " (Proverbs xxx. 26).
With regard to the first passage, although the Hyrax certainlv does not chew the cud, the peculiar way
Ln which it moves its jaws, as it sits perched in a ruminating manner, so to speak, on some ledge of rock,
would naturally suggest to the ignorant that it really was chewing the cud. In the third quotation,
we read " the rocks are a refuge for the Conies." This exactlj- suits the Hyi-ax, which is always found
inhabiting rocky situations. The last extract also agrees with the known habits of the Hyrax. Here
it is alluded to as being one of the four animals on earth who are small, but very wise. These four
are the Ant, the Locust, the Spider, and the Coney. All travellers who have noticed the Hyrax are
agreed that it is a most wary and crafty animal, and that the utmost caution is required even to obtain
a view of it ; and to kill one requires a most skUful and practised sportsman.

The Hyrax is a little animal clothed with a brownish fur, of about the size of ;ui ordinary Rabbit,
to which, indeed, it has some resemblance. It is allied to the Rhinoceros, the Tapir, and Rodents ;
but the whole form of the skeleton approaches more nearly to that of the two former than it
does to any known species of the latter. Linnseus, however, and other authors, classed it with the-
Rorlents ; but Cuvier, seeing that it more nearly appi-oached the characters of the old gi'oup of
animals called Pachydermata (thick-skinned animals), placed it with them. Now, however, it is
assigned by Prof. Huxley to an order of its own named Hyi'acoidea ; but it still is a doubtfid question
as to what should be done with it.

Of the several animals forming the genus, one, the Ili/ra.r syrianis, the Coney of the Bible, iij
found from the coast of the Red Sea northwards through Syria, by Lebanon, and southwards into
Arabia and Etliiopia. Another species, Hyrax capensis, the Cape Coney, is found at the Cape ajid east
coast of Africa, extending from Abyssinia down the east coast southwards. Two other species are
described from West Aii-ica ; but both probably belong to one genus.

Bruce, in his " Ti-avels Ln Abyssinia," tells us that the Ashkoko, which is understood to be the
same as the Daman {Hyrax syriacus), is found in Ethiopia, in the caverns of the rocks, and under the
large stones in the Mountain of the Sun, behind the queen's palace at Koseam. He also iiifoi'ms us that
it is of common occim-ence in many other rocky places of Abyssinia, and he says that it does not make
holes like Rabbits or Rats, because its toes are not adapted for so doing, and that it is a very timid
and gentle creature, stealing along a few paces, and then stopping, as if to see that the coast is clear.

Bruce also states that apparently the same species inhabits Mount Libanus, and the rocks of Cape
Mohammed, wliich divides the Elanitic from the Heroopolitic Gulf, or Gulf of Suez from that of
Akabah, and that the only difference he saw was in the greater size and fatness of those of the
Mountain of the Sun.

" The Hyrax capensis," writes Mr. Reade, " is found li\ing at the Cajie of Good Hope, inluibiting

the hollows and caves of the rocks, both on the hill-sides and on the sea shore, a little above high-
water mark. It seems to live in families, and in its wild state is remarkably shy. In the cold weather
it is fond of coming out of its hole and wanning itself in the snn on the side of a rock, and in summer
it enjoys the breeze on the top of the hills, biit in both instances, as well as when it feeds, a sentinel

NATURAL EISTOBY.

is always placed on the look-out, generally au old male, which gives notice of any apin'oach of danger
by a long shrill cry.

" Its principal food is the young tops of shrubs, especially those which are aromatic, but it also
eats herbs, grass, and the tops of flowers. To eat it tastes much like a Rabbit. It is recorded
tliat one gentleman caught two young ones which he kept for some time. They became veiy tame,
and as they were allowed the run of the house would follow him about, jump on to his lap, or creep
into liis bed for the sake of the warmth. One brought home by Mr. Hennali would also run inquisi-
tively about the cabins, climbing up and examining every person and thing, but startled by any
noise, it would run away and hide itself. When shut up for long, it became .savage and snarled
and tried to bite at everything that came in its way. This animal, both when wild as well as when
tame, is very cleanly in its habits. From its faintly crying in its sleep it may be supposed that it
dreams. It has also been heard to chew its food at night. When tame it will eat a variety of things,
the leaves of plants, bruised Indian corn, raw potatoes, bread, and onions, and will greedily lick up salt.
The one brought home by Mr. Hennah was very sensible of
the cold, for when a candle was placed near its cage, it would
come as close as possible to the bars, and sit still to receive as
much warmth as it could. I am inclined to think that the
female does not produce more than two young ones at a time,
from ha\'Lng observed in several instances but two following
the old ones. Its name at the Cape is the Dasse, which is, I
believe, the Dutch for a Badger."

In structure, the skull of the Hyrax approaches more nearly
to that of the Ungulata (animals with hoofs), especially to that
of the Rhinoceros, than it does to that of any of the Rodents.
SKI I.I, 111 KjNEv. The nose of the Hyrax, however, not having any horn to sup-

port, the nasal bones are not thickened, as they are in the Rhi-
noceros. There is a marked distinction between the maxillary, or upper jaw-bones of the Hyrax and
those of the Rodents, the extent of the former being much smaller. In the former, also, there ai-e
two parietal bones, as compared with one in the latter. The joint, or condyle of the lower jaw, differs
from that of the Rodents, in which it is compressed longitudinally, while in the Hyrax it is com-
pressed transversely, as in the Ungulata, being also applied to a plane surface of the temporal bone,
whereby a motion more or less horizontal is permitted.
The Hyrax has no canine teeth. The upper incisors
resemble those of Rabbits and Hares in number,
which are four in the adult, and those of Rodents
generally in the possession of persistent pulps. In
shape they approach more to the form of the canines
of the Hippopotamus by terminating in a point. The
number of lower incisors is also four, and they are
pi-ocumbent somewhat like those of the Hog. The
grinders, both in number and form, resemble those of
the Rhinoceros.

With regard to the number of ribs, the Hyrax
approaches nearer to the Ungulata and Proljoscidea
than it does to the Rodents. It departs from the
former in the number of the vertebrsa and form of destitkin m (o\e^.

the pelvis ; but again approaches them in the form of

the femora (thigh bones), and also in the formation of the feet ; the toes are four in front and three
behind, as in the Tapir, and they are supplied with hoofs, or rounded hoof-like nails. They are without
collar-bones (clavicles). The body of the Hyrax is covered with thick hair, which is here and there
beset with bristles, and the tail is represented by a mere tubercle. No remains of the Hyrax have
yec been found in a fossil state. W. Boyd Dawkins.

H. W. Oakley.

^^'!?r'^T

ORDER UNGULATA (HOOFED QUADRUPEDS).
CHAPTER I.
PERISSODACTYLA— THE EQUID.E, OR HORSE FAMILY.
Order UNGULATA — Divisions — PERISSODACTYLA — Characteristics— Equid* — Species — Descent — First Domestic
Horses in Europe— Used for Food- Mention of the Horse in the Bible— War-Chariots— the Horse among the Greeks
and Romans— in Britain— Attempts to Improve the Breeil— Colour— Teeth— " The Mark "—the Foot— Skull— Disease
from the Gad-fly— Eace-Horse—Tkotting-Horse ok Asierica-Drav Horse— Shetland Pont— Arab and Bare-
Persian Horse— Wild Horses in America— Habits— Byrons ^' Mazeppa "—Capture and Breaking in— Wild Horses
IN Australia- The Ass— Species -Stripes— Characteristics -Mile and Hinny— Wild Ass of Tibet— Onager-
Wild Ass OF Abyssinia— Zebras— Bi'RCHELl's Zebra— Qcagga— Fossil Equid.e— Distribution— Hipparion.

The hoofed quadrupeds are so called because they possess hoofs, from which fact the order Ungulata
takes its name,* and they include animals of widely different appearance, such as the Horse,
Rhinoceros, Gii-affe, Camel, and the like. They are classified into two sub-orders, according to the
odd or even number of toes, those having an odd number on the hind foot being termed the
PerissodactyIa,t such as the Horse, Tapii-, and Rhinoceros ; and the Artio.lirtv hi,* or animals with an
even number of toes on their liind feet, such as the Pig, Hippopotami is. S1h,|,. ( »x, Deer, and the like.
All the animals belonging to the order feed upon vegetables, with tl.c exceiition of the Pig and
Peccary, which are omnivorous ; and none of them are provided with sharp-edged cutting back teeth,
adapted for dividing flesh, such as are found in the Carnivora — Lions, Tigers, "Wolves, and Hywnas.
The odd-toed Ungulates come first. *

SUB-ORDER PERISSODACTYLA.
The odd-toed animals consist of three livmg families— (1) The Equida;, or Horses; (2) the
Tapii-id£e, or Tapirs ; (.3) the Rhinocerotida?, or Rhinoceroses ; and two extinct families— (1) the Palaeo-
* From the Latin unguis, ungiiki, a hoof. f irep.o-o-o!, uneven ; s<£«tu\u;, toe. X aprm, even ; ii«T..\ot, toe.

206 XATURAL }USTnli\.

tlieriil.-e, or PMl»otlieres (■wa\aiis, old ; eripiov, beast) ; anil (2) the Macraiicheniadpe (mo/ipos, long; abxiv,
neck). In all the animals belonging to the gJ-oiip, the number of dorso-lumbar vertebra is not fewer
than twenty-two, the third or niidtUe digit of each foot is symmetrical, the femnr or thigh-bone has
a thii'd trochanter, or knob of bone on the outer side, and the two facets on the front of the astragalus
or ankle-bone are very unequal. When the head is provided with- horns, they are skin-deep only, with-
out a core of bone, and they are always placed in the middle line of the skull, as in the Rhinoceros.

In the Perissodactyla the number of toes is reduced to a minimum. Supposing, for example, we
compiD-e the foot of a Horse with one of our own hands, we shall see that those parts which correspond
with the thumb and little finger are altogether absent, while that which corresponds with the middle
finger is largely develo])ed, and with its hoof, the equivalent of our nail, constitutes the whole foot.
The small splint bones, however, resting behind the principal bone of the foot represent those portions
(metacarpals) of the second and fourth digits which extend from the wrist to the fingers properly so
called, and are to be viewed as traces of a foot composed of three toes in an ancesti-al form of the Horse,
which we shall discuss presently. In the Tapir, the hind foot is composed of three well-developed toes,
corresponding to the three middle toes in man, and in the Rhinoceros both feet are provided with three
toes foi-med of the same three digits. In the extinct Paheotheriimi also, the foot is conscituted very
much as in the Rhinoceros.

FAMILY I.— EQUID^, THE HORSE-TRIBE.
The Equidie, or Horse-tribe, comprise several living and many extinct species. Three living
members are restricted, in a state of nature, to Asia and Africa, and are divided into the true Horses,
which have horny patches or callosities on the inner sides of both pairs of limbs — above the wrist in
the fore, and on the inner side of the metatarsus on the hind limbs— and the Asses, which possess such
callosities only on the fore-limb. With the latter are classed the Zebras and the Quaggas. All the

TEE SOUSES.

■WITU HORSE OF TAKTAKY.

existing and some of tlie extinct members of the family, are characterised by the feet being formed of
one perfectly developed digit or toe only, the others being present in a rudimentary shape as the splLut-
bones. In the extinct Hipparion, however, and Anchithere, as we shall see presently, the accessory
toes are well developed.

The true Horses are represented by one well-established species, Equus eaballus, from which all the
other races, or varieties, are descended, by a process of selection under the care of man, and these vary
in size, propoi-tion of parts, and colour, as much as any two closely-allied species of wild animals can be
said to be defined from each other. According to Mr. Dai-wui, no aboriginal or truly Wild Horse is
positively known to exist, for the Wild Hoi-ses of the East may probably be descended from those
which have escaped from the service of man. In all probability the wild animal has been exterminated
by the hand of man in those countries which it formerly inhabited, and in which it has left its i-emains
';o attest its fomier presence.

The Tarpan and Wild Horse of Tartary, which are to be found in thousands in the great treeless
plains, present us with the nearest examples of the .stock from which the Domestic Horses were
probably derived. Their colour is mouse-coloured, with a stripe along the back. The best and
strongest of these are caught by the Tartars by the aid of the lasso, and by the help of Falcons, which
are trained to settle on the Horse'.s head, and flutter then- wings, so as to take its attention away from
the approaching hunter.

Tlie first Domestic Horses known in Europe were introduced at a very early period, long before

298 NATURAL UlSTOUY.

the dawn of history, in the jjeriod known by the archaeologists as that of polished stone, or that ii.
which man had not yet acquired a knowledge of the metals bronze or iron. They are met with in the
ruins of those wonderful jjile dwellings, which lie at the bottom of the Swiss lakes, in association with
the remains of the Pig, Sheej), Goat, Short-horned Ox, large Ox of the Urus type, and Dog, and
evidently belonged to a race of farmers, by whom they were introduced into Europe. Bones occur in
the camps, sepvilchres, and habitations of this age, throughout the whole of the Continent, and of
Great Britain and Ireland. In all probability they were used at this time not for riding or for driving,
but for food. In tlie succeeding, or bronze age, however, they were employed for purposes of riding,
as may be seen from the discovery of the bronze bits, which have been met with in France and Italy.
They were probably introduced by a race of nomads, who no doubt brought Horses with tiiem from
the steppes of Central Asia.

According to Colonel Hamilton Smith, " so little is known of the primitive seat of civilisation —
the original centre, perhaps, in Bactria, in the higher valleys of the Oxus, or in Cashmere, whence
knowledge radiated to China, India, and Egypt — that it may be surmised that the fu'st domestication
of the post-diluvian Horse was achieved in Central Asia, or commenced nearly simultaneously in
several regions where the wild animals of the Horse form existed."

The Horse was universally used for food by man before the historic period, and would be used now in
Europe more generally than it is, were it not for an edict of the Church in the eighth century. During
the Roman occupation of Britain, it formed a large part of the diet of the inhabitants ; by the Scan-
dinavians it was eaten in honour of Odin. As Christianity prevailed over the heathen worship, it was
banished from the table. It appears, however, that it was used in England as late as the year 787,
after it had been prohibited in Eastern Europe. Tlie ecclesiastic rule, however, was not always
obeyed, for the monks of St. Gall, in Switzerland, not only ate Horse-flesh in the eleventh centuiy,
but returned thanks for it in a metrical grace, which has survived to our times on account of its
elegance and beauty.

It is somewhat remarkable that the Horse is, with few exceptions, mentioned in the Bible only in
connection with war, and that there is a wonderful absence of detail with regard to its nature and
habits otherwise than for the purposes it served in battle. That the Horse spoken of in Scripture was
iiearly identical with the Arab Horse of to-day there c-m be little doubt, if we examine the various
sculjitures and paintings which are handed down to us, and which speak of the faded glories of Egypt
and Assyria. The first account we have of the Horse is during tlie famine in Egypt that was
foretold by Joseph, and here we find that it was evidently an Egyptian animal. " And they
brought their cattle unto Joseph ; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for Horses, and for the
flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the Asses ; and lie fed them with bread for all their
cattle for that year."

The courage and fiery nature of the Arab Horse, i)articularly fitting it for use in the wars of
ancient times, were evidently well understood. In the Book of Job (xxxix. 19-2.5) we read : — " Hast
thou given the Horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with tliunder? Canst thou make him
afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in
his strength : he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither
turneth he back from the swoi-d. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage : neither believeth he that it is the sound of the
trumpet. He saith among the trumpets. Ha, ha ! and he smelleth the battle afiir off", the thunder of the
captains, and the shouting."

The Hebrews in the patriarchal age did not require Horses, and for a long time after their settle-
ment in Canaan did not use them, probably partly on account of the nature of the country, which was
hilly, and partly because they were prohibited on account of their hostility to" the Egyptians. The
Hor.ses of the kings David and Solomon were derived from Egypt. In the reign of the latter, a Horse
was worth 1.50 .shekels of silver, and a chariot six hundred. The former was the first tD establish a
force of cavalry and chariots.

From the very earliest ages known to the historian in Egypt and Assyi-ia, Horses T'ere used
for purposes of war, and were yoked in pairs, and sometimes in threes, to the war-chariots in
which the kings and great cai>tains rode. They are generally depicted as being of upright or

HORSES AMONG THE GREEKS, ROMANS, AND BRITONS. Zng

Hog luMies. Horsemen were also employed by both nations, but they were evidently not thought
so important as Horees and chariots for warlike purposes.

In the earlier period of Greek history, and in Homeric times, the nrt of riding was utterly un-
known to the Greeks, for if a man was seen on horseback he was supposed to be a (_lenta>ir. Down
to 500 B.C. riding was not practised by the Greeks, although it was well known to the Barbarians. ^.3
we get close to the year mentioned, we hear of Persian cavalry ; for instance, the great question with
regard to the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.) is, What were the Persian cavalry doing? And at the
same period we lind that cavalry had become an important arm in Northern Greece. Throughout all
the times of Greek pre-eminence, Hoi"ses were mainly used for the purpose of the chariot. The utmost
care and attention were devoted to their breeding, and the greatest expense incuri-ed in the main-
tenance of a stud, which was a luxury possible only to the very richest persons, and almost entirely
beyond the means of private individuals. The gi-eatest horsekeepers, and consecpiently winners in
the chariot-races, were almost entii-ely princes and ruling families.

After 450 B.C. we begin to hear of riding and of cavalry in Greece proper, side by side with
charioteers. Books were written on the art, one of which, fi-om the pen of Xenoi)lion, is still extant.

The case is totally different when we turn to the history of Rome during the same period. In the
early regal times, and in the first centuries of the Republic, cavalry was the most important ai-m of
the military service. It was naturally composed of the aristocracy, who alone could bear the expense
of a Horse. It was only when a rich middle class had sprung up, and were denied the aristocratic
privilege of serving on horseKack, that the heavy -armed infantry, which in later times won all the great
Roman victories, came lir.st into existence. As they increassd, the cavalry decreased in imiiortance,
and the typical Roman soldier was what was called in mediseval times a man-at-arms.

The native breeds of Horses in Britain, before the Roman conquest, are known to us mi;i-ely from
a reference to them by Ciesar, that they were powerful and well suited for purposes of war by their
stature and training. They were used in the battles of the Romans, yoked to the diaviots. They
were evidently considered of gi-eat importance, since they appear on some of the early lu in li . ,.111.; —
a.s, for example, those of Cunobelin. After the conque.st of Britain by the Angles, J n -. ml S.i\.a;s,
the Horses demanded moi-e attention than before. Athelstan thought the preseivatioii of tli<^ native
breed of sufficient importance to call for a legal enactment to prevent the export of Horses, excepting
as presents. Saddle-horses were employed, according to the testimony of Bede, in England in the
early part, of the seventh century, and from the notices in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is evident that
they were frequently used by the Danes for purposes of transpoi-t from one part of the country to
another ; and in the song of the fight of Maldon, we read of Goderic flying from the field on a Horse,
on which "his lord had ridden down to the battle.

The first attempt on record to improve the native breed, liy the introduction oi foreign blood,
was by the importation of " running Horses " fi'ora Germany in the time of Athelstan ; in whose reign
also many Spanish Horses were imported. William the Conqueror, who owed his success in the
Battle of Hastings to his cavalry, paid great attention to the English breed. In his time, Professor
Bell tells us, "Roger de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, imported the elegant and docile Spanish Horse,
and bred from it on his estates in Powisland ; and it is recorded that the Horses of that part of Wales
were long celebrated for their swiftness, a quality which they had doubtless derived from this happy
mixture of blood. The heavy panoply of mail, however, with which the warrioi-s of this and of
succeeding ages at once protected and loaded both themselves and their steeds, sufiiciently attests that
the cavalry must have been mounted on Horses of great strength and size ; and there is no doubt that,
nntU the imiversal employment of fire;u-ms rendered such a protection in a great measure unavailable,
the speed and figure of the War Hoi-se must have been saciificed to the qualities of power and en-
durance. The beautiful Horses on which many of our light cavalry regiments are now mounted,
although endowed with considerable strength, would have been crushed beneath the weight of metal
by which both the knight of olden time and his Hor.'ie were so heavily laden."

King John paid great attention to the imjn-pvement of the breed for agricultural pra-poses ; and
to him, according to Youatt, we are indebted for our Draft Horses. He imported no less than a
hundred Flanders stallions, which probably laid the foundation of the strength and size which are the
eminent characteristic of our Horses of war and labour. Edward III. was a zealor.s })atron of the

NATURAL EIHTOltY.

couree, and in liis reign tlie heavy nati%-e breed was crossed with lighter Horees of Spanish origin,
the offspring of the Arabs, which had been introduced by the Moors. From tliis time forwards,
were taken bj the English sovereigns to improve the breeds ; races were regularly estab-
lished in various parts of the kingdom, and various enactments
were passed to secure excellence. James I. gave as much as
five bundled pounds — an enormous sum, according to the value
of money m those times — for an Arabian ; and in the Pro-
tectoiate of Cromwell, Horses were introduced from the south-
( ist and fiom Morocco, by which beauty of form, and a degree of
swiftness befoie unknown, were adckd to the stoutness which
h 1(1 hitherto characterised English Horses. In the time of
C'hiiks II , we may remark that the bell, which had hitherto
been the puze of the successful Horse in racing, was exchanged
tdi the cup, which has continued to be the prize down to the
lius, nt day

^Ir. Darwin considei-s that the cause of modification in the
foiiiis of Horses greatly arises from theii- varying conditions of
Hfr ; that, for instance, Horses living in mountainous regions, or
oil small islands, become reduced in size from want of a variety
of food. Corsica and >Sardiiiia have native breeds of Ponies ;
and the Piino Ponies living in the lofty regions of the Cor-
dilleras are said to be strange little creatures. But Horses can
withstand intense cold, as they live wild on the plains of
Siberia, when' they scrape away the snow in order to get at
the herbage underneath. Not only do the wild Tarpans in the
East possess this instinct, but also those that have run wild on
the Falkland Islands, as well as the Horses in North America
tA 1 1 r u) 1 i-r J V descended from those brought into Mexico by the Spaniards.

That the ouginal coloui of the Horse was dun may be gathered from evidence dating as far back
as the time of Alexandei the Great, and the wild Horses now in Western Asia and Eastern Europe
aie of the same colour. In Hungary and Norway, duns with a stripe down the
spine are considered of an aboriginal colour.

The series of permanent teeth in the Horse consists of three incisors, one
canine, three premolars, and three molars in each jaw, or 40 in all ; and is of
great interest. The grinders (or molars and premolars) are remarkable for their
length, the complexity of their pattern, and for the thick coating of cement which
fills up the inter.spaces of the folds of enamel. The incisors present a peculiar
pattern, which is of great importance in deciding the age of a Horse. Each is
covered with a layer of enamel, which is folded inwards at the top, after the
manner of the finger of a glove, the top of which has been pulled inwards, as is
seen in the accompanying figure of a vertical section of an incisor tooth. This
hollow is filled with cement, and its state of wear enables the age of the Horse
to be ascertained, constituting "the mark."

A Colt when born has usually the first and second molars forced through the
gum, and at seven or eight days old the two central incisor teeth ajipear ; five or
six weeks later, the next two incLsors. At three months, they are equal to the
central ones, and both paii-s have nearly reached their natural level. A third
gi-inder has then appeared ; and about the eighth month, the third incisor above
and below on each side. The Colt has now his full complement of incisor teeth — ^nvmedfl\id'"f''"nnm?i;
viz., six in each jaw. At six months the obliteration is apparent in the four '^'' ' "'"""^
central incisors ; and at a year and a half the mark will be very faint in the central incisors, and
diminished in the other two. A fourth molar appears at twelve months, and a fifth at two year.s.
These are all milk or temporary teeth. At about three years old, the central pah' of incisors, or

VERTICAL SECTION 01

INCISOR OF HORSE.

(AfUr Owm.)

TEETH AND FOOT OF THE HORSE.

nippers, both in the upper and lower jaws, are j)Uished upwards and removed liy two permanent teeth,
whicli take their place, and whicli are distinguishable from the milk teeth by their increased size; a
three-year-old Colt, therefore, is easily recognised by the possession of these two new and enlarged
incisors. At three years and a half the second incisors wUl have
given place to pemianent ones ; and at four and a half the re-
maining incisors will have followed suit. Thus at four years old
the central nippei-s will be fully grown ; the next pair will not
have attained their full size, and the corner temporary incisors will
be worn small, and the mark nearly obliterated. At five years
old the mark from the central teeth begins to be effaced, the next
pair fully gi-own, and the corner pair only partially grown. Be-
tween the fourth and fifth year the canines begin to appear in
the male, two in each jaw; in the female they do not appear
until old age. At six yeai-s old the mark on the central nippers
is much diminished, or obliterated. The other incisors will also
be worn, and the canines fully developed. At seven the mark
on the next pair of incisors is nearly gone, and the canines rounded at the point and edges. At
eight the mark disappears from all the incisor teeth, and the canines are nmch rounder and blunter.
From this time the age of a Horse is difficult to decide, and the teeth of the upper jaw seem to be

the best guides. In the accomj^anying figure
(b) the incisors of a Horse aged sixteen years
are represented, in which it will be observed
that the oval island of enamel, or "mark,"
has been obliterated, and its place is indi-
cated by a round, dark, island (a), composed
of osteo-dentine, which has been formed within
the pulp-cavity of the tooth. The absence
of the fine wliite crystalline enamel from
the centre of the tooth at once points out
the aged Horse from that " in mark," and
renders all attempts to produce by artificial
means the same pattern impossible, though this
trick is by no means iinkno^vn or unattempted
in horse-dealing.

In the whole anatomy of the Horse there is
no organ more beautifully adapted for the pur-
poses it sei"ves than the foot, and it is well
worthy to be discussed at some length. The
foot practically consists of the tlu-ee last bones
of the limb. The bones are fir-mly bound
together by ligaments, afi'ording also attachnient
to the wonderfully strong tendons by which the
foot is moved. A mass of gristle called the
lateral cartilage is placed on each side, and
behind the bones is an elastic pad which i.s
termed the plantar cushion. A fibrous layer
is i)laced over these, and en-celopiug the whole
is a homy covering known as the hoof Im-
mediately below the carpus, or the so-called
rcoffln'bOT^VpT'Aavicuiar.'"'' "'"''""' ]jnee of the Horse, in the fore limb, and
below the tarsus or hock in the hind limb, we find what are termed the cannon bones. These,
which differ little in either fore or hind leg, are really, in point of fact, respectively the
metacarpal and metatarsal bones. On each side, towards the hinder part of these cannon bones.

---^^=^ (1)

OF FORE (1) AITD FDJD (2) LIMKS OF HORSE

0 ; Al, Tarsus (hock) ; B, Cannon bone : Bl, Si)lint boue ; c, Grf^alcr
[•osterior; D.Coronef " " *"-• *--- - "-

302

NATURAL niSrORl

is a '.ioiic teiTiicil the siiliut. These splints ai'c in fact rudimeulary metacarpal and metatarsal
iionei. The ciuinon bones run in a direction vertically downwards, and in the best possible manner
for Kuppoi-ting a heavy weight, and in addition the bones are composed of extraordinarily hard
and dense material, although to all appearance they are comparatively slender. Altogether, the object
looked for is attained— namely, strength with symmetry. The cannon or shank bone proceeds down-
wards until it reaches a bone knowii as the greater pastern, and between these two are also two little
bones, termed the sesamoids : this portion of the leg is called the fetlock. The sesamoid bones are
attached to the back of tlie cannon bone, and are so arranged as to increa.se the surface of the joint,
and also forming a pulley for the passage of the back tendons. The pastern bone rests immediately
>ipon a bone termed the little pastern or coronet, the former bone being placed obliquely downwards
and forwards, being an admirable provision against concussion. It is here, in proportion to the oblique

SKELETON 01' HORSE.

position in whii.}i this bone is placed, the horseman finds either a springy or jolting action in the Horse
he rides. The little pastern or coronet rests upon a bone known as the coffin.' (The three bones —
viz., the greater pastern, the little and the coffin bone — are really nothing more nor less than three
phalanges, the three together being analogous to the human finger or toe.) It is situated partly
witiiin anil partly without the hoof, and its direction, like the greater pastern, is downwards and
forvi^ards, and it is this bone -which forms the pivot or centre of motion.

The last bone of the foot, and immediately below the little pastern, as before stated, Ls the coflin
or i)odal bone. This bone is strongly imbedded in the hoof, and is convex in front, rounded at the
sides, and slightly concave on its under surface. There is aromid the front and sides of the coffin
bono a considerable degree of roughness for the attachment of muscles, which part of the foot is
termed the sensitive. The under part is comparatively smooth. Between the coffin and little
pa-itern is a small oblong flattened bone, termed the navicular. It is covered over on its under surface
by a smooth cartilaginous layer. This bone probably helps to ward off concussion, also to give a
larger surface for membranes containing synovial fluid, or what is known as "joint oil," which
preserves the joints from too great fiiction.

The more striking features in the skull of the Horse are the completion of the orbital ring behind
by the union of the frontal and jugal bones, and the edentulous space in front of the molar series, into
which the bit is inserted in riding or driving. The brain is large, and that part of it known as the
cerebrum, or " big brain " (a), is deeply folded; it does not, liowever, overlap the cerebellum, or

THE GAD-FLY OR HOT DISEASE.

"little liniiii " (b), or tlio olfaetoiy lolies (c). The spinal column is conijiosod of seven cervical, twenty-
four Joi-sal, tive sacral, antl alx)ut seventeen camlal vertebra.

Of the various diseases the stomach of the Horec is liable to, perhaps the most peculiar is that
caused by an insect known as the Gad-fly. With regard to this creature and its mode of attack, Youatt
gives the following information : — " In the spring anil early part of the summer, Hoi-ses are much
troubled by a gnat or caterpillar, which causes a great deal of itching and uueasuiess. Cfrooms are
sometimes alarmed at the appearance of these insects. Theii- history Ls peculiar, and will dispel every
fear with regard to them. We ai-e indebted to Mr.
Bracy Clark for almost all we know about them. A
species of Gad-fly {(Estrits equi) is, in the latter part
of the summer, exceedingly busy about the Horse. It
is observed to be darting with great rapidity towards
the knees and sides of the animal. The females arc
depositing their eggs on the hair, which adhere to it
by means of a glutinous fluid with which they are
surrounded. In a few days the eggs are ready to be
hatched, and the slightest application of warmth and
moisture will liberate the little animals which they
contain. The Horse, in licking himself, touches tlir
egg; it bursts, and a small worm escapes, which
adheres to the tongue, and is conveyed with the food
into the stomach. There it clings to the cuticular
portion of the stomach by means of a hook on either
side of its mouth ; and its liold is so firm and m >
obstinate, that it must be broken before it can In'
detached. It remains there feeding on the mucus of
the stomach during the whole of the winter, and until
the end of the en.sning spring ; when, having attained
a considei-able size, and being destined to undergo a
certain transformation, it disengages itself from the
cuticular coat, is earned into the villous poi-tion of the
stomach with the food,, passes out of it with the
chyme, and is evacuated with the excrement. The
lar*-a, or maggot, seeks shelter in the ground, and
buries itself there ; it contracts in size, and becomes a
•chrysalis or grub, in which state it lies inactive for a

few weeks, and then, bursting from its confinement, assumes the form of a fly. The female, becoming
impregnated, quickly deposits her eggs on those pai-ts of the Horse which he is most accustomed to lick,
and thus the s])ecies is perpetuated.

" There are .several plain conclusions to be drawn from this history. The bots cannot, while they
inhabit the stomach of the Horse, give the animal any pain, for they have fastened on the cuticular and
insensible coat. They cannot stimulate the stomach and increase its digestive power, for they are not
on the digestive portion of the stomach. They cannot, by their roughness, assist the trituration
or rubbing down of the food, for no such oflice is performed in that part of the stomach ; the food is
.softened, not rubbed down. They cannot be injurious to the Horse, for he enjoys the most perfect
health when the cuticular part of his stomach is filled with them ; and their presence is not even
.-.uspected until they appear at the anus. They cannot be removed by medicine, because they are
not in that part of the stomach to which medicine is usually conveyed : and if they wei-e, tlieii-
mouths are too deeply buried in the mucus for any medicine, that can safely be administered, to
alfect them ; and last of all, in due coui-se of time they detach theniseh'es. pnd come away. Therefore
the wise man will leave thcni to themselves."

The R.4CE-HORSE.— The breed of Hor.ses for which England is chiefly renuukable is the Kace-
Hor.-ip, resulting from a cross of the English stock with the Arabian; and this was chiefly l)rought

304 NATURAL SIS TOE Y.

about by the care of Mr. Darley. The offspring of the Arabian thus introduced was the Devonshire,
or Flying ChUders, the fleetest Horse of his time, which ran four miles, one furlong, and a hundred
arid thirty-eight yards in seven minutes and a half. Descended from the same Arabian was Eclipse,
who never met an opponent sufficiently fleet to test his powers. He became the sii-e of three hundred
and thirty-four winners ; while King Herod, a descendant of the same stock, was the sire of no less
than four hundred and ninety-seven winners. The former of these Horses died in 1 789, at the age-
of seventy-five years, after realising for his o\\nier a princely fortune : his skeleton is now preserved in
the museum at Oxford. The English Race-Horse, in swiftness and energy, elegance and grace.

EKGLISH RACE-

eurjmsses his Arabian progenitor ; and is so superior to other European breeds, ihat it is usual oi.
the English course to allow foreign Horses an advantage in the weight that they carry. Al?
English Race-Horses are descended either from Arabian or Barb su-es.

The Trotting Horse of America. — Two nations have the credit of introducing a race of
Horses knowai as the Trottmg Horse. One of these is Russia, the other the United States ; and the
latter has so fiir excelled her rival, that the Trotting Horse is now generally known as the " Trotting^
Horse of America." The Russian breed is Arabian on a Flemish stock, and is known as the Orloti
Trotter ; but from the bending of the knee when the Horse is striding, and the trotting action
not being carefully looked after, the animal is considered by good judges to be only " half-developed."
The breed of the American Trotter seems to have been both Barb and Arabian on an English stock,
the well-kno-\vn Bashaw Trotters being descended from an imported Barb ancestor, the Grand Ba.shaw ;
and Top Gallant was produced by a imion of Arab or Eastern breed, with some Horse either English
or of English origin. One of the greatest American trainers of the Trotting Horse, Hiram Woodniff,
says in his work on this subject that the English had the stock all along, as much as the Americans,

24*

J03 NATURAL HIS TORT.

but that tlie method of triiining and perseverance of the hitter have produced the best and
trotters. He entirely disputes the idea of the trot being an ai'tificial action of a Horse, and the
common notion that the only two natural paces of that animal are the walk and tlie gallop ;
and in vindication of his theory he asks, " Whether a colt can now be found anywhere that does
not trot sometimes, and that when lie is by the side of his dam, befoi-e ever the hand of a man has
been laid upon liiml If it is said that this results from the long domestication of his ancestors,
my reply will be that it happens among the produce of Horses whose ancestors for more than
two centuries have never been used for trotting, and were never taught to trot at all, if it is true
that the Arabs of the desert only use theii- Horses at the two so-called natural paces, the walk and
the gallop." He further remarks that other animals trot when wild, such as the wild Asses, Zebras,
and Quaggas, as well as the Deer and the Elk. He therefore considers that the most careful attention
should be given to the training of a young colt for trotting pui-poses ; and that, for a Horse to
become a trotter, he should at the early age of two years be broken in with a view to that pur-
pose especially, while his gallop or walk should, so to speak, be kept in the backgi-ound. His
education altogether extends over several years, as both speed and durability have to be considered
in his capabilities ; sometimes he reaches the age of seven years before his finest powers can be de-
veloped. Some of the fastest English trotters go at the rate of a mile in three minutes ; while the
quickest in America, according to Mr. Woodruff, take only two minutes and twenty-five seconds,
or thereabouts, to do the same distance. The Trotting Hor.se has now become a product of gi'eat
commercial value to the Americans.

The Dray Horse. — The huge Dray Horse, in its massive form and ponderous strength, and
slowness of gait, forms a striking contrast to the Racer and the Trotting Horse. It is as admiral ly
fitted for the slow carriage of heavy weights as the two last are for their elegant swiftness. It is as
good an example of the results of judicious selection on the part of man, for a definite purpose, as can
be offered by the study of any of the domestic animals.

The Shetland Pony. —The smallest variety of Horses in the British Islands is the Shetland
Pony, which averages seven or eight hands in height, but yet is wonderfully strong, and capable of
enduring an immense amount of fatigue. Its wild, shaggy mane gives it somewhat the appearance,
as has been remarked, of a Skye Terrier. It is mischievous and skittish, and generally harder to ride
than a full-sized Horee.

Thk Arab and the Barb. — The two principal varieties of foreign Hoi-ses which are important
for us to consider are the Arab and the Barb. The Arab would not be acknowledged by every one
to be perfect in fonn. The head, however, is inimitable. " The broadness and squareness of the
forehead," wi-ites Yonatt, "the sraallness of the ears, the prominence and brilliancy of the eve,
the shortness and fineness of the muzzle, the width of the nostril, the thinness of the lower jaw,
and the beautifully-developed course of the veins, will always characterise the head of the Arabian
Horse. The body of the Arab may, jwrhaps, be considered as too light, and his chest too narrow ;
but behind the arms the barrel generally .swells out, and leaves sufficient room for the play of the
lungs. The neck of the Arabian is long and arched, and beautifully joined to the chest. In the
foi-mation of the shoulder, next to that of the head, the Arab is superior to any other breed. The
withers are high, and the shoulder-blade has its proper inclination backwards. It is also thickly ■
clothed with muscle, but without the slightest appearance of heaviness. The fineness of his legs,
and the oblique position of the ]3asterns, might be supposed by the uninitiated to lessen his apparent
strength ; but the leg, although small, is deep, and composed of bone of the densest character. The
tendons are sufficiently distinct from the bone, and the starting muscles of the fore-arm and the thigh
indicate that he is fully capable of accomplishing many of the feats that are recorded of him.
It is an error," continues Youatt, " into which almost every writer on the history of the Hoi-!;e
has fallen, that the Arabian is bred ia the arid de.serts, and owes the power of endurance which
he possesses in his adult state to the hardships which he endured while he was a colt. The real fact
IS, that the Arabs- select for their breeding-places some of those delightful spots, known only in countries
like these, where, though all may be dry and barren around, there is pasture unrivalled for its succu-
lence, and its nutritious or aromatic properties. The jMwers of the young animal are afterwards
developed, as they alone could be, by the mingled influence of plentiful and healthy food, and sufficient,

THE ARAB AND THE BARB. S07

but not, except in one day of trial, cruel exercise." The attachment an Aral) feels for his Horse is pro-
vei-bial, cases having been recorded of a devotion so deep that the owner prefers almost to starve rather
than part with his Horse. The following anecdote is an instance : — " The whole stock of an Arab of
the desert consisted of a mare. The French Consul oflered to purchase hei", in order to send her to
his Sovereign, Louis XIV. The Arab would have rejected the pi-oposal, bui he was miserably poor ;
he had scarcely a rag to cover him, and his wife and children were starving. The sum oflered was
great ; it would provide him and his family with food for life. At length, and reluctantly, he yielded.
He brought the mare to the dwelling of the consul, dismounted, and stood leaning upon her ; he looked

AR.\li HORSE.

now at the gold, and then at his favourite. ' To ^^'hom is it.' said he, ' J am going to yield tliee up 1
To Euroi^eans, who will tie thee close ; who will beat thee ; who will render thee miserable. Return
svith me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children I' As he pronounced the last
words, he sprang upon her back, and was presently out of sight."

The Barb is found throvighout the North of Africa, from the Mediterranean to the Sahara desert,
and has obviously been introduced by the Moors. It is to the Barb that the principal excellence of
the Spanish Horse is due ; and to this Horse, as well as to the Arab, may be assigned a large share in
producing the English Hunter and Eacer. All English thoroughbreds are descended from one or
other of these.

The Persian Horse is closely allied to the Arab, and possesses great powers of endurance. The
distance marked for a race, which Sir E. K. Porter saw, was no less than four-and-twenty miles.
In some points, according to Youatt, the Persian Horse excels the Arabian.

Wild Horses in America. — At the time of the discovery of America there were no Horses in

308 XATUKAL IIISTOHY.

any part of that continent, although the boundless prairies were admirably fitted for the support of
countless herds. Soon, however, those imported by the settlers strayed away, and as a consequence
lioi-ses are now met vith in vast numbers, in some cases amounting, it is said, to ten thousand in
one troop. They appear to be under the command of a leader, the .strongest and boldest of the herd,
whom they implicitly obey. When threatened with danger, at some signal, understood by them all,
they either close into a dense mass and tramjjle their enemy to death, or, placing the mares and foals
in the centre, they form themselves into a circle and welcome him with theii- heels. The leader hi'st
faces the danger, and when prudence requires a retreat all follow his rapid flight. In the thinly
inhabited parts of South America, according to Youatt, it is dangerous to fall in with any of these
troops. The Wild Horses approach as near as they dare ; they call to the loaded Horse with the
gi-eatest eagerness, and if the rider is not on the alert, and has not considerable strength of arm and
shai-pness of spur, his animal will divest himself of his burden, take to his heels, and be gone for ever.
Byron well describes the Wild Horse in his " Maze ppa " : —

" A trampling troop ; I see them come !
In one vast squadi-on they advance !
I strove to cry — my lips were dumb.
The steeds rush on in plunging pride ;
But where are they the reins to guide ?
A thousand horse — and none to ride !
AVith flowing tail, and flying mane.
Wide nostrils — never strctch'd by pain,
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,
And feet that iron never shod.
And flanks unscarr'd by spur or rod,
A thousand horse, the wild, the free,
Like, waves that follow o'er the sea.
On came the troop . . .
They stop— they start — they snufi the air.
Gallop a moment here and there,
Approach, retire, wheel round and round,
Then plunging back with sudden bound.
They snort — they foam — neigh — swerve aside.
And backward to the forest fly."

Of the meeting a troop of Wild Horses in a more thickly iidiabited part of the country. Sir R
Head gives some interesting details. He describes some unfortunate captured animals as being forced
along by their riders at their very utmost speed : " As they are thus galloping along, urged by the
spur, it is interesting to see the gi-oups of Wild Horses one passes. The mares, which are never
ridden in South America, seem not to understand what makes the poor Horse can-y his head so low
and look so weary. The little innocent colts come running to meet him, and then start away
frightened; while the old Hoises, whose white marks on the flanks and backs betray their acquain-
tance with the spur and saddle, walk slowly away for some distance, then breaking into a trot as they
seek their safety, snort and look behind them, first with one eye and then with the other, turning
their noses from right to left, and carrying their long tails high in the aii-."

The capture and breaking in of Wild Horses in America are described by Miers as follows : —
" The lasso is a missile weapon, used by every native of the United Provinces and Chili. It is a
veiy strong plaited thong of equal thickness, half an inch in diameter, and forty feet long, made of
many strips of gi-een hide, plaited like a whip-thong, and rendered supple by grease. It has at one end
an iron ring, above an inch and a half in diameter, thi-ough which the thong is passed, and this forms
a running noose. The Gaucho, or native peon, is generally mounted on horseback when he uses the
lasso. One end of the thong is affixed to his saddle-girth ; the remainder he coils carefully in his left
hand, leaving about twelve feet belonging to the noose end in a coil, and a half of which he holds in
his right hand. He then swings this long noose horizontally round his head, the weight of the iron
ring at the end of the noose assisting in giving to it, by a continued circular motion, a sufficient force to
project it the whole length of the line." The Gauchos drive the Wild Horses into a corral, which is
a circular space surrounded by rough posts firmly driven into the ground. The corral, relates Miers,

THE CAI-TUKE AXD BREAKING IN OF WILD ilOJiSES. 309

" was (luiie full of Horses, most of wliieli were young ones about two or three years oiil. The Capita,-
(chief Gaucho), mounted on a strong, steady Horse, rode into tJie corral, and threw bis lasso over the
neck of a young Horse and dragged him to the gate. For some time lie was very unwilling to lose
his comrades ; but the moment he was forced out of the corral his first idea was to gallop away ; how-
ever, a timely jerk of the lasso cheeked him in the most eftectual way. The peons now i-an after him
on foot and threw a lasso over his fore legs, just above the fetlock, and twitch ijig it, they pulled his
legs from under him .so suddenly that I really thought tlie fall he got had killed him. In an instant
a Gaucho was seated on his head, and with his long knife, in a few seconds, cut off' the whole of the
Hoi-se's mane, while another cut the hair from the end of his tail : this, they told mo, was a mark that
the Hoi-se had been once mounted. They then put a piece of hide in his mouth to serve for a bit. and
a strong hide halter on his head. The Gaucho who was to mount arranged his spurs, wliich were un-
usually long and .sharp, and whOe two men held the Horse by his eais, he put on the saddle, which he
girthed extremely tight. He then caught hold of the Horse's ear, and in an instant vaulted into the
saddle ; upon which the man who held the Horse by the halter threw the end to the rider, and from
that moment no one seemed to take any fm-ther notice of him. The Horse instantly began to jump in a
manner which made it very difficult for the rider to keep his seat, and quite diflerent from the kick or
plunge of an English Horse ; however, the Gaueho's spurs soon set him going, and ofl' he galloped, doing
everything in his power to throw his rider. Another Horse was immediately brought from the cori-al ;
and so quick was the operation that twelve Gauchos were mounted in a sj)ace which, I think, hardly
exceeded an hour. It was wondei-ful to see the different manner in which different Horses behaved.
Some would actually scream while the Gauchos were girding the saddle upon their backs ; some would
instantly lie down and roll upon it ; while some would stand without being held, their legs stiff and in
unnatural positions, their necks half bent towards their tails, and looking vicious Mid obstinate ; and I
could not help thinking that I would not have mounted one of those for any reward that could be
offered me, for they were invariably the most difficult to subdue. It was now curious to look around
and see the Gauchos on the horizon in different directions, trying to bring their Horses back to the
corral, which is the most difficult pai-t of theii- work, for the poor creatures had been so scared
there that they were unwUliug to return to the place. It was amusing to see the antics of the Horses ;
they were jumping and dancing in diflerent ways, while the right arm of the Gauchos was seen flogging
them. At last they brought the Horses back, apparently subdued and broken in. The saddles and
bridles were taken off, and the young Horses trotted off towards the corral, neighing to one another.
When the Gaucho wishes to take a Wild Horse, he mounts one that has been used to the sport and
gallops over the plain. As soon as he comes near his victim, the lasso is thrown round the two hind
legs, and as the Gaucho rides a little on one side, the jerk pulls the entiingled Hor.se's feet laterally, so
as to throw him on his side without endangering his knees or his face. Before the Hoi-se can recover
the shock, the rider dismounts, and snatching his poncho, or cloak, from his shoulders, wraps it round
the prostrate animal's head. He then forces into his mouth one of the powerful bridles of the counti-y,
straps a saddle on his back, and bestriding him, removes the poncho ; upon which the astonished
Horse springs on his legs, and endeavours by a thousand vain efforts to disencumber himself of his-new
master, who sits quite composedly on his back, and, by a discipline which never fails, reduces the
Horse to such complete obedience that he is soon trained to lend his whole speed and strength to the
capture of his companions."

Wild Horses in Australia. — In Australia, as well as in America, the Horses iiujiorted by the
colonists have escaped into the wilds, and reverted to their feral condition. They are known as
"Brumbies," and are a serious inconvenience to the stock farmer, because they entice away liTs Horses
and spoil his carefully selected breeds. The animal develops wonderful sagacity in avoiding the sports-
man, and his keenness of scent and vigilance are certainly as great as in any other animal which seeks
in flight safety from man. These Brumbies were described by Anthony Trollope. himself an ai-dent
Fox-hunter, as being perfect marvels of ugliness. These animals ai-e found in enonnous numbers in
some districts. In 1875, for example, no less than seven thousand are stated to ha\e been shot in one
station in New South Wales, still leaving plenty behind to perpetuate the race.

The Ass. — Four species of Asses and three of Zebras are described by naturalists, but our
domestic animal is probably descended from one alone ; the Asiiius ieniupas of Abyssinia. In Great

■no NATURAL HISTORY.

Britain, and generally in Central Europe, the Ass has not given rise to distinct breeds like those
of the Horse, a fact which inaj- be accounted for, as Mr. Darwin remarks, by the animal being kept
by poor persons who do not carefully match and select the young. Its small size in England and
Northern Europe is probably due far more to want of care in breeding than to cold, for in Western
India it is not much larger than a Newfoundland Dog, being usually not more than from twenty to
thirty inolies high.

The Ass varies greatly in colour, and its legs, especially the fore legs, are sometimes transversely

barred ; a ftvct which may be explained on the hjrpothesis of the reappearance of the attributes of the
-parental form. " The stripes," Mr. Darwin says, " are believed to occur most frequently and to be
plainest on the legs of the Domestic Ass during early youth, as is apparently likewise the case with the
Horse. Tlie shouldev-stripe, wliich is so eminently characteristic of the species, is nevertheless
variable in breadth, length, and manner of termination. I have measured a shoulder-stripe four
times as broad as another, and some more than twice as long as others. In one light-grey Ass the
shoulder-stripe was only six inches in length and as thin as a piece of string ; and in another animal
of the same colour there was only a dusky .shade representing a stripe. I have heard of three white
Asses — not albinoes — with no trace of shoulder or spinal stripes, and I have seen nine other Asses -with
no shoulder-stripe, and some of them had no spinal-stripe. Three of the nine were light greys, one a
dark grey, another grey passing into reddish roan, and the others were brown, two being tinted on

THE fiTRIPES IN TEE ASS. 311

parts of tlieii- bodies with a reddish or bay shade. Hence we may conclude that if gi-ey and reddish-
brown Asses had been steadily selected and bred from, the shoulder-stripe would have been almost as
generally and as completely lost sis in the case of the Hoi-se.

" The shoulder-stripe on the Ass is sometimes double, and Mr. Blyth has seen even three or four
parallel stripes. I have observed in ten eases shoulder-stripes abruptly truncated at the lower end,
■with the anterior angle produced into a tapering point, precisely as has been figured in the Dun
Devonshire Pony. I have seen three cases of a terminal portion aln-uptly and angularly bent, and
two cases of a distinct, though slight, forking. In Syria, Dr. Hooker and his pai-ty observed for me

no less than five instances of the shoulder-stripe being plainly forked over the fore leg. In the
common Mule it is likewise sometimes forked. When Spist noticed the forking and angular bending
of the shoulder-stiipe, I had seen enough of the stripes in the various equine species to feel convinced
that even a character so unimportant as this had a distinct meaning, and was thus led to attend to the
subject. I now find that in the Asinus Burchellii and Quagga, the stripe which con-esponds with
the shouldei'-stripe of the Ass, as well as some of the stripes on the neck, bifurcate, and that some of
those near the shoiilder have their extremities angularly bent backwards. The forking and angular
bending of the stripes on the shouldei-s apparently stand in relation with the changed direction of the
nearly iipright stripes on the sides of the body and neck to the transverse bars on the legs. Finally,
we see that the presence of shoulder, leg- and spinal-stripes in the Horse, their occasional absence in
the Ass, the occun-ence of double and triple shoulder-stripes in both animals, and the similar manner
in which these stripes terminate at their lower extremities, are all cases of analogous variation in the
Hoi-se and Ass. These cases are probably not due to similar conditions acting on similar constitutions,

312 .\ATCMAL JUlSTOTiY.

but to a partial reversion in colour to the common progenitor of these two species, as well as of tlie
other species of the genus."

The Asses, beside the characteis above mentioned, have the upper part of the tail covered with
short hairs, while the lower part terminates in a long hairy tuft ; horny excrescences, or warts, exist
on the fore legs alone. In England, as we have before remarked, Asses are small and without much
variation, because their points have not been selected. When, however, care is taken in breediaig, the
result is as remarkable as in the case of the Horse. Near Cordova, according to Mr. Darwin, they are
carefully bred, as much as two hundred pounds having been paid for a stallion Ass. Asses from
Spain, Malta, and Fi-ance have been introduced into Kentucky for the breeding of Mules, which have
been raised by the care of the Kentuckians from their original .size of fourteen hands to sixteen hands

WILD ASS OF ABYSSINIA.

in height. Great prices ai-e put on these splendid animals, one of gi-eat celebrity having been sold
for over one thousand poimds. At their cattle shows, one day is given up to the exhibition of Asses.

Asses have always been in repute in the East, and much pains have been taken in their breeding.
They are frequently mentioned in the Bible, from which it appears that white Asses were used by
people of higli rank, as may be seen from the following verse (Judges v. 10) : " Speak, ye that rido
on white Asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way."

The Mule and Hinny. — The hybrid offspring of the Ass and the Mare is the Mule ; while the
Hinny is that of the Horse and female Ass. Of these the Mule is by far the larger, taking more the
form and appearance, as well as the dimensions, of the mare ; while the latter assumes so much of the
nature and general appearance of the Ass as to render the breeding of it undeserving of attention.

The Wild Ass of Tibet.- — We are indebted to Dr. Sclater, the accomplished Secretary of the
Zoological Society of London, for an interesting account of the ^'arious species of Wild Asses-
The Kiang, or Wild Ass of Tibet, inhabits the high plateaiix, at no less an altitude than from
fifteen to sixteen thousand feet above the sea. It is a large animal, measuring fourteen hands in

AATUilAL MIVTUKT.

heiglit, aiwl is exeeecUngly swift and wary. Tlie back is marked by a broad black line, but tliere is no
transverse bar across the shouklers ; it is probably the true Equus hemionus of Pallas. (See figure,
p. 295.)

The Onager, or Wild Ass of the Asiatic deserts, presents several varieties. That variety which
inhabits Catch and Scinde is remarkable for its swiftness and difficulty of ai)in-oach. It is closely
allied to the Wild Ass of Assyi-ia, named by St. Hilaii-e Equus Iminippus. (See figure, p. 311.)

EIRCHELL

The Wild Ass of Aby.SSInia, the parent form from whifh the domestic animals wero dcrivod,
is readily distinguishable from the above species by the strijies on its hind legs. (See figure, \\. 312.)

The Zebras. — Dr. Sclater describes three species of Zebra : the black and white, or true Zebra,
which inhabits the mountains ; Burchell's Zebra, or the black and yellow Zebra, which inhabits the
plains; and the Quauua. 'Y\\y true Zebra inhabits the hilly districts of Southern Africa, and is
remarkable feu- its l.i-auty and its tierce and untamable natuic It is by far the most consjiicuous
and mast lieautiful of thi> Ass tril>e. The .stripi's wliieh di'tiue it from the ordinary Asses are
remarkably like those of tlie Tiger in their arrangement. Those on its legs are horizontal, while
those of its body are for the most part vertical.

Burchell's Zebr.\ is found in great numbers north of the Orange Ri^-er ; and, according to
Sir Comwallis Harris, " seldom congregating in herds of fewer than eighty or a hundred, it abounds to
a great extent in all the districts included between that noble stream and the southern tropic.
Occupying the same regions and delighting in the same pastures as the Brindled Gnu, rarely is it to

THE Ql'AGGA.

be seen unless in the companionship of that fantastic animal, whose presence would seem to be almost
indispensable to its happiness. It is singular enough that the members of two families so perfectly
foreign to each other should display so great a predilection for each other's society, uniformly
intermixing as they do, and herding in bonds of the closest friendship. Fierce, strong, fleet, and
surpassingly beautiful, there is, perhaps, no quadruped in the creation, not even excepting the
Mountain Zebra, more splendidly attired, or presenting a picture of more singularly attractive beauty,
than this free-born child of the desert."

The QuAGGA, which is less attracti\ely coloured, and inhabits a different tract of country, is

^J^-- ^y

also described by Sir Cornwallis Harris, as follows : — " The geographical range of the Quagga does
not appear to extend to the northward of the ri^■er Vaal. The animal was -formerly extremely
common within the colony : but, vanishing before the strides of civilisation, is now to be found
in very limited numbers, and on the borders only. Beyond, on those sultry plains which are
completely taken possession of by wild beasts, and may with strict propriety be termed the
domains of savage nature, it occurs in interminable herds ; and, although never intermixing with
its more elegant congeners, it is almost invariably to be found ranging with the White-tailed Gnu
and with the Ostrich, for the society of which bird especially it evinces the inost singular pre-
dilection. Moving slowly across the profile of the ocean-like horizon, uttering a shrill, barking
neigh, of which its name forms a coi-rect imitation, long files of Quaggas continually remiiid the
early traveller of a rival caravan on its march. . . Bands of many hundreds are thus frequently
seen during their migration from the dreaiy and desolate plains of some portion of the interior,
which has formed their secluded abode, seeking for those more luxuriant pastui-es where, during the
summer months, various herbs thrust forth their leaves and flowers to form a green carpet, spangled
with hues the most brilliant and diversified.''

XATURAL HISTORY.

THE FOSSIL EUUlDiE.

Tlie living members of the family of Horses are, as we liave seen, restricted to tlie region
of the Old World, and were unknown in the Americas and in Australia, when those countries
were first discovered. From an examination, however, of their fossil remains, it is evident that
in the Pliocene and Pleistocene times Horses were widely distributed in both North and Soutl;
America. The bones and teeth in caves and river deposits of Europe also show that Wild Horses
were very numerous in Europe in the latter age. We are even able to form an accurate idea of tho
European Wild Horse from the engravings which the ancient hunters of Eeindeer have left behind in
caves of Auvergne, Switzerland, and Derbyshire. The outline engraved on a bit of bone or a fragment
of antler shows us an animal with a large head, thick neck, and big mane, coarse and clumsy in
its points, as might be expected from an aboriginal wild breed not subject to the care and selection of
man. The Horse, like the Bison and the Reindeer, formed a large part of the food of tliese ancient
men of the caves, and was not domesticated. The tiiie Horse.s begin to appear in Europe in the later
Pliocene strata.

In the early Pliocene and late Miocene ages the family of Horses is represented by the Hip-
PARION, a small, slender, graceful animal, possessed of three well-defined toes, bearing hoofs, on each
Hmb : one strong and large in the middle, while the two lateral toes are so small that they do not
extend beyond the fetlock. They may be compai'ed to dew-claws. The teeth ai-c like those of the
Horse, but shorter, and the pattern of the enamel on the grinding surface is more complicated. In
the early Miocene and late Eocene the ANCHiTHEUirji appears. Its orbit is not so comj)lett'ly en-
circled with bone as in the Hoi-ses and Hij)parion.

" The shaft of the ulna," writes Professor Huxley, " is stouter than in Hipparion, and is less
closely united with the radius. The fibula appears — at any rate, in some cases — to have been a comj)lete
though slender bone, the distill end of which is still closely united with the tibia, though much more
distinct tlian in the Hipparions and Horses. In some specimens, liowever, the middle of the shaft
seems to have been incompletely ossified. Not only are there three toes in each foot, as in Hijiparion,
but the inner and the outer toes are so lai-ge that they must ha-\e rested upon the ground. Thus, so fiir as
the limbs are concerned, the Anchitherium is just such a step beyond the Hipparion as the Hipparion
is beyond the Horse, in the direction of a less specialised quadruped. The teeth are still more
<livei-gent from the Equine type. The incisors are smaller in proportion, and their crowns lack the
peculiar pit which characterises those of Equus and Hipparion. The fii-st grinder is proj)ortionally
much larger, especially in the upper jaw, and, like the other six, has a short crown and no thick coat of
cement. The pattern of their crowns is wonderfully simplified. The fore and hind ridges run with
'.)ut a short obliquity across the crown, and the pillars are little more than enlargements of the ridges,
while in the lower jaw these pillars have almost entirely disappeared. But the foremost of the six
])rincipal gi-inders is still somewhat larger than the rest, and the posterior lobe of the last lower molar
is small, as in the other Equidfe."

In all those respects in which Anchitherium departs from the modern Equine type it ai)proaches
tliat of the extinct l^alnotheria ; and this is so much the case that Cuvier considered tlie remains of
the Anchitherium, with which he was acquainted, to be those of a species of Palseotherium. From
these considerations it may be concluded that the highly specialised Horse has obtained its charac-
teristics by descent from the Hipparion, and that again from the Anchitherium. In some eases on
record there is a revei-sion towards the ancestral type. Horses having been born with tridactyle
feet, similar in every respect to those of the Hipparion.

The lineage of tlic Horse is traceable yet further back by the discoveries of Marsh and Cope in
New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah, in North America, up to the Eohippus of the Lower Eocene, a
small animal not larger than a Fox, and with three toes on the hind foot and four and a rudiment of
a fifth on the fore foot. It must further be noted that the fossil Horses increased in size as they lost
tiieir toes, and that the living Horse is the biggest of tlie family.

CHAPTER II.

PERISSODACTYLA— THE TAPIK AND RHINOCEROS FAMILIES.

Intro Juctory Remarks on tlie Tapirs— Foot — Anatomical Features— Skull — Compared with that of Hog— Skull of Asiatic
Tapir— Proboscis— Dentition— Species of Tapir— THE AMERICAN Tapir— Habits— Colour— Modes of Hunting— Docility
—The Hatky Tapir— The Malayan T^iPiR— Fossil Tapirs— The Rhinoceroses— General Characteristics— Is it the
Re^m of the Bible ?— Ludicrous Ideas respecting it— At Rome— First Rhinoceroses in Europe— Skeleton— Skull—
Horns— Curious Dental Law— Fore and Hind Limbs— Dentition -African Rhinoceroses— "AVhite" Rhinoceros
— OswELL's Rhinoceros- Black Rhinoceros— Keitlo.^—Rhinockuos Ri(:>ii:ms 3Iinciu— Iliaitiiii; .sir Samuel
Baker's Extraordinaiy Chase — Gordon Cumming's Account of the Chain tin^tii> jml Halnts ..f tin- i.lack an.l Wliite
South Afiican Rhinoceroses— Rhinoceros Birds— The Asiatic RHiN'.rKiaisi;,- ('n„u,i ti,.i, l,et«,r,i Dnitition and
Horns — The Indian Rhinoceros — An Inveterate Enemy of the Elephant The .Iaxan UiiiNocFiais TmSi m..ihax
Rhinoceros — The Hairy-Eared Rhinoceros— How a Specimen, "Begiim,'" was Captured— The Fossil Rhino-
ceroses— The Extinct Families Pal<eotheridse and Macraucheniad».

ar

has

H

" W?^^

pore (a) and hind (ll) FOOT OF T.U'IR. (.4/(r

II.— THE TAPIRID.^ (FAMILY OF TAPIRS).
The Hog-like creatures which constitute the family of Tapirs form the second division of the
quadrupeds which are possessed of three toes on their hind feet, and are therefore termed,
already been said, the Perissodactyla. It must not,
however, be forgotten that these creatures possess a
fourth toe on the fore foot, which is small and does
not reach to the ground. The family is represented
by one genus only — Tap'n-us — which is distributed
over wide regions in the warmer parts of the Old and
the New Worlds. All the animals comprised under
it possess short and movable trunks, by which they
convey l;lieir food into their mouths, and at the ex-
tremity of which are placed the nostrils. They are
of a brownish-black colour; the skin is haiiy and
extremely thick, and the tail is very short.

The Tapir inhabits principally the inmost recessi ■.--
of dense forests, is nocturnal in its habits, and is phyto-
phagous, that is, feeds on vegetables. However, it is
said that it is also an indiscriminate swallower of every-
thing, filthy or clean, nutritious or otherwise, pieces of
wood, clay, pebbles, and bones being not uncommonly found in its stomach ; and it is even stated of one
that v,-ns kp\\X in confinement that it gnawed a silver snuff-box to pieces and swallowed the contents.

The skull of the Tapir, seen in profile, re-
minds us strongly of that of the Hog, the .same
pyramidal elevation being brought to view.
Examined closely, however, we find that this
j>\ramid diftei-s immediately from that of the
latter animal by the possession of only three faces,
vvhile in the Pig there are four. In addition, it
i'l also to be noticed that the anterior line is
formeil by the joining of the lateral faces,
dating into a triangle only towards the front :
this being due to the frontal bones, which r.ro
e.nly united and directed somewliat backwards.
The liones of the ncse are articulated to the
base of the triangle, and here there is a point
V hich i)enetrates between them. A deeji furrow,
I'liiarjijum ;.","['■"■ "iiiM" II J u. Ill, jiroduced by the upper border of the orbit,

descends from the two sides above the orbit,
the sub-orbital hole, serves for the insertion of various muscles connected
With regard to the differences between the skull of the Malayan Tapir and the

which, approachino
with the nroboscis.

NATURAL HISTOST.

HEAD OF MALAYAN TAPIR, SHOWING MVSCLES OF
SHORT TKVNK AND FACE. (Aftir Mvrie.)

American, Cuvier observes that a glance at the profile of their respective crania is sufficient to
impress upon the observer their specific diflferences. The foi-ehead of -the Indian Tapir is convex,
and rises higher than the back of the head. It is accompanied, in its rise, by the nasal bones,
an arraugeinent by which space is given for the comparatively large proboscis, and adding length

to the fuiTOws where the muscles are in-
serted. This organisation, according to
Cuvier, explains why the Indian Tapir has
a more powerful and more extensile trunk
than the American. There is also in the
former, on the base of the nasal bones,
at their junction with the frontal bones
and on each side, a deep fossa, or de-
pression, which does not exist in the other
species. This elevation of the forehead
is accompanied by a depression of the oc-
cipital crest, which, far from forming a
pyramid, as in the American species, rather
descends backwards. The aperture of the
bony nostrils, enlarged by the prolongation
of the maxillary bones, termuiates below and forwards by more elevated premaxillaries, which are
fused (anchylosed) together in early youtli, as in the American.

In the upper jaw there are, in the adult Tapu, on each side three incisors, one canine, four pre-
molars, and three molars. In
the lower jaw, on each side,
there are three incisors, one
cariine, three premolars, and
three molars: altogether
making forty - two teeth in
number.

Some peculiarities offer
themselves with regard to the
form of the teeth : for instance,
the outer incisors above are
very large and resemble ca-
nines, while those below are
unusually small. The canines
themselves are very small,
having their crowns con.sider-
ably shorter than theii- roots.
With regard to other

portions of the skeleton nothing need be remarked, except that the bones of the extremities are
exceedingly strong, and resemble in many respects those of the Ehinoceros.

Three species of Tapirs are known, namely, American Tapir (Tapirus americanus), Eoulin's Tapir
(Tapirus villosus), and Asiatic Tapir {Tapirus malayanus).

The American Tapir.* — Of the three foregoing species the best kno-mi is the American Tapir,
which is found in almost all parts of South America from Buenos Ayres to Central America, and from
the Andes to the Atlantic. In its habits it is nocturnal, spending the whole of the day-time in the cool
shades of the densest forests, and coming forth to feed on the surrounding vegetation as evening
approaches. It is a most powerful animal, and everything in the underwood of the forest gives way
to its rush. It has the habit of making runs or roads through the brushwood, which beaten tracks
are usuallj' selected by travellers in passing through the forests. It is stated that it has a most keen

MALAYAN TAPIK.

Tapi,

TEE AMEHICAN TAPIS. 319

sense of smell, enabling it to detect its enemies at long distances, when it at once rushes into brush-
wood or thicket so dense that neither man nor horse can follow. It never attacks man without being
very hardly pressed and brought to bay.

AMERICAN TAPIRS

It is excessively fond of the water, being a most expert swimmer, and usually keeping to a
particular track in the element in which it :' ' '

The American species is characterised by haraig the general colour throughout of a deep brown,
approaching to black ; but the sides of the lower lip, band on the under a ad mkldle part of the chin.

320 XATUIiAL Ul.STOUV.

upper edces of the e.ars, and naked line at the bottom of tlie lioofs, are snowy white. The scanty hair
of the body is very short, and is hardly to be distinguished at a comparatively short distance.

The skin, which is of great density beneath, is described by M. Roulin to be not less than seven
lines thick on the back ; and he says that in the days when rifles were not brought to their present
pitch of jierfection a ball from one of them would scarcely make an impression.

On the back of the neck there is a thick rounded crest, which extends from the forehead, as low
as the level of the eyes, to the shoulders, and Vjeset with a comparati\ely thin mane of stiff blackish
bristles.

The American Tapir is hunted for its excessively tough hide, and also for its flash, which, although
described by Europeans as unsavoury, being coarse and dry, is considered palatable by the Indians.
It is captured sometimes, although not often, by means of the lasso, an instrument so successful
in Horse-catching in America, but often futile as regards the Tapir, for its usual haunts render
this mode of capture most difiicult, and its determined rush and immense strength frequently enable
it to break the strongest lajso. Another way of hunting the Tapir practised by the native
hunters is to find out the animal's track leading to the water ; there, with their Dogs, they patiently
lis in wait until evening approaches, when the Tapir comea out for the purpose of taking his evening
stroll and indulging in the indispensable bath. They then get between him and the water, when a
desperate encounter ensues, the Dogs often getting very badly injured.

The most successful manner of catching the Tapir, however, is by means of imitating its whistle
or call, thus bringing the animal within range of the Indian's poisoned arrow.

The American Tapir is spoken of as being mild in captivity and easily domesticated,, and
tame Tapirs are ]3ermitted to run at large in the streets of the towns of Guiana, and often wander

MALAYAN T.l

THE RUIXOCEROS FAMILY. 321

into the forests, but return again in the evening to the house iii which they are kipt and fed. The
Tapii- is capable of considerable attachment to its owner, and possibly, by care and attention, might
be turned to good account, as the qualities with which it is credited — strength, docility, and patience —
ought to render it capable of the duties of a beast of burden.

The Hairy Tapir,* the second species of American Tapir, iidrabits the inner range of the
Cordilleras, this species being strictly mountainous in its habits.

It Ls stated to differ from the other species of America by not possessing a mane ; but has
altogether longer hair, and there are no wrinkles on the proboscis. In the conformation of the skull
and general oliaracteristics it more nearly resembles the Asiatic Tapir than the American, and is less
common than the latter animal.

The Malayan TAPiR.t — The Asiatic Taj)ir, which ai)pears to have become known to Europeans
only in the present centmy — at least, the first certain information of it reached Europe in the
year 1816 — is an inhabitant of Sumati-a, Malacca, and the south-west provinces of China. It is said to
have been found also in Borneo. In size it is larger than either T. americanus or T. viUosus. It is
distinguished by the absence of a mane, the general colour of the hair being glossy black, but with the
itack, rumj), and sides of the belly white.

In its habits the Asiatic Tapir appears to be similar to his American cousin, and in captivity it
is said to be of a most mild and inoffensive disposition, becoming as tractable and familiar as a Dog.

Fossil Tapirs. — The living Tapir is known at tlie present day only in the warmer regions of the
New and Old Worlds, in South America, and in the East. In the Pleistocene Age, however, it is
proved to have ranged far up the valley of the Mississippi in the United States. In the Miocene
and Pliocene Ages the animal inhabited Eui'opo, and its fossil teeth are met with by no means
unfrequently in the Crag deposits of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Lophiodon of the European and
American Eocenes is also a closely allied form.

III.— THE RHINOCEROS FAMILY (RHINOCEROTID.^).

The Rhinoceroses form the third family of the sub-order of Perissodactyla. Tiiey are to be found
in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and in Eastern Asia — in India, Java, and Sumatra, ifec, where
the climate is tropical or sub-tropical. They are represented by several living species, as well as bj^
several extinct forms wliich ranged, in tlie later Tertiary times, over nearly the whole of Europe and
Northern Asia. The principal chrti-acters which are to be observed in the Rhinoceros are the lai-ge
unwieldy bodies, supported on short, stout legs, terminating in a large callous pad with hoof-bearing
toes, the large and long head, tlie small eyes and ears, and the short tail. AH the living species
tilso possess one or two horns, which are placed in the middle line of the head on and above the nose.
The horns are to be viewed as a mere appendage to the skin, like hair, for they are only skin deep,
and are composed of a series of fibres matted together, and are essentially a mass of hair ia
which each hair is confluent with those ne.xt to it. Horns were pi-esent also in all the fossil
species excepting one, the Aceratherium, the liornless Rhinoceros of the Miocene Age. The skin
in all the Rhinoceroses is very thick, and is converted into a jointed armour in some of the Asiatic
species ; it is also scantily covered with hair, except in ■"the Hairy-eared Rhinoceros." A fossil kind
was woolly.

It is a disputed point whether the word Reem, mentioned several times in the Rible, and
translated in the authorised version as Unicorn, is the Rhinoceros or the Urus ; the probability seems
to be that the latter is intended. The first time Reem is mentioned in the Bible is in Numbers xxiii.
rerses 21, 22, to the following effect : — "Tlie Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is
among them. God brought them out of Egyjjt ; he hath as it were the strength of Reem." Whatever
animal Reem may have been, it was a creature evidently of gi-eat power, and the strongest known to
the prophe:. In another pa.ssage—Deut. xxxiii. verses 16, 17 — we obtain, the information that Reem
was a two-horned and not a one-horned animal, and therefore could not possibly have been the Indian
Rhinoceros at least, and that it is mentioned at the same time with Bullocks. Other passages speak

* Tapirus viUosus. t Tapirus malayanus.

322 NATURAL HISTORY.

of Reem in connection with the plough and harrow, for wliich its tameless and savage disposition
rendered it unfit. It is also spoken of in Isaiah in connection with sacrifices of cattle (chap, xxxiv.
verses 6, 7).

Topsel, an author of the sixteenth century, while trying to show that there lived such a creature
as the fabled Unicom, and giving a picture repi-esenting it as possessing the horn of the Narwhal,
the body of a Horse, and the feet of an Ox, successfully shows Reem to mean neither a Unicorn
nor Rhinoceros^, but simply an Ox. He relates : — " That there is such a beast the Scripture itself
witnesseth, for David thus speaketh in the 92nd Psalm : Ei erigetur cornu meum tanquam nionocerotis
— that is, my home shall bee lifteth up as the home of a imicom." He goes on to say : " We have
already shown, in the story of the Rhinoceros, that Reem in Hebrew signifies a Unicorne, although
Munster be of another opinion ; yet the Septuagints, in the translation of Deut. xxxiii., do translate it a
Unicorne, for the Rhinocei-os hath not one home but two. Rabbi Solomon, David Kimchi, and Saadius
do always take Reem and Karas for a Unicorne, and they derive Refem from Rom, which S'ignifieth
Altitudinem, height, because the home of the Unicorn is lifted up upon high. Hereunto the Arabians
agree, which call it Barkeron, and the Persians Bark ; the Chaldeans, Reniana. In the 39th chapter of
Job the Lord speaketh in this manner to Job : — ' Will the Unicorne rest and serve thee, or tarry
beside thy cratches 1 Canst thou bind the Unicorne with a halter to thy plough to make furrows ] or
will he make plaine the clots of the valleys 1' . . . Whereby God Himself must needs be traduced
if there be no Unicorne in the world." We may thei-efore conclude that Reem was one of the
Oxen wild in those times in Palestine. It, probably, was the great wild Ox, or Urns, which formerly
abounded in the forests of Macedonia, and was hunted in the forests of Germany as late as the tenth
century after Christ.

The Rhinoceros was first seen at Rome, according to Pliny, in the games given by Pompey to the
Roman people. He describes it as being possessed of one horn on its nose, which it sharpens on a
stone befoi-e it fights, and that when it fights -ivith the Elephant it attempts to rip its belly open. The
earliest time the animal was mentioned by name was by Agatharchides, who describes it as fighting
in the manner above alluded to. In both these instances it is evident that the one-horned Asiatic
species is meant. The African Rhinoceros, according to Dion Cassius, was for the first time brought
before the notice of the Romans in B.C. 39, in the games given by Augustus to celebrate his victory
over Cleopatra. It was exhibited along with a Hippopotamus, and both animals were in all likeli-
hood obtained from the Upper Nile.

Probably the fii'st Rhinoceros ever seen by modern Europeans was a one-homed species, the
R. tmicornis, sent from India to Emanuel, King of Portugal, in 1513. A sketch was sent from Lisbon
to Niirnberg, and a most extraordinaiy engraving was made by Albert Durer, from which Gesner,
Topsel, &c., took copies. This animal was made to appear in a wonderful suit of armour beautifully
decorated, and supplied with a second horn on the shoulders, resembling the point of that of the
Narwhal. Topsel's desci-iption of the Rhinoceros is most ludicrous — " Fii-st of all, that there is such a
beast in the world both Pliny, Soliuus, Diodorus, ^lianus, Lanipridius, and others, doe yeald ere-
frigable testimony." He then goes on to say : " The picture here expressed was taken by Gesner from
the beast alive at Lisbon, in Portugale. . . . Eueherius saith that the Rhinoceros hath two homes
in his nose, but that is utterly false, as you may see by the picture. . , . The Rhinoceros cast up
a Bears into the aire even as h Bull would do a ball wliich were laid upon his two homes ; we shall not
neede to apply Gemino cormi to the Bull, as Politianus doth, but rather take it figuratively for a strong
home, and if it must needs be litterall, it'is apparent by the picture that there is another little home,
not upon the nose, but upon the Nvither of the beast. . . . When they are to fight they whet
their home upon a stone ; and there is not only a discord betwixt these beasts f>.nd Elephants for
their food, biit a naturall description and enmity : for it is confidently affirmed that when the
Rhinoceros which was at Lisbone was brought into the presence of an Elephant, the Elephant
ran away from liim. . . Hee (the Rhinoceros) is taken by the same means that the Unicorn
is taken, for it is said by Alljertus, Isidorus, and Alumnus, that above all other creatures they
love virgins, and that unto them they will come, be they never so wilde, and fall asleep before
them, so being asleep they are easily taken and carried away." Topsel then goes on to infoi-m
us that " all the later physicians attribute the vii-tue of the Unicorn's home to the Rhinoceros's

ANATOMY OF TBE EMINOCEROS. 323

horn, but they are deceived by imitation of Isidorus and Albertus, for there is none of tlie
ancient Gra;ciaiis that have ever observed any medicines in the Rhinoceros. The Indians made
bottles of theii- skins, wherein they put their lycion, or succum medicatum."

The first Rhinoceros brought alive to England was in 1685, and another was shown through-
out a gi-eat part of Europe in 1739, and another in 1741. Parsons''^ described and figured the
Rhinoceros of 1739, and refers to that of 1741, which Cuvier says he believes to be the same
animal afterwards shown in Paris in 1749, painted by Oudry, and afterwards engraved by Edwards
and figured by Albinus. It was the one described by Daubenton, as well as by Meckel. The one
of which Cuvier gives the osteology was the fifth brought to Europe. It arrived at Versailles in
1771, and died in 1793, at the age of about twenty-six years. Another Rhinoceros arrived from the
East Indies in 1790, as a present to Mr. Dundas. This was afterwards purchased for ,£700, and
exhibited at Exeter 'Change and also about England generally. Another animal, which was

destined for the menagerie of the Emperor of Gei-many, arrived from India in 1800, but died in
London soon after its arrival. It was dissected by Mr. Thomas, and his ob.servations thereon werb
published in the " Philosophical Transactions." Shortly afterwards an eighth arrived, which subse-
quently went to Germany. Since this it has become common in the Zoological Gardens in various
parts of Europe, and, in 1878, the genus was represented in the Regent's Park by no less than five
difterent species and varieties.

The skeleton of the Rhinoceros, viewed generally, has a resemblance to that of the little Hyrax,
the Tapii-, and the Horse. The skull is much elevated at the base, being somewhat of a pyramidal
form, and the nasal bones curve upwards and downwards, and are of such a size and thickness, in
order to support one or more immense horns, that they are quite unparalleled for their development
ill any other existing quadruped. The nasal bones, together with the pre-maxillai-y and maxillary
bones, form the general contour for the external apertures of the nostrils. This is peculiar, and
found in no other animal, with the exception of the Tapii-.

The Rhinoceros has no canine teeth ; the incisor teeth vary, not only in regard to then- form and
proportions, but also theii- existence ; and in the varieties of these teeth we may discern the same
inverse relation to the development of the horns which is manifested by the canines of the Ruminants.
Thus, the two-homed Rhinoceroses of Africa, which are remarkable for the great length of one or both
of the nasal weapons, have no incisors in their adult dentition ; neither had the great extinct hairy

Philosophical Tn

NATURAL HISTORY.

species {Rliinnceros tichorhimis), t\ioug\\ that the latter had gi'eat horns is proved by the nature of the

bones of the nose and face which supported their weight. The Sumatran bicoru Rhinoceros combines,
with comparatively small horns, moderately developed incisors in both jaws.
The sternum of the mature animal consists of foiu- bones, the first of
-.^^ . . ., which is compressed into a ploughshare-like shape, and projects in a point in

\ ^\ front of the first rib. All the bones of the fore limbs of the Rhinoceros

resemble those of the Tapii' more than those of any other animal ; but
from their much larger size are not at all likely to be confounded with
them. Of the hind limbs, the points offering peculiarities are as follows : —
The femur is remarkable for being extremely flattened from before backwards,
and the projection called by Cuvier the third trochanter projects very much,
forming a hook ascending towards a hook which descends from the projec-
tion known as the gi-and trochanter, thereby leaving an oval hole between
these two projections. With regard to the lower portions of the hind leg,
resemblances are to be found both to the Hor.se and Tapir, the tibia, fibula,
and tarsus being built on the same plan as those of the former, although
some of the bones of the tai-sus resemble those of the Tapir more than
they do those of the Horse. There are ahio some points of resemblance in
the metatarsus to that of both the Horse and Tapir. The difierenco
between the hind legs of the Rhinoceros and Elephant is very marked, and

^ ^^ their gait is different.

The dentition of the Rhinoceros differs in a very remarkable degree

from that of the family of Horses. The grinders ,

are implanted by distinct roots, and in the upper

jaw their crowns are traversed by two deep folds of

enamel, which constitute open valleys. In the lower

jaw they are composed of two crescent-shaped lobes, also

open. The covering of " cement" is thin, and never

fills up the valleys, as in the case of the more complex

dental system in the Horse. The normal number of the

grinders is seven in each jaw, while the incisors, as we

have already remai'ked, vary, not only in form, but also

are sometimes absent, and canines are not developed in

any of the living or fossil members of the family.

THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROSES.

Of the number of species of Rhinoceros there is con-
siderable doubt. At least four, possibly five, inhabit
Africa, and four Asia. With regard to the African
species, we will first take the large " White " Rhinoceros
{Rhinoceros simus) described by Burchell. This is an
animal measuring somewhat over twelve feet in length
and about five feet ten inches in height. It has a square
nose and two large rounded horns, the anterior one
averaging about two feet six inches in length, but not
uncommonly found measuring three feet six inches,
sometimes even over four feet ; the posterior rarely or
never exceeding fifteen inches, and generally not being

more than twelve inches. Its skin is smooth, and without any of those folds so characteristic of
the Asiatic species. It inhabits all the country south of the Zambesi, and probably it may also
exist in Central Africa. It feeds solely on grass, and sometimes collects into small hei-ds.

Oswell's Rhinoceros* in no way differs from R. simvs, except that the front horn points
* Rhinoceros Oswdlii.

THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROSES. 325

foi'wanls, and in some cases even downwanls. Tliis Mr. Drumniond eonsiilers not to be a distinct
species, but only an accidental an<l local variety.

The so-called Black Rhinoceros [Rhinoceros hicornis major) is a much smaller animal than E.
simus, being about eleven feet in length and five feet in height, with an elongated head and horns
thicker in j)roj)ortion to length than those of K. sinii^. The front horn Ls twenty inches or

twenty-two inches in length, and never attains to more than twenty-six or twenty-eight inches; while
the back horn averages ten inches or twelve inches. Its skin is not black, but flesh-coloured, and the
upper lip is highly prehensile. The first specimen ever brought to Europe was captured in Upper
Nubia in 1868, and was pro\-ided with a lodging in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens.
It is found in all the country south of the Zambesi ; inhabits thorn thickets chiefly (in which H.
simus is never found), but occasionally occurs in other jungle or open ground. It feeds chiefly on
thorn leaves and branches, though also eating grass, for the plucking of which its flexible upper lip
is as well fitted as the long tongue of the Giraffe. It is gregarious, five or six being sometimes
found together.

The Keitloa, oi- Sloan's Rhinocsros {Rhinoceroi keitloa), differs but little from R. hicornis major,

326 NATURAL HISTORY.

excepting in the formation of tlie head, which is somewhat shorter and broader, and it has a less prehen-
sile lip. Its chief characteristic is the posterior horn, which is flattened at the sides, being of almost
equal length to the anterior, and even occasionally longer, twenty inches and twenty-two inches being
about the average. It is found sparingly in all the country south of the Zambesi, and is not gi-e-
garious, a bull and cow only being usually seen together. Rhinoceros bicornis minor is the smallest,

\X^-

■A'

being seldom over ten feet in length, or more than four feet ten inches in height. The head is more
elongated and the nose more pi-ehensile than in any other species, while the legs are shorter in pro-
portion and the feet smaller. The anterior horns rai-ely exceed twelve inches, and the posterior seven or
eight inches. It is usually found only between Zululand and the Limpopo river, although it has been
killed farther north, not far from the Zambesi. It is not gregarious, two full-grown ones and a
calf being the greatest number that has been recorded as seen together. It feeds on thorns, leaves,
and shoots, and rarely, if ever, is found out of the thorn jungle.

Until recent times, it was univei-sally believed that the hide of a Rhinoceros was too tough to
allow a biillet to penetrate ; indeed, even now in popular opinion the belief is still retained, but, like
many popular opinions, it has been jjroved to be fintrue ; and that a Rhuioceros may be as easily shot

Slli S.1JIUI:L llAKERS MUJXOC££U.s UUyT. 327

■(vitli an ordiiiai-y bullet as an Ox is fully establislied on the authority of Gordon C'uniming, Sir S.
Baker, Dr. Livingstone, and othere.

Sir S. Baker, in his " Nile Tributaries," gives the following interesting account of a Rhinoceros
hunt : — " We were leisurely returning home through alternate plains and low open forests of mimosa,
wlien Taher Sherifl", who was leading the party, suddenly reined up his Horse, and pointed to a thick
bush, beneath which was a large, grey, but shapeless mass. He wliispered, a.s I drew near, ' Oom
qurrin ' (mother of the horn), their name for the Rhinoceros. I immediately dismounted, and with the
short No. 10 Tathara rifle I advanced iis near as I could, followed by Suleiman, as I had sent all my
gun-bearers direct home by the river when we had conunenced our cii-cuit. As I drew near, I dis-
covered two Rhinoceroses asleep beneath a thick mass of bushes ; they were lying like Pigs, close
together, so that at a distance I had been unable to distinguish any exact form. It was an awkward
place ; if I were to take the wind faii'ly, I .should have to fire through the thick bush, which would be
useless ; therefore I was compelled to advance with the wind direct from me to them. The aggageers
remained about a hundred yards distant, while I told Suleiman to retm-n, and hold my Horse in
readiness with his own. I then walked quietly to within about thirty yards of the Rhinoceroses, but
so curiously were they lying that it was useless to attempt a shot. In their happy dreams they must
have been suddenly disturbed by the scent of an enemy, foi-, without the least warning, the}' suddenly
sprang to their feet with astonishing quickness, and with a loud and sharp whifi", wliifl', whiff ! one of
them charged straight at me. I fired my right-hand barrel in his thi-oat, as it w;is usele.ss to aim at
the head, protected bj^ two horns at the nose. This turned him, but had no other eflect, and the two
animals thundered off together at a tremendous pace. Now for a ' tally ho ! ' Our stock of gum was
scattered on the gi'ound, and away went the aggageers in full speed after the two Rhinoceroses. With-
out waiting to re-load, I quickly remountetl my Horse Tetel, and, wth Suleiman in company, I spurred
hard to overtake the flying Arabs. Tetel was a good strong cob, but not very fest ; however, I believe
he never went so well as upon that day, for, although an Abyssinian Horse, I had a pair of English
spurs, which worked like niLssionaries, but with a more decided result. The ground was awkward fur
riding at full speed, as it was an open forest of mimosas, which, although \vide apart, were very diifi-
cult to avoid, owing to the low crowns of spreading branches ; these, being ai-med with fish-hook thorns,
would have been serious on a collision. I kej)t the party in view until, in about a mile, we arrived
upon open gi'ound. Here I again ajiplied the spurs, and by degrees I crept up, always gaining, until
I at length joined the aggageers. Here was a sight to drive a hunter ! The two Rhinoceroses were
running neck and neck, like a pair of Hoi-ses in harness, but -bounding along at tremendous speed
within ten yards of the leading Hamram. This was Taher Sheriff, who, with his sword di-awn and
his long hair flying wildly behind him, ui'ged his Hoi"se forward in the race, amid a cloud of dust
raised by the two huge but active bea.sts, that tried every sinew of the Hor,ses. Rodur Sheriff", with
the withered arm, was second ; with the reins hung upon the hawk-like claw that was all that
remained of a hand, but with his naked sword grasped in his right, he kept close to his brother, ready
to second his blow. Abou Do was third ; his hail- flying in the wind, his heels dashing against
the flanks of his Horse, to which he shouted in his excitement to lu-ge him to the front, while he leant
forward with liis long sword, in the wild energy of the moment, as though hoping to reach the game
against all possibility. Now for the spurs ! and as these, vigorously applied, screwed an extra stride
out of Tetel, I soon found myself in the ruck of men, horses, and drawn swords. There were seven
of us, and passing Abou Do, whose face wore an expression of agony at finding that his Horse was
failing, I quickly obtained a place between the two brothers, Taher and Rodur Sheiiff. There had
lieen a jealousy between the two parties of aggageers, and each was striving to outdo the other : thus
Abou Do was driven almost to madness at the superiority of Taher's Horse, while the latter, who was
the renowned hunter of the tribe, was determmed that his sword should be the fii-st to taste blood. I
tried to pass the Rhinoceros on my left, so as to fire close inlo the shoulder my remaining barrel with
my right hand, but it was imj)0ssible to overtake the animals, who bounded along with undiminished
.speed. With the greatest exertion of man and horses, we could only retain our position within about
three or four yards of their tails — ^just out of reach of the swords. The only chance in the race was
to hold the pace until^the Rhinoceroses should begin to flag. The Horses were pressed to the
utmost; but we had alreadv run about two miles, ami the game showed no signs of giving in. On
25

NATURAL IIISTOnr.

they flew — sometimes ovei- open ground, then througli low bush, wliich tried the Horses severely ; then
flirough strips of open forest, until at length the party began to tail off, and only a select few kept
their jilaces. We arrived at the summit of a ridge, from which the grovmd sloped in a gentle inclina-
tion for about a mile towards the river; at the foot of this incline was thick, thorny, »ifl66»A- jungle,
for which impenetrable covert the Rhinoceroses pressed at their utmost speed. Never was there better
ground for the finish of a race ; the earth was sandy, but firm, and as we saw the winning post in the
jungle that must terminate the hunt, we redoubled our exertions to close with the unflagging game.
Suleiman's Horse gave in — we had been for about twenty minutes at a killing pace. Tetel, although
not a f:u3t Horse, was good for a distance, and we now proved his power of endurance, as I was riding
at least two stone heavier than any of the party. Only four of the seven remained ; and we swept
down the incline, Taher SheriflT still leading, and Abou Do the last ! His Horse was done, but not
the rider; for, springing to the ground while at full speed, sword in hand, he foi-sook his tired Horse,
and, preferring his own legs, he i-an like an Antelope, and for the first hundred yai-ds I thought he
would really pass us and win the honour of first blow. It was of no use ; the pace was too severe, and,
although running wonderfully, he was oliliged to give way to the Horses. Only three now followed
the Rhinoceroses. Taher Sheriff, his brother Rodur, and myself. I had been obliged to give the
second place to Rodur, as he was a mere Monkey in weight ; but I was a close third. The excitement
was intense ; we neai-ed the jungle, and the Rhinoceroses began to show .signs of flagging, as the dus(
liuft'ed up before their nostrils, and, with noses close to the ground, they snorted as they still galloped
on. ' Oh for a fre.sh Horse I' We were within two hundred yards of the jungle ; but the Horses weif
all done. Tetel reeled as I urged him forward; Rodur pushed ahetul ; we were close to the dense thorns,
and the Rhinoceroses broke into a trot : they were done ! Away went Taher; he was close to the very
heels of the beasts, but his Horse could do no more than his present pace ; still he gainad upon flie
nearest ; he leaned forward, with his sword raised for the blow— another moment suid the jungle would
be reached ! One eSbrt more, and the sword flashed in the simshine, as the rearmost Rhinoceros
disappeared in the thick screen of thorns, with a gash about a foot long upon his hind-quarters. Taher
Slienff" shook his bloody sword in triumph above his head ; but the Rhinoceros was gone — we were fairly

mEssts=sr*"

'

rij't.^ ^Sm

fc^^f :■

^H^^^^S^j/' < '

. iS'i

■ 'i

-^^^^^^^^1

^^H^^^,

\

i

■

. .\ '^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

')^^^H|i

.1

1

; ■'■•■

BH^^^^^^^^

<

<»

/te

H../ ,

r

THE AFRICAN RHINOCEROS. S28

beaten, regular!)- outpaceil. Taher Sheriff explained that at all times the Rhinoceros was thy most
diiiicult auiinal to sabre, on accoiii;t of his extraordinary swiftness, and, although he had killed many
with the sword, it was always after a long and fiitiguiug hunt, at the close of which the animal,
oecoming tired, genei"ally turned to bay, in which case one hunter occupied his attention, while anotiier
iilloped up behind and severed the hamstring. The Rhinoceros, unlike the Elephant, can go very
■ (11 upon three legs, which enhances the danger, as one cut will not utterly disable him."

Not unfrequently, however, it is the hunter who has to fly away before the Rhinoceros, as Sir S.
Baker found out to his cost in the Upper Nile.

Goiilon Camming, in his "Hunter's Life in South Africa," gives the following details of the
Rhinoceros : — " Of the Rhinoceros there are four varieties in South Africa, distinguished by the
Reehuanas by the names of the Rorele, or Black Rhinoceros ; the Keitloa, or Two-horned Black
Rhinoceros; the Muchocho, or common White Rhinocero.s ; and the Robaoba, or Long-horned White
Rhinoceros. Both varieties of the Black Rhinoceros arc extremely fierce and dangerous, and rush
headlong and unprovoked at any object which attracts their attention. They never attain much fat,
?.nd their fle.sh is tough, and not much esteemed by the Bechuanas. Their food consists almost entirely
oi the thorny branches of the waitabit thorns. Their horns are much shorter than those of the other
varieties, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length. They are finely polished with constant inibbing
against the trees. The skxdl is remarkably formed, its most striking feature being the tremendously
thick ossification in which it ends above the nostrils. It is on this mass that the horn is supported.
The horns are not connected with the skull, being attached merely by the skin, and they may thus be
separated from the head by means of a sharp knife. They are hard and solid throughout, and are a
fine material for various articles, such as drinking-cups, mallets for rifles, handles for turners' tools,
&c., &c. The hom is cajiable of taking a very high polish. The eyes of the Rhinoceros are small and
sparkling, and do not readily oKserve the hunter, provided he keej) to leeward of them. The skin is
■extremely tliick, and only to be penetrated by bullets hardened with solder. During the day the
Rhinoceros will be found lying asleej), or standing indolentlj' in some retired part of the foie.st, or
under the base of the mountains, sheltei'ed from the power of the sun by some friendly gi'ove of
umbrella-topped mimosas. In the evening they commence then- nightly rambles, and wander over »
great extent of country. Tliey usually visit the fountains between the hours of nine and twelve
■o'clock at night, and it is on these occasions that they may be most successfully hunted and with the
least danger. The Black Rhmoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often ploughing up
the ground for several yards with its horn, and aissaulting large bushes in the most violent manner.
On these bushes they work for houi-s with their horns, at the same time snorting and blowing loudly,
nor do they leave them in general untU they have broken them in pieces. All the four varieties
<lelight to roll and wallow in the mud. with which their lugged hides are generally encrusted. Both
varieties of the Black Rhinoceros are much sm:i.ller and more active than the white, and are so swift
that a Horse -nith a rider on his back can rarely overtake them. The two varieties of the White
Rhinoceros are so similar in habits that the description of one will serve for both ; the principal
diflerence consisting in the length and set of the anterior hom : that of the Muchocho averaging from
two to three feet in length, and pointing backwards ; while the horn of the Robaoba often exceeds
four feet in length, and inclines forward from the nose at an angle of 45°. The posterior horn of either
species seldom exceeds six or seven inches in length. The Robaoba is the rarer of the two, and it is
found very for in the interior, chiefly to the eastward of the Limpopo. Its horns are veiy valuable
for loading-rods, supplying a substance at once suitable for a sporting implement and excellent for the
purpose. Both these varieties of Rhinoceros attain an enormous size. They feed solely on gi-ass,
cany much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable to beef They are of a much milder
and more inofiensive disposition than the Black Rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their
.speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties, and a person well mountefl can overtake and shoot
them. The head of these is a foot fonger than that of the Borfele. They generally carry their heads
low ; whereas the Borele, when disturbed, carries his very high. Unlike the Elephants, they never
associate in herds, but are met with singly or in jjairs. In districts where they ai-e abundant from
three to six may be found in company ; and I once saw upwards of a dozen congi-egated togethei' on
some young gitiss ; but such an occurrence is rare."

S30

NAT VEAL HlHTOIiY.

Gordon Cumming relates tliiit the Rhinoceros and Hiiipopotamns are usually attended by little
birds known as Rhinoceros Birds, " their object being to feed upon the ticks and other parasites that
swarm upon these animals. They are of a greyish colour, and are nearly as large as a common
Thi-ush. Their voice is very similar to that of the Mistletoe Thrush. Many a time have these ever-
watchful birds disappointed me in my stalk, and tempted me to invoke an anathema upon their
devoted heads. They are the best friends the Rhinoceros has, and rarely fail to awaken him even in
his soundest nap. ' Chukuroo ' perfectly understands theii- warning, and, sijringing to his feet, he
generally first looks about him in every direction, after whicli he invariably makes off. I have oftep
Inuited a Rhinoceros on horseback which led me a chase of many miles, and required a number of
shots before he fell, during which chase several of these birds remained by the Rhinoceros to the last.
They reminded me of mariners on the deck of some bark sailing on the ocean, for they perched along
his back and sides ; and as each of my bullets told on the shoulder of the Rhinoceros, they ascended
about six feet into the air, uttering their harsh cry of alarm, and then resumed their position. It
sometimes happened that the lower branches of trees, under which the Rhinoceros passed, swept them
from their living deck ; but they always recovered their former station. They also adhere to the
Rhinoceros during the night. I have often shot these animals at midnight when drinking at the
fountains, and the birds, imagining they were asleep, remained with them till morning ; and on my
approaching, before taking flight, they exerted themselves to their utmost to awaken Chukuroo from
his desp sleep."

There
one hoin, '

possess UK

THE ASIATIC RHINOCEROSES,
ai-e four diffeient Rhmoceroses in Asia, of which two are characterised by the possession of
vhile the lemaining two possess two horns, as in the African species. All the adult Asiatic
isois 01 fiont teeth which aie conspicuous by their absence from the African species. The
normal number of these is four in the uppei-, and
four in the lower jaws, the median pair being the
sr in the upper, and the smaller in the lower.
The development of these teeth seems to stand in
relation to the development of horns, those animals
with the smallest horns being jn-ovided with the
"argest incisors. The most familiar is the Indian
Rhinoceros {Rhinoceros unicm-nis = 7?. indices,
Cuvier), with a single horn on the nose, and
tliiek naked .skin covered with large boss-like-
granulations, which lies in mas.sive folds on various
arts of the body, and more especially behind and
across the shoulders and before and across the
thighs. There are a few stiff hairs on the tail and
ears. It inhabits the East Indies, principally
beyond the Ganges, and is recorded as having
been found in Bengal, Siam, and Cochin-China.
It is found in shady forests, the neighbourhood of
rivers, and marshy places, its food consisting of
bage and branches of trees. The fully-grown
animal rarely arrives at a gi-eater height than five,
and its average may be taken at four feet.

Williamson, in his " Oriental Field Sports,"
K])('aking of the Indian Rhinoceros, describes it as
an inveterate enemy of Elephants, attacking when-
ever he can find them single, or, at least, not pro-
tected by a male of great bulk ; ripping without
E VIEWS ciF 111- III 1.1 SI. MATRIX RHINOCEROS ™''i"'^.^> ^^^^^ coutidiug lu lils coat of mail to defend
the Procccdhig^o/ihe Zoological Society.) liim froiu the puny attacks of the females, as well

MnV \']i'yi

i!\N IvIIINOCriiOS

332 NATURAL HIS TOST.

as to resist the tusks of young males. He relates that the apparent bhintuess of the horn of the
Indian Rliinoceros, wliich is about as broad at the base as it is high, would make it appear a somewhat
insi.t'nificant weajion, and inadequate to penetrate any hard or tough substance. This, however, we are
informed, is not the case. Elephants often being found dead, obviously, it is stated, from the wounds
received from the horn of the Rhinoceros ; and in one case, as is related by Williamson, a large male
Elephant and Rhinoceros were found both dead together, the EleiAant's abdomen having been ripped
open, and the Rhinoceros's horn found transfixed beneath the libs. Williamson also states that Major
Lally, an officer of the Indian army, whose veracity is beyond question, wliile engaged in one of his
hunting expeditions, and having arrived at the summit of a low range of hills, was suddenly presented
■vvith a distinct view of a most desperate engagement between a Rhinoceros and a lai-ge male Elephant,
the latter, to all appearance, jwotecting a small herd which were retiring in a state of alaim. The
Elephant was beaten, and decamped, followed by the Rhinoceros, into a heavy jungle, where much
roaring was heard, but nothing could be discerned. From this we may conclude that the habit which
Pliny describes of the Rhinoceros ripping open the Elephant is confirmed by modem observation.

The Javan Rhinoceros (E. sondaieus = R. javanus of Cuvier) is a smaller representative of the
Indian Rhinoceros, with the skin not so coarsely granulated, and the folds not so strongly marked.
It is covei-ed with a sparse growth of bristles, and its head and limbs are longer and more slender in
their proportions than in the latter species. It inliabits Java and the Malay Peninsula, and the
Sunderbunds of Bengal, living on herbage and the branches of trees.

The Sumatra^ Rhinoceros {R. sumatrensis of Cuvier) is the more commonly known of the two
two-horned species inhabiting Asia. Its he:id is armed with two obtusely- pointed horns, its body is
covered with bristles, and the folds of the skin are deep, and especially that behind the .shoidder.
The folds on the neck, however, are not so distinct as in the one-horned species.

The Hairy-eared Rhinoceros (li. lasiotin) has been confounded by naturalists with the
Siimati-an species, until Dr. Sclater showed from the comparison of these two animals, in the
Zoological Gardens, that they were specifically distinct. The former is characterised by the
long hairy fringe to the ears, by the covering of long fine reddish hau- on the body, the smoother
and more finely granulated skin, and the shorter tail. The one in Regent's Park was cap-
tured in January, 1868, under very singular circumstances, as described in the following extract
from a Calcutta newspaper : — " The quiet station of Chittagong has been lately enlivened by the
presence of a Rhinoceros. It appears that about a month ago some natives came into Chittagong and
stated that a Rhinoceros had been found by them in a quicksand, and was quite exhausted with the
efibrts to relieve herself. They had attached two ropes to the animal's neck, and with the assistance
of about 200 men dragged her out, and keeping her taut between two ropes they eventually made her
fast to a tree. The next morning, however, they found the Rhinoceros so refreshed, and making such
efibrts to free herself, that they were frightened, and made application to the magistrate of Chittagong
for protection. The same evening Captain Hood and Mr. H. W. Wickes started with eight Elephants
to secure the prize, and after a march of about sixteen hours to the south of Chittagong they came up
with the animal. The Elephants, at the first sight of the Rhinoceros, were very much afraid, and bolted
one and all, but after some exertion they were brought back and made to stand by. A rope was now
with some trouble attached to the animal's hind leg, and secured to an Elephant. At this juncture the
Rhinoceros roared ; the Elepliauts again bolted, and had it not been for the rope slipjnng from the leg
of the Rhinoceros, that limb might have been pulled from the body. The Rhinoceros w.as, however,
eventually secured with ropes between Elephants, and marched into Chittagong in perfect health.
Two large rivers had to be crossed — first the Suugoo Rivei-, where the animal was towed between
Elephants, for she could not swim, and could only just keep her head above water by paddling with
the fore-feet like a Pig ; and, secondly, the Kurnafoolie River, when the ordinary cattle ferry-boat was
used. Thousands of natives thronged the march in, which occupied a few days, the temporary bamboo
bridges on the Government road invariably falling in with the numbei's collected thereon to watch the
Rhinoceros crossing the stream below ; and sometimes the procession was at least a mile in length.
The ' Begum,' as the Rhinoceros has been named, is now free from all ropes, and kept within a
stockade enclosure, having therein a good bath excavated in the ground, and a comfortable covered
shed attached. She is already very tame, and will take plantain leaves or chnpatties from the hand.

FOSSIL jmiNOCEROSES.

iiiiv-EAKEi) liHixoCEKos. (From tlie ProeeeiU

and miglit almost be led about by a string." Begimi was ultimately brought to London,
the Zoological Society for .£1,250.

THE FOSSIL EHIXOCEEOSES.

Although the species of Rhinoceroses living at the present time are but few, the resea-rches
■of palaeontologists show us that iu past time the number of species was considerable, and that they
were not, as now, confined to the warmer parts of the Old World, but were distributed over a largo
portion of Northern Asia and Europe.

The first representative of the Rhinoceros family is the Orthocynodon, an animal with large
upright canines, discovered in the Upper Eocene strata of the United States. Tlie fossil Rhinoceroses
properly so called are first found in the Miocene, and are divided into four groups. The first group
is characterised by the nostrils being separated by a bony partition, and in the adult animal the
incisor teeth are lost : the second is distinguished by the absence of a bony partition between the
nostrils, and the incisor teeth are of a medium size : in the third there is no partition, but the incisors
are large ; and in the fourth it is imperfectly developed.

An example of the first group, and probably the best known form of all the extinct Rhinoceroses,
is Rhinoceros tichorhinus, or the Woolly Rhinoceros. Like that of the Mammoth, with which animal it
was evidently associated, its entire body was covered with hair and wool, the skin had no folds, and its
nose carried two horns, the anterior of which was of remarkable size, and characteristic of the group to
which it belongs ; the nostrils were separated by a complete bony partition. The Woolly Rhinoceros has
Ijeen discovered under similar circumstances to that of the Mammoth, having been found embedded in i.';
in the northern latitudes of Asia, in the years 1771 or 1772, being some twenty years previous to that
of the discovery of the first Mammoth by a fisherman named SchumachoflT. According to Pallas, the
discovery was made by some Yakuts, who were on a hunting expedition, and took its dimensions on
the spot ; it was about eleven and a half feet in length. Its body was still clothed with skin, but alto-
gether the animal was so far decomposed that not more than the head and feet could be brought away.
On tlie skin many short hairs still remained. The range of the Woolly Rhinoceros was undoubtedly
the same as that of the jNIaminoth, except that it did not cross Behring Strait, and, consequently, its
remains are not found in America. The remains of the Woolly Rhinoceros are found in numerous
25*

XATVRAL HIS TO in

caves in association with the remains of Hysenas, havinj; undoubtedly been a staple article of food
for these animals. In England remains have been found in the caves at Creswell, Nottinghamshire ;
in the Brixham Cave ; in Kent's Hole, near Torquay, Devonshii'e ; and in Wookey Hole, near
AVells, Somerset, as well as in the caves of Wales and Derbyshire.

As an examijle of the second groiip, we have Rhinoceros megarhinus of the Pliocene and Pleistocene
strata. This animal possessed two horns. Its remains are found in France and Italy, and in the
pre-glacial forest bed of Cromer, and in tthe lower brick earths of the Thames valley. Rhinoceros
incisivus represents the third group in Miocene times. It had no bony septum between the nostrils,
the incisoi'S are large, and there are four toes on the fore-foot. Of the fourth gi-oup the best examples
aj-e R. etrmcm and R. leptorhinus. The former of these possessed two homs, and the nostrils were

sepaiated by an imperfect
bony sejitum. Its remains
ue found in various Pliocene
and Pleistocene deposits.
The latter also possessed two.
hoins, and its nostrils were
divided by a thin and deli-
cate bony partition, which
can only be termed imper-
tect in comparison with the
massive partition in the
Woolly Rhinoceros. It is
devoid of incisors. ThLs
species is found in Pleisto-
cene deposits in Britain,
Fiance, and Italy, in caverns,
and m river-beds, the most
p'^rfect remains being met with in the valley of the Thames near Ilford. 1'hese were collected by
Sir Antonio Brady, and are now to be seen in the British Museum. In the figure the fragile nose
septum is represented as broken.

The genus Aceratherium, of Kaup, is a hornless Rhinoceros, found in the same Miocene strata
as the R. incisivus. Like the latter, it possesses incisors, and, not improperly, may be considered as
a female of the latter species, if the horn be viewed as a sexual characteristic : fir.st of all in the
possession of the male, and afterwards transferred by descent, in the case of all the Post-Miocene
Rhinoceroses, to the female.

HIMICEKO'- [r LLITOIHI

THE EXTINCT FAMILY PAL^OTHERID.E.
The Palfeotheridse, or fourth family to be considered under the head of the Perissodactyla, is that
which is found only in the fossil state in the Eocene strata of Europe and North America. They are
allied, on the one hand, to the Horses, and on the other to the Tapirs. The type of the family, the
Prlaqtherium, was originally discovered by Cuvier in the quan-ies of Montmartre, near Paris. The
grinding teeth closely resemble, in the pattern of their grinding .surfaces, those of the Rhinoceros.
The full complement, however, of incisors and canines, as well as of grinders, is present in each jaw,
namely — Incisors, 3 ; canines, 1 ; premolars, 4 ; molars, 3. These animals varied in size from that of
a Roedeer to that of a Tapir, and were possessed of three well-developed hoof-bearing toes.

The genus Macrauchenia is also an extinct form, constituting a separate family, Macraucheniadw,
peculiar to the later Tertiaries of South America. Its skull is, on the whole, like that of the
Horse, but the nasal bones are short and like those of the Tapir. It possessed a long neck, like the
Llamas, and a full complement of teeth, partly equine, partly resembling those of Rhincceros. Both
fore and hind feet were furnished with three toes.

W. Boyd Davvkins.
H. W. Oakley.

CHAPTER

ARTIODACTYLA— THE TIG

III.

OR HOG

FAJIILY.

Introductory Remarks on the Artiodactyla— Character of their Feet— The Wanting Digit— Comparison of the Bones of the
Fore Feet of Representative Animals— Other Characters in the Artiodactyla— Classification— SUID.E, OR HOG
FAMILY — Groups of the Family— Snout— Sense of Smell— Libels — Mention in the Bible— Among the J^ws— Range—
Teeth— The Wild Boar— General Features — Habits — Historical Mention— The Indian Hog— Habits— A Wild Boar
Hunt— A Noble Foe-THE Domestic Hog— The "Irish Greyhound Pig"— Effects of Domestication— The Solid-
hoofed Breed of Pigs— Description of the Bones of Foot— Masked Pig— Bush Hog— Babikusa— The Wart
Hogs— ^^lian's Wart Hog— The Ethiopian Wart Hog— PECCAKIES—Habits— Dentition— Feet— Species— The
Fossil Hogs.

SUB-ORDER ARTIODACTYLA.
Besides the Perissodactyla tliere is another large group of animal.s in wliicli tlie extremities
of the fore and liinJ toes are entirely surrounded by homy tissue in the shape of hoofs. These
are the Artiodactyla, or cloven-hoofed animals,
which differ from the Perissodactyla in the
manner in which the weight of the body is
carried upon the feet. In the Ai-tiodactyla the
toes are even in number, being four in all the
feet, except in the Camel tribe, the Giraffe, and
a very few Antelopes, in which only two are
present. It is the digit wliich corresponds to
the human thumb in the fore foot, and to the
great toe in the hind, which is always deficient,
the inner and the outer digits (the second and
the fifth) being frequently reduced to but
minute rudiments, as in the Sheep and Ox.
Some may ask how we know that it is the
thumb and the great toe which are missing, and
not the little finger or toe, for instance. A
glance at the human hand and foot will explain
the point. Counting the bones in the thumb or
great toe, it will be found that there are but
two bones beyond the limit of the '• ball of the
thumb," or the free part of the great toe, whilst
in all the other fingers and toes three bones can
be counted. A reference to Fig. 3 makes it
ewlent that in the Artiodactyla there figured,
as in all others, each toe has three bones in it ;
and as all mammalian animals which have five
toes agree with man in possessing one less bone
in the inner toe than in any of the others, it is
but logical to conclude that when four toes only
are present, all possessing an equal number of
bones, the one absent is that corresponding to
the thumb and gi-eat toe. Each foot is always
symmetrical in itself, at the same time that its
Imaginary axis, which is the line drawn down
the middle of it, nms between the two medial
toes, they con-esponding with the third and
fourth of the human limb. The accompanying
dra-n-ings of the bones of the fore-foot of the Pig, the Water Chevrotain (or Deerlet), the Javan

* The numbers in each figure refer to the digits, the thiunb being always absent. Tlie seven square-shaped bones above
ihe digits in each figure constitute the wrist or carpus. Above the.se axe the large radius, and the small ulna in some.

BONES OP THE LEPT FOHE LIME OP (J) COM5IOX riG, (2)
AFRICAN DEERLET, (3) JAVAN DEEULET, (*) KOFUUCK,
(5) COMMON SHEEP, (6) CAMEL.*

(Frcm Spcoimtns in tiie Musetim of the Eoyal College of Surgeons.)

:>36 NATURAL BISTORT.

Che vro tain, the Roebuck, the Sheep, and the Camel, illustrate, better than can be done by words, the
difi'ereace in the degree of development of the outer toes found in the grouji. In the Pig all the four
toes are well developed, and there is no consolidation of theii- constituent elements. In the Water
Deerlet of West Africa the external toes are smaller, whilst, as in the Pig, each metacarpal — which is
in the human hand the part of each finger included witliin the palm — is independent of its neigh-
boiu', the Javan Deerlet differing in having the thii'd and fourth fused into a "camion" bone. But
in the Red Deer the reduction of the second and fifth digits is so great that their metacarpals are not
perfect, being only present in their upper parts ; whilst the phalanges, or lower bones, are very small,
being reduced in the Sheep to mere bony spots with minute hoofs, which latter are quite absent in the
Camel, Llama, Giraffe, and Pronghorn Antelope.

There are numerous other characters which associate these animals, and prove the natural
affinities of the different species, at the same time that in geologic times there existed other creatures
which fill up the intervals between existing forms, and conclusively demonstrate the inamier in which
the order has been evolved from a common type in times long past.

All the Ai'tiodactyla are strictly terrestrial, none being arboreal in their habits. The Hippopotamus
is the only memloer of the group which is aquatic, sjiending much of its life in the water, without,
Jiowever, any special modification of its limbs or tail like that found in the more tnily aquatic Seals,
Sirenia, or Whales.

There is a great uniformity throughout the order in the general plan upon which the limbs are
constructed. In all the species the wi'ist in the fore limb — commonly called the knee — and the heel
in the hind limb — the hock — is raised a considerable distance above the ground, at the same time
that the whole weight of the body is carried upon the extreme tips of the toes, the terminal bones of
which are expanded within the hoof to increase the basis of support. The collar-bone is absent in all,
as it is in nearly every animal that does not use its fore limbs for any other purpo.se than that of
carrying the weight of the front parts of its body.

In the Perissodactylate Rliinoceros the hom or horns is.or are situated in the middle line of the
face above the nose, and are not supported upon any bony horn core. In alj those Artiodactyla which
can-y horns or antlers, there are appendages paired and lateral in. position, at the same time that they
are either supported upon bony cores, or are formed of bone itself, and ave situated upon the forehead.

The following table best represents ouf present knowledge as to the classification of the
Artiodactyla : —

r Pigs of the Old Woria.
Non-rumin.Mits, . \ Peccaries of the Xew World.
C HippopotamL

( . , , I , Camels.

ORDER L'NGULATxV . { Sih-order Artiodactyl

Llamas.

1 Chevrotaing or Deerl

Bovidse (Oxen).
VCervidfe (Deer).

A. H, Garrod.

I.— SUID^, OR HOG FAMILY.

The Non-Ruminantia, or Artiodactyls which do not chew the cud, possess the following characters :
they usually have more than one pair of incisors in the upper jaw, they are devoid of horns, and the
stomach has rarely more than two divisions. In only one genus, that of the Peccary, are the jnetatai-sal
and metacarpal bones united into one compact bonj' mass. They are divisible — -as the above table
indicates — into three families : the Suida>, or Hogs, the Hippopotamidie, or Hippopotamuses, and
the Anoplotheridse,* or Anoplotheres, an extinct family, met with only in the Eocene strata of the
Old and New Worlds.

* a, without; iitxh, a hoof; er,piov, wild heast ; wild beast without hocf.

lliK lliiu iAMlLY. ii'i

Tiw Hog family may be divided into three well-marked gi-oujis : — \. tlie True Swine, ctmsisting
of three genera, Sus, Potaraochoerus, and Babirusa ; 2, the Wart Hogs, represented by one genus,
Phacochoerus ; and 3, the Peccaries, represented also by one genus, Dicotyles. They have three kinds
of teeth — incisors, canines, and boss- covered or transversely ridged grinders — slender limbs, and the
third and fourth toes ai-e considerably larger than the second and fifth.

In order to enable the Hog family to " root " or turn up the ground, they are provided with a
trunciited and cylindrical proboscis, or snout, which is capable of consido'able movement. The skin is
more or less sup|ilied aV)undantly with hair, and the tail is short, and in some cases merely represented
by a tubercle.

The sense of smell in the Hog is very acute, and when its broad snout ploughs up the herbage,
not a root, an insect, or a worm, escapes the olfactory sense. Although credited with stujiidity, the
Hog in its native state is to be styled anything but a dull and lethargic aninial, neither is it the filthy
animal that domestication has reduced it to. Properly cared for, the Pig is as cleanly in its habits,
and as capable of strong attachment, as any other creature.

No animal that is mentioned in the Bible — not even the Dog — is spoken of with more abhorrence
than the Pig ; and even at the present day a Jew or Mohammedan looks upon this creature with
anything but a generous feeling, treating it as something utterly detestable. So great was the
horror with which the older Jews regarded the Hog, that they would not even mention it by name;
but called it "the abomination." The origin of the great antipathy which the Jews have always
experienced for the Pig appears to be lost in antiquity. In Lev. xL 7, the Hog is sjioken of with other
animals as being unclean and unfitted for food, simply because it did not chew the cud, although the
hoof was divided. It has, however, been suggested that the Pig was so strictly prohibited by Moses
from being eaten, on account of its flesh being supposed in a hot country to cause skin-diseases, and
especially the dreaded leprosy ; but it is to be doubted whether Moses is to be considered as the
originator of the hon-or with which the Hog has been and still is regarded. It seems probable that
this disgust dates from a period of far greater antiquity than that of Moses ; and it is certain that
the flesh of Swine can be eaten in hot countries without producing any bad efiects. It is a matter
of considerable wonder, that while Swine are held in such abhorrence, we read of herds being so
often kept in Palestine. In the Gospel of St. Matthew (viii. 28-34), we read of a herd of Swine
being entered by devils, and which, so possessed, rushed down a hill and were drowned in the sea.
Again, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, we are told of his becoming a swineherd. Although
Pigs were so much disliked, the Jews were evidently well acquainted with their habits, as we read
in the Second Epistle of St. Peter (ii. 22), where the apostle refers to the fact of Pigs wallowing in
the mire. It is also remarkable that with the exception of one passage in the Bible, the mention of
the Hog is confined to those in a domesticated state, this exception being found in Psalm Ixxx. 13 ;
" The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it."

The genus Sus, or Hog proper, ranges, in the wild state, over the greater portion of the Old World,
through Central and Southern Europe into Central and Southern A.sia, and as far to the ea.st and south
as New Guinea. It is also met with in the Noi-th African forests, in the region north of the Sahai'a_
desert. It is conspicuous by its absence from North and South America, Australia, and the cold
northern regions of Europe and Asia.

The adult teeth in the True Hogs (genus Siii) are forty-four, of which there are in each jaw-
three incisors, one canine, four premolars, and three tiaie molars. The canines are very variable in
size, being reduced to a minimum under domestication, and arriving at a maximum in the wild males.

The Wild Boar* inhabits Europe, North Africa, and Hindostan, each country having its own
peculiar type or race, which sometimes is so marked as to con.stitute separate species in the opinion
of first-rate naturalists.

The Wild Boar is distinguished by a body generally of a dusky-brown or greyish colour, having a
tendency to black, and being diversified with black spots. The canines or tusks in the male are long
and powerful, and project beyond the upper lip, the mouth is large, and the elongated head is set on
a short neck rising out of a thick and muscular body. The size is variable, an old Wild Boar recorded
by Desmare.st being five feet nine inches long, while a four-year-old of the more ordinary size measuVed

* S'M scrnffi.

l^ATURAL UISTOBT.

three feet without the tail. The female i» smaller than the male, ami with smaller tusks. The Lairs
of the body are coarse, iuterniixed with a downy wool. Oa the ueck and shoulders the haii-s take
the form of bristles, being long enough to assume a kind of mane which the animal is enabled to
erect if irritated. The young has the body marked with longitudinal stripes of a reddish colour.

In its habits the Wild Boar is by choice herbivorous, feeding on plants, fruits, and roots ; but it
will also eat Snakes, Lizards, and various insects, and when pressed by hunger nothing appears to come
amiss to its voracious appetite ; it is stated that eveir dead Horses are sometimes called into requisition.
The Boar is nocturnal in its habits, rarely leaving the shadow of the woods in the da}--time, and coming
forth as twilight approaches in search of food, delighting in roots often deeply embedded in the soil, and
which its keen sense of smell enables it easily to detect. Much mischief is often done by this animal,
which ploughs up the ground in contuiuous furrows for long distances, and is not content, like the
domesticated variety, with ploughing up a spot here and there.

The Wild Boar was formerly an inhabitant of Great Britain. According to Bell, " Abo\it
th.e year 940, the laws of Hoel Dha direct that it shall be lawful for the chief of his huntsmen to chase
the Boar of the woods from the fifth of the ides of November (9tli), until the calends of December

'<3^

(Lst), Cap. xxi. sect. 14." In tlie next century Bell states that " the numbers had perhaps begun to
diminish, since a forest law of William I., established in a.d. 1087, ordained that any who were found
guilty of killing the Stag, the Roebuck, or the Wild Boar, should have their eyes put out ; and some-
times the penalty api)ears to have been a painful death. It appears," continues Bell, "that Charles I.
turned out some Wild Swine m. the New Forest, for the purpose of restoi-ing the breed to that
royal hunting-ground ; but they were all of them destroyed during the civil war. A similar attempt
was made in Bere Wood, in Dorsetshire ; but one of the Boars having injured a valuable Horse belong-
ing to the worthy Nimrod who exhibited this specimen of sporting epicurism, he caused them to be
destroyed."

The Wild Boar probably became extinct in Britain before the reign of Charles I. ; while in
Ireland it was abundant a,? late as the seventeenth century.

The Indian Hog* differs but little in general appearance from the European Wild Boar, and is
looked upon in the East as a most exciting object of the chase, its speed, endurance, and courage
making it one of the most formidable and dangerous animals that can possibly be encountered.

The habits of this animal are admii-ably portrayed by Williamson, in his " Oriental Field
Sports." After describing the extraordinary speed this creature is possessed of, equalling that of a
good Horse, and asserting that a moderate-sized Hog can, and often does, overthrow Horses and their
riders, he states that " The Wild Hog delights in cultivated situations ; but he will not remain where
water is not at hand, in which he may, unobsei'ved, quench his thirst and wallow at his ease. Nor
will he resort for a second season to a spot which does not afford ample cover, whether of heavy grass

Sus scrofa

THE IMJIAX UOG.

or of nndei-wooil jungle, within a certain distance, for liim to tiy to in case of molestation, 'and especiaHy
to serve as a retreat during the hot season, as otherwise he would find no shelter. The sugar-cane Ls
his great delight, both as being his favourite food, and as affording a high, impervious, and unfre-
quented situation. In these, Hogs commit great devastation, especially the breeding Sows, which not
only devour, but cut the canes for litter, and throw them up into little huts, which they do with much
art, leaving a small entrance which they stop up at pleasure. Sows never quit their young Tigs with-
out completely shutting them up. This, indeed, is requisite only fdr a few days, as the young brood
may be setn iollo\\ni^' tht mothn it i lound pace, ^^hcn not moi( thin i ^^eek oi ten di^s old The
canes are genei UK ) 1 mttd ibout tin ei Ut "Mu oi btgnnnn^' ot June, in giound 'cndtied extumely

WILD BOAK.

fine by digging. For this purpose cuttings of canes are buried horizontally, and with the first showers
of the rainy season, which usually commences in the middle of June, the several joints throw out
shoots that gi-ow so rapidly, as often to be two or three feet high by the begimiing of September. The
red cane, called the hun-ook, which is not so valuable as the smaller or yellower sort, begins to ripen in
vSepteniber ; by the end of which month it will have attamed the height of seven or eight feet. These
serve as the first receptacles for tlie Wild Hogs, which having suffered, since the harvest in March, all
the inconveniences of bad diet, long nightly excursions, scarcity of water, gi-eat diurnal heat, and
frequent disturbance, airive among them in excellent running order. It should be observed that
throughout India a custom prevails of setting fire to the gi-ass jungles in the month of May, when they
are completely dry, for the purjiose of increasing the growth of the new grass, liy the stimulus of the
ashes which are washed in with the first showers in June." Williamson goes on to say that "the
bmi-ook is commonly cut in November, and the Hogs then shift to the yellow canes, which are by that
time forward enough to serve as sufficient cover. Canes require much manure and excellent tillage ;

J40 JSATURAL HISTORY.

consequently they aie usually j.Luitetl near to villages, and surrounded by fields of wheut, barley, atiA
other gi-ain. A sjiecies of lupin culled rhur is cultivated in large quantities. It grows luxuriantly,
generally to the height of eight or nine feet, forming quite a wildei-ness. ... In these rlmr fields
Hogs delight, as they are completely umbrageous, but being open below, admit the air freelj'. Besides,
this wild rice growing very thick among the rhur, and a kind of soft downy grass about a foot in height,
they find themselves very comfortably situated. About the middle of March, or, at the latest, by the
Ijtginning of April, the Hogs must shift their quarters, the canes and gi-ain being by this time
generally cut. However, they often retain possession to the last moment, frequently disjjuting every
inch \\;ith the reapers, and not rarely causing them to leave parts uncut, in the hope that the Hog»
will evacuate them ; which, if the jungle whither they must betake themselves happen to be remote,
they feel no great disposition to do. For at this season the Hog is extremely heavy and indolent, in
consequence of the abundance of the excellent food to which he has, for five or six months, been,
habituated. Hogs are often killed in March with three and four inches of fat on their chines-
and shoulders. Exclusive of the habits of ease in which he has so long indulged, it is probable the
Hog feels diflident as to his want of exercise, and ability to travel under such a mass of flesh-
Besides, he is extremely tenacious of the spot which has so long pampered him ; and, although unable
to proceed any distance without being blown, yet the shoi-t sallies he makes to attack such as venture-
near his haunt are marked with vigour and resolution. Sometimes he will do considerable mischief
with hia tusks. . , . Great numbers are at this season either caught in nets made for the purpose,.
or they are shot by the she/carries, or native sportsmen, a circumstance that never fails to aiford a
hapjiy triumijh to the afii-ighted villagers."

The Wild Boar of India is hunted usually by men on horseback, armed with speai-s of a more or
less variable length, averaging from about six feet and a half to eight and sometimes ten feet. The
shaft of a spear consists of bamboo properly weighted with lead ; the ,sp,';ii itself is a Vimad and stout
blade. It is held by a man on horseback in such a manner that about a tuit ;md a half projects in
front of the stin-up-ii'on, and the Horse is ridden in such a way that -when tlic Boar charges it is
transfixed by the spear.

An account of a Wild Boar hunt of au exceptionally interesting and exciting natui'e is related
by Captain Shakespeare ; — " While beating the sugar canes for Wild Hogs, a few miles from Hingolu,
a villager came and said, ' If you want to see a Hog come with me;' and leading the way over the brow
of a hill, pointed out an object in a field below, that in the mist of the morning appeared like a large?
blue rock, much too lai-ge for a Hog. However, the object presently got on its legs, and dissipated
every doubt existing a.s to its character. About a hundred yards distant from the animal was a fissure
m the hills, thickly wooded, and here, no doubt, was the Boar's lair ; and if he took alai-m and nished
thither, it would be next to impossible to dislodge him. A savage Boar in his stronghold is as difficult
to oust as the Gi-izzly Bear from his winter cave in the Rocky Mountains. He constantly rushes out,
knocks over and gores tha beatere nearest the mouth of his retreat, and then skips back again before
there is the shadow of a chance of .spearing him."

After describing the way in which he managed to place himself between the Boar and his.
retreat. Captain Shakespeare continues : —

"Standing as I was, behind a hedge consideraljly higher than my mare's head, I did not see the
Boar. The dufi"adav (native oflicei-) was some thirty yards to my left, and looking over a lower jiart
of the hedge, shouted out, ' Look out ! here he comes ! ' The mare was standing still, and I had but
ju.st time to drop my spear point, which caught the Boar in the rise, and the blade was buried in his
withers. My mare, from her standing position, cleared with one bound the Boar, spear and all, as
tliis was carried out of my hand ; then suddenly tui-ning, was in her stride after the Hog. Tlie Hog
had but seventy yards to reach the jungle, and ju.st as he stiiick the first branch of the jungle with his:
back, breaking in two the .shaft of my .spear (which was still fast in his body), the dufikdar closed with
him. The Boar, having been missed by the spear, ran under the dufiadiir's Hor.se, and for thh-ty yards-
lifted him off hi.s legs, jilunging and kicking tiU the rider came to the ground. Fortunately we had
three Dogs with us ; and having shouted to the people to let them go, they came up and took the
attention of the Boar at the moment he was on the duifadar, who had fallen on his sword and broker,
it, and was utterly helpless. The next moment the Boar made full tilt for his stronghold, the Dogsr

following close at his lieels. Armed with a fresh spear, I rode up the face of the hill, and from
theuce looking down saw the Boar at bay and surrounded by the Hounds, but in such a situation that
it was impossible on horseback to go to the assistance of the Dogs. At this moment one of the
beatei-s came running up with a heavy double-bari-elled riile, and being apprehensive that the
Hounds would be speedily slaughtered if not relieved, I took the gun, and dismounting, resolved to
attack the Boar on foot. Just as I got to the bottom, I .saw the monster Boar with his back to a tree,
and the three Dogs looking very cautiously at him. He was about forty yards from me. Directly
he saw me, putting his head a little down to take aim, he came straight at me, increasing his pace from

llll

the trot to the ehargp. ^Yhen about fifteen yards off, he received tiie first bullet of my rifle in his neck.
Taking not the least notice of it, he came on, and the second ban-el fired at him, at about five
yards, broke hi.s left under jaw-bone at the tusk. Fortunately I brought my rifle down to the charge,
and striking it with his head, the Boar sent me over on my back. While running over me he made a
glance, and wounded me in the left arm. Had I not put down my rifle-barrel at the moment, most
probably his tusks would have been buried in my body. As it was I had two shooting jackets on, it
being a very cold morning, and I suffered more from the jar than the wound. As I lay, I .seized the
etid of my rifle-barrel, detei-mined to sell my life as deaily as possible. To my delight, I must say, I
saw the Boar knock over the man who was running down with my big spear. He did not turn on
either of us ;. for the Boar is a noble foe, rarely turning, unless desperately wounded and unable to go
on, to mutilate a fallen enemy. The Dogs immediately tackled him, and permitted me, though almost
breathless, to get up. The rifle-stock was cracked, and the pin that fastens the barrel into the stock
much bent. Having put this to rights, I loaded, and, proceeding in the direction the Boar had gone.

NATL UAL Ul.sTDk

Do.irESTic no.

iing me vengefuUj'. Takinj*
I lia\e stated tliat the
Boar is the most
courageous animal in
the jungle. There he
was ; with a broken
spear in his withers,
the shaft sticking up
a foot and a half from
the blade, knocking
over a horseman and
wounding his Horse ;
receiving two bullets
— ten to the pound —
the first in his neck
and throat, the second
breaking his jaw, and
tired within a few
feet of his muzzle ;
knocking over a second
;in<' a<nin shot in the

making good his charge, cutting down
man armed with i spear ; defyii
brain, and dying ^\ltll0^lt ,i giom "

The Domestic Ho(. is plo^(d h
by the researches of N.ithusni^ <iiid
Eutimeyer to be descended fioni
two distinct wild stocks— the \\ iM
Boar, and an Eastern t\pe knoun
now only in the domestic ited con-
dition, and named Sus iiiJua bj
Pallas. The breeds of Hog', de
scended from the Wild Boat aie to '' ''"■"'' '"" ''"'

be found in various parts of Northern and Central Europe, and re.semble their progenitors in the
length of their legs, and the development of their tusk. The skull, however, has become higher and

broader, and their tusks are not so large, and

MIIK DEMI

such

dense

the body is not coverec
coating of hair.

The old "Irish Greyhound Pig," of Eichard-
son, may be taken as an example of one of the
domestic races de.scended from the Wild Boar.
Sometimes in this breed, as in the Normandy
Pigs a peculiar pendant, about three inches
)ns; and covered with bristles, is to be seen
tt iched to the corner of the jaw, as in the
Lconipanying figure.

T he domesticated breeds of Cliina and Siam
_ _ lia\t among other characters, broader and

^■= ,::^^Z-'''~' — ~ — stouter heads than those which are descended

1 \ M I I. ij 1 t ) fiom the Wild Boar, and are best known to

Englishmen under the form of the Chinese breed.
They constitute the type of Siis iudlca, which is now so largely represented among the various
European strains, and which is mostly due to the crossing of the two original stocks.

Both these breeds were brought under the dominion of man in a ('ery remote age, and have varied
ui exact proportion to the care taken in selecting the various cliaracters. Both ai-e found in the pue-

JBERRAXT FORMS OF PIG

dwellmgs iu the Swiss Lakes which belong to the Neolithic age, or to that period '.vhen the use of metal
■ttas unkuown in Europe uorth of the Alps, and both were probably introduced from the East by the
same race of herdsmen to whom we owe the domestic cattle, Horses, and Dogs, as well as the arts of
gardening, farming, and spiiuiing. The amount of change which has been produced by the art of man
in modifying the original stock may be estimated from the figui-e at the top of the preceding page.

The Solid-Hoofed Breed of Pigs. — Among the most i-emarkable breeds of Pigs under domesti-
cation, the Solid-hoofed Pigs deserve special notice, because they show a pei-sistent variation from the
oven-toed type. " From the time of Aristotle," writes Mr. Darwin, " to the present time, solid-
lioofed Swine have been occasionally observed in various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity
is strongly inherited, it is hardly probable that all the animals vnth. solid hoofs have descended from
1 he same parents ; it is more probable that the same peculiarity has reappeared at varioas times and
places. Dr. Struthers has lately described and figured the structure of the feet ; in both front and
liind feet the distal phalanges of the two greater toes are represented by a single, gi-eat, hoof-bearing
phalanx ; and in the front feet, the middle phalanges are
represented by a bone which is single towards the lower
end, bxit bears two .separate articulations towards the
upper end."

This singular modification is stated by Dr. Cones to
be persistent in a Texas breed. So far as the hoof is
concerned the animal is perfectly solid-ungulate. It is
also perfectly " odd-toed " (or perissodactyle) in the
terminal phalanges, which are joined together so as to
form one single hoof-supporting bone, a of figure. Above
this, however, the other two phalanges (6, c) remain
separate, and are widely separated from each other by
the intervention of a special ossicle {d). How far this
departs from the normal type may be seen from the com-
parison of the figure with that of the foot of the Commou
Hog.

Amon^ the aberrant forms resulting from domestica-
tion, :iccording to Nathusius, is the Japax, or Masked
Piu {S. plicieeps. Gray), with its short head, broad
forehead and nose, gi-eat fleshy ears, and deeply-fuiTowed „^,^„„, ,„,„„„
skin, of which the great thick folds are compared by
3Ir. Darwin to the plates on the Indian Rhinoceros. It Ls held by Nathusius to belong to the same
stock as the Chinese Pig, a view which is by no means improbable if we consider the enormous
differences which are produced by the selection of characters under the care of man in the European
breeds.

The Hogs are represented in Africa, south of the Sahara, and in Madagascar, by an animal known
as the Bush Hog (Potamocluems), which possesses a remarkable boss or excrescence, rising from the
face below the eyes. The species figured, the Potamoch(e)-us jyenicillatus, has peculiar ears which look
almost as if they had been cut.

One of the most singular of the "Wild Hogs is the Babirusa (Porcns bahinisa), inhabiting the
islands of Celebes and Borneo, in which, in the males, the tusks arrive at an enormous size, those of the
upper jaw curving upwards and backwards, and even, in some Cases, penetrating the .skull in theii-
backward reach. These tusks, however, are useless for purposes of attack. The lower jaws also are
ai-med with two sharp tiisks, which are capable of inflicting severe wounds. The animal is nearly
liairless, and is said to arrive at a size not much less than that of a Donkey. It is veiy ferocious,
and is a more formidable antagonist than the Wild Boar of-Eurbpe.

The name Babirusa is said to be a compound of Baba and Eusa, teing the Malayan appel-
lations of the Pig and the Deer respectively.

Tlie Babirusa is described as being of a delicate natui-e, requiring considerable care and attention
w hen kept in confinement. In its natural state it is said to be very swift, running with the rapidity

BOXES OF PIG s FOOT.

FOOT OF SOLID-HOOFEn

PIG. {After CouesA
The hodf. c, is wilbdV-iwii sul-

NATURAL MISrOliY.

irAItT HOGS. 345

of a Deer, and to l>e of a fierce disposition. The flesh of this animal is highly i)iized as an article of
food in the countries in which it is found.

The Wart Hogs {Phacoch<xrus) constitute the second well-marked group to he considered under
the head of the family of Hogs. They range over tropical Africa from Abyssinia to Caffraria. They
are remarkable, not only for having enormous tusks, and for tlie development of a large excrescence,
or wart, under each eye, but also for the peculiar construction of their last grinding teeth. These are

massive, and composed of prisms of enamel surrounding a ceutial ma.^s of dentine, and embedded in
the cement which unites them into one tooth. There is only mif pair ut' upper incisors, and the last
moLai-s are the only ones which are not shed in the old animal. The canines are large, recurved,
sharp, and project eight or nine inches beyond the lips.

Two species of this peculiar genus occur in Africa. ^-Elian's Wart Hog"' is a native of the North
of Africa. Its skin is of a reddish colour, sparingly .supplied with bristles ; the neck and back support
a mane, some of the bristles of which attain a considerable length.

The Ethiopian Wart Hog (P. oithiopicus) is a native of the southern portions of Africa, and
differs principally from the jireoeding in the larger size of the warts, and a more peculiarly shajicd head
The food of both species of Wart Hogs appears to consist almost entirely of roots.
• PliacocJiarus JUianus.

343

NATUEAL mSTOKY.

Th(

kno

Hog femily is represented
; the Peccaries {Dicotijle><), '

iu the New World by the small thovigli formidable animals
v'hich arc not more than about three feet long, and about Hfty or
sixty pounds in weight. They live in hei-ds, are
omnivorous, and are perhaps the most awkward
animals to be dealt with by the hunter in the
toiests of Soutli America. They know no fear,
uad will attack anything which comes in their
w ^y, inflicting frightful wounds with their short,
1 meet shaped tusks, which are entirely concealed
w ithm their lips. They live in holes and hollow

I gs into which they back, one by one, until their

I I ode IS full, the la.st standing as sentinel with
hi^ head outside. This habit aflbrds the hunter

m easy means of killing them, for if the sentinel
be killed outright the next takes his jilace, after
pushing out the dead body, and this may go on
until the last of the herd is killed,
dentition of the Peccary differs from that of the True Hogs in the smaller number of teeth,
which are thirty-eight, instead of forty-four, in number, the u]iper incisors being reduced to four, and
the premolars in the upper and lower jaws being six instead of eight. There are also differences in

LLL 01 THE

\\ \! T HOG

Th(

<tl^N^>

:.$5^^:^s*^jM

<^

etiiioi'Ia:; wart non

the shape of the teetli, the grinders presenting transverse ridges, as may be seen from the comparison of

the accompanying lignre with that of the Hog.

There is also another important difference to be noted between tlie Peccaries and the True Hogs

in the structure of tlie feet. In the former,
the middle metatarsals and metacarpals unite
into a solid cannon bone analogous to that of
cattle, while in the latter they are distinct
during the whole life of the animal.

Two species of Peccary are known, the
Common, or Tajuca, or Collared Peccary
{Dicotyles torqiiatun), which ranges from Texas
as far as the Straits of Magellan, and the
White-lipped Peccary (Z>. labiatus), of the
forests of South America. The latter is the
larger of the two, and the more ferocious.

The Fcssil Hogs. — The remains of the
Fossil Hog are met with in the fossil state in
Europe, as far back as tlie Miocene Age, in

which period, as Profes.sor Gaudry has pointed out, the canines were not develoji^d into large tusk.s

in the Hog tribe. In the Pliocene Age the males possessed moderate tusks, and in the Pleistocene.

as at the present time, the forests of Europe were haunted by large '' tuskers."

OF PECCAKV.

THE SENEGAL

CHAPTER lY.

ARTIODACTYLA— THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FAMILY.

Tresent Representatives— Two Species— The Common Kiver Horse— General Appearance— Characteristics : Skin, Head,
Nostrils, Eyes, Ears, Legs, Tail, Mouth, Tusks, Dentition, Skeleton, Stomach— Habits— Food— Under Water— Behe-
moth of the Bible —Used in the Roman Sports— As described by the Ancient Naturalists — As portrayed by tlio
Ancient Artists— The First Hippopotamus in England— Subsetpient Inmates of the Zoological Gardens— Herds of
Hippopotami— Harpoon for Hunting— Sir Samuel Baker's Accounts of Hii^popotamus Hunts — Various M:thoils of
Capture— Occasional Fits of BUnd Fury— A Night Attack u;-3n a Dialibeeah— Uses of the Hippopotamus- Th E
LiBEniAN Hippopotamus— Fossil Forms— The Akoplothekes.

II.— THE HIPPOPOTAMUS FA5IILY (HIPPOPOTAMID.E).

The Hippopotami, or River Horses, constitute the second family to be considered next after the Hogs,
among the non-ruminant hoofed ammals possessing an even numljer of toes on each foot. They ai-e
represented at the present time by two closely-allied species found only in Africa, the Hippopotamus
amphihius, or Common River Hoi-se, which haunts the rivere of Africa from the Sahai-a desert to the
Cape Colony ; and the much smaller Liberian animal, living on the v.-est coast and on the rivers tiowim^
into Lake Tchad.

The Common River -Horse (Hippopotanuis (iinphihins) i.s a large, unwieldy-looking annual, some-
times as much as eleven or tv/elve feet long, with a massive Ijody and enormous head, and short stout legs.
Nevertheless, it is capable of moving s\viftly on the land and of swimming with perfect ease. Its skin
is naked, thick, and penetrated by pores which exude a thick fiitty secretion, which may perhaps be
useful to it while in the water. The front part of the head is massive, and broader than that of any
Cither living quadruped ; the nostrils are comparatively small slits, wliich are closed and water-tight
during the frequent dives beneath the surface of the water ; the eyes are prominent, and placed far
back in the head ; and the ears are so short that thej"* look as if they had been cropped. They, too,
have a special aiTangement of muscles by which they can be clo.sed. The short legs are terminated by
four hoof-bearing toes ; and the short tail is adonied with bristles arranged laterally and on opposite
sides, which are the only traces of hair found on the animal. The mouth is verj' large, and armed
with tusks and gi-inders, that present a feaiful appearance when the animal opens its mouth with a
gape, which is unsui-passed in -width by that of any other animal. The tusks are enormous, especially
those in the lower jaw, which are cur\ed upwards as in the Hog.s. and meet those of the upper jaw
close to their sockets. By the attrition of their surfaces together theii- tips are i-educed to a chisel
edge. Between these great teeth are four front or incisor teeth, of conical shape, in both upper and
lower jaws, those in the latter being the larger. The gi-inders in each jaw are three in number, and of
a trefoil pattern on their woni surfaces ; while the false gi-Lnders in front of them, four in number iu

lI.tUITS AND FOOD OF TIIF RFFrOFOTAMVS. 319

each jaw, are conical, sliaiii-edgcd, ami resemble those of the Hogs. The skeleton is very Hog-like,
and the stomach is divided i;'to four compartments. The liver lias a gall-bladder, and the kidneys are
divided into lobes.

The Eiver Horse is nocturnal in its habits, frequenting rivers and lagoons, and rarely leaving them

or their immediate neighbourhood except at night, when it will go considerable distances in search of
food, sometimes causing great damage to cultivated crops, which may be estimated from the fact that
its stomach is capable of holding from

)^

five to six bushels. Its food consists
principally of grass, young shrubs, and
water plants, and it is particularly fond
of gi-een com. When in the water
its slow respiration enables it to remain
for a long time beneath the surface
mthout coming up to breathe ; and
the means of closing both its eai-s and
nostrils against the access of water,
before alluded to, is admirably suited
for its aquatic habits.

The first and only time in which
any animal at all aiiswering the descrip-
tion of the Hippopotamus is mentioned
in the Bible is under the designation "'''''''■'''""''^"'"'^"ffisoSgu^'' V"'iilS

of Behemoth (Job xl. 1.5 — 2-t), and even

then there is room for doubt as to whether the description may not be nearly
Elephant, though on the whole it certainly suits the Hippopotamus better.

applicable to tlie

350 NATURAL MItSTUliY.

It is interesting to know that Milton evidently considered Beliemotli to mean the Elej)]iant, oiv
vX any rate, not the Hipiiopotamus, for in " Paradise Lost," in writing of the Creation, he says : —

" Scarce from his mould
Behemoth, higgest bom of earth, upheaved
His vastness : fleeced the flocks, and bleating, rose
As plants : ambiguous between sea and land
The river horse and scaly crocodile."

According to Pliny, the Hiijpopotamus was first seen in Europe in the ciirule tedileship of
Scanrus, 58 B.C., when the exhibition in the circus surpassed anything the Pionians liad ever seen.
Among other novelties, he exhibited a Hippopotamus and five Crocodiles. But according to Dion
Cassius, the Hippopotamus was first shown in the games celebrated by Augustus, 29 b.c. So
gi-eat was the demand for Hippopotami in the Roman sports at a later period, that according to
Marcellinus Amniianus, they had disappeared from Egypt since the time of the Emperor Julian.
FiiA'ourable circumstances, however, must have again i-estored them, as we learn, from the accounts
given by Zerenghi and others, of their being plentiful about the year 1600 and later. In some
parts of Egypt the Hippopotamus seems to have been sacred, as we learn from Herodotus. Sonnini
relates that the Hippopotami laid bare whole countries by their terrible ravages, and from the
terror they inspired they were generally looked upon as the symbol of Typhon, that giant who spread
death and destruction among the deities which were woi'shipped, and were the emblem of mischance
and cruelty, and that the worship of them at Papresius was practised with the view of appeasing and
averting their anger.

The descriptions given by early writers of the Hippopotamus are in many instances most ludicrous.
Aristotle, borrowing from Herodotus, states that " the Hippopotamus of Egypt has a mane like a
Horse, a bifurcated hoof like an Ox, a fiat visage or muzzle, an astragalus like the animals with cloven
feet, projecting teeth which do not show themselves much, the tail of a Hog, the voice of a Horse,
and in size it resembles an Ass. Its skin is of such a thickness that spears are made of it." It is
pretty clear from this description that Aristotle meant the Hippopotamus, but also that he never saw
one. Diodorus appinachcs nearer to the truth as to the size of this animal when he says that it is
five cubits in lfiii,'tli, mid lliat the bulk resembles that of the Elephant. However, he still retains
the cloven hoof mid Hdist's mane. Pliny sjteaks of it as living in the Nile, and also gives it the
bifid hoof of the Ox, the back, mane, and neigh of the Horse, a flattened muzzle, the tail and teeth
of the Boar; evidently following the descriptions given of it by Aristotle. He also adds that
helmets and bucklers are made of its skin, and that the animal feeds on the crops, and is very
cautious in avoiding snares ; but he goes on to say that it is covered with hair like the Seals. It is
difficult to conceive how he could have fallen into .so great an error after having spoken of its being-
exliibited in Rome by M. Soaurus, with five Crocodiles. He finishes his account by stating that when
the animal gets too fat, and is diseased, it bleeds itself by pressing a vein of its leg against some sharp
object, and then plastering up the wound with mud, so that it may speedily heal. The ancient artists
appear to have been more feithful in their portraits of the Hippopotamus than the ancient authors
and naturalists in their descriptions ; indeed, with very few exceptions, the animal has been pretty
faithfully portrayed. One exception is a figure copied by Hamilton from one of the caves of Beni-
Hassan, in which the feet are disjjlayed as cloven, aud the lower tnsks made to appear so excessively
large as to prevent all possibility of their being hidden when the animal closed its jaws. In the
figure on the plinth of the .statue of the Nile, which was formerly in the Vatican, although the teeth
and feet are not correct, the general idea is good ; and in many other sculptures and mosaics it is veiy
well represented, also on some of the medals and coins of Roman Emperors : sometimes it is repre-
sented as holding a Crocodile in its mouth, which i)robably may have given rise to the stories of the
enmity the Hii)popotamns bears towards the Crocodile. In more modern times we have more or less
fabulous descriptions given by Isidore of Seville and Vincent de Beauvais, neither of whom appears to
liave seen the animal. Belon and Gillius, it would seem, are the first of the moderns who actually
saw the Hippopotamus alive, and this was at ConstautinoiJe, although Sonnini appeal's to doubt the
id nxtity of the animal which Belon saw. This is hardly justifiable, as Belon was a very accurate

THE mrroruTJMVs /.v exglaxd. 35s

observer, and even points out with niuoli truth tlie diHerences between the one he saw and those he
had seen pictured on ancient works of art.

The tirst Hippopotiiiuus ever seen alive in Great Britain, or indeed in Europe in modern times.
was bi-onght to England on the 25th of May, 1850, and placed in the Gardens of the Zoological
Society. Mitchell gives the following accomit of its capture and habits : — " Since the Imperial
Exhibitions in the C'ii'cus of Rome, no living Hii)i)opotamus has heen imported into Europe, except
the yoimg male which the Society possesses. The difficulty of obtaining such an animal may be
conjectured from the fact that after the Viceroy of Egypt had determined to present one to the
Society, it became- necessary for his Highness to despatch an expedition to the Upper Nile for
the purpose of making the captui-e, and that success was only achieved after two thousand miles of
the river had been ascended. In the month of Jidy, 1849, the chief huntsman of the party, in
searchmg the reedy margin of an island in the Wliite Nile, called Obaysch, at last discovered a little
Hippopotamus calf, which, as he conjectured, had been born about two days. It was so small that,
in his delight at having accomplished the Pasha's order, he seized it in his amis, and would have
carried it to the boat which waited on him, had not the slimy exudation which is lavishly poured
forth from innumerable pores in the SKin of the young Hippopotamus rendered it so slippery that
he was entirely unable to retain his hold. The animal having thus slipped from his grasp, all but
escaped into the Nile, where the mother doubtless was lying near at hand. The hunter, however,
with the presence of mind which characterises a good sportsman, seized his spear, and with the sharp
side-hook, which has been in fashion in Egypt for three thousand years or more, he succeeded iii
arresting the headlong pluirge of his prize, without inflicting greater injury upon him than a skin
wound, the scar of which he bor^ to the day of his death. The long voyage down the river was
successfully accomplished in a boat which had been built for the purpose by the Viceroy's order^
and ' Obaysch,' as they named the Hippopotamus, from his bii-thplace, was safely delivered in
November, 1849, after a journey of four months, into the care of the Hon. C. A. Murray, through
whose powerful influence the Viceroy had been prevailed upon to exert his power and assist the
Society in an object for which all exertions of their own had failed Obaysch spent his first winter
in Cairo, under the charge of his intelligent keeper, Hamet Saafli Canaana, a Nubian Arab, whom
Mr. Muri-ay engaged for the purpose. In May, 1850, proper preparations were made, with the
obliging co-operation of the directors, in the Peninsular and Orienttil Steam Navigation Company's
ship Rijmn, for the transport from Alexandria, and on the 25th of that month the first Hippopotannis
which had breathed on English soil within this period of history was landed successfully on the
quay at Southampton, and liberated in the Gardens from his travelling-house at ten o'clock the same
eyening. On emerging from the door of it he followed Hamet, who had scarcely ever left him
durmg the whole voyage from Cairo, into the building which had been prepared for liim, and instantly
indulged in a long-continued Ijath. The ten hours which elapsed between his removal from the
steamer at Southampton, and his arrival in the Regent's Park, is the longest period during which
he has ever been \\ithout access to water."

For the fir.st year Obaysch was fed almost entirely on Cow's milk and finely-ground Indian corn,
and as he gi-ew older he consumed about 100 lbs. weight of hay, chafl^, corn, roots, and green food a
day. He rapidly grew, until he reached the enormous weight of about four tons, and he was one of the
chief attractions of the Ganlens at the time of his death in March, 187,8.

In 1853 a young female, Adhela, was obtained from the same district, and in the spring of
1871 the fij-st calf was born, and a .second in January, 1872, both of which were lost shortly after
theii- bu-th, in spite of every care and precaution. The third was born on the 5th of November, 1872,
and called " Guy Fawkes," and has been successfully reai-ed. Little Guy Fawkes sucked freely
shortly after its birth, and has continued to thrive u]) to the present time, now rivalling her mother
in size. "When she chooses to di.sport herself in her huge tank, her vast bulk and enormous
gape combine to keep the crowd of onlookers in a proper state of subjection not unmixed
with awe.

Hippopotami roam together in herds, and where they have not been disturbed come fearlessly
to the top of the water, often lazily basking on the surface, and on the banks ; but in places where
they have been hunted and shot at they become very waiy, and content themselves by just showing

3,52 XATUSAL IIIHTOIiY.

their noses among weeds, and sometimes they are so carefully concealed that hut for their footprints
on the hank of the river their presence would be unsuspected. Camming, in his African hunting
experiences, gives a description of seemg an entire colony of these animals on the Ijanks of the
]jlmpopo. He says : — " Presently in a broad and deeply shaded pool of the river we heard the Ssa Cows
bellowing, and on ajiproaching somewhat nearer beheld a wonderful and interesting sight. On a sandy

promontory of the island stood about thirty cows and calves, whilst in the pool opposite and a little
Ijelow them stood about twenty more Sea Cows, with their heads and backs above water. Aljout
fifty yards farther down the river, again showing out their heads, were eight or ten immense fellows,
which I think were all bulls, and about a hundred yards below these, in the middle of the stream,
stood another herd of eight or ten cows with calves, and two large bulls. The Sea Cows lay close
together like Pigs, and as they sprawl in the mire have not the least objection to their neighbours
pillowing tlieii- heads on their backs and sides."

Livingstone also gives a description of seemg a herd of Hippopotami as fullows : — " On a
shallow sand bank, under a dyke crossing the River Zambesi near the mouth of the Sinjere, lay a

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

(From the Living Specimen in the Zooloijiml Gunlens, Lmdo •.)

HvxnxG THE uirroioTAMVa.

053

herd of Hippopotami iu fancied security. The young ones were playing witli each other like young
puppies, climbing on the backs of their dams, trying to take hold of one another by the jaws, and
tumbling over into the water. Mbia, one of the Makotols, waded aei'oss to within a dozen yards
of the drowsy beasts, and shot the father of the herd, who being very fat soon floated, and was
secured at the village below. The men then gorged themselves with meat for two days, and cut
large quantities into long narrow strips, which they half dried and half roasted on wooden frames
over the tire."

The harpoon is the weapon usually used by the natives of Africa for catching the Hippopo-
tamus. One kind of harpoon consists of a shaft aliout twelve feet long, at one end of which
is a combination of sjiear and fish-hook, the spear Ijcing let into a socket of the shaft, and also

HI'NTING HIProrOTAMI WITH T]1E HAKPOON.

attached to the shaft by means of cords. At the other extremity is a coil of \'i\\«-. tn which is
^attached a large float, so that when a Hippopotamus is harpooned the float shows the [iiisiti<:iu <jf the
animal. When an animal is stiiick, it is followed either by men in canoes or on land, who by means
of ropes get possession of the line to which the float is attached, which they entwine round a tree,
and every time the animal comes up to breathe he is greeted with a shower of spears until finally
fijiished.

Livingstone in his '•' African Travels " gi\-es the following interesting account of this instru-
ment and its makers. He relates that on the Zambesi River •' beyond Pita lies the little island
Nyamotobsi, where we met a small fugitive tribe of Hippopotamus hunters, who had been dri\-en by
war from tlieir own island in front. With the civility so common among them, the chief ordered
a mat to be spread foi- us under a shed, and then showed us the weapon with which they kill the
Hippopotamus. It is a short ii-on harpoon inserted in the end of a long pole, but being intended
to unship, it is made fast to a strong cord of milola, or hibiscus bark, which is wound closely round
£iie entire length of the shaft, and secured at its opposite end. Two men in a swift canoe steal

354 X. IT URAL HISTORY.

quietly down on tlie sleeping animal. The bowman dashes the harpoon into the unconscious victim,
while the quick steersman sweeps the light craft back with his broad paddle. The force of the
blow separates the harpoon from its corded handle, which, appearing on the surface, sometimes with
an inflated bladder attached, guides the hunters to where the wounded beast hides below until they
despatch it." Livingstone then goes on to say: — "These Hippopotamu.s hunters form a separate
people called Akombwi, or Mapodzo, and rarely — the women, it is said, never — intermarry with any
other tribe. The reason for their keeping aloof from certain of the natives of the Zambesi is obvious
enough, some having as gi'eat an abhorrence of Hippopotamus meat as Mohammedans have of swine's
flesh. Our pilot. Scissors, was one of this class ; he would not even cook his food in a pot wliich
had contained Hippopotamus meat, prefen-ing to go hungry until he could find another, and yet
he traded eagerly in the animals' tusks, and ate with gi-eat relish the flesh of the foul-feeding
Marabout."

Sir Samuel Baker relates from personal observation the capture of a Hijipopotamus with the
harpoon above described. He Sciys : — " At length we an-ived at a large pool, in which were several
sand-banks covered with rushes, and many rocky islands. Among these rocks was a herd of Hippopo-
tami, consisting of an old bull and several cows ; a young Hippo was standing, like an ugly little
statue, on a protruding rock, while another infant stood Tij)on its mother's back that _ listlessly
floated on the water. This was an admirable place for the hunters. They desii-ed me to lie down,
and they crept into the jungle out of view of the river. I presently observed them stealthily descend-
ing the dry bed about two hundred paces above the spot where the Hipjjos were basking behind the
rocks. They entered the river, and swam down the centre of the stream towards the rock. This was
highly exciting. The Hip])os were quite unconscious of the approaching danger, as steadily and rapidly
the hunters floated down the strong current ; they neared the rock, and both heads disappeared as
they purposely sank out of view ; in a few seconds later they reappeared at the edge of the rock upon
which the young Hippo stood. It would be diflicult to say wliich started first, the astonished young
Hippo into the water, or the harpoons from the hands of the howartis ] It was the afiair of a
moment. The hunters dived directly tliey had hurled their harpoons, and swimming for some distance
under water, they came to the surface, and hastened to the shore lest an infuriated Hippopotamus
should follow them. One harpoon had missed ; the other had fixed the bull of the herd, at which it
had been surely aimed.

" This was grand .sport ! The bull was in the greatest fury, and rose to the surface, snorting and
blowing in his impotent rage ; but as the ambatcli float was exceedingly large, and this naturally accom-
panied his movements, he tried to escape from his imaginary persecutor, and dived constantly, only to
find his pertinacious attendant close to him upon regaining the surface. This was not to last long.
The howartis were in earnest, and they at once called their partj', who, with two of the aggageers,
Abou Do and Suleiman, were near at hand. These men an-ived with long ropes that form a portion of
the outfit for Hippo hunting. The whole party now halted on the edge of the river, while two men
swam across with one end of the long rope. UiJon gaining the opposite bank, I observed that a second
rope was made fast to the middle of the main line ; thus upon our side we held the ends of two ropes,
while on the opposite side they had only one. Accordingly, the point of junction of the two ropes in
the centre fomied an acute angle. Tlie object of this was soon i)ractically explained. Two men upon
our side now each held a rope, and one of these walked about ten yards before the other. Upon both
sides of the river the people now advanced, dragging the rope on the surface of the water until they
reached the ambatch float that was swimming to and fro, according to the movements of the Hippopo-
tamus below. By a dexterous jerk of the main line the float was now placed between the two ropes,
and it was immediately secured in the acute angle by bringing together the ends of these ropes on our
side. The men on the opposite bank now dropped their line, and our men now hauled in upon the
ambatch float that was held fast between the ropes. Thus cleverly made sure, we quickly brought a
strain upon the Hippo ; and although I have had some experience in handling big fish, I never knew
one pull so lustily as the amphibious animal that we now alternately coaxed and bullied.

" He sprang out of the water, gnashed his huge jaws, snorted with tremendous i-age, and lashed
the river into foam ; he then dived, and foolishly ajiproached us beneath the water. We quickly
gathered in the slack line, and took a round turn upon a large rock within a few feet of the river.

HirporoTAMU-s jirxrs. 36o

"The Hippo now rose to the surface about ten yards from the hunters, and jumping half out of
the water, he snapped his great jaws together, endeavouring to catcli the rope, but at the same instant
two liarpoons were launched into his side.

" Disdaining retreat, and maddened with rage, the fiu-ious animal charged from the depths of the
river, and gaining a footing, he reared his bulky form from the surface, came boldly upon the sand-
bank, and attacked the hunters open-mouthed. He little knew his enemy : they were not the men
to fear a pair of gaping jaws, armed with a deadly array of tusks, but half a dozen lances were hurled
at him, some entering his mouth from a distance of tive or six paces ; at the same time several men
threw handfuls of sand into his enormous eyes. This baffled him more than the lances : he crunched
the shafts between his poweiful jaws like straws, but he was beaten by the sand, and, shaking Ids
huge head, he retreated to the river. During his sally upon the shore, two of the hunters had secured
the ropes of the harpoons that had been fastened in his body just befoi-e his charge. He was now
fixed by three of these deadly instruments ; but suddenly one rope gave way, having been bitten
thi'ough by the enraged beast, who was still beneath the water. Immediately after this he appeared
on the surface, and without a moment's hesitation, he once more charged furiously from the water
straight at the hunters, witli his huge mouth open to such an extent that he could have accommodated
two inside passengers. Suleiman was wild with delight, and springing forward lance in hand, he
drove it against the head of the formidable animal, but without effect. At the same time, Abou Do
met the Hippo sword in hand, reminding me of Perseus slaying the sea-monster that would devour
Andi'omeda ; but the sword made a harmless gash, and the lance, already blunted again.st the rocks,
refused to penetrate the tough hide. Once more handfuls of sand were jjelted upon his face, and again
repulsed by this blinding attack, he was forced to retire to his deep hole, and wash it from his eyes.
Six times during the fight the valiant bull Hii)po quitted his watery fortress, and charged resolutely
at his pursuers ; he had broken several of their lances in his jaws ; other lances had been hurled, and
falling xipon the i-ocks, they were blunted and would not penetrate. The fight had continued for three
liours, and the sun was about to set ; accordingly the huntei-s begged me to give him the co>ij> Je (jnu-c,
as they had hauled him close to the shore, and they feared he would sever the rope with his teeth. I
waited for a good opportunity, when he boldly raised his head from the water about three yards from
the rifle, and a bullet from the little Fletcher between the eyes closed tlie last act."

Another interesting account is also given l)y 8ir S. Baker of the capture of a Hippopotamus
by means of the spear. The description conveys a good idea of the habits and wariness of these
animals.

" Hippopotami had trodden a path along the margin of the river, as these animals came out to
feed, shortly after dark, and travelled from pool to pool. Wherever a plot of tangled and succulent
herbage grew among the shady nabbuks, there were the marks of the harrow-like teeth, that had
torn and rooted up the rank grass like an agricultural implement.

" After walking about two miles, we noticed a herd of Hippopotami, in a pool below a rapid, where
the rush of water had thrown up a bank of pebbled and sand. Our old Neptune did not con-
descend to bestow the slightest attention when I pointed out these animals — they were too wide
awake ; but he immediately quitted the river's bed, and we followed him quietly behind the fringe of
bushes upon the border, from which we carefully examined the water.

"About half a mile below this spot, as we clambered over the intervening i-ocks through a gorge
which formed a powerful rapid, I observed, in a small pool just below the rapid, an immense head
of a Hippopotamus close to a perpendicular rock that formed a wall to the river, about six feet
above the surface. I pointed out the Hippo to old Abou Do, who had not seen it. At once the
gravity of the old Arab disappeared, and the energy of the hunter was exhibited as he motioned
us to remain, while he ran nimbly behind the thick screen of bushes for about a hundred and
fifty yards below the spot where the Hippo was unconsciously basking, with his ugly head above
the svu-face. Plunging into the rapid torrent, the veteran hunter was carried some distance down
the stream, but breasting the powerful current, he landed upon the rocks on the opposite side,
aud retiring some distance from the river, he quickly advanced towards the spot beneath which
the Hippopotamus was lying. I had a fine view of the scene as I was lying concealed exactly
opposite the Hipjjo, who had disappeared beneath the water. Abou Do now stealthily approached

^J^^, XATUKAL HISTUMY.

the ledge of rock beneath which he had expected to see the head of the animal ; his long sinewy
arm was raised, with the harpoon ready to strike, as he carefully advanced. At length he reached
the edge of the perpendicular rock. The Hippo had vanished, but fai- from exhibiting surprise, the
old Arab remained standing on the sharp ledge, unchanged in attitude. No figure of bronze could
have been more rigid than that of the old river king, as he stood erect upon the rock, with the
left foot advanced, and the hai-poon poised in his ready right hand, above his head, while in the
left he held the loose coils of rope attached to the ambatch buoy. For about three minutes he
stood like a statue, gazing intently into the clear and deep water beneath his feet. I watched
eagerly for the reapj^earance of the Hippo. The surface of the water was still barren, when sud-
denly the right arm of the statue descended like lightning, and the harpoon shot perpendicularly

HIPPOrOTAMT AT THE FALLS OP THE RIVER SENEGAL.

into the pool with the speed of an aiTow. What .water fiend answered to the summons] In an
instant an enormous paii- of open jaws api^eai-ed, followed by the ungainly head and form of the fui-ious
Hippopotamus, who, springing half out of the water, laslied the river into foam, and, disdaining
the concealment of the deep pool, he chai'ged straiglit up the violent rapids. With extraordinary
])ower he breasted the descending stream ; gaining a footing in the rapids, about five feet deep, he
ploughed liis way against the broken waves, sending them in showers of spray upon all sides, and
upon gaining broader shallows he tore along thi-ough the water, with tlie buoyant float hopping
behind him along the surface, until he landed from the river, started at fidl gallop along the (hj
shingly bed, and at length disappeared in the thorny nabbuk jungle.

" I never could have imagined that so unwieldy an animal could have exhibited such
speed ; no man would have had a chance of escape, and it was fortxmate for our old Neptune
that he was secure upon the high ledge of rock, for if he had been in the patli of the infuriated
beast, there would have been an end of Abou Do.

"The old man plunged into the deep pool just quitted by the Hipjjo, and landed upon oiu"

TUArriKG IIIITOPOTAMI. 3.57

side, while in the enthusiasm of tlio moment I waved my cap above my head, and gave him a
British cheer iis he reached the shore. His usually stern features rehuced into a grim smile of delight ;
this was one of the moments when the gratified pride of the hunter rewards him for any risks. I
congratidated him on his dexterity ; but much remained to be done. I proposed to cross the rivei-,
and to follow upon the tracks of the Hippopotamus, as I imagined that the buoy and rope would
catch in the thick jungle, and that we should find him entangled in the bush ; but the old hunter
gently laid his hand upon my arm, and pointed up the bed of the river, explaining that the Hippo-
would certainly return to the water after a short interval.

" In a few minutes later, at the distance of nearly half a mile, we observed the Hippo emerge from
the jungle, and descend at full trot to the bed of the river, making direct for the first rocky pool, in
which we had noticed the herd of Hippopotami. Accompanied by the old howarti (Hippo hunter),
we walked quickly towards the spot ; he explained to me that I must shoot the harpooned Hippo, as
we should not be able to secure him in the usual method by ropes, as nearly all our men were absent
from camp, disposing of the dead Elephants. Upon reaching the pool, which was about a hundred
and thii-ty yards in diameter, we were immediately greeted by the Hippo, who snorted and roared as
we approached, but quickly dived, and the buoyant float ran along the surface, directing his course in
the s?me manner as the cork of a trimmer with a pike upon the hook. Several times he appeared, but
as he invariably faced us, I could not obtain a fovourable shot ; I therefore sent the old hunter round
the pool, and he, swimming the river, advanced to the opposite side, and attracted the attention of the
Hippo, who immediately turned towards him. This afibrded me a good chance, and I fired a steady
shot behind the eiu-, at about seventy yards, with a single-barrelled rifle. He disappeared beneath
the water at the shot. The crack of the ball and the absence of any splash from the bullet told me
that he was hit ; the ambatch float remained perfectly stationary upon the surface. I watched it for
-some minutes ; it never moved. Several heads of Hippopotami a})peared and vanished in different
directions, but the float was still ; it marked the spot where the gi-and old bull lay dead beneath."

In adilitiou to the oi-dinary means of harpooning, a harpoon is also used as a sort of trap, it
being well known to the hunters that the Hippopotamus has certain roads or tracks which it habitually
nses, preferring a quiet gully with tall trees and grass overhanging. The hunter finding such
a road prepares a harpoon within six feet of a moderate-sized tree-trunk, to which he attaches heavy
stones. Having found a suitable tree overhanging the path of the Hippopotamus, he throws the rope
which is attached to the shaft of the harpoon round a branch, and hauls up his weighted instrument,
having done which he drives a stake on one side of the path and timis the rope round it. He then
drives another stake on the other side of the path, stretches his rope across, and fastens it to the
other stake. The unsuspecting animal, taking his usual evening stroll, strikes his foot against the
rope, which dislodging the stakes, the hai'poon comes thundering down and the Hippopotamus is
transfixed, to be found in the morning by the trapper, probably dead or dying, a long way from the
scene of the ti-ap.

Livingstone gives an account in his " African Travels " of a Hippopotamus captured by means
of this trap, of whose working he was himself an eye-witness. He says that " both banks of the
River Zambesi near the Mboma village are dotted with Hippopotamus traps, over every track which
these animals have made in going up out of the water to graze. The Hippopotamus feeds on grass
alone, and where there is any danger only at night Its enormous lips act like a mowing-machine,
and form a path of short-cropped grass as it feeds. We never saw it eat aquatic plants or reeds.
The tusks seem weapons of both offence and defence. The Hippopotamus trap consists of a beam
five or six feet long, ai-med with a spear-head, or hard-wood spike covered with poison, and sus-
pended to a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down to the path, is held by a catch, to be set
free when the beast treads on it. Being wary brutes, they are still very numerous. One got
frightened by the sliip as she was steaming close to the baiik. In its eager hurry to escape it
nished on shore, and ran directly under a trap, when down came the heavy beam on its back, chiving
the poisoned .sj>ear-head a foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it plunged back into the river, to die
in a few hours, and aftei-^vards furnish a feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head
does not affect the meat, except the part, around the wound, and that is thrown away. In some
places the descending beam is weighted with heavy stones, but here the hard lieavy wood is sufficient."

Soa KATURAL lllSTOIiY.

The Hippopotamus is also cajitured by means of pitfalls placed in the animal's tracks. The
month of the pit is carefully concealed by means of boughs of trees, grass, rushes, <fec. Usually two
and sometimes three of these pits are dug in close proximity to each other, the extreme wariness
of the Hijipopotamns causing it to be suspicious of danger, and whilst carefully avoiding one trap
it falls into another.

Sometimes these pits catch a very different kind of animal from that for which they wei'e intended.
A good storv is told in a book of African travels of a Frenchman who had the misfortune to fiill
into one, and after spending the whole of the morning in getting out, whilst congratulating himself
on his success, and brushing off the mud, he tumbled into another close by, from which he did not
escape until late in the evening.

Tlie Hippopotamus has been considered by travellers and naturalists to be of a mild and in-
offensive disposition, retiring and shy in its habits, and unless provoked rarely attacking man.
Probably this to a great extent is true of the animal, but numerous instances are recorded of most
ferocious and quite unprovoked attacks, and when this Ls the case few animals are capable of showing
such blind rage.

Canoes are sometimes overturned and crunched between the jaws of this powerful animal
without any apparent reason, and even on diy land it occasionally attacks man. Sir- S. Baker relates
an account of a bull Hippopotamus attacking the proprietor of a melon-garden, and killing him by
one crunch of his huge jaws ; and Dr. Moffat, the father-in-law of Li^■ingstone, speaks of a man being
literally bitten in half by one wliich chased him on dry land. The Hippopotamus does not seem
at all particular as to the size or nature of the objects it assaults, several instances having been
recorded of its charging steamers. Sir S. Baker gives the following account of one of these onslaughts
on the Bahir Giraffe: — " At one p.m., as we were steaming easily, I happened to be asleep on the poop-
deck, when I was awakened by a shock, succeeded by the cry, ' The ship's sinking ! ' A Hippopo-
tamus had charged the steamer from the bottom, and had smashed several floats ofi' her starboard
paddle. A few seconds later he charged our diahbeeah, and striking her bottom about ten feet from
the bow, he cut two holes through the ii'on plates with his tusks. On examination two clean holes
were found punched through the iron as though driven by a sharp pickaxe."

Another attack of this kind is also related by Sir S. Baker in a lake communicating with the
White Nile, which for ferocity and pertinacity is probably unequalled. He says : — " The night was
cold, and the moon clear and bright. Every one was wrapped up in warm blankets, and I was so sound
asleep that I cannot describe moi-e, until I was suddenly awoke by a tremendous splashing quite close
to the diahbeeah, accompanied by the hoarse wild snorting of a furious Hippojiotanuip. I jumped up,
and immediately perceived a Hippo, which was apparently about to attack the vessel. The main
deck being crowded with people sleeping beneath their thick Mosquito-curtains, attached to the stairs
of the poop-deck, and to the rigging in all dii'ections, rendered it impossible to descend. I at once
tore away some of the ties, and awakened the sleeping people. My servant, Suleiman, was sleeping
next to the cabin door. I called to him for a rifle. Befoi-e the affrighted Suleiman could bring the
rifle the Hippopotamus dashed at us with indescribable fuiy. With one blow he capsized and sank
the zinc boat with its cargo of flesh. In another instant he seized the dingy in his immense jaws, and
the crash of splintered wood betokened the complete destr-uction of my favoui-ite boat. By this tim
Suleiman appeared from the cabin with an unloaded gun in his hand, and witliout ammunition. This
was a very good man, but he was never ovei'burdened with presence of mind ; he was shaking .so
fearfully with nervousness, that his senses had entirely forsaken him. All the people were shouting
and endeavouring to scare the Hippo, which attacked us without ceasing, with a blind fury that ]
have never witnessed in any animal except a Bulldog.

" By this time I had prociu-ed a rifle from the cabin, wliere thoy were always kept fixed in a row,
loaded and ready for action, with bags of breech-loading amnumition on the same shelf. The move-
ments of the animal were so rapid, as he charged and jihmged alternately beneath the water in a cloud
of foam and wave, that it was impossible to aim correctly at the small but fatal spot upon the head.

" The moon was extremely bi-ight, and presently, as he charged straight at the diahbeeah, I
stopped him with a No. 8 Reilly shell. To my surprise, he soon recovered, and again commenced the
attack. I tired shot aftei- shot at him without apiiarent effect.

THE LIBEIilAX EirPOPOTAMVS. 359

"The diuhbeeali rocked upon the waves raised by the efforts of so Lirge au animal ; tliis move-
ment reiidei-ed the aim uncertain. At length, apparently badly wounded, he i-etired to the high gi-ass ;
there he lay by the bank, at about twenty-five yards' distance, snorting and blowing. I could not dis-
tinguish him, as merely the head was above water, and this was concealed by the deep shadow thrown
by the high gi-a-ss. Thinking he would die, I went to bed ; but before this, I took the precaution to
arrange a white paper sight iipon the muzzle of my rifle, without wliich night shooting Ls very
uncertain. We had fallen asleep ; but in about half an hour we were awoke by another tremendous
sphvsh, and once more tliis huge beast came chai-ging directly at us as though unhurt. In another
iiLstant he was at the diahbeeah ; but I met lum with a ball in the top of his head which sent him
rolling over and over, sometimes on liis back, kicking with his four legs above the surface, and again
producing waves wliich rocked the diahlieeah. In this helpless manner he rolled for about fifty yards
down the stream, and we all thought him killed.

" To our amazement he reco^-ered, and we heaixl him splashing as he moved slowly along the river
through the high gi-ass by the left bank. Ultimately he was killed, and on making a post-mortem the
following morning, I found he had received three shots in the flank and shoulder, four in the head,
one of which had broken his lower jaw, and another had passed through his nose, and passing down-
ward, had cut ofi" one of his large tusks."

The uses to which the Hippopotamus can be applied cannot be considered as many ; certainly the
flesh is much eaten by the natives of Africa, and even by Europeans it is not to be despised, although
ti-avellei-s seem to disagree as to its merits. Gumming says the flesh is excellent eating, and Baker
appeai-s to agi-ee with him, while Dr. Livingstone speaks of it as being prettj' good food when one is
hungi-y and can get nothing better, and that it is a coai-se-grained meat, having sometliing of the
flavoui- between pork and beef. Probably the Hippopotamus is of considerable use in dealing the
rivei-s of huge water-plants, which abound in African rivere, and which might otherwise in time so
choke them up as to convert them from iiinning streams to little else than swamps.

The whips made of Hippopotamus hide are in much request, and are highly esteemed in the
neighbouring countries for theii- elasticity and durability ; but the parts of the Hii)popotamus mo.st m.
request, especially by dentists, are the canine teeth, no other ivory keeping its colour so well.

The Liberiax Hippopotamus. — The second living species of Hippopotamus (H. Uheriensis) is
a much smaller animal than the common Hippopotamus ; according to Dr. Morton, not being larger
than a middle-sized heifer, though possessing the relative proportions of the common species. It
rarely attains a weight exceeding four hundred poimds, or a quarter of a ton, as distinguished
from the four tons' weight of Obaysch of whom we have already spoken. One of the more important
difierences between them consists in the fact that the Liberian Hijipopotamus possesses only two
incisors in the lower jaw. A young animal belonging to this species was brought over to Great
Britain in 1873, and is stated by Dr. Sclater to have been obtained on the West Coast, from the
little Scarcies Eiver. Unfortunately it died shortly after its arrival at the Zoological Gardens
in Dublin.

The Hi|ipopotamus ranged in the later Tertiary period far beyond its present home in the African
ri\ers. In the Pliocene age it was very abundant in Italy, and has been met with as far noitli as
Norfolk and-Sufiblk. In the succeeding, or Pleistocene age, also, it haunted the rivers of Fiance and
of England, having been found from the valley of the Eibble northwards. Its remains are from
time to time dredged up from the bottom of tlie German Ocean, and are met with in the dens of
Hvisnas, as, for example, at Kirkdale, under conditions which prove that it feM a prey to the wild beasts
then inhabiting the country. Strange to say, remains of this animal, now flourishing only under a
tropical climate, are met with side by side -svith the remains of the Reindeer, which now flourishes only
in a cold temjjerature, under circumstances which compel us to believe that both animals were living in
the same region at approxiniatel)' the same time. This singular fact can only be accounted for on the
sujjposition that in those days the summer heat was great, and the winter cold severe, such as we find
to be the case in Central Asia. These climatic extremes would allow of the same district being
inhabited by these animals at different seasons of the year.

An extinct species of Hippopotamus (Hextiprotoilon), which is characterised by the posses

360 XATVUAL SISTOJiY.

sion of six instead of four incisors in the upper and lower jaws, lived also in India m the later
Tertiary age.

We have seen that at the present time Africa is inhabited by two kinds of Hippopotami, respec-
tively of large and small size. We have also seen that in the Pleistocene age the larger animal
inhabited Europe. It is a singular fact that abundant remains of a smaller fossil species, or Pentland's
Hippopotamus, should abound in the bone caves of Sicily, and that this dwarfed species should range
fi-om that island to Malta, Crete, and the Morea. It is clo.sely allied to the Liberian species, although
it is pretty clear that it differed from it in certain details, such as iu the form of its molar teeth. A
small species of Hippopotamus has been found fossil in Madagascai-.

HE UESTOUED.

THE AXOPLOTHERES (AMOPLOTHERID^).
Certain extinct animals living in the Eocene times, included by Cuvier in his division of the
Pachyderms, and closely allied to the Hogs and Hippopotami, constitute the family of Anoplotheres.
They were first revealed by the genius of Cuvier from the study of the remjiins discovered in the
gypsum quarries at Montmartre ; and they owe theii- name and their most distinguishing character to
the fact that their teeth, which in all number forty-four, form an exen, unbroken series, like those in
man, the canines not standing out sharp and prominent above the rest, as in the ca-se of the Carnivores
and the, PalaMtheres found in association with them. These animaJs presented remarkable variations
in size, some being as large as a Pony, while others were about the size of a Gazelle. They varied
also in their proportions, some being heavily built, as in the restoration given above, while othex-s
were slender and elegant like the Antelopes. They are of. peculiar interest, because they are the
parent stock from which in succeeding geological ages the Euminants are derived.

W. Boyd Dawkins.
H. W. Oakley.

A Classified Catalogue

CA88ELL & COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS,

Id.

3d.

4d.

6d.

The Scanilinavia

Cassell's New Standard Drawing Copies. 6 Bo.

Cassell's School Board Arithmetics.
Cassell's IVXoderii School Copy Books, ii- Hooks. H.i.
Cassell's Graduated Copy Books, i : l!o<>k^. Hich.
The Polytechnic Building Construction Plates.

Official Illustrated Railway Guides. Abr

Great
Midla

Great I

North- Western

Iway. 1 Great Eastern

■ 5 London and Sc

Ion, Brighton ami South I ^' """^

h Eastlrn^RaiUv ty. | Kaiiway.

CASSE:X.X.'S NATIONAL LIBRARY. I'aper covers, 3d.
Cassell's Readable Readers, liiu tnivil ind strongly bouml.

Cassell's Standard Drawing Copies. 6 Hooks. E.id..
Cobden Club Pamphlet:

I. Illustrations

Notes

Sanitation. liy iZchv
The Wild Flowers CoUecting-Book

.■cnaffihcation.)

the Essentials of Ha

The IVild Flowers Painting Book. Tim Sketches anci

Cassell^s Standard Dravtring Copies. 2 Books. Eacli
The Modern School Readers. Four Infant Readers at y\.

The Modern Reading Sheets. In Three Series, each con
Readers for Infant Schools, Coloured. 3 Books. Each

Shakespeare's Plays for School Use. Cloth. Each.

Richard III. Henry V. Hamlet. Julius Caesar. Coriolauus.

Richard II. Kmg John. Merchant of Venice. HenryVIII.
Euclid, Cassell's First Four Books of. Paper, 6d. {Cloth, 9d.}
Drawing Books for Voung Artists. Each.

How to Draw Elementary Forms, Models, &e.
Arithmetics, The *• Belle Sauvage." By Georgre Ri

, paper covers, zd.

Cookery for Schools. By iazz\g Heritage.
MISCELLAMSOUS.
In a Conning Toiver ; or, How I Took
"Majestic into Action. By H. o. Arnold-hoi

^-four Books, c

Pictorial Scrap Books. Tw.

containing 32 pages. Each.

Footpaths and Commons, and Parish and DistHct

Councils. By Sir Ruberc Hunter, M.A. Paper Covers.
Unifomk Imperial Postage. By Robert J. Be.idon, M.a.

Shall we Know One Another In Heaven? By the Rt.

CASSELL'S PICTURE STOR-7 BOOKS,

Ea. Ii .:ont;.iiiMiy S;xty Pages of Pictures. Stories. Ac.
Little Talks, i Little Chimes. ALuilies Stories

Bright Stars. Daisy's Story Book. Birdie's Story

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR THE LITTLE ONES.

Dumb Prieuds.

9d.

Bible Pictures for Boys

■ Holiday Hours.

Little Mothers and t:

Children.
Our Schoolday Hours.

Creatures Wild.

Pine Feathers and Piuffy
Cassell's Nevr Geographical Readers.

Illustrations in ench Rook. From gd. to is. cjd. each.

Dot's Story Bo
A Nest of Stc
Good-Night S

p Small Chatterers.

L Sheaf of Tales.
Dewdrop Stories.

John Cassell.
iadd

arl of Shaft'eBbury.

ton, V? Mrs. MercSith^

Carpenter .ana Mrs.

Somerviile
?homas A. I
F. B. Mors
.mdj. Mar5l
Charles Diekens.

Abraham Lincoln.

Colin Campbell

Clyde.
David Livingstone.
George Miiller and

Reed.
Richard Cobden.

George and Robert Stephe
Benjamin Franklin.
SHILLING STORV BOOKS. AU Illustrated, cloih gilt.

Bunty and the Boys,
The Heir of Elmdale.
The Mystery at ShoncUff

Claimed at Last, anc
Thorns and Tangles.

Diamonds in the Sand.

Surly Bob.

The Giant's Cradle.

Shag and DoU.and other Stories.

The Ferryman of B;
Harry Maxwell.
The Magic Mirror.
The Cost of Revencr
Clever Frank.

Nest.
John's Mistake.
The History of Five Little
Pitchers who had very
Large £ars.

EDUCATIONAL.
'* Work" Handbooks, v 1,^ 01" Illustrated Practical Ma:
prepared w .-.■ ,v Vm\ N. Hasluck, Editt

Hand and Eye Training Cards for Class Use.

Latin Primer, The First. !■>■ i'r-r. r-.^-itc, m.a.
Science Applied to VTork. H\ I A 1 >ucr. Illustrated.
Science of Everyday Life. !'■> |. a. Kmv,^.,. niusir.-ited.
How^ard's Art of Reckoning, (./.i >/.,•-. and 5s.)
Cassell's /'Modern School" Test Cards. Seven Se

Cassell's "Combination" Test Cards. Six Sets c

FlO'WerS, Studies in. In Thirteen Packets, each containini

Flowers. Each Packet.

Spelling, Morell's Complete Manual of.
EucUd, CasseU's. First Six Books, with llie iitli and 12th of Ei
Cassell's Historical Readers.

The History of England tor Elementary Schools.

Part II. From Elizabeth to Modern Times, is.
German Reading, First Lessons in. By A. J.igst.
Polytechnic Technical Scales. -s>t ui lo in cloth case.
Miniature Library of the Poets. In Two

MISCELLANEOUS.

3 Explained By William Sclu
with Carlyie. By Sir Char.i

The People's Life of their Queen. By Rev. E. J. Hardy,
The Governors Guide to Windsor Castle. By the Most

Gladstone, William Ewa rt. The People's Life of.
Popular Control of the Liquor Traffic. ^ Dy Dr. E. R. L.

:Iie Ri. Hon.

Cassell dh Company^ Limited^ Ludgate Hill, London ; Paris and Melbourne.

Cassell ^- Company's Classified Price List.

Cassell's Guide to Emploinnent In the ClvU Service.

kmirrly .\fw Edition. I'aijtr. i. Alscin dolh, z^ lA.)
A Toy Tragedy. By Mrs. Henry de la Pasture.
Beneath the Banner ; Being Narratives of Noble

I.ives and Brave Deeds. By R j. Cross. Clotli tiiiip.

Illustrated. ^Aiso in ciolhi^ilt, gittedirfs, 2S.)
Good Morning ! Good Nisht ! Morning and Evening Readings

ted, L
The LloUandllaff I.egends.

Louis U(

Medical Handbook, The.
Letters of "Vetus" on

E. A.

the urar Office
A ShillinET's-Worth of AU Sorts,
Chips by an Old Chum; or, Australia in the Fifties.

An Address in School Hygiene, I;y Clcmout Dukes. M U.
Bits and Bearing-Reins, and Horses and Harness.

The'Ol'd Fairy Tales. With Illustrations. Ciotli.

Lawful Wedlock; or. How ShaU I Make Sure of a
the Care of their Health.

Legal Marriage ?

Our Sick and How

Teachini; on Sick Nursii

Life'in"

Villages. lAlsa ill cloth, 2s.1
Our Home Army. By H. O. Arnold-Forster. M.P.
The Dwellings of the Poor. Report of the Mansion House

A Manual of Political QuesUons of the Day. By

■■-I' J 1.1! ;:ii, .M.l'. I-.,;-,, ,,t.rs. {Alst>intltltk,is.6a.)
Tha Sugar Convention. 1;, ilic Rt. Hon. Lord F;

Irish Parliamf^nt. Th^^. frnm

Irish Un

rom 1782 to 1800.

How t

Practical Kennel Guide. Uy Dr. Gordon Stabl'e

Cookery, CasseU's Shilling.

Choice Dishes at Small Cost. By A. G. Pavn.

Cremation and Urn Buria.1. r.y H , KohinsJn. Illus

Colonies and India, Our. I; l) r Hi i \

Etiquette of Good Society. . , '\ ■ ■ \

Photography for Amateurs. ) i , [I , , i

The New •• LITTLE FOLKS" Painting Boo

CASSELL-S SUNSHINE SERIES.

13 VoU. each. [Li,! on application.-^

The Select ^Vorks of George Combe. Issued by t

of the Combe Trustees. Popular Edition. Each. (Net.)
TUe Constitution of Man. | Science and Heligion.
Moral Pliiloscphy I "■ -•

"HEART CHORDS,

My Comfort in So;
Work for aod.

Midland.
Coast.— South Baster£'
RELIGIOUS.

My Obje
My Aspirant
My Einotionj
My Body.
My Qrowth :

My Aids to the Divine Life.
My Sourcet " ~'
My Father.

The Divinity t
Miracles. By tl
The Atoneuien

God.
> Divin _
My Sources of Strength.
My Pathei
My Bible.

! Rev. Canon Shore, M.A.

late Lord Bishop of Cailisl

I I 1 nishop of Deny.

CASSELL'S "JAPANESE" LIBRARV.

Consisting of I2 Popular Works bound in Japanese style. Each. (Net.)
Handy Andy.-OUver Twist.-Ivanhoe.-Ingoldsby Legends.
—The Last of the Mohicans. -The Last Days of Pompeii.—
The TeUowplUBh Papers.-The Last Days of Palmyra.-
Jacfc Hinton, the Guardsman.- Selections from Hood's
Works.— American Humour.— Tower of London.

CASSELL'S POCKET LIBRARY. Edited by Max Pern-

The Paying GUPSt. By George Cissing.

Lady Bonnie's Experiment. By Tighe Hopkins.

A Whirl AMinder*^ By Gertrude^Athtrton.

e Hviguenot. By Max Pemberton.

Baby. By James Welsh.

Diary. By Percy Whitp.

. Wliiti

( Editit

Rbymes for the Voung Folk. By WiUiam AUingham. Boards,
Id the pays of King George, By Col. Percy (iroves. Witk

""^.^.^■^^°?^j,rTr.:,Ji^^):fT;%

A Story of Jesuit

1/6

^'??obtr*,.XtSSd""°'«- ^'^""^-'-

i,,,,..^... By M. A.

C07lfd.

Lessons in Our Laws; or, Talks titBi

Vegetarian Cookery. lv.\ r. l.nue.

trated. .= Books m

Guide to Employn

leaving Scbool.

Carpentry TVorkshop Practice, Forty Lessons in.
Engineering Workshop Practice, Forty Lessons in.
Elementary Chemistry for Science Schools and

Citizen Reader. By H. O. Arnold-Forster. M.P. Cloth. (Also a

it. '//,.>;: UaiUon,c!oth.is.f,A.)
Round the Empire. Ey G. R. Parkin. With a Preface by the

Jiarlol Rosebery. K.G. Fully lUustrated.
Higher Class Readers, CasseU's. Illustrated. Cloth. Each.
The Malcing of the Home. By Mrs. S. a. Baructt..
Temperance Reader, The. By Rev. J. Dennis Ilird.
Little Folks' History of England. By Isa Craig-Knox.

Principles of Perspecti

Appli
a Nai

Sketching from Nature, The. By
Nursing for the Hon&e and for the Hospital, A

Handbook of. i;y C. J. Wood. [Also in cloth, cs.)
Cassell's Popular Atlas. ContaininL.' :;4 Coloured Maps.

;" Judges.
i David

In Verse. By J. R. Macdult, D.D.

Handsomely lUusti
A Ramble Round France.
AU the Russias.
ChalB about Germany.
The Eastern Wonderland.
Peeps mto China.

and elegantly bound.
Glimpses of South America.
Round Africa.
The Land of Temples.
The Isles of the Pacifle-
The Land of the Pyramids.

GIFT BOOKS FOR 70UNG PEOPLE.

By Popular Authors. With Illustrations in each. Cloth g

The Boy Hunters of Ken- , Ruth's Life Work;

tuclcy. ' By Edward S. Ellis. Pains, no Gaius."

Red Feather: a Tale of the i Rags and Rainbows:

American_ Frontier. By | _of Thanksgiving.

[Syiiiii.tit.'ii. ' Uncle ...

By M.igi^iu I The Broken Tn

Rhoda'B Reward: or, "It i Pretty Pink's Purpose; or.

Wishes -were Horses." The Little Street Mer-

Frank's Life-Battle; or. The chants.

Three Friends. Tnxy; or, "Those who Live

Jack Marstou's Anchor. in Glass Houses shouldn't

Fritters; or," It's a Lone Lane Throw Stones."

that has uo Turning." The Two Hardcastles; or.

Major Monk's Motto: or. "A Friend in Need is a

•'Look beforeyou Leap." Friend Indeed."

Ursula's Stumbling Block; Tim Thomson's Trial ; or.

Fall." Glitters."

The Youn^ Harringtons.

f the Olden Time.

Dick'B

The Old' Fairy Tale;

THE LIBRARY OF WONDERS.

Illiislrated Gift Books for Boys. Crown 8vo. cloth.

Wonders of Bodily Strength ana Skill.— Wonderful Escapes.—

Wonders of Animal Instinct- Wonderful Balloon Ascents.

Physiology

By Alfred T. Schofield, M.D.,

d and Eye Training. By G.

L-:.igiiing*in Cardboard. (Vol. III., Ct
Historical Cartoons, CasseU's

X35in.. Six. Each. KSce also nX. an

Practical SoUd Geometry, A

1/9

K,ass€U <fc Company, Limited^ Lui^irat^- ^^^h London ; Pans and Mdboitmc

Cassell ^- Company's Classified Price List.

21-
cont^d. I

2/6

£DUCATZONAI. (««ft«w.'rf\
AppUed Mecltanics. r.y sir R. Stawell Ball. LL.D.
Linear Drawing. By i:. a, i>,i\-i.ls'^n.
Orthographic and Isometrical Projection.
Building Construction, The Elements off.
Systematic Drawing and Shading, r-y Cbarl
Jones's Book-keeping. I'v 1

THE "BELLE SAUVAGE

The Fortunes ol Nige
Guy Mannering.
Shirley.
Coumgsby.

Nicholas Nickl'eby. (=
Jane Eyre.
Wutherins Heights.
The Prairie.
Night and Morning.

Modem. sSeries. UjcIi. i.-llio on iitiett.7fif!i
" LXBRAR'V. Cloth. Eacli.
The Prinoe of the House of

tTncle Tom's Cabin.
Eugene Aram.

Jack Hinton, the Guards-
Rome" and the Early Christ-
iy*s Yellowplush
Deei^layer.

Ingoldsby Legends,
Tower of Loudou.
The Pioneers.
Charles O'Malley.
Barnaby Rudge.
Cakes and Ale.
The King's Own.
People iTiave Met,

Last of the Barons.

Adventures ol Mr. Ledbury.

Ivanhoe.

OUver Twist.

Selections from Thomas

Hood's Works.
Longfellow's Prose Works.
Sense and Sensibility.
Lord Lytton's Plays.
Bret Harte— Tales, Poems. &c.
Sheridan's Plays.

Jeersiay—-
Waslungton Irving

Last Dayi
Tales oft

fthel

of Palmyra,
e Borders.
Prejudice.

The Old Cariosity Shop.

The Talisman.

The Heart of Midlothian

The Last Days of Pompei

Sketches by Boz.

Ameriean Humour.

Macaulay's

lected Essay
-larry Lorreq
The Pickwick Papers (=

Handv Andy,
TheH
Old M

ye.

Harry Lorrequ
— -■ kwiekl

The Hour and the Man.

Old Mortality.

Edgar Allan Poe. (ProbC .'

Margaret Lyndsay.

MISCELZ.ANEOUS.

Poverty Corner. By Georcre Manville Fenn.
The still House of O'Darrow. By lr%ing Bat
Successful Life, The. By-
Gentleman, The Perfect.

The London ]

<_.iunt:tl on tlic iJwellin^'s of the Poor.

Campaigns of Curiosity, By Eliz;

Modern Dressmaking, The Ele:

Elder Brother. Cheap Edition.
ylheRev. A. Smythe.Palraer. D.D.

Prepared by the Mansion House

r Elizabelli L. Banks. lUustrated.
r. By Jeannette

Grace of God.
Cassell's Popular Cookery.
The Voter's

How Zlante Climbed
Cassell's Book of In-doo
Games, and Fireside Fun

John Orlebar, Clk. I'.y ihe Author of " C

Short Studies from Nature. liii u u
The World's Lumber Koom. I

THE "GOLDEN MOTTOES

Coloured Plates.

.E.Selfe. lUustratc-.l.
Amusements, Card

" Bear and Forbear.

Sarah PitL
"He Conquers 1

'Honour i

THE «* CROSS AND CROWN'

With Four lUustrations in c;ich Book, printcil o
In Letters of Flame. I By Fire and 3

Through Trial to Triumph. ot the Hugut

Strong to Suffer. | No. XIII.: oi

Adam Hepburn's Vow. ' the Lost Ves

BOOKS BV EDWARD S. ELLIS.

Shod with silence. Ned in the Wo

The Phantom of the Eiver. 1 Ned on the Bi\
The Great Cattle Trail.
The Path in the Ravine.
I Young Ranchers.

2/6

Story {Cont'd,

the Block Ho

Pen's Perplexities.

At 1

i'lre and Wigwau

the Mississippi.
. the Wilds.

3 Shipwrecks.

POPULAR VOLUMES FOR 70UNG PEOPLE.
Pleasant VTork for Busy Fingers ; or, Kindergarten

at Home. By MaL^^ie Browne. lUustratecI.
The Cost of a Mistake. By Sarah Put. lUustrated.
Little Mother Bunch. By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated.
The Peep of Day. An Old Friend in a New Dress. Illustrated
VrUd Adventures in Wild Places. By Dr. Gordon Stables.

Pictures of School Life and Boyhood, Selected from the

Perils il-fioat and Br

Modern Explorer
Decisive Events i
The True Robins^
Early Explorers.

Peeps Abroad for Folk
Heroes of Everyday Life.
Rambles Round London.

s Ashore. By Alfred Idwes.
y of the Days of WTallace

Paws and Claws.

In Qu

On Bo

The Roma;

of Gold ; or. Under the WThanga Falls.
d the '* Esmeralda"; or. Martin Leigh's Log.

' * ' • ' gnettcs Ironi the Annals of

Df Invention:

of the Indian

Fully Illustrated. Each.
Farm Crops, i.y Professor Wrightson.
Soils and Manures. By J. M. II. Munro. D.Sc. (Lond.),

Live Stock, i; Trofessor Wrightson.
Sculpture, A Primer off- By h. R. Mullins.
Numerical Examples in Practical Mechanics and

Machine Design. By R. G. I' \\ Y . \ rdilion,

RIa.rlborougli. Arranged and Compiled

TWO-SHILLING STORV BOOKS.

Illustrated throughout, and containing .sti.>rie?. lor Vol
Crcwn Svo, handsoraely bound in cloth gilt.

Margaret's Enemy.

The Top of the Ladder : How

to Reach it.
Stories of the Tower.
Mr. Burke's Nieces.
May Cunningham^ Trial.

Marion's Two Homes.
Little Flotsam.
Madge and her
Through Peril t

Fourpenny Bi

Wa^."
Mischief Again.

Poor Nelly.

CASSELL'S MINIATURE_ LIBRARV OF

In Two \

Milton - - 2 Vols
Wordsworth - 2 Vols,
LongfeUow - 2 Vols.
Scott • - - 2 Vols.
Hood- . - 2 Vols.

"WANTED-A KING" SERIES.
Cheap EdUion. Illustrated.
Fairy Tales in Other Lands. By Julia Goddard.
Hobin'8 Riae. By Ellin- " "

Great-Grandmamma. By Georgina M. Syn^e.
Wanted— a King; or. How Merle set the Nur
to Kights. By Magfiie Browne.

French, Cassell's Lessons in.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Schoolmaster Sketches. By T. J.
Three Vears w^ith Lobengula :
South Affnca. By J. Cooper Chadwic^

They Met in Heaven. By G. H. Hepw<

A Book of Absurdities. For Children

The Art of Malting and Using Sketches. From the
Geometrica.1 Drawing for Army Candidates. By H. T.

Free Public Libraries. By Thomas Greenwood. F.R.G.S.

.\, ition, lUustrated.

National Railways. An Argument for State Purchase. By

Nursing of Sick Children, A Handbook for the. By

■ Catherine J. Wood.

Casseil d- Company, Limited, LtidgaU Hill, London ; Paris and Melboun

Cassell 4' Company's Classified Price List.

:i

26

confd.

Mechanics for 7oung Begrinners, A First Book of.

Nature's Wonder Workers, by K;iie K. Lo\eU. Illustrated.

Unicode, i U.j i m . r .ITelesrapIiic I'l'r^se Book. Desk and Pocket
Bo.Peep. A Treasury for the lattle Ones. Yearly
Sent Bacit by the Angels, and other BaUads. liy ilie

Ne-w Testament, An Introduction to the.

Miniature Cyclopscdia, Cassell's. Cwutainm^-^o.cxxj Subjects.

Signa Christi. i : ' imstianity set forth in the Person

The Lady's Dressing-Room. Translated from the French by
Fairway Island. Ly il-i^-c- Hutchinson. Illustrated.

Diet and Cooicery for Common Ailments. By a Fellow
of the Royal CoUege of Physicians and Phyllis Browne.

TECHNXCAI. MAM17AI.S (EUustratedl.

The Elements of Practical I Drawing for Cabinetmakers.
.,?^^-^P^E^Zf^g_ Drawing for Bricklayers.

StoDemaeons. | Gothic Stonework.
New Coloured Natural History

Model Drawing.
Drawing f— —

Cassell'E

)by3.

Mounted

Sepia Painting, A Course of

Objects, and

By W. E. Sp-^rkes.
netry, inclufiine

Eight Coioured Plates

.Each. Kin one Vol.. <,%.",

Deuteronomy.

St. Matthew. (3s.
St. Mark. (3s.)
St. Luke. (3s. 6d.)
St. John. (3s. 6d,)

CASSELL'S POPULAR LXBRAR7 OF FICTION.

The Squire. By Mrs. t

A Mode "■ • — ■

A Blot <

The Avenger of Blood- By J. Maclaren Cobban.

Baffles Haw.

BlaCH. By Stanley Wcyman. It

By Anthony Hope.

The

Father Stafford.

The Medicine Lady. By L. T. Meade,

Leona. By Mrs. Moiesworth.

'La Bella," and others. By Egerto

Out of the Jaws of I
Fourteen to One, &c. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Dr. DtimSny's Wife. By Maurus [okai.
The Lights of Sydney. By Lilian Turner. Wit

Eight Illus-

Playthings and Parodies. Short Stories. Sketches, &=.. by
The Red Terror : A Story of the Paris Commune.

An Old Boy's Varns. % Harold Avery. With 8 Plates.

A World Beneath the Waters; or, Merman's Land.

A Ride 1
The Litt
Zero, the Slaver.

Into the Unknow

Illustrated.
I Africa. By Lawrence
2 of South Africa. By Lawrence

aus L

IL

Epheaiam
FhiUppians. 135)
Colossiaus, Thesaaloniao 6,

and Timothy. (3s-'
TituB, Philemon, Hebrews.

and James. (3s.)
Peter, Jude, and John. (3s. 1
The Revelation. (3S.)

New

Testament. (2s. 6d.)
THE WORLD'S WORKERS.

I Original \'olume5 by Popular Authors. With Portraits,
lining 3 works. Cloth, i

3/6

The Century Science Series.

le Century Science s<

D.C.U, F.R.S. Crown 8vo.

i by Sir Henry H. Roscoe.
ilton and the Rise of Modern Chemistry. By Sir
ennell,F.K,.S..andthe Rise ot English Geography.

The Hersohels and Modern .

Charles Lyell and Modern Geology. By Rev. Professor T. C

J. Clerk Maxwell and Modern Physics. By R. T. Glazt

Charlf

Cassell's New Biographical Dictionary. Contai

Locomotive Engine, The Biography of a. By H
Mount Desolation. An Australian Romance. By \\\ Ca
Magic at Home. B> Prof. HoiThmh. Fnlly Dlustrr.ted.

Some Legendary Landmarks of Africa. By

Old and Ne^r Testament-?, Plain Introductions
the Books of the. :^s ]

Commentary. InT^^o\^,

The Life Of Christ. 1 ; i . f.

^^'it',' i^ F..ll-pa^e Jill., . ■ ^ •;. . |.il, ;:lr C,,/.

Joy. and Health. \ n,

Story Poems for Younf

Shaftesbury, K.G.. Th-

and Work of. Kv iidw

The Ladies' Physician

s. Illustrated. (Also an
Edited by E. Davenport.

Disra.eli, B

Life of Nelson. I i

The Law of Musical and D;

Aubrey de Vere's Poemis

Handraiiine am
Hydrostatics.
Mathematical 1
Mechanics. .
Linear Drawing

Copyrights.

Shakspere^ The Leopold.

Culmshire Folk. !'.■ lii- Antli-i !

AVear'sCookery. rj- i'liyli- l;. ■ ■ ' i kuition.

Sports and Pastimes, Cassell's Complete Book of.

Poultry.Keeper. The Practical, i^y i... i. Utr^ht. With

Pige ■""■'■

Rab

THE *' TREASURE ISLAND" SERIES.

CHJ-.ir ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS.
Treasure Island. By K. L. Stevenson.

The Master of Ballantrae. By R. L. Stevenson.

The Black Arrow. Cy K. L. stLvenson.

King Solomon's Mines. By H. Kidcr HaLj^ird.

VOUNG PEOPLE'S STORV BOOKS.

Under Bayard's Banner. iJy HL-!;ry Friih.
The Champion of Odin. ly I 1 .. i- rick Hodgeita.

Bound by a Spell. F.y U,.- H..11. Mr. ..rc-cne.

story of the Crimea

French Exer
French-Engli

The Insect World. I The Ocea

ReptUes and Birds. The World

The Human Race. | Mammalia.

The Vegetable World.

Maggie Browne, " Sheila,' Isabc

C >ntai'ning several hundred Scrip-
[Alsoincloih, 5s.)
Cloth. \AUo m doth. beveUea

The Sunday

The Chit-Chat Album. 1 :ra

Picture Album of All Sorts.
I My Own Album of Animals.
I Album for Home, Scbool, and Play* Contai

Casstll <t- Company, Limited, Ludgatt Hill, London; Paris and Melbourm.

Cassell Sf Company's Classified Price List.

g /g I Bo-Peep. iV Treasury for tbe Uttle Ones. lUusirai.

'.Onfd. R'binaon Crusoe, CasselT's New Fine-Art Editio

4/-

4/6

Swiss Family Robin:
The London, Brighton

Gulliver's Trav
Little FolliS

Flowers, and How to Paint tbem. By Maud Naftcl. Wiih
RELIGIOUS.

St. George for England : .11.1 other Sermons pteaclicd to

' l;\iiM 1^1 .( nil. II 1 i.i;;nnioiith Sliore. M.A.

HiG of the

The Blue Pavilions.
"I Saw Three Shil

- „ „ , olher Winter's Tales.

of Troy Town. | Noughts and Crosses.

The Delectable Duchy.
Gleanings after Harvest. Bj- the Rev. John R.

5/-
cont'd.

POPULAR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

i Red Rose and Tiger Lily. I

t PoUy : A New-fashioned Girl,

+ A World of Girls: A Story of ;

tThe Palace Beautiful, A .'it.ir

t Bashful Fifteen. P.y l l Muade. lUustrated.

t Tbe White House at Inch Gow. By Sarah V\

The King's Command : A Story for Girls

and Its Echoes of Famous

L. T. MeaUe.

The Highway <

Zimmem. ' lUustrated.

Iron Pirate, The. . , i . Il- of Strange Happenings on the

To the Death. Hy R. D. Chetwodc. With Four Plates.
Pomona's Travels. By Frank R. Stockton. Illustrated.

The Reputation of George Saacon. By Morlcy Roberts.

" By «cile Cassavetti (A Rus^i^im. .-\ story of tlie time ol

A Boy's Adventures

For Fortune and Glory. A story of the Soudan ^\■ar. By

''Follow^ my Leader"; or. The Boys of Templeton.

For Glory and Renown. I;j- H. H, Parry, with 8 Full-page
With Claymore and Bayonet. By Col. Percy Groves.

The Queen's Scarlet. Being Hie Adventures and Misadven-

f 1 I r:l>^le. By George Manville Fenn. With

Awkward Squads, The; and other Ulster Stories.

Capture of the "Estrella," The. A Tale of the Slave

I iLT Claud Harding, R.N.

Five Stars in a Little Pool. By Edith Charrington. Illustrated.

VTorld- The New Practical Journal
Trades. Half-yearly volumes.
he Illustrated Journal for Mechanics. Nc.
Half-Yenrly Vols. VIII. and X Each.

. Building and
and Enlarged

World of Wonders, The. Illustrated. Cheap Editioti. I
Watch and Clock Maldng. By D. Glasgow, Vice-Presii
Design in Teactile Fabrics. Uy T. R. Ashenhurst,

Scarlet and BIi

Physiology for

Beyond the Bli
Loans Manual

Birds' Nests. Eggs, and Eg^-Co

Medii

Ma

Stu-

Household, Cassell's Book of the. In lour Vols. Fach.
English Commons and Forests. By the Rt. Hon. G. Shaw-
Agrarian Tenures. i;\ th'- Rt, Hon. G. Shaw-Lefevrc.
Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, Cassell's. Illustrated,

Cassell's Cone

WORKS B-7 I.EADXNG AUTHORS.

l:\tr.i crown 8vo. cloth, Each.
The Black TVatch ; The Record of an Historic Regiment. By

Archibald i-...rht'~. LL.D.

Sentimental Tommy. By J. M. Barrie.

What Cheer ! By W. Clark Russell.

A Puritan's Wife. By Max Pemberton. lUustrated.

Mrs. Cliff's Vacht. By Frank Stockton.

The Rogue's March. By E. w. Hcmung.

Tuartor's Little Maid. By G. B. Burgm.

From the Memoirs of a Minister of France. By

The Adventures of David Balfour. By K. l. Stevenson.
Vol. I. Kidnapped.

Vui, II. Catriona.
The Impregnatle City. By Max I'emberlon.
The Sea Wolves. By Max Feraberton. Illustrated.
'Lisbeth. ANr^.l. By Leslie Keith. Cheap Edition, in One Vol.
The Highway of Sorrow. By Hesba stretton and *»••»*..,
A Prison Princess. i;^ M u-r .\iiiii:r * -nifiths.
The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane. By Frank Barrett.

11 :. ' : , I opttlar EdiHon.

Island Nights' Entertainments.

The Story of Francis
The Hispaniola Plate, i y John I
A Free Lance in a Far Land.
Adventures in Criticism <_ .nsis

n and Lloyd Osbourne.

By Stanley J. Weyinan.

elle-Burtori.

erbcrt Conipton.

Stories. By O.

Wandering Heath. A Selection of Sli

The White Shield- By Bertram Mttford.

Old Maids and Voung. By Elsa D'Esterre-Keeh'ng.

The Adventures of Captain Horn. By Frank Stockton.

A Foot-Note to History : Eight Vears of Trouble in

Historical

The Co

Wo

By 1

■.L.S.

Water - Colours*

By R. 1

With Eight

, Scotland, Picturesque a

Plctonal New Zealand. With Preface bj
ceval, K.C.M.G., Agent-General for New Zealand.

Cassell's Universal Portrait Gallery.

Cassell's New World of VTxt i

Sir W. B. Pcr-

Illustratcd.
Contaii<ing 240
Day. Wiih brief

Cassell <fc Company, LvniUd^ Ludgate Hill^ London ;

Cassell ^ Company's Classified Price List.

61-
cont'd.

Cookery Book, Nevr Universal, Cassell's. liy

Natural History. Ca-sell's. Edited by Prof. P. Martin

I , I ■ Double Vols, l-acli, lUuslraled.

The Three Homes. . » .jry Rev. Dean Farrar, D.D., F.R.S.

Ballads and Songt.

,.,U"il IIM-ir-.tiMii;, liy H. iM. Erc.clt. Cloth,
Memories and Studies of War and Peace. Uy .\i^liil>ald

Loveday : A Tale of a Stirrine Time. By A. E. Wickh.im.

From Independence HaU Around tbe World. I'y

I--. C.irtoll litcMStcr, I.L.D. I-ully Illustrated.

Henry Allon, D.D., Pastor and Teacber. Tho story
Europe, Cassell's Pocket Guide to. Lcatlier.

Star-lAnd. By sir Robert Sl.livell Ball, LL.D. Illuslralcil.

Queen Summer ; or, the Tourney of tbe Lily and
tbe Rose. Containing 40 pages of Designs by Walter Crane,

By G. Ricks, B.Sc. Two Vols.. Mith

"Quiver" Volume, Tbe. .%>;.■

. Original Illustration'

EDVCATIONAI..

Fisure Painting In Water-Colours. Willi

English Literature, A First Sketcb of.

Mr!., y , !':{ littlar^id Editicu,

Algebra, Manual of. By Galbraitli and H..iial.
English Literature, Library of. 1:

Pictureeque Auitralaala. Cassell's. with uptvards of

I.OM lUustralions Four Vols. Each.

Roll of Glory; or.

[Also Libra.

Victoria Cross, its

F.Z.S.

tlieir Valour'. By D. H. Pa.
Popular History of Animals. By Henry Scli

I'.illi 13 Colrjuie,! Hales and oilier Illustrations.

Royal Academy Pictures, 1896. In One Vol.
FamUy Maeazine Volume, CasseU's.

750 Original Illustrations.
Cassell's Oasetteer of Great Britain anc

Illustrated with Woodcuts and Maps in Colours. \'ols.
Each.
Dora's Milton's Paradise Lost. lilnstraie 1 1 y '

Dore's Dante's Purgatory and Paradise.

Dore's Dante's Inferno. i:iu'u.t .1 l.y '.■. t •.

i.Seeatoais^
Cassell's Illustrated Bunyan, with 200 origina

Cheap Edition.
Municipal Taxation at Home and Abroad. By J. ;.

Tbe Story of Africa and its Explorers. By Dr. Rcben

br.wii. F.L.S. llluslralcd. Complete in Four Xols. Eacli.

Football, Tbe Rugby Union Game. Edited by Rcy. F.
Life and Letters of the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Napier,

Bart., LL.D., Ac, Ex-l.ord Chancellor of Ireland. By Alex.
CharlesEwald, l-.S.A. .\ew and Revised Edition.

and Public Health. By B. Arthur Wbitelegge. M.D.

The Cbess Problem 1 Text-Book with :

i of C. Planck a

Containing

Medical Handbook of Life Assurance. ByJ. E. Pollock,
Domestic Dictionary. Cassell's. Illustrated. 1.2S0 pages.
Subjects of Social Welfare. By the Rl Hon. Lord Play-

Peoples of the VITorld, Tbe.
Year-Book of Treatment. 1
The Practitioner.

Our Own Country.

Ulusltatious 111 c.ich V<

Natural History, Cs

By Prof. E. Perceval

Cassell's Concist
Farrar's Life of I

Bible Dictionary. By the Rev. Robert

-> Uiii I ..loiiredMapj.tiid other Illustrations.
hrist. Cheap lUusfratcd Edition. Larye 4to.

Farrar's Early Days

Sunday": its Origin, History, and Present ObU-
Eation 1: iSNl. ' By the Veil. AtchdMcon

Illustrated. Cloth. ;

1 Paper for Boys. Yearly \

By Prof. W. E. Ayrlon.

Containing ne.irly. 400,1

The Story of the Sea. Edited by ij. With New
rman War. Cassell's History of I

, Illustrations. Each.
i"lyIllu'stratcd°'in'TJ

Conquests of the Cross.

gravings. Fa

Greek History-" 'voirij:," The Roman Period. Vol. III., Thi
■' Ages. Vol. IV.. Modern History. With Illustrations. Eacli.
"5 History of. By tlie Rev. J. A. Wylie

LL.D. Three Vols. With too Ifiustrattons. Each.
United States, History of

Three Vols. About o^j Illustrations. Each.

800 Engravtogs. Each.

't

London, Greater. Complete

Vols. By Edward Walfoi

J Original 1

. Illustrations and Di.igrams. Each.

The Dictionary of English History. Edited by Sidney

1. Low, B..\.. and Prof. F. b. Pulling. M.A. Cheap Edition.

Moses and Geology; or. The Harmony of the Bible

ueith Science. By the Rev. Samuel Kinns. Ph.D., F.R.A.S.

Europe, A History of Modem. By C. A. Fyiie, M.A.. late

FeDovv of University College. Oxford. Cheap Edition. In One Vol.
( Also Library Edition, Illustrated, 3 Vols., 7s. 6d. each.)
A Vision of Saints. By Sir Lewis Morris (FideUbus). With 20

Old Dorset, Chapters in the History of the County.
The Dore Don Quixote. With about 400 Illustrations by Gustavc

Dori Clii.v h,ul,^n.

___ _ teUgion, The. By the Rev. William Benhani,

Life of Christ. Cheap Illustrated Edition. iSer also
Popular EdiNon. Persian morocco. t.S«o/jo 7s. 6d.. 21s..

Fulton's Book Of Pigeons. With Staud.irtK for Judi.,'iiit,'. I liteil
by Lewis Wright. Revised. Enlarged, and Supplemented by the
Rev. W. F. Luiuley. With Fifty FuU-page Illustrations. P.^fuLir
Edition. In One Vol {Also Original Edition, with 50 Coloured

Electric Current, The. By Professor Walmsley. Illustrate I

Cassell <fc Company, Limited, Liuigate Hill, London ; Paris and Melhurne.