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1
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6
MICROCOPY RESOIUTION TfST CHART
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A /IPPLIED IM/1GE Inc
MOSTLY MAMMALS
■,i.h.i:,-ii,i: /■!■ /. /IV,7.i
lIl.AI. \Mi I'nkl.-l.lMU- "I- ll[l-. AM-,-,\\ 1-. I
[Fivnti'/>t-,
i
Mostly Mammals
Zoological Essay:
K LYDEKKER
nnii 'tXTtcv
ruU..rA(,E II.LUSTKATmKS
HV
niK DUCHESS OF nKDKORD, LOKl) DFLAMKU,.
Tin; HON. WAI-TEK KOi IISCHII.D
I WOLK. AND OTHERS
TOKONVO
THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY
1905
PR H ACE
'pHE whole of the articles collected in this
volume have previously appe- , id in period-
ical literature; the great majority .., ATnow/e^e,
but others in Naiur,. the F.,M. and the Asian
To the editors of these journals the Author herewitl
returns his best thanks for the kind permission
to reproduce the articles in their present form ;
special thanks being due to Messrs. Witherby
the publishers of KnomUdge, for the loan of some
of the original illustrations.
The importance of "nature study," now coming
so much to the fore, is strongly insisted upon in
several of the articles.
In a few instances two or more articles have
been combined, but for the most part they are re-
produced as much as possible in their original form,
with such alterations as have been found necessary
■n order to bring them up to date, and with a
f{ PREFACE
few omissions to avoid unnecessary repetition. A
certain amount of repetition will, indeed, still be
found to exist, as somewhat similar ground is, in
certain instanceit traversed in the course of two
separate articles. To have avoided this, would
have entailed practically re-writing some, or the
total omission of others ; and it was consequently
decided to print the entire series almost as it
stood.
Harpenden Lodge, Herts,
April %th, 1903.
CONTENTS
PART I
ANIMALS EXTERMINATED DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS
SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS
THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE .
A LAND OF SKELETONS
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS
CELEBES : A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION
A DROWNED CONTINENT
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS
AFRICA AND IIS ANIMALS .
MONKEY HAND-PRINTS
LIVING MILLSTONES
27
39
48
58
69
So
108
117
125
■35
M5
■55
PART II
AN INVISIBLE MONKEY ,
If?
SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS ,,,
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL . .
179
THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT ,jg
THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG ,.-
viii CONTENTS
PACK
TWO FASHIONABLE FURS ........ 207
THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION .217
A GIANT AMONG SEALS 335
THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA . , .235
THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 244
THE EXTINCT QUAGOA 252
ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES 261
THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS 271
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP 280
MUSK-OXEN IN ENGLAND 287
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE 293
THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE 303
AKMOUR-CLAD WHALES 308
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR . . . . . . 314
BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 322
GIANT LAND-TORTOISES 33I
SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 341
THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 35I
BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 361
SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 368
INDEX 376
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"'""^ZV^^^^ZjZoT ^"■^^'= " "— C-- '>-.^««
East African Giraffes in Covert.
f^mn a PhMgnph b. Lard D.lam.r,.
Arctic Foxes
From Pko,.gr.,ks ^ m. &*.„„„ /.*.,.p„,*;., ^ ,
African Elephants .
''"•"<• Pholopath by Lord !>;,„„,„
Monkey Hand-Prints
White-tailed Guereza
Male Proboscis Monkev
Orange Snub-nosed Monkey
An African Scale-Tail in Flight
the woolly Fly,-,g-S«uirrel of Astor and Gilgit
A Colony of Beavers
A Peking Stag with the Antlers in Velvet
From a Pkolosr,.ph b, ,h, C„rf„, „/ B,d/,rd. '
PtRE David's Mi-lou Deer
From a Pkolograph by Ih, Du,h,s, oj Bid/orJ. '
'■""HALfi^R-o^^i"^"-"." ^""' ™^ "-- ''^-"
From a Phologroph bj ih, Du,k4W of Btd/ord. '
Male AND Female Anoa, or Dwarf Buffalo
From a Phologroph by Ih, £)„,*,„ „/ B.d/ord.
'^'"' from. ™ "/""I r ^°"" A"*"'* I'"-™ .
To fatt pagt i6
«6
140
U6
168
172
I?4
236
238
248
in
274
1> 290
304
338
PART I
AN
Wh,
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
ANIMALS EXTERMINATED DURINr -r^
NINETEENTH CENTURV ™^
"■•ficent .a,e of zoo.ogiL. Tac " ";°:" °' "" ""«-
course, it is, on the „th' h , ''"°"'P''^''ed during its
c-.e or hivin, t:s r'torrr '^ °"" '" "'^'
a few animals, and of h, <'«em„„at,on of not
others to he s; ^dl that'll: d""' '"^ """"'"^ "^
- truly wild creatures, ea sCrce v H^"""' "' '^^■''
years longer. Possib,;, if not "lah^ 1 '"' '"' """"''
of the enormous hei^f :::;teS; 't.rr'"' ^^
American bison, mav have h ' "'""^ of the
-tofthem:.h^:::^::-:;---^pani.
15 no sort of excuse t^ k _, f ™s'^ess , hut there
— "Stances r:.L:;r^„^i--. '"
-n. ade^u^t^Xrentr;^^^^^^
it cannot be said that any' Is L"""' '°' '''"'"''
—nation a. abso,Lr::^;:---i3
J
4
» MOSTLY MAMMALS
yet whether, sufficient apecimens of «uch species are
being preserved for our successors may be an open
question.
It is not my intention in this article to allude to the
hosts of animals whose numbers have been reduced in
such a wholesale manner during the century as to render
them in more or less immediate danger of impending
extermination, but to confine our attention in the main to
those on whom this fate has already fallen. And here it
may be mentioned with satisfaction that India enjoys a
remarkably good record in this respect, for, so far as we
are aware, it has not lost a single species of mammal,
bird, or reptile, either during the nineteenth century or
within the period of definite history. It is true that the
numbers and range of the Indian lion have been sadly
curtailed during the last fifty years, and that if steps are
not promptly taken for its protection that animal may ere
long disappear from the Indian fauna. But, at any rate,
it has not done so at present ; and even weie it ex-
terminated in that country, this would not mean the
extinction of a species, and possibly not even of a local
race, since it is not improbable that the Persian represen-
tative of the lion (which is still abundant) may not be
distinguishable from the Indian animal. Of large animals
peculiar to India, perhaps the great Indian rhinoceros is the
one that requires most careful watching in order that its
numbers and its range may not be unduly reduced before
it is too late to take adequate measures for its protection.
We have said that the century is responsible for the
extinction of no inconsiderable number of the world's
animals. But it must not for one moment be supposed
that, within the historic period, no such exterminations bj
human agency had taken place in previous centuries. W-
EXTERMINATED ANIMALS
'"t record of XM if ■' ^'""' '" '"»'• '• ""=
to have been mTZhb^T'"" " ""' *=""""'' ""<»»"
•Here <. .o.e j.::^ :^,.^^rz .It ?'• r-^"
on in the more unfreouentPrf !!. . ^ ''"' ""«*'•'<'
quent to ,69s; while our CZl Tf .h " '""'-
^^-cov (Xiyti^ ^ s .. '°°'- '"e great northern
i»'andsof the BerlT L ■" .h ' '""°"'"' °" ">^
ceased to exist by aLuf 76 '''''" 'T """ ""'"'^
of Reunion app^a^sto^fe """^"' "^^ ^^nt tortoise
- was probably the case wTh son^e' rT"" """'^^•
wj; inhabit., the i:,:::;;:;:;^;^ t:„r-
mMr.,.s W,W), a'LtTreitror r*"^
antelope, s nee the last ir. 'cauve ol the roan
^en Jled in or^t t Tye^X '' ^^T I' ^'^^
curiously restricted hah,>=f kl- ^' ''*'* ='"ays a
in .he Swellendl d^ ' "' ""'"^ '° » -="' "-
we^r; rcari::-^"'"'^'^^ ''''<-■-
of the nineteenth cenlrv for ,.' ™'"" °' "■' '^"'"^
protective measure: hter^;:;: ■^''•«^<'<>•"'t "'^' '-f
been alive at the present 6.y ^ZZ' ^^ "•"" '""
t
0
I
r
0!
31
P
9
<
4 MOSTLY MAMMALS
of the Atlantic it probably disiappcared s. newhcrc about
the year 1840; while the summer of 1844 witnessed the
destruction of the last European pair of this remarkable
bird, the last British representative of the species having
been hunted to death in the neighbourhood of Waterford
Harbour ten years previously.
One of *he most sad storiesof extermination, and that,
too, at a comparatively recent date, is revealed in the case
of the South African quagga. Since a full account of the
species is given in a later article, it will suffice to state here
that in Cape Colony the extermination apparently took
place about the year 1865, althoivh the species may have
survived a few years longer in the Orange River Colony,
which was the last stronghold of the species.
Mention ha'; already been made of the extermination of
the giant Ian i-tortoise of Reunion during the eighteenth
century ; and in the early part of its successor four other
spicics became extinct in the neighbouring islands of the
Mascarene group— namely, Tesliido miica, T. triserraia, and
7". inepla in Mauritius, and T. vosmaeri in Rodriguez. It
has li'.ewise been considered probable that the thin-shelled
tortoise (r. abingJoni) of Abingdon Island, in the Galapagos
Jfoup, is also no longer existi.ig, although ■•. was certainly
alive as recently as 1875.
Of birds that have disappeared during the century, in
addition to the great auk, reference may first be made to
the black emeu (Drowaeus akr) of Kangaroo Island, South
Australia. When this island was explored in 1803 by a
French expedition, these birds were abundant, and three
were sent home to Paris, where a pair lived till 1822. On
their death, the skin of one and the skeleton of the other
were mounted for exhibition in the Paris Museum, wiiere
they still remain. Of the third specimen no record was
EXTERMINATED ANIMALS ,
obt.in.bl. till ,900. when U. .kelc.on w.. di«overed by
Irof G,g|,„,, ,„ ,h, „„,,„„ ^, p|^_.^_^^^ .j.^^^^ ^^_^_^^
pn«^„ ,p..c,„,c.ns are the only examples of a »,H.cir.s
wh,ch became rx.,nc. in the native «ate previ„us ,0 the
death „f the ..ari, pair, and before i, wa, .yen known .0
be different from the larger emeu of the ,„„inla„d. For
■t «ppear, that sc.ne years after the visit of the French
exped,t,on (to which Poran was naturali^j ,0 Kangaroo
Uiand a settler ,uatted there and forthwith sc, to work
.0 make a cl. :, sweep of the emeus and ka„garoos-a
task in whiei, he was only too successful.
Before the middle of the century another large bird
appears to have made its «nal exit from this world. When
Steller discovered the northern sea^ow ■, tne island, of
Benng Sea, he also brought to the notice of science a
new species of cormorant (Phala:rocor<^ Pcrsfiu.Ual.s),
«hich was especially interesting on account of being the
iargest representative of its kind, and likewise by the bare
white rings round its eyes and the brilliant lustre of its
green and purple plumage. Stupid and sluggish in dis-
posuion, Pallas's cormorant, as the species i! commonly
al ed, appears to have been last seen alive about the year
'839, when Captain Belcher, of H.M.S. Su/pln.r, was pre
sented wi^th a specimen by the Governor of Sitka, who also
forwarded other examples to S.. Petersburg. Captain
Gdchers specimen is preserved in the British Museum.
:!;:::: °'"^ ^^-^ -- '-- '° - '- -^--
Th^ great white water-hen (Nolon,is albus), formerly
inhabiting Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, must be added
to the defunct list. And the same is the case with the
Ta t, white-winged sandpiper, or rail ^Hypo,o,„iH,a pacifiea),
whtch in Captain Cook's time was abundant in the island
i
0.
3:
* MOSTLY MAMMAIJ
from which it Uke. iu name. « well m i„ ,he neighbouring
Einuo, The New Ze.l.nd qu.il (Co/,,.,,,:, «„,w..„/.,„rf,4
^l.kcm« entered in the British Mu«un, a, e«ti„cl. The
pr.«nfng the Dutch colour,, and technically known a.
^/«W,„ „//,■,/,„,■««, i. a Mauritian specie. .vho« ex-
term>nat,on probably took place during the century. 1,
■s known solely by three cample, one of which is pre
ZZIS' """"' "' -^^"^ '" '"'■ -' '^' '^'^^
Nor must we omit from our li.t two specie, of Kaka
I h,l,p Island, while the home of the second , •. „«,/„W,a
was the neighbouring Norfolk Wand. A s,Kcics of para-
quet(Pa/«<,„„i «,„/), peculiar to the island of Rodriguez
IS also belie-.cd to be exterminated. '
Neither has the duck family escaped, for the well-known
pied duck {Campiolaemm hbradorms), an ally of the eider
from the North Atlantic coast of America, appears in the
defaulters list, the las, known example having been killc
in 1052.
Passing on to Passerine birds, a notable loss is the hand-
some crested pied starting {Fr,gilup„. varius), of r ,u„ion
believed to have become extinct about the middle of the
century. Of the few remaining examples of this striking
species, one is preserved in the Briti.-- Museum. Another
species exterminated within approxim. 'y the same period
.s the gorgeous black and gold maino, or sicklebill {Dn-pams
Pocfica) of Hawaii, whence it was firs, brought to Europe
by Captain Cook. As narrated in-the ■• Birds of the Sand-
wh Islands," by Messrs, Scott Wilson and Evans the
extermination of this beautiful species is -.o be attributed
to persecution for the sake of its yellow f.-athers, which
EXTERMINATED ANIMALS
.PclT *"" "' "" ""'"' ■••""•'• A1X.U. four
Of b.,j ,h., h.vc b,,„ locally cx.cnninMcd, .uch ..
.he bu^o,, p,,„, ^^,^^,^^_^^^ ^_^^^ ^ ^ ..
on 1" " ' '"":''" " '' ""• 0- -«-""" '" »ml
on .hi, ccc,„on. This article may accordingly be fi.lv
rough. ,o a close by .„ cx.rac. from Prof. A Ncwto ''
■D,c,onary of I.ird,.- referring .o .wo in.,an.« X"
isianaa of St. Thomas and St rrni. n-
rou.een .nds of birds a, havln g^^uj o'^IZ"
"J' or '"tly years of his having been assured
of thcr existence they have become extinct. . f .hi'
be no enough, we may cite the case of the French island
of Guadeloupe and Martinique, in which, according to
M. Guyon, there were once found si,, species of Psiuac
all now exterminated; and it may possibly be that he
macaws, stated by Messrs. Gosse and March to he
ormerly frequented certain part, of Jamaica, but no
apparently noticed there fo- many years, have fa en victim
to colonisation and its consequences."
c:
0.
•a.
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS
To the n.ore observant class of sportsmen the stay-at-home
naturalist ,s, of necessity, indebted for most of his infor-
mation with regard to the habits of large animals and
their adaptation to their inanimate environment. And it
must l.e aclcnowledged that, in the main, he has but little
cause . f complaint as to the accuracy, fulness, and abund-
ance of the information thus supplied. One subject, and
that a very interesting and important one, in connection
with large animals in the field, seems, however, to have
attracted but a small share of attention on the part of
sportsmen and traveller.,, although it is obvious that what-
ever theories and conclusions the naturalist may draw
from the study of museum specimens must be put to the
test by observations in the field before they can be regarded
as of any definite and established value, I refer to the
connection between the different types of coloration of the
larger an.mals and their natural surroundings. Apart
from casual remarks with regard to the harmony existing
between the dappled coloration of a South African giraffe
and the splashes of light and shade in the mimosa groves
' '""ab.ts the resemblance presented by a tiger's stripes
o the dead grass of the surrounding jungle, and such-like,
I can recall scarcely a single observation recorded by
sportsmen or travellers which is of any real scientific value
m connection with the subject in question. One important
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS ,
excep.io„_„amely, the observation made several years aeo
that zebras standing on the open veldt in bright Znli/ht
be made to th,s sweeping assertion. And it is scarcelJ
. ueiievt, to a considerabe extent In th^
of manv tv„.= r " P"'?"" ="'1 meaning
"'•■>"> types of inammalian coloration
ordt^lo ^'"""V" '""' '° ""^"^ '''^^ -d ">--'es, in
b do, e r.: t" 'r '"■" """■ """ -•"" ---- to
callv a ' n , ""'" ^""P"°" °f "-'■ -"ras, p,Lti-
caiiy ail our conclusions with repni-H .„ .1,
coloration of most of the •'"''P'""' "'' ""^
that Ihe anlr . t ; ™ :;7"' "' ''"= ^'~n-
not amid their natural Z un Js "Zen r"'""^' ^"''
deposited in a museum the na ufalist has "" °""
ever of ascertaining by actua ! "T"' "'"'-
".'oration harmonisfs. o'r rrwisT™ the rna!'";
envnonment, all that he can do bei,.,' ,
as possible with regard to t e latt^ll ,f "" "' """'
eye-witnesses ,„h . ^ " ""= accounts of
such experiments cannot, in most cases at any
•o MOSTLY MAMMALS
rate, be conducted with museum specimens ; and, if practi-
cable, tliey would, at the best, give us but a poor inkling
of the real truth. What we wane are precise and accurate
observations made on living animals with regard to the
harmony between their colours and their surroundings ;
and such observations can only be made by sportsmen and
travellers, and more especially by the former. And to be
of any real value such observations must be made under
all conditions : in the case of a forest animal, for instance,
both when the creature '•) in the woods and when out
feeding in the open. Nor is this all, for it is necessary
to ascertain what portions of an animal's coloration are
adapted to render the body inconspicuous under all
circumstances — such as the white of the under-parts to
counteract the effect of shadow— and what portions have
been developed in correlation with the particular natural
surroundings of a species or group. Then, again, we have
to distinguish between protective coloration and what are
known as "recognition marks," such as the white under-
surface of the tail of a rabbit. Furthermore, there is the
distinction between both these types and the so-called
" warning colours," like the black and white of the skunks,
which are apparently intended to render their owners con-
spicuous, and thus protect them from attack, either on
account of some noxious emanation they possess or from
their fighting power. These warning colours are, however,
comparatively rare among mammals; and observation is
mainly required in regard to protective coloration, especially
when some species of a group are brilliantly spotted or
striped, while others are uniformly clad in a less gorgeous
livery.
Speaking generally, and excepting certain unusually
bulky kinds, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippo-
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS ii
potamuses, it is fairly safe to assert that among the
medium-sized and larger mammals the primitive type of
coloration took the form of either striping or spotting.
This is demonstrated by the many known instances there
are of the young being striped or spotted, while the adults
are more or less uniformly coloured. As well-known
examples of this kind we may cite tapirs, wild swine, many
kinds of deer, lions, and pumas. In many cases the sub-
stitution of a uniform dull livery for a spotted or striped
coat has evi ntly been in adaptation to an existence in
open or desert country. Instances of this kind are afTorded
by the lion and the Cape eland, the latter of which has lost
e stripes characteristic of its more northern representa-
tive and of the kindred antelopes such as the kudus and
bushbucks.
The fact that the young of certain animals haunting
more or less arid districts, sucli as the lion, still retain
their spots, while others, like the eland, differ from their
relatives inhabiting more wooded country only by the loss
of their stripes, indicates that in these cases, at any rate,
the acquisition of a uniformly coloured tawny coat is a
comparatively recent event. Possibly an explanation of
this may be afforded by the history of deserts and semi-
deserts themselves. In contradistinction to the old idea
that they are ancient upraised sea-beds, it is now well
known that all desert areas have been formed very slowly
by the gradual decomposition of the rocks in countries
y 'lere there is no rain to wash away the di'bris. And it
seems by no means improbable— owing to the enormous
lapse of time necessary for their formation, coupled, perhaps,
with a greater rainfall over most parts of the world in
earlier epochs— that such tracts never existed until late
in the earth's history.
a;
fTmmBf-^f'wm^'mTi
" MOSTLY MAMMALS
Be this as it may, we have no sort of difficulty in
realising why in..ny desert-haunting animals have ex-
clianged a striped or spotted coat for one of which the
colour is manifestly in harmony with the natural surround-
ings. Our real difficulties occur in the cases where animals
have a very similar kind of habitat, but display a total
difference in their type of coloration. Why, for instance
have many kinds of deer-not.bly the Indian sambar and
Its kindred^-discardcu their original spotted dress for one
of a sombre brown or red, while others, like the chital
(at all seasons) and the fallow-deer (in summer), have
retained the primitive dress? Or why, again, are the
African bushbucks and kudus, which are as much forest
animals as the sambar, some of the most brilliantly
coloured of all hoofed animals ? If a variegated and
brilliantly coloured coat is essential to the well-being of
these animals, why is it not equally essential to the
sambar, or vice versa? It is in regard to questions like
these that naturalists want help and assistance from
sportsmen and travellers, for at present they are working
to a great extent in the dark owing to lack of definite
and accurate observations in regard to the relation of
the colouring of these and other mammals to their
surroundings.
In spite, however, of our ignorance of the reason why
some forest animals should be uniformly dark-coloured
while others are more or less brilliantly striped, the con-
elusion is being gradually forced upon „s that in both cases
protection is the object. Apparently, as pointed out in the
sequel, the true explanation is that the spotted and striped
spec.es inhabit bush, or the more open parts of the forest
while dusky species like the sambar frequent dense thickets'
as, mdeed. Sir Samuel Baker states, is the habit of the
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS ,3
latter animal in Ceylon. Moreover, srotted species seen, to
be more essentially diurnal than somhre-coloured forms
When the meaning and purport of the coloration of
mammals first began to receive careful attention on the
part of naturalists, there was a tendency to classify brilliant
markmgs like those of the African bushbucks, bongo, and
kudus as "recognition n.arkings "-that is to say, markings
designed to enable all members of a species to recognise
w.th fachty their own kind. Animals have, however
other modes of mutual recognition in addition to colour-
besides which different species, whether they go about in'
pairs, in small family parties, or in herds, keep, as a rule
more or less to themselves, ar.d are in no danger of mis-
taking other species for their own kind. Probably among
the g„.at majority of mammals the only "recognition
-narks are the wiiite or light-coloured areas on the tail
or hindquarters, which are displayed to their fullest extent
m ■yanyca.es when the members of a party or herd have
to bolt suddenly to covert. In some species, like the
rabbit and the white-tailed American deer, the white area
.s restricted to the under-side of the tail and the adjacent
portions of the buttocks, and in such cases the tail is
always raised when in night, so as to expose a large and
conspicuous blaze of white. In other species, such as the
Japanese deer and its relatives of the Asiatic mainland, or
the roe, the white area takes the form of a paU-h of long
hairs on the rump, which are erected and expanded when
the animals are alarmed. Probably the straw-coloured
rump-patch of the wapiti and red-deer is of the same
nature, but as these animals are less likely to miss their
leader when in flight than is the case with smaller species
the recognition mark " is less conspicuous
In regard to spotted deer and striped antelopes, it
•4
MOSTLY MAMMALS
seems probahle, as has been suggested by Mr. R. I.
Pocock in an article published a couple of years ago in
Naliire, that the white markings belong to two different
categories so far as their purpose is concerned. In many
of such .ininwis not only is the under-surfacc of the body
white, liut there are several white gorgets on the throat
and white spots un the side of the face and chin. Now
there can be little doubt that such white areas are for the
purpose of counteracting the dark shade thrown by the
bo<ly, and thus rendering the animal much less conspicuous
when seen at a distance than would otherwise be the case.
That this is the true explanation is rendered practically
certain by the circumstance that such white markings,
especially the gorgets on the throat, persist in species
which, like the Indian nilgai and the American prongbuck,
have lost the ancestral stripes and spots. In neither of
the tv ' species referred to, it may be well to observe, are
the young spotted or striped, and it is therefore only
from analogy that we speak of their ancestors being thus
coloured ; but the nilgai is so closely related to the bush-
bucks and kudus that there can be little doubt that the
assertion is justifiable. Even, however, if it were not so,
the case as regards the purport of the white gorgets and
under-parts remains unaltered. It may be added that surh
white patches can only be effectual where there is plenty
of light to throw the shadow ; and this is in accordance
with the fact that kudu and ehital inhabit less dense
forest than sambar.
Having indicated, then, the special purpose of the white
under-parts and throat-markings of deer and antelopes,
we may consider the object of the stripes and spots char-
acteristic of certain species and groups. All the bushbueks,
save the males of one or two species, together with their
THK COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS ,5
near relatives the bongo, the kudu, and the elands, are
characterised, as a rule, by having the whole bodv marked by
narrow white stripes, which are, for the most part, vertical
(although in some eases they form a kind of network)
upon a fawn or rufous ground. And these animals, as is
attested by the large size of their ears, are chiefly dwellers
."forest Directly, however, any member of the group has
left the forest for more open country, as in the casr of the
Cape eland and the Cape bushbuck, the stripes more or
less gradually disappear. Further, those species which
.nhabit the den.sest forest have their colours the most
brdhantly developed, as is well e.-:emplified in the case of
the lesser and the greater kudu, the former of which is
more of a forest animal than the latter. One of the
most b.illiantly coloured of all is the bongo of the
equatorial forests.
Clearly, then, n=irrow vertical white stripes on a fawn
or chestnut ground, which we have reason to regard as a
very primitive type of animal coloration, are connected
with a forest l,fe, and the presumption is that they are
of a protective nature. Confirmation of this view-if eon-
firmation be needed-is afforded by two animals belonging
to widely different groups-namely, Grevy's zebra and the
Somali giraffe. The former of these animals differs from
all its kindred by its enormous and heavily fringed ears
and these proclaim it to be a dweller in brushwood or
forest rather than in open plains, a supposition which
receives definite confirmation by the photographs taken
during Lord Delamere's East African journey But
Grevy's zebra likewise differs from all its kindred by the
extreme narrowness of its stripes, white stripes alternating
with black ones of the same width. Here, then, narrow
white stripes are clearly an adaptation to a forest life And
t6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
we further learn, from contrast with the bushbucks that
when the ground-colour is fawn or rufo,,, the interval,
between the white stripes must be large, while in the case
of a black ground such intervals are no greater th,n the
width of the stripes. Whether such modifications of the
pattern according t„ the shade of the ground-colour produce
the same effi-ct in forest or brushwood, can be learnt only
by actual observation, and here again we must look to the
sportsman.
As regards the Somali giraire, those who have had the
opportunity of seeing Lord Delamere's photographs can
scarcely fail to notice that the type of coloration differs
markedly from that of the co.nmon species, while the
an.mal itself pears to be found in much more jungly
eountry than is the case with the former. In place of
having a buff ground-colour blotched with large irregular
ch,«olate patches, the Somali giraffe is a liver-coloured
an.mal marked with a coarse network of fine white lines
the type of coloration coming very close to that of some
of the smaller bushbucks. Clearly this colouring is an
adaptation for a mode of life not very different from that
of the bushbucks, whereas the coloration of the ordinary
giraffe ,s suited to an animal dwelling in open plains
dotted here and there with tall scattered trees. The two
types of coloration are, in fact, precisely analogous to
those of Grcvy's zebra as compared with Burchell's zebra
the one being a dweller in brushwood and the other in
open country. The Somali giraffe has not, however ac-
quired the broad ears of essentially forest animals like its
cousin the okapi, and for a very sufficient reason. The
brushwood amid which this giraffe is commonly found
does not reach more than half-way up its neck, as is
clearly shown in the photographs already alluded to, so
I
s
-iPV.'^iti^...
THE COLORATION OF LAROE A.VIMAIS ,;
'o d,.cuss why the coloraticn of ,hc rest If hi» r'""
-.imal i. uniforn, would be preL , . „ 1" T"''*'''^
f-om the foregoing observal- n, i, .
"> A-a, and in .h'at eo:„":, X'\;"<'™' "-
vc..icany striped ungulates in Asia), e e ar 1 7""
'yp.s of proteetive coloration, the LTITJ ""
=> fawn or ehestnut or upon a bh u , "P™
intervals being broad in thT fin ^™""'' ^""^ ''^^^
".e Utter), or of a wMt, - " ""^ "'"' "»"""' '"
--. onthfo^^trr^z^rrr
e'ther an alternation of broad dark and b^h, ,
stnpes or dark blotches upon a buff ground ttl.T""'
of the latter type have been definitely statd to rend .f
an.mals in which they occur more or 7 ''' "'"
at eomparatively short' distaLr Bt ^ T^T"
aware, there are absolutelv „„ k "^ ' *'"
-.ree of invisij^'r'^ru^™:; :r '-^'^-'^ '^^
«cations of the forest type. Vrlt b y t^rt
alternations of dark and light vertical LZt'
with the vertical line „,.h k "^^ harmonise
the spaces bet:Lrthem. ' ""^"'^ " ""''■'"^^ -^
We also want to know whether either or both of these
>' ■'^'i-«,„'''MHB!aB«&S-"*'-=
i8
MOSTLY MAMMALS
types of apparently protective coloration are for their special
purpose as good as (or better than) a uniform colora-
tion, or under what circumstances, if any, the 'alter is
superior to the former. For, curiously enough, both the
forest and the plain type of coloration ap|)ear to have
been transformed, in some instances, into a uniformly
coloured coat. As regards the plain type, the now extinct
quagga "^hows the partial loss of the stripes, which have
completely disappeared from the wild asses of Northern
Africa. Very remarltoble is the circumstance that from a
fully striped animal like the so-called Grant's zebra of
Abyssinia there is a complete graduation to the typical
Burchell's zebra of the Transvaal, in which the stripes have
disappeared from the legs, and the dark stripes ore inter-
calated with paler " shadow stripes." One step from this
animal and we reach the quagga, which, be it noted, in-
habited the same country as the uniformly co'.-p.iri i Cape
eland. Evidently in the Cape district both the forest and
the plain types of striping were unsuitable and tended to
disappear. In the North African wild asses the disappear-
ance of the striping is complete. Before we can attempt
to explain this it is necessary to know whether a Grant's
zebra and a wild ass are equally inconspicuous in their
own particular habitats, and whether any difference in this
respect would be noticeable if the one were transported to
the habitat of the other.
An instance of the replacement of the forest type of
striping by a uniform coat (otherwise than in the case of
a desert-dwelling species) is afforded among the bushbucks
by the males of the nyala, which have long, shaggy brown
coats with but very indistinct traces of striping. Is this
dark coat a better protection than the brilliantly striped
one of the female, or is it assumed because the males
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS „;
hav. (on account of their horn,) „o longer .ny need of
protecon ? 0„ .he other hand, i, i, due to the faf that .he
b.ck, keep more to the heart of the fore.t, and are mo e
nocturnal than their partners ?
Another phase of coloration for the development of
«h, no ,a,„fac.ory reason can be assigned is presen.ed
11 ri' '"""" '"'"''"""'• ""^ " 'h. Indian
Mackbuck, .he white^ared kob, and Mrs. Gray's kob of
e Whue Nile, and the banting, or wild ox, of ava ,„
the adult male, exchange the foxy red coat of the younger
o a sabe very relieved by larger or smaller w'.e
areas. Clearly ,h,s coloration, in place of being protec
.ve render, .he animals in which it occurs conVcuous.
The only suggestion which seems a. all reasonable is .hat
. must e.t er be a "warning colour '■ or one adap.ed -o
tt females towards the leader of the herd. If it come
under the former category, it has apparently been developed
I h H °"" ""'■'"'" '""" '""'^'"•"« 'he leaders
the herd, on account of .heir prowess in figh.. That
.n quesfon cannot be doubted; and possibly it receives
support from .he circums.ance referred to in the nex
paragraph. "^*'
Although both sexes of the banting carry horns .he
™aes of the aforesaid three species of L.elope'
hornless. In certain species, such as the sable antelop
of Afnca and the g.-ur (.he miscalled bison) of India in
»h,ch bo. sexes are horned, .he adul. feiales as ^.n
as the males have assumed a blackish coat; and so far
as .t goes, this phase is in favour of the view hat the
acqu,s,t,on of a sable livery by certain species is fo he
0.
»o MOSTLY MAMMALS
purpose of warning off foes, both sexes in the above
instances having formidable weapons of offence and defence,
and being thus perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.
Probably the black hue of the Asiatic buffaloes and of
the typical race of their African relatives was originally
developed in the same manner and for the same purpose
as in the case of the sable antelope. It may, however,
now have acquired a higher significance, and be connected
with the general prevalence of blackness among large hoofed
mammals, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses,
buffaloes, and, to a great extent, tapirs. Among such
animals it will not fail to be noticed that in many instances
both sexes are armed with cither horns or tusks; and
that where such weapons have been discarded the animals
are sufficiently protected either by their huge bodily bulk
or by the nature of their haunts. Although we have the
testimony of many sportsmen as to the difficulty of seeing
an Indian elephant, even at close quarters, when in thick
covert, we have yet to learn whether the prevalence of a
black or dark grey skin among so many of the larger
mammals is or is not for the purpose of protection. But
since large herds ol" animals thus coloured are frequently
to be met with in open country, it has probably been
developed for some other purpose, although what this may
be it is difficult even to conjecture.
Returning once more to deer, and taking first the case
of the fallow-deer, which (with the exception of the dark
race) is spotted in summer and uniformly coloured in winter,
there seems no doubt that the dappled summer coat is
for the purpose of harmonising with the chequered shade
cast by the leafy boughs of the trees under vhich the
animals are wont to repose. This harmony has doubtless
been noticed by many of my readers, and is well expr sed
■^mj.* ;mm
THE COLORATION O! ; ...cE ANIMALS „
'" "'* following passage ^cn, |> r ,. ■
Traits in Ta™. Anil,, J h^;J\ 7^°" '" ^"d
Greenwicl, Park :_ ' '" * "'='^n<= ''"
down on :i::r:j::i:r,T '^'r-- ' -'
.0 learn something fr^rfl^;:!:™- ' j^ T;"^'
Even here, where .he surrounding, we o a "'
artificial, every now and then fhe ^'■^' "''"'
chance upon a deer J, "^^ "'""''' ^"''^enly
Which wa^ :::z^L Ztit ';l^^^^".-^^ ^^^'^°-'
notice." ' " '''"' previously escaped
Assuming, then, that the obiect of .h» j > j
perate latitudes sul. 'ye fei;' "'''"" '""' '" '^"'-
of place in wi„.er X the t's'T ""^^ '"= """" °"'
leaves. Accordingly the faL-r eXr-t^':' T
sun™er iivery for a uniforn, coat of fawn 2e i h "''
^. He Japanese dL2rrr:rX?r";
- the Winter drefs ^para ivl^TaVr the^^'^^"
doubtless in correlation with the' ear^ aXen; of^'r
'n its native habitat. ""^ """'«•■
The Japanese and Pelting deer have h «
5 Jcrcr nave, however, a repre-
3:
a» MOSTLY MAMMALS
sentative in the island of Formosa, wliich lies just on t'le
northern tropic. Now, this Formosan deer — or Formosan
sika, as it is properly called — differs from its northern
relatives by retaining its spots more or less distinctly
throughout the winter — obviously in correlation with its
southern domicile, where perpetual summer reigns.
But, as being probably descended from northern repre-
sentatives of the group, the Formosan sika has not been
able to get entirely rid of the change from a spotted to
a uniformly coloured coat. On the other hand, the chital
or spotted deer of India, which is essentially a tropical
or subtropical form, is just as brilliantly coloured and as
fully spotted in winter as in summer.
Regarding the haunts of the chital. Dr. Blanford, in "The
Fauna of British India — Mammals," writes as follows : —
" The especial habitat of this deer, perhaps the most
beautiful in form and coloration of the whole family, is
amongst bushes and trees near water and in bamboo jungle.
. . . Many of its favourite haunts are in some of the most
beautiful wild scenery of the Indian plains and lower hills,
on the margins of rippling streams with their banks over-
grown by lofty trees, or in the grassy glades that open
out amidst the exquisite foliage of bamboo clumps. Spotted
deer are thoroughly gregarious, and associate at all times
of the year in lierds, sometimes of several hundreds. They
are less nocturnal than sanibar, and may be found feeding
for three or four hours after sunrise, and again in the
afternoon for an hour or two before sunset. They generally
drink between eight and ten o'clock in the morning, the
time varying with the season of the year, and repose during
the day in deep shade."
From this account it is clear that the habits and haunts
(allowing for the difference between Indian and English
.^t'wjM
THE COLORATION OF LARGE ANIMALS 23
foliage and scenery) of the chital are practically the same
as those of the fallow-deer in summer. Both species fre-
quent forest glades in large herds during the dpytime, and
seek repose under the shade of spreading trees. It may
be added that another species of spotted deer inhabiting
he trop,cs_namely, the Philippine spotted deer-resembles
the chital in retaining its dappled livery at all seasons
From these facts it is safe to conclude that among the
members of the deer tribe a white-spotted coat is a pro-
ecnve adaptation to a diurnal life among the glades of
eafy woods. When such woods, as in the tropics, retain
heir foliage throughout the year, the deer likewise retain
heir spots. On the other hand, when, as in the northern
emperate zone, the trees become bare and leaOess in winter
the deer assume a dull-coloured uniform livery in harmoii;
with the sombre conditions of their inanimate surroundings
One other point in cor -, with the above-mentioned
species of spotted deer , brief mention. All of
then,, whether spotted in : .inmer only or throughout the
J-ear have 'recognition marks" on their hindquarters. In
the fallow-deer and chital these take the form of a white
under-surface to the tail and white on the portion of the
buttocks against which it rests, while in the sikas there is
a patch of extensile white hairs on the buttocks. When
the ta.1 is raised in flight, as is always the case, a large
white "blaze" is displayed, which serves not only to
mdicate the direction in which to rty, but likewise as a
danger signal to the entire herd. Evidently these strongly
pronounced "recognition marks," which are not develo^d
m nocturnal and thicket-haunting deer of the sambar type
are correlated with the habit of frequenting the outskirts
or g.ades of forests during daylight in large herds
The various races of the sambar which have exchanged
•t
H
MOSTLY MAMMALS
the primitive spotted coloration of the chital for a dull
brown and shaggy coat are proclaimed to be essentially
animals of the thick forest by the large size of their ears,
although this characteristic is more strongly marked in the
larger than in the smaller races of the group. Dr. Blanford's
account of the habits of the Indian s unbar runs as follows:—
"This is the woodland deer of South-Eastern Asia
generally, and is more widely .-.nd generally distributed
than any other species. ... It comes out on the grass
slopes when such exist, as in the Nilgiris and other hill-
ranges, to grize, but always takes refuge in the woods.
It is but rarely found associating in any numbers; bof.
stags and hinds are often found singly, but small herds
of four or five to a dozen in number are commonly met
with. Its habits are nocturnal ; it may be seen fecdin?
in the morning and evening, but it grazes chierty at night^
and at that time often visits small patches of cultivation
in the half-cleared tracts, returnin-r ,br the day to wilder
parts, and often ascen. » hills to make a lair in grass
amongst trees, where ,. .nerally selects a spot well shaded
from the sun's rays."
Contrasting this with the account given above of the
mode of life of the chital, the reason of the colour of
the sambar will be apparent. It is essentially a deer of
the thickets, nocturnal and more or less solitary in habits,
and shunning the sunlit glades. Hcrce not only is the
coat unif.,rmly dusky brown, but the white "recognition
marks" on the rump, so useful in the case o-" the fallow-
deer and the sikas, are entirely wanting.
As regards th. change from a grey fawn-colour in summer
to a foxy red in winter exhibited by many kinds of deer
—most markedly by the American while-tail and the
European roe, and, in a somewhat less degree, by the
THE COLORATION OF I,ARGE ANIMALS
25
red-deer-it .ecn,s to be certainly analo^nus to the ehance
;™ttor.r:-!:;---^— -
apanese deer at the same season, although we have I
n al^/th""""™^^^-'' ""' '^ '"-"^ ^''-•~
dress Pn M ™' •■""' "^'' "•'^'■'^-"'" 'h^"" » spotted
d e . Ioss,bIy ,t may be owing to the n,ore open natu e
of the country frequented by these and other specks in
wh.ch this type of coloration prevails. '^
That the change in the roe, the red-deer =„ i .k u-
tailed deer from red in ^""-'i'^^'^, and the white-
t onl f, "' """ "'^- ''""°"-^«-^. - <i™,onstrated
not only by the nature of the colon,- it= ir u
emphatically by the circumstL^"t': T troptal r;
subtropical countries red-coated deer such .sT H
V.rgm.an whUe-tailed deer, most or all of wh; h J
change their colour with h. season h, Th I' "°'
..oned instance it appears, indeed a the a .^ b ""'™:
or greyish, instead of red; but this ma ;:l^^—
the tendency to n.elanism, so often noticeable i,> he ca e
of animals inhabiting moist tropical forests. Be is
:in::::^ 1 vr;:-„r d'" ^"- ^- ' -
-.e-tai. .d the ^Vrt^^ ^J^;- ^
0^
3;
'^ MOSTLY MAMMALS
and is correlated with the presence of foliage on the tree-
at the one season and its absence at the other. It may
be added that the white-tail and the muntjae have the
undcr-s,de of the tail and the inner surfaces of the buttocks
white, and thus display a conspicuous patch when running
to covert with the tail elevated. Somewhat curiously, the
roe generally develops a white rump-patch only when in
the grey winter dress.
Although the reason for many details remains to be
worked out-and for this naturalists must rely on the good
offices of sportsmen-I venture to think that the foregoing
theory affords a satisfactory explanation of most of the
different types of coloration prevailing among the deer
Probably the coloration of the chital-spotted at all seasons
-was the primitive type. From this was evolved the
seasonal change characteristic of the fallow and I'eking
deer, and from this, again, the absence of spots at all
seasons distinctive of the white-tai! and roe. A further
specahsation is displayed in the tropics by the samb.-r
in one direction and the muntjae and barasingha in the
other. If these conclusions be well founded, it is evident
that deer were originally a tropical group. It should be
mentioned that the Indian hog-deer, which develops spot,
.n summer, is an exception to the rule that tropical deer
If spotted at all, retain their markings all the year
The foregoing summary of the extent of our knowledge
-or, rather, of the depth of our ignorance-with regard
to the meaning and object of the different types of colora-
tion prevalent among the larger mammals may, it is to be
hoped, direct the attention of travellers and spo'tsmen to
an extremely interesting, but much neglected, subject, and
thus lead to a real advance being made in the interpreta-
tion of the facts,
:7'^r?':
M...d
SPOTi AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS
Such of my readers as have considered the subject at
an may be aware that i„ those animals whose u is
ornamented with dark or hght markings, these „,ang
bands, o of spots; the latter being frequently arranged in
more or less distinctly defined longitudLl lines, bu '^ v
ransverse bands. Moreover, these markings especia y
m the case of stnpes and bands, are generally most de^
veloped on the upper surface of the body, although pos
may be equally present on both the uppei- and I low
surfaces of the body. Many mammals, again, whether they
be spotted or whether they be striped, have their tails
mar ed by dark rings on a light ground; but this feature
.s a so present in oth. .s in which the colour of the body
.s of a un.form tint. It must not, however, be supposed
at there .s any sharply defined distinction between spotted
d stnped mammals, many of the civets, as well as some
of the eats, havn>g markings intermediate between true
spo s and stnpes. Spots, again, are somewhat variable in
onfigurat,on, son.e animals, like the hunting-leopard, having
ohd circular dark spots, while in others, such as th!
eopard and jaguar, they assume the form of dark ring
nclostng a l.ght centre. In other cases, as in the giraffe
he spots are enlarged so as to form large and more o
less quadrangular blotches.
<
aS
MOSTLY MAM\r.\I.S
A survey of a museum nr a menagerie vill likewise
show that spoti and stripes are by no means equally
prevalent in all Rn.ups uf mammals. In the apes, monkeys,
marmosets, an.l lemurs, for instance, they never occur ; and
when these animals are diversely coloured, the coloration
takes the form of patches symmetrically disposed on the
two sides of the body, but otherwise not following any
very clearly defined mode of arrangement. Then, again,
in the hoofed mammals, or ungulates, many species arc-
more or less uniformly coloured, although the zebras are
notable instances of transversely striped animals, while the
giraffe is an equally notable instance of the blotched type
of coloration. Among the even-toed {Arlimlnclvie) sub-
division of this order it may be also noticed that while in
the more specialised forms, such as wild cattle and sheep,
the coloration is more or less uniform, many of the
antelopes show white transverse stripes on a dark ground.
Dark transverse stripes are, however, known only in the
case of the little zebra antelope (Cplmlofilms doriae) of
Western Africa, and the gnus ; while, although a lateral
dark nank-stripe is pjesent in some antelopes, and in the
gazelles, none of these animals have the whole body marked
by longitudinal dark stripes. In the case of the deer it
has been mentioned in the preceding article that certain
species, like the fallow-deer and the Indian spotted deer,
are marked with longitudinal rows of white spots at all
ages ; while in the case of other species it will be found
that the young are similarly marked, whereas the adults
are uniformly coloured. A similar state of things occurs
among wild pigs, and also in the tapirs, from which we
are naturally led to infer that in this group of mammals,
at least, a spotted or striped type of coloration is the
origmal or generalised condition, while a uniformly coloured
SPOTS AND STRU'ES IN MAMMALS jg
oat i, an acquircJ or specialised feature. And the same
holds g„od for ether groups.
Turning to the carnivorous nmmmals, we find that in
n.any fannhes, more especially the cats, hyaenas, and civets
».r.pes and spots are far ,..ore generally present than
a un.rorm colora.u.n ; although some groups, such as th
ars form a n.arked exception to this rule, the majority of
so 1 7 :"" """■°™'^ '"'"'"''■ ^'^'"^ ™- "-^ ^"-'^d
tl et " In so„.e specie, of the weasel fannly-notably
the ba,igers ,t n,ay be also noticed that while the sides
o the head are n.arked by longitudinal dark and light
«tr.p,.s the ren,ain.ler of the body is uniforndy coloured.
And ,t may be mentioned here that many animal.,, such as
donkeys and dun-coloured hors™, retain a longitudinal dark
str,pe down the back, frequently accon.paUed by dark trans-
verse bars on the lin,bs, ^vhile a uniform coloration prevails
In the gnawing n,an,„,als, or rodents, although „,any
speces are uniforndy coloured, stripes and spots are pre-
valent; and a survey of the collection of these animals in a
good museum will show that, whether the pattern take the
form of str,pes or of spots, th. arrangement is invariably
long.tudmal and never transverse. Indeed, it may be
observed that when spots are present, these are invariably
hght-coloured on a darker ground. Although in many
cases the longitudinal stripes occupy the whole or a con-
s.derable portion of the upper surface, in some of the
squ,rrels they are reduced to a dark and light stripe or
even a smgle light stripe on each fiank, this remarkable
type of coloration recalling the "speculum" on the wing
of a duck. ^
I might extend this survey to other orders of mammals,
but sufficent has been said to indicate the variability of
5
30
MOSTLY MAMMALS
the prevalent type of coloration in different groups, and
I accordingly proceed to give a list of some more or leas
well-known mammals arranged according to the plan of
their markings.
1. Mammals will, dark lonniliidmal stripes. —SlV'peA mon-
gooses {GalidMs) of Madagascai- i„ one of v.hich the
stripes are very narrow and close, while in the other they
are hroader and more widely separat ; these animals
belongmg to the civet family. Tl,.. Ihr.e-strippd palm-
civet {ArclogaU) ; the genet, the markings here tending to
break up into spots ; the three-striped opossum ; the palm-
squnxel, and chipmunks (Tnmiaa).
In all the above the stripes are dark upon a greyish
ground, but in the following they take the form of black
and wh.te stripes, the white area being generally the
larger; and it , r^ be noted that all belong to the weasel
family. They include the skunks, the South African weasel
iPoeclogak), and the Cape polecat {htonys) ■ while sin.ila,-
markings obtain on the head of the badger,
2. Mammals will: dark 5;>o/s._The«e may be divided
into several sub-groups, according to the form of the
spots. Those in which the spots are small, more or less
nearly circular, and solid, include the hunting-leopard the
t.ger<at, serval, lynx, spotted hyaena, large-spotted civet
(Viverra megaspila), the African linsang (Poiaua), and the
young of the puma. The blotched genet (Genella tigri„„)
forms a transition to blotches. Some of the civets are
more or less distinctly spotted, in others the coloration is
intermediate between sr its and longitudinal stripes.
As species in which the spots are enlarged to form more
or less quadrangular blotches, we may cite the common
giraffe and those Oriental civets known as linsangs.
By a splitting-up of a certain spot into a more or less
SPOTS ANn STRIPES IN MAMMALS „
compile ring of smaller one,, wc have the roselie-iiko type
"f ornan.entation, as exemplified in the leopard, the snow-
l-upard, and the jaguar. In the two former the ring
rneloses a uniform light area; but in the latter the central
area generally carries two or „,ore dark spots. A further
development of the ring leads to the so-called clouded type
as displayed hy the. Oriental clouded leopard and n.arbled
cat, and the American ocelot. Here the ring becomes en-
Ixrged n>to a large squarish or oblong area, enclosing an
area of darker hue than the general ground-colour of the
fur, and bordered by a narrow bla.k line; the black line
m the two former species beinn, however, confined to the
hinder half of the cloudings.
3. Afammah mil, dark transverse sIrifies.-Txgev, young
hons, wild cat, striped hyaena, aard-wolf (/>,<,/,./„), banded
c.vets {Hemigale), banded moi.goose (Crossarclms), zebra-
antelope, gnus, zebras, thylacine, and the water-opossum
{Chronectes). Among these it may be noted that in the
zebras the stripes on the hindquarters have a more or
less marked longitudinal direction; and whereas in the
niountain ze'.. ,. Grevy's zebra they consist of simple
dark bands on a light ground, in some forms of Burchell's
zebra the light areas between the dark stripes are traversed
by an intermediate stripe of somewhat darker hue than the
ground-colour.
4. Mam„.als will, while spots arranged in longiludinal
/m«.-Fallow-deer and Indian spotted deer, young tapirs •
llK- paca {Coclogenys) among the rodents ; and the dasyures'
among the marsupials. Both in young tapirs and the paca
l.e spots tend to coalesce into more or less complete
longitudinal stripes.
3. Mammah will, while Iransverse imds.-The kudu
^land, bongo {Bsocerc,, euryceros), and harnessed antelop^
s
t
*%
J«
MOSTt.Y MAMMAI^
(Tragflafihus scripius) among the anl.lopes, and Gunn'i
b.nr,Uic<«,t U'iximeles gunm) ami the banded ant-eater
{Myrm,;ohius) among the marsupials. In tlic harnisscd
anttloiK- spota ocrur as will as stripi^s.
Many other siKiies nnght be incorporated In these lists,
but the /ongoi-ig instances are suni.ieiit to show that no
one type- of coloration is conlined to any particular group,
although it may be much m(,re common in one assemblage
of animals than in another.
Several attinipts have beiii made to reduce the coloia-
tion of animals to som.- gentral law, and among these one
of the most potable was published some yeais ago by
Prof. Kinier, of Tubingen, who based his conclusions on a
comprehensive study of vertebrates in general. As the
result of his investigations, this observer declared that the
following laws might be laid down in regard to colour-
maikings of animals in general. Firstly, the primitive
type of coloration took the form of longitudinal stripes.
Secondly, these stripes broke up into spots, retaining in
many cases a more or less distinct longitudinal arrange-
ment. Thirdly, the spots again coalesced, but this time
into transverse stripes. And fourthly, all markings dis-
appeared, so as to produce a uniform coloration of the
whole coat. As a further development of this theory, it
was added that the more specialised features were assumed
in many cases more completely by the male than the female,
while the piimitive coloration often persists in the young!
It was also staied that the primitive longitudinal stripes
frequently persist on the middle of the back, and likewis..
on the crown and sides of the face, e.xamples of the latter
survival being shown by the head and face-stripes of
many spotted cats, and the dark and light streaks on the
sides of the face of the badger.
Sl'Ors A.M) SIKII'ES IN MAMMALS ^
Whether til, se laws hcl.l good for other groups of ver-
tebrates, it is. not within the sccpc of the present article
to incjuin-, anil attention will aco.nlingly be concentrated
on mammals. If thiy be true, we shoul.l, fn„„i faciv,
cjtpect to liml a large number of longitudinally striiied
forms anions tl'c lower members of the class ; while those
of intermediate grades of evolution would be spotted, and
the higher types either transversely striped or uniformly
coloured. This, however, could only be the case, as a
whole, if all mammals formed one regularly ascending
series ; whereas, as a matter of fact, they form a number
of divergent branches, each containing specialised and
generalised forms. The inquiry is thus rendered one of
extreme complexity, although there ought, if the theory
were true in its entirety, to he a consideiable number of
longitudinally striped species among the lowest groups of
all. Unfortunately, palaeontology, from the nature of the
case, can afford us no aid, which very materially adds to
the difficulty. It may be added that in Prof. Elmer's
scheme no distinction is drawn between light and dark
markings—th.T i^ to say, between the total disappearance
of pigmeii. a,,.: 1,1 ultra-development of the same-and
it is obvious that this may be of such prime import-
ance that these two types of coloration may have nothing
whatever to do with one another. Nevertheless, we
may provisionally consider light and dark stripes' and
hght and dark spots as respectively equivalent to one
another.
With regard to uniformly coloured animals, there can be
no question as to the truth of the theory, since the young
of so many animals, such as lions, pumas, deer, pigs and
tapirs show more or less distinct striped or spotted mark-
ings, which disappear more or less eompletely \c. the adult.
3
I
^ *«i» /"*»
34
MOSTLY MAMMALS
The occurrence of bands on the legs and sometimes on
the shoulders of mules and dun-coloured horses, and like-
wise the presence of dark bars on the limbs of otherwise
uniformly coloured species of cats, like the Egyptian cat
and the bay cat, are further proofs of the same law.
Moreover, the fact that in the young of pigs— and, to a
certain extent, those of tapirs— the markings take the form
of longitudinal stripes, whereas in the mc;-e specialised
deer, whether young or old, they are in the shape of spots
arranged in more or less well-defined lines, is, so far as it
goes, a confirmation of the theory that spots are newer
than stripes. And the presence of transverse stripes in
the still more highly specialised antelopes tends to support
the derivation of this type of marking from spots, es-
pecially if it be remembered that the harnessed antelopes
are partly spotted. Still, it must be borne in mind that
these instances apply only to light markings, which, as
already stated, may have a totally different origin from
dark ones.
There are, however, apparently insuperable difficulties as
regards longitudinal and transverse striping in mammals.
In the first place, instead of finding a number of the
polyprotodont, or more primitive marsupials, showing longi-
tudinal stripes, we have in this group only the three-
striped and single-striped opossums thus marked, and in
these the stripes are respectively reduced to the numbers
indicated by their names. This, however, is not all, for
the banded ant-eater takes its name from the narrow trans-
verse white stripes with which the back is marked; while
the thylacine, which cannot in any sense be regarded as a
specialised type, is similarly marked with broader dark
stripes, neither of these animals having any trace of a
longitudinal stripe down the back. The water-opossum.
SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 35
although here the stnpes are few in number and app,oxi
mate ,n form to blotches. Although in the same order the
dasyures are spotted with white, we have no black-spot ed
marsup,al; and if such a type formed the trans o'
between longuudinal and transverse stripes, surely some
spec.es .owmg such a type of coloration o'ught t^ Zl
Then, again, in the ungulates we have the zebra-
ante opes the gnus, and the zebras showing most strong y
marked transverse dark stripes; but we have no dafk
spotted forms in the whole order except the giraffes, while
^e only ones with dark longitudinal stripes are young
n mals above mentioned are highly specahsed species
hese tranverse stripes and dark blotches must hTve
ongmated rf. „„.. ,,,,, independently in each of the
groups ,n question. Indeed, when we remember that the
olorafoa of zebras, antelopes, and giraffes is generaHy
of a protective nature-the stripes of the former render g
he an,mals mv.sible on sandy ground in moonlight, aTd
a great extent, also in sunlight, while the blotc e o^
h latter harmon.se exactly with the chequered shade
hrown by the mimosa-trees among which they feed-i
s .ncred.ble that both types should have been evolved
ccord,ng to a rigid rule, from animals marked by dark
long.tudinal stripes. '
Another instance of the same nature is afforded by the
cats, .n most of which the coloration appears to be
-nly of a protective nature, plain-coloured spie hke
te puma and Hon, having taw.y coats harmonising wh
he sandy deserts which these animals often inhabitfwh e
■he verttcal str.pes of the tiger, although in some deg^^^
S
a;
■I,
<
36
MOSTLY MAMMALS
resembling the perpendicular lights and shadows of a
grass-jungle, are probably for the purpose of breaking
up the outline of the body. The clouded markings of
the marbled cat and clouded leopard assimilate with the
boughs on which these species repose, and the spotted
coat of the Indian desert-cat renders the creature almost
invisible in stony deserts. To suppose that all such
adaptations have been produced in the regular order re-
quired by the theory is as incredible as in the last case.
There is, moreover, the circumstance thai the young of the
uniformly coloured lion and puma are spotted, thus giving
an instance of the direct passage from a spotted to a
plain-coloured form without the intervention of a trans-
versely striped stage, precisely the same thing also
occurring in the case of the deer. It should, however,
be mentioned that lion cubs occasionally have their tails
ringed like that of a tiger, instead of spotted in leopard-
fashion ; so that in this particular instance transverse
stripes are intercalated between the spotted and the uni-
formly coloured stages.
If we look for the most primitive mammals with longi-
tudinal dark stripes over the greater part of the upper
surface, such types being wanting in the marsupials, we
shall find them in the striped mongooses {Galidt'ctis) of
Madagascar, already mentioned. And as the civets and
their allies are certainly the most generalised of existing car-
nivora (although the modern members of that order occupy
a somewhat high position), this case tends, in a certain
degree, to lend some support to the view that longitudinal
dark stripes are an early type. The rarity of animals
exhibiting this pattern over all their bodies, coupled with
the frequent retention of a longitudinal dorsal stripe, are
likewise in some degree confirmatory of the same view.
SPOTS AND STRIPES IN MAMMALS 37
With regard to the conspicuous black and white stripes
on the cheeks of the badger, and throughout the head and
body in the skunks, South African weasel, and Cape polecat,
it may perhaps be argued, with some show of reason,'
that we have an old type of coloration. In the badger
this type of coloration is restricted to the face, where it
is evidently retained to render the animal inconspicuous
among the streaks of light and shadow as it peers out of
its burrow. On the other hand, they may have been
acquired for this special purpose. In the other forms,
all of which are more or less evil-sraelling creatures, a
conspicuous general coloration is an advantage, as warning
ofT other animals from attacking them in mistake for
harmless kinds, and the boldly alternating stripes have
accordingly been retained all over the body and rendered
as conspicuous as possible.
I might dilate to almost any extent on the subject of
spots and stripes ; but sufficient has been adduced, in this
and the preceding article, to indicate the interest attaching
to the coloration of mammals, and to show how far we
are from understanding what has brought about the
present state of things. That uniformly coloured mammals
form the climax of colour-evolution in the case of stripes
and spots may be pretty safely admitted. It may further
be considered probable that longitudinal dark stripes are
an old type of coloration in at least some groups, although
It does not follow that this will hold good for all, the
marsupials being possibly an exception. Transverse stripes
cannot, however, be made to accord with Prof Elmer's
theory, since not only do they exist in some of the most
pnm.tive of all mammals, but they reappear in certain
specialised groups where there is no evidence of a pre-
vious spotted stage having been passed through. While
s
3;
t
38
MOSTLY MAMMALS
therefore, it is far from improbable that there may be a
certain substratum of truth in what we may call the
" longitudinal-spotted-transverse-uiiiform " theory of colora-
tion, I submit that in its present guise it cannot adequately
explain the whole evolution of spots and stripes in
mammals.
THE DOMESTICATION OF Wild ANIMALS
Some time ago the Societe d'Acclimatation de France
published m it-, BullcUn an address delivered by Dr E
Trouessar, at ti.e Conference held on January ,2th, ,900,'
to d,seuss the question of the animals most suitable fo,^
acel,mat.sat,on and domestication. The author commences
h.s address by stating that the present age is one of
machinery and electricity; and that eventually the use of
these w,ll result in the total consumption of all the stored
vegetab e fuels, such as coal and petroleum, buned in the
crust of the earth. When such a time comes, he argues,
-an wm be compelled to rely once more exclusively on
he labour of animals, which derive their nutriment and
the,r power from the consumption of the living vegetable
products of the earth. ,t is, therefore, urged thaf it is
important to domesticate and acclimatise as many kinds of
w.d animals as possible before they are finally extermi-
nated And to support his argument for domesticating
animals other than those now commonly held in subjection.
Dr. Trouessart points out that while a certain area of
country .s only capable of nourishing a definite limited
number of one kind of animal, such as oxen, it is perfectly
able ,0 sustain in addition some of another description
such as sheep, which are able to pasture on ground ove^
which cattle have already gone and eaten all they could
obtain. P,gs, again, have a totally different class of nutri-
39
40
MOSTLY MAMMALS
ment; while the goat can obtain a living on ground where
a sheep would starve. Moreover, the ass and the mule
replace the horse in arid and mountainous countries, where
they thrive on a much less luxuriant diet than is necessary
to the well-being of the latter animal.
Then there are clim-tes in which many of the domesti-
cated animals of Europe will not flourish, dying either
from the general effects of the climate itself, or succumbing
to the attacks of insect-pests, as in the familiar instance
of the African tsctsc-fly.
As regards the supplementing of the existing domesti-
cated animals of Europe— whether they be used for labour
or for food— by newly domesticat-H •. ild species, I venture
to thinli that, in the main, ther_ is very little chance of
success. In the first place, the species we now possess in
this condition are amply sufficient to serve all needs, and
are capable of indefinite multiplication. And in the second
place, it has to be borne in mind that it would probably
take scores of generations to make a wild animal equal in
point of utility to the old-established domestic breeds—
that is to say, it would take an immensely long period
of time in order to make any wild animal as immune to
the effects of in-and-in breeding as is the case with our
domesticated species ; while it is quite likely that the time
would be still longer before the former would approach
many of the latter in fiesh-forming power or in the capacity
for early maturity. And in this connection it is most
important to bear in mind that the great majority of our
domesticated animals are very different in physical characters
from their wild ancestors; and that, in most instances, it
is these highly modified breeds that are of the greatest
economic importance to mankind. To produce an animal
like the sheep, for instance, which differs from all its wild
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 4,
kindred by possessing a eoat of wool instead of hai^
must have taken hundreds, if not thousands of years'
And It ,s obvious that no newly domesticated speeies ean
by any possibility assail the established supremacy of the
sheep. Again, it was attempted during the early decades
of the last century to domesticate in England the South
African eland, which it was thought might vie with the
ox as a beef-producer, the experiment being carried out
by a former Earl of Derby at Knowsley Park. But the
experiment was a total failure, as these animals breed
comparatively slowly, are long in coming to maturity, and
bear no .ort of comparison with shorthorns in capacity
for rapidly putting on flesh.
Although, as noticed later on, there is a large field for
the advocates of acclimatisation in introducing new species
of animals into European parks and coverts, either for
ornament or for sport, it seems to be tolerably evident
that, in England, at any rate, the introduction and acclima-
tisation of new kinds of domesticated animals is not at
all likely to be attended with successful results. Possibly
indeed, something of this kind may be accomplished in
France, where the habits of the peasantry are different
from those which obtain in England. But, so far as
economical considerations are concerned, the chances of
success in domestication are probably more hopeful in
Africa than anywhere else. There the experimentalists
have before them the grand opportunity of taming the
Afruran elephant, which, if its disposition is at all similar
(and the individuals who carry loads of our young friends
along the gravel paths of the London "Zoo" seem to
indicate that it is) to that of its Indian cousin, ought to
be invaluable as a means of transport. And they have a
second scope for their ingenuity in producing a tsetse-proof
H
X
4>
MOSTLY MAMMALS
breed of zebra-hjbrids, whose capacity for work and powers
of endurance should be somewhat on a par with those o!"
the horse and the mule.
Turning to the Ust of animals given by Dr. Trouessart
as suitable for domestication or acclimatisation, we find it
headed by the Patagonian cavy (Dolichotis patagut:ka) of
the open plainb of South America ; a creature singularly
like a hare in general appearance, although its afRnities
are with the guinea-pig. The mara, as this animal is
called by the natives, has already been introduced into
several English parks, notably those of the Duke of Bedford
and Sir Edmund Loder, where it appears to flourish well,
with a certain amount of protection. It does not burrow,
but merely makes a *' form " among long grass, after the
manner of the hare. Its flesh is of excellent quality ; and
this, together with its interesting habits, is urged as the
chief reason for its introduction. It is not, however, a
rapid breeder, and to a considerable extent is diurnal in
its habits and slow in its movements (except when tho-
roughly frightened) ; so that its chances of making its way
in European countries, where hares are year by year
diminishing in numbers, would appear to be but small. A
second species (Z>. salhikota) inhabits the salt-plains of
the Argentine, and it is accordingly urged that it would
be suitable for turning down in the so-cailed Chotts of
Algeria and Tunisia. But would the game be worth the
candle ? is the natural question.
With regard to the domestication of the African elephant,
so much has been written elsewhere that I may be brief on
the present occasion. It is interesting to notice, however,
that the French missionaries of Fernan-Vaz, in the north
of French Congoland, have succeeded in taming a young
individual of this species, which appears to be the first of
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMALS 43
its kind that has been domesticated in modem times in its
native land. This animal was captured out of a herd of
twenty, when apparently five or six years of age; and
when the account was sent home had already become
perfectly tame and docile. It was trained to draw a
waggon for carrying agricultural produce, and also a brake
for passengers. As Dr. Trouessart observes, this individual
renders the domestication of the African elephant practically
an accomplished fact.
There remains the question of breeding in captivity ; but
British experiences in Burma indicate that this is merely
: -tter of expense in the case of the Asiatic species.
And it is worth considering whether domestication is not
the only chance of saving the African elephant from
ultimate extermination.
Perhaps even more has been written of late years with
regard to the possibility of domesticating zebras than has
been devoted to the case of the elephant. The general
opinion seems to be that individuals caught wild and trained
to harness are too " soft " to be of any great permanent
value for draught purposes, and that either the stamina
and staying powers of these animals will have to be im-
proved by judicious breeding in captivity, or that mules
between zebras and ponies will be found more efficacious
for the needs of African transport. In either event it will
be essential to domesticate a large stock of zebras, as other-
wise in the course of a few years these handsome animals
might become so scarce as to be practically unobtainable.
Whether, however, " zebroids," as it is proposed to call the
hybrids, will maintain the immunity against tsetse attack
characteristic of pure-bred zebras, remains to be proved.
There is also the question as to the fertility or otherwise of
these hybrids, and the consideration that if they produced
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
offspring, these would almost certainly resemble their
grs ,)arenl3 and not their parents. Another factor in the
case must not be overlooked— namely, the absence of wild
zebras from the great forest tracts, like Congoland, of
Africa ; and the consequent uncertainty whether these
animals when domesticated would thrive in such districts.
Possibly the hybrids might be found to do so, but it
is quite likely that the pure-bred animals would require
several generations of domesticity. Probably Grir/s zebra,
on account of its large size and good shape, would be the
species best adapted for domestication.
With regard to the acclimatisation of various species of
foreign deer in European parks and forests, there is little
doubt that many of the larger kinds, such as, the American
wapiti, would flourish and multiply. But such deer, es-
pecially after being kept in captivity, are apt to be spiteful
at certain times of the year, on which ground their in-
troduction is not altogether advisable.
The same remark will apply in a degree to the Al
wapiti, the Manchurian wapiti, and the large red-deer f
the Caucasus and Persia. The pretty little Japanese oeer
{Cervus sica), and their somewhat larger cousin the
Manchurian deer (C. sica manchuricus), both of which are
fully spotted in summer, have, however, already been success-
fully introduced into parks in Ireland, England, and the
Continent, where there is e>ery prospect that they will
continue to thrive Moreover, the r.uch larger and still
more brilliantly c ured Peking deer (C. horlulorum) may
be seen at liberty in numbers in the Duke of Bedford's park
at Woburn ; and from its comparatively large size, fine
antlers, beautifully spotted summer coat, and generally
handsome appeaiance, it is a species in every way suited
for acclimatisation in Europe.
THE nOMESriCATION OK WILD ANIMALS 45
In spi'e, too, of the warm climate of its native- home,
the Indian spotted deer, or chital, takes kindly to a semi-
wild life in Europe, where it may be sien in some of the
parks of England, France, and Germany, the acclimatisation
on the Continent dating from mure than fifty years ago.
At the time of its first introduction on the Continent
nearly all the fawns perished owing to having been born
in winter; but the females subsequently took to calving in
spring, after which change of habit breeding has gone on
successfully. Still it must be acknowledged that such an
essentially exotic animal as the chital is much less likely
to become permanently acclimatised in northern and central
Europe than is a species like Ihu Peking deer, whose home
is in the steppes of Manchuria.
Hog-deer, which have the advantage that they do no
damage to foliage, seeing that they are grazing animals,
have been introduced into two French parks, and also run
wild in the woods at Woburn. And the same is the case
with the Indian and Chinese species of muntjac. During
the cold winters of 1879-80 muntjacs were seen in a French
park during the winter lying out on the snow and apparently
enjoying themselves. For small parks these little deer are
specially to be commended, as their diminutive size removes
nearly all danger of a serious attack with their antlers.
The hornless Chinese water-deer is, however, absolutely
innocuous in this respect; and it also has the further re-
commendation that it is much more prolific than any other
member of the Cenidae, producing as many as half a dozen
fawns at a birth. Of antelopes, several kinds have been
more or less acclimatised in Europe. Most notable is the
case of the nilgai in Italy, where in 1862 Signor Comba
introduced a dozen head into his park at Mandria. Ten
years later no less than 172 individuals were running at
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
liberty in the domain I A small herd is now in a thriving
condition in the open park at Woburn Abbey. Reference
has already been made to the eland, which may now be
said to be thoroughly acclimatised in scvf i French parks.
There it apparently thrives without any winter shelter ; but
it would seem that this is an :iMo!iitc necessity in England.
All the above-named speci. vf deer and antelopes have
flesh of excellent quality; but for the most part, at any
rate, their introduction into European parks must be re-
garded as a luxury, or for the sake of the sport they might
afford, tlier than as a commercial experiment.
Tl.fl African sing-sing water-buck is likewise an antelope
V c ich appears to take kindly to wild hfe in Europe. It
nas bred for many successive years in Paris, and likewise
flourishes in the park at Woburn. Other species of ante-
lopes, as well as gazelles, might be mentioned, which there
is good reason to believe would thrive in Europe ; and it
may be added that among the deer the Siberian roe, which
is a much larger and finer animal than its European relative,
is already established in the Bedfordshire woods.
Both the American and the European bison would almost
certainly thrive in the parks of Western Europe, if the number
of individuals introduced at first starting were sufficiently
large ; and herds of the former animal are now flourishing
both in Bedfordshire and Northumberland. But the fierce
disposition of these huge animals will almost certainly be a
bar to their general introduction, in spite of the circumstance
that "buffalo-robes" have a high commercial value.
Finally, as regards kangaroos and wallabies, numerous
experiments have demonstrated that these animals, under
certain conditions, are admirably adapted to thrive in most
parts of Europe. By reason of their strange form and
bizarre postures, they make attractive objects in a park.
THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD ANIMAI.-S 47
especially where the ground is hilly or rocky ; and their
nesh is said to be highly palatable, while tluir skins are
used both in the manufacture of;,,., os and as furs, although
neither of these two latter considerations are likely to be
of any importance iji England. On an estate in Prussia
a drove of the large kangaroo was kept in a condition of
almost complete liberty in 1890; and at the present time
various species of both kangaroos and wallabies are flourish-
ing on the estates of the Duke of Bedford, Lord
Rothschild, and Sir Edmund Lodcr. According, however,
to information furnished to the writer by the owner of
some tame wallabies, it is inadvisable to keep these animals
in a small enclosure where there is an> considerable extent
of deep water occupying the line of country they are likely
to take when frightened. Otherwise they are prone, when
disturbed, to plunge headlong into the water, where not
only will the adults stand a good chance of being drowned,
but the helpless young in the pouches of the females must
of necessity perish miserably.
As the result of all that has been written on the subject,
it may be gathered that, with the exception of the domesti-
cation of the elephant and zebras in Africa (if this be
found practicable), the acclimatisation of animals is unlikely
to yield profitable results of any importance, at any rate in
England; but that as a means of largely increasing the
number of species of herbivorous animals kept in a wild
or semi-domesticated state in parks and enclosures, it has
an important future; and it may also prove to be the
means of saving some of the most beautiful species from
the fate of impending extermination which threatens not a
lew. In the case of persons of comparatively small means,
Dr. Trouessart recommends that they confine their efforts
to acclimatising a .single species.
S
■^V A
THE ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED
ANIMALS
Few subjects are hidden in greater obscurity than is the
origin of many of our domesticated animals ; and seeing
that man in ali probability began to exercise his power of
dominion over the wild creatures by which he was sur-
rounded at a very early date indeed, this is not more
than might be expected. When animals were first domes-
ticated, and which were the species that first carae under
the yoke of servitude, we shall never know. The available
evidence points, hiowever, very clearly to the conclusion that
Asia was the great original centre of the early domestication
of Old World animals; although North-Eastern Africa
seems also to have participated to a certain extent. So far
as it goes this tends to confirm the conclusion that Asia
has been the cradle of the human race, although it must be
borne in mind that different races exhibit wide difTerences
in their capacity for domesticating animals ; those of Africa
being far inferior in this respect to many Asiatic tribes.
When any species of animal— provided that it will breed
in this state— had once been domesticated, it is probable
that the descendants of such domesticated stock have formed
the basis of all or most of the later breeds; for it is
obviously much easier to train such stock than to commence
again Je novo with a wild strain. Still, there are many
cases where subsequent crosses have taken place with a
48
ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ,,
classe . J ;;, Z r '^ '""''^'' '■"'o '"ree
or never bre d in L ,' " '"' ""^ ""''" ''"' -'dom
race has co s a "y To be'' ", "' ^'''^ '"^ '"""-'-'^<'
-in, or wn^fn^vLrCe:;'" e"T '"
mammals coming under this rM. . ""'^ '""^
and .he hunting leopard Th^T '" "' '"'"'" ^'^P^^'
courtes, be .erLdTles"- It TLr,' ^T^^^' ™'^ "^
■ngly be dismisserf fr„ r t ' "'' "*>■ a«ord-
- e.epha„t:ri;ri:r :itrt the""v^^^" '°
which wild individuals su! .,t h , '''""' "''"'
the aptitude they dlplaTt , ' "'"^ '° servitude, and
Fortunately the elphanti/ ^"'"^ "'' ^"°"^'' ''"'-^■
and therefore it hi. t '". """""^ '°"^-"^^'' ^"''"-■.
orcaptivit;Ui,e'r::c:sir;orTV"'"^ "^ "-'o"
portionately diminished MI^„f."^"'""."^ '^ P^°-
rightly so_on >h ■ c ■ naturalists insist-and
e.UntV:o:par:d":rth" :; '"""•t- °^ -"^
creatures-the do^ for il „ "^"^ domesticated
.ouentha,i„:Xer:^L^:i::„™'-
captiv ty, there i-s nr> ^„ .• , "dually breedmg m
t 1, mere is no domesticated race whirh h,. - • j
■— ■ capacity o^r alTLri.tl i^tV^^ '"
domest cation for as long a period as the dog
ance"st:al^r3:oc:'ir:,h°™^,r^^ '"'-^'^ °^-''--^'> '-e
'He historic crTreHi t ol'^^^i^ ^^ » «'""•"
the horse, ass ox .„ . '"" ""^^ory come
The third' cTarLl Th se'T"' ■ '"^ ""' '"' '°^-
which the Wild stocktn „,""""''' ^"™^'^ "f
toudly unknown ° ^ ''""^'' ""' '^ '"tewise
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
Commencing with the camel, it is probably known to
most of my readers that there are two kinds of this animal —
namely, the two-humped Bactrian camel {Camelus bactrianus)
of Central Asia, and the one-humped Arabian camel (C.
dromedarius), now common to Asia and North Africa. It
has been affirmed that wild Bactrian camels occur in the
deserts of Turkestan, but it is almost certain that some at
least of these are descendants of a domestic race which
escaped from captivity about two hundred and fifty years
ago. Others may, however, be truly wild. The only clue
to the original habitat of the genus is afforded by the
remains of fossil camels in North-Eastern India, Eastern
Europe, and Algeria ; and as the former occur in the older
deposits, it seems probable that Central Asia is the cradle
of the race. At what period the camel was first domesti-
cated is lost in the mists of antiquity. From its absence
in the Egyptian frescoes, it has been stated that this
animal was unknown to the early inhabitants of the Delta
of the Nile; but this is controverted by a papyrus of the
fourteenth century B.C., in which reference is made to
camels.
Considering the very large number of existing wild
species of the genus Ovis, it is a very remarkable fact
that we are unable to point to the ancestral stock of the
sheep. As we know them in this country, domesticated
sheep differ from their wild kindred by their woolly fleece,
the wild species having hair more like that of a deer. But
as some of the native domesticated sheep of Asia and
Africa have a more or less hairy coat, the difficulty does
not lie here. With the single exception of the arui, or
Barbary sheep of Northern Africa, all wild sheep have
short tails; whereas in the domesticated races this appen-
dage, until docked, is very long. The reader may ask why
ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 5,
we do not regard the arui as the parent stock. To which
III c:"" "' "" "^ '^"" ^'""" "" ™-"- "-t
wth a curvature quite unlike those of any of the domesti-
muflon"";. ""'"■"''■■■"^'^ "> 'he horn, of the Corsican
muflon It seems somewhat difficult to beheve that a
long ta.1 can have been developed from a short ta.I-as
precsely the opposite development is the only one with
which we are acquainted; but, nevertheless, it h.s been
are a kind of degenerate development. If this be sub-
stantiated, there is no reason why the muflon-a European
wUd sheep, which in former times probably had a wider
distn ution-or some allied Asiatic species, should not have
been the original progenitor of the domesticated breeds A
small breed of long-legged sheep, with somewhat goat.ike
horns wa, n existence at the long-distant epoch when the
mhabitants of the Swiss pile-villages HourLed, and i^
descendants still survive in some of the mor remote
d stncts of the Swiss Alps, where the breed is known
he W«.„.A./,. So far as it goes, this form suggest,
that the domesticated breeds are derived from an extinct
species. Although domestic breeds were possessed by the
ancient Egyptians, the sheep represented in the frescoes
seems to be the wild arui.
With domesticated goats the case is very different • i,
being practically certain that most, if not all, of the breeds
of Europe and Western Asia are derived from the Persian
wild goat, or pasang, which ranges from Asia Minor through
Pers.a to Afghanistan and Sind. This handsome species
has long scimitar-like horns, with the front surface forming
a sharp ridge, instead of being flattened and knobbed as
m the Ibex. Many domesticated breeds have very similar
horns; but m others, especially from Central Asia the
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
horns are more or less corkscrew-like. As the wild markhor
of the Himalaya has horns of a similar type, it has been
suggested that many of the Asiatic breeds are derived
from that species. Against that view is the circumstance
that the direction of the spiral in the domesticated breeds
is generally, although not invariably, just the reverse of
that in the markhor. Although it is possible that some
Asiatic breeds may trace their origin to the latter, it is more
probable that they are derived from the pasang but have
been crossed with the markhor. Most likely the goat was
first domesticated in Western Asia, whence it was imported
into Africa, where it ^as departed very widely from the
original type. A superstition prevails in countries so wide
apart from one another as Scotland and Kashmir that goats
are deadly foes to snakes (the name " markhor" signifying
snake-cater), and it would be very interesting to discover
whether the legend has any foundation in fact.
The numerous breeds of domesticated cattle of Europe
all trace their ancestry to the great extinct 'vild ox, or
aurochs, which, as stated in another article, lived on in
England at least as late ab the Neolithic period, and sur-
vived to a much later date on the Continent, It has often
been said that the white cattle of Chillingham Park are the
direct descendants of the aurochs, but it is practically
certain that they are derived from a domesticated breed.
Many breeds, such as the so-called Celtic shorthorn, were
established at an early period of human progress, and
these have been incorrectly regarded as distinct species,
although there is no doubt that they have the same ancestry.
The geographical range of the aurochs was very extensive,
and the original domestication may have taken place in
Western Asia. The humped cattle of India seem to trace
their origin to a distinct wild species now extinct, and the
ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 53
ancestral form may perhaps be looked for among the extinct
oxen whose remains are found in the gravels of the Narbada
Valley. Some have, indeed, considered that humped cattle
or,g,natcd in Africa, where they are represented by the
so-called Galla ox; but it is more probable ..at they are
really o Onental extraction and have been introduced into
the Dark Continent.
During the immense period that they have been domesti-
cated the true oxen have displayed great adaptability to
modtfication, as is exemplified by the dilference between
such breeds as Highland, Polled Angus, Galloway, Kerry
Devon, Longhorns, Shorthorns, and Jersey. Not so the
buffalo of Asia, which, although long domesticated in India
and subsequently introduced i„,o Egypt, and thence into
Italy, has m nowise departed from the wild type, save as
regards a somewhat smaller stature and a diminished
length of horn. Certain other species of cattle, such as the
gayal {Bo. frontaUs) of North-East India and the banting
(B. banuns) of the Malay countries, have been more or less
domesticated by various Oriental races, although in the
latter case the domesticated breed seems to be renovated
from t,me to time with a cross of the wild stock. All these
forms seem to be unadapted for variation, and consequently
breed true. No attempt ever seems to have been made to
domesfcate the bison; while, true to their instincts, the
natives of South Africa have never enthralled the buffalo
01 that country.
-nil within the last few years the origin of the domesti-
cated ass was a matter of some uncertainty, seeing that
all the Asiatic wild asses differ considerably from the
famihar animal. Recently, however, a wild ass has been
brought from Somaliland which differs in no important
character from the domesticated form, and is its undoubted
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
ancestor. Some of these Somali asses are, it is true, more
striped on the legs than is commonly the case with the
domesticated breed ; but then some examples of the latter
arc nearly or q\iite as fully marked as the wild race, while
some African specimens have nearly uniformly coloured
limbs. Possibly the Somali wild ass may originally have
ranged into Syria and Arabia ; and, in any case, it is
probable that it was 6rst tamed there, and thence intro-
duced into Europe. Indeed, the Greek name (p»os) of the
ass is stated to be derived from a Semitic root ; and since
this name occurs but once in the "Iliad," and not at all
in either the " Odyssey " or in Hesiod, it has been inferred
that the ass was a rare and little-known animal in Greece
during the epic period.
Whether any truly wild horses have survived till
modern times has been disputed. With the exception of
the Mongolian Przewalski's horse, which does not seem
specifically distinct from the domesticated Equus cabal/us,
the only animals which can lay claim to that title are the
so-called tarpan of the steppes of Central Asia, which for-
merly ranged as far westward as the Volga, but are now
exterminated. Some authorities are of opinion that these
tarpan are a truly wild race, while by others they are
regarded as feral — that is to say, descended from a domes-
ticated stock. It is certain that the droves of tarpan
at times received an influx of feral animals ; but whether
they were feral or truly wild — and the evidence seems
rather in favour of their wild origin — they undoubtedly
resembled the ancestral type of the horse. This, of course,
will be due in the one case to reversion, and in the other
to direct inheritance. They were rather small, clumsily
built animals, with remarkably ugly heads ; their general
colour being dun. During the Pleistocene period horses
ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 55
of apparently similar type to the tarpan wandered over a
great part of Europe and Western Asia, as is attested by
their fossilised remains; and from other evidence it is
probable that at the epoch in question the physical con-
dition of much of Europe was similar to that of the Asiatic
steppes at the present day. Such conditions would seem
indeed, to be essential for the existence of wild horses'
which are animals specially adapted for a life on the open
plains, where they find safety in flight. It is true that
wild horses were found in parts of Europe at a much later
epoch, when the country had become forest-clad ; but it is
quite possible that these were really feral races. When we
come to the consideration of the place and time of the first
domestication of the horse, the usual difference of opinion
prevails among those most capable of forming a judgment.
It was at one time considered that the horse was first
domesticated in the East, but later authorities are more
■nclined to think that the wild horse was also subjugated
by the stone-implement makers of Western Europe This
race is considered to have given rise to the ordinary
European breeds; but thoroughbred horses are probably
of Eastern origin. We naturally look to Arabia as the
ancestral home of the Eastern breed; but this is a
mistake, as the horse is known to be a comparatively late
introduction into that country, the Arabs even as late as
the time of Strabo having neither horses nor asses, and
going to battle mounted on camels.
In the early days of Egypt-that is to say, during the
period known as the "old kingdom "-the horse was un-
known in the Nile Valley ; the animal not making its appear-
ance in the frescoes till about the year 1800 b.c. Probably
the horse entered Egypt vid Mesopotamia and Syria, where
as we learn from the Nineveh sculptures, it had long been
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MOSTLY MAMMALS
known. It has been well remarked that even these sculp-
tures afford evidence that the horse was a comparatively
new animal to the Assyrians — that is to say, these warriors
were not such splendid riders as were the Parthians at
a later date, and as are the Turkomans now. If any of
my readers will visit the British Museum and inspect the
Assyrian sculptures, he will scarcely fail to notice that,
whereas those mounted warriors who are armed with the
spear manage their own horses, such as carry a bow have
their horses led by a comrade. Manifestly, the Assyrian
warrior was incapable of managing his steed when both
his hands were occupied with his weapon ; and he was
thus a far less accomplished horseman than the Parthian
or the Turkoman.
Although the evidence is not decisive, the probability is
that the horse was first introduced into Assyria from Persia.
The ancient records of India indicate that horses were by
no means common there, while such as there were excelled
neither in strength, speed, nor beauty. The Indian climate
is, indeed, unsuited to the animal ; and there is no doubt
that it was originally introduced from the north. But the
original horse must have come from somewhere, and the
probability is that the nomad Mongols in the east and
the Turkomans in the west— still some o'' the most splendid
horsemen the world has ever seen — were the first Asiatic
tribes to subdue the noblest of man's servants. This being
so, and Turkestan and Mongolia being the home of the
tarpan and other wild horses, it follows not only that
the latter are rt.ijy wild, but that the thoroughbred of
the East has the same ancestry as the underbred animal
of the West, and consequently that " blood " is m< rely a
matter of careful selection and breeding for countless
centuries, and is not due to inherent superiority of origin,
ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 57
From the plains of Turkestan the horse spread in one
d.rection to the Punjab and the plains of Hindustan, and
m the other through Persia to Mesopotamia and Assyria,
and thenee westwards to Egypt and southwards to Arabia
Among the Arabs it soon became indispensable to its
master; and, as already said, this intimate union between
man and quadruped renders it difficult to believe that Arabia
IS not the original home of the horse. Uncivilised races
though highly conservative in some matters, in others soon
adapt themselves to new circumstances; and the case of
the North American Indians affords an example of the
rapidity with which a people among whom the horse was
unknown can develop into a race of horsemen. Had we
not historic evidence to the contrary, there is, indeed, no
saying but that the original subjugation of the horse might
have been attributed to the Indian of the prairies
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11
HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE
Although I have not the details of any one particular cau-
before me, so many instances are chronicled in which the
hair of human beings, under the innuence of strong mental
emotion due to terror or grief, has become suddenly
blanched within a single night or some such period of
time, that the occasional occurrence of such a phenomenon
must apparently be accepted as a fact. Such a change is,
of course, due to the bleaching of the pigment with which
the hair is coloured, although we need not stop to inquire
by what particular means this bleaching is accomplished ;
all that concerns us on the present occasion being to know
that the hair in man may turn white in this manner under
abnormal circumstances. And there appears to be evidence
that under equally abnormal conditions a similar change
may take place suddenly in the hair of the lower animals.
This is exemplilied by the well-known experiment made
considerably more than half a century ago by Sir John
Richardson on an Arctic lemming— a small mouse-like
rodent, which habitually turns white in winter, although
dark-coloured in summer. In this instance the little
animal was kept in a comparatively warm room till winter
was well advanced, when it was suddenly exposed to a
temperature of 30° below zero; a continued exposure to
this and a still more intense degree of cold eventually
resulted in its death, which took place within three
58
HOW ARCTIC ANIMAI5 TURN WHITE 59
week, of the commencement of the experiment. In con-
sequence of the conditions under wh.ch it had been kept
this lemming was still brown in midwinter, when it ought
to have been white. As the result of it., first night's
expo.,u,e, the fur on the cheeks and a p.-,tch on each
.houlder became completely white, and by the end of the
first week ^he whole coat had turned white. On exami-
nation it was found that only the Up, of some of the hairs
had become blanched, and that these whif-tipped hairi
were longer than the rest of the coat, apparently owing
t. a sudden growth on their part in the course of the
experiment. l!y clipping th< se long white-tipp, .,1 l.airs the
animal was restored to its original brown conditio.,.
Nothing is said with regard to any change of coat on
the part of this lemming previous to the experiment but
It IS probable that none occurred. It seems, however to
be clearly demonstrated that the tips of the hairs lost their
colour by bleaching, induced by sudden exposure to the
intense cold, and that the hairs thus blanched increased
considerably in length in a very short period.
In spite of the very obvious fact that these langes
occurred under extremdy abnormal circumstances, it has
been argued that Arctic mammals which turn white in
winter do so nornnlly by a similar blanching of the hair
of the summer coat, and that the greater kngth of the
winter, as compared with the summer dress of such white
animals, ,s due to a lengthening of the individual hairs of
the former.* Moreover, it has been inferred that the
colour-change is directly under the control of the animals
themselves. Quite apart from many other considerations,
one weak point in this argument is that the hairs in the
subject of the experiment were white only at their tips.
* Set E. B Poulton, " The Coioui» of Animals,' chap. vii. (1900).
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MOSTI.V MAMMALS
It was doubtlcsi asiumed that, had the cxperim-'nt been
extended over a longer period, the white would have
gradually extended downwards till the whole hair became
blanched. Yim had this been the normal way in which
the change from » black to a white coat is brought about,
it is obvious that animals ought frequently to be captured
in which the coat is in the same condition as that of the
lemming. So far, however, as I am aware, no such con-
dition has ever been described.
Moreover, it is perfectly well known that, apart from
those which turn white in winter, a large number of
animals have a winter coat differing markedly in colour,
as well as in length, from the summer dress. The roebuck,
for instance, is of a brilliant foxy red in summer, while in
winter it is grey-fawn with a large patch of pure white on
the buttocks. And it is quite clear that the change from
red to grey, and the development of the white rump-patch,
is due to the shedding of the short summer coat and in
replacement by the longer winter dress. Obviously, there-
fore, it is natural to expect that a similar change of coat
takes place in the case of mammals which turn white in
winter.
That the change in spring from a white to a dark dress
is due to a shedding of the fur seems to be admitted on
all hands, for it would obviously be quite impossible for
long hairs to become short, or for white ones to turn
brown. And even in animals which do not alter their
colour in any very marked degree according to season, tho
spring change of coat is sufficiently obvious. For the
winter coat, owing to the long time it is carried and the
inclemency of the season when it is in use, becomes much
faded and worn by the time spring comes, and the con-
trast between it and the fresh and brilliant summer coat
HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 6i
i> v..Ty Hirking indeed. On the other hand, the summer
coal is only donned for a comparatively short season, anu
that at a time of year when it does not become much
damaged by the effects of the weather. Conseqm.uly no
marked change is noticeable as the long winter li „, , grow
up through it, and it has accordingly become a common
article of belief that, whether there is a change ,f colour
or not, the long winter coat is produced bv .. lengtliening
of the summer dress.
Apart from the evidence of animals : !.c the i ..l.^ick
and many other deer as to the e.xisteiic- . f a„ »,.!,,„«
change of coat, as deduced from a differencf iu coi ,ur,
the fact of such a shedding of the fur is dcnon^uatod
by the circumstance that in many species, as, for ,n.5tancc,
the mountain hare, the individual hairs themselves, as seen
under a microscope, differ appreciably in calibre at the t,vo
opposite seasons of the year. In that species, for exar.ple,
the hairs of the winter coat are of a much finer character
than are those forming the short dress of summer, which
are comparatively coarse and thick. Moreover, in spite of
the natural tendency to believe in blanching on account
of the aforesaid abnormal instances of turning white in a
single night, there is abundant evidence to show that even
in human hair the change from dark to white as age
advances is brought about by the replacement of dark
hairs by white ones, and not by the bleaching of the
former. In this case, however, the change, instead of
being seasonal and sudden, is gradual and due to age.
If the change was due to blanching, we should, of course^
find some hairs which were partial., ivhite and partially
brown (or black, as the case may be). And here it
may be remarked that if such partially blanched hairs
were met with, we should naturally expect to find that
t:
'"',
n
7
6>
MOSTLY MAMMALS
It would be the basal half which was white, and the
terminal half which retained its natural colouring_in other
words, precisely the reverse of the condition obtaining in
Sir John Richardson's lemming, thereby aifording further
presumptive evidence as to the abnormal condition of the
change in that animal.
As a matter of fact, however, those of us who have
reached an age when silver hairs have begun to make
the.r appearance among the brown can easily satisfy them-
selves that such hairs are white throughout their entire
length, and that a hair half white and half brown is quite
unknown. From this we infer that the change .^rom brown
to white takes place in human beings by the gradual
shedding of the dark hairs and their replacement by new
ones from which pigment is entirely absent. So that
normally there is no such thing as bleachi :, ,f individual
hairs. The change is, indeed, precisely similar to the one
which takes place at the approach of winter in mammals
th,it habitually turn white at that season, with the exception
that, as a general rule, it is extremely slow and gradual,
instead of being comparatively rapid, and also that the white'
hairs differ from thiir dark predecessors solely by the
absence of colourirg-matter. Unfortunately, there is no
subsequent replacen ent of the white hairs by dark ones I
The fact that the change from brown to white in the
mountain hare {Le/>us timidus) is really due to a change
of coat and not to bleaching was known at a very early
period to the English naturalist Pennant; and the ejiist-
ence of this change was likewise recognised by Macgillivray
It was not, however, till Dr. J. A. Allen, in a paper o,.
the colour-change in the North American variable hare
published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural
History for 1894, demonstrated by actual experiment the
HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 63
truth of Pennant's statement, that the fact of the con,-
Pl.te autumnal change of the coat in animals that turn
^o far as the spring change from the white to the brown
dress ,s concerned, his conclusions are fully confirmed by
Cap.. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, who communicated some
.nteresfng notes on the change in the European mountain
o vanable hare to the /^„.„^,„^, „f .^e Zoological SocietJ
of London for ,899. The fact that the vernal colour-change
■s due to the shedding of the coat seems, however, as
ah-eady mentioned, to have been much more gene ally
ttrma'ti:/^''^'^-^ -'''•-- -*--"—
^nf;."^""" """""" """ ""■='»'!»» 'hat both the autumn
and the spring change uke place periodically and quite
mdependent ly of the will of the animal, and alfo that they
are but Imle affected by phases of the weather, although
they may be somewhat retarded or accelerated by the
prevailing atmospheric temperature
beyond the control of the animal in which it occurs, Capt
Barrett-Hamilton is in full accord with the American writer ■
buthegoes somrwhat further, and believes that it is quite
uninnuenced by temperature, or at least by such variations
of the same as may be met with in different parts of the
area of the British Islands; and, as we all know, these e
considerable! «= "c
As in the case of many other animals-deer, for instance
-the change from the winter to the summer coat takes
S oL7' " '" "^ "^^°" ■•" '"^ "-""»■•" hare in
Scotland specimens undergoing the change being often
een early i„ May. But the date of the spring change
■s no earher in the south of Ireland, where the climate
5:
C'l
r
0
»*•
;?■
of
:5^?.
64
MOSTLY MAMMALS
is much milder, although the amount of whiteness assumed
in that district is very much less than in the north. This
seems to demonstrate the contention that temperature has
little or no influence on the change, so far as season is
conct-rned.
That the animal has no control over the change from
brown to white in autumn seems to be proved by instances
referred to by Capt. Barrett-Hamilton, "in which variable
hares transported from Scotland and from Irish mountains
to southern and low-lying regions continued for som-;
seasons to appear in th^ northern garb of snowy white-
ness. This persistence of the habit of turning white, even
in unsuiuble conditions, together with the lateness of the
moult, resulted frequently in the curious spectacle rA a
mountain hare running about in all its conspicuous Arctic
livery under the bright rays ,^ an Ajrfil or May sun.
After a few years such imported hares, or more probably
their offspring, ceased to turn completely white, and ihf
breed assumed the appearance of the ordinary hares of
the southern locality to which they had been transported."
It would, of course, be extremely interesting to ascertain
whether such transported individuals ever do give up the
practice of turning white in winter, or whether it is only
their offspring that do so ; but, in any case, it is clearly
demonstratec' that the habit is very deep-seated and difficult
to overcome.
Very curious is the ciicuinstancc that the mode in which
the coat is changed in the variable hare at the two seasons
of the year differs in tola as regards the parts of the anima!
first affected. On this subject, with one verbal change in
the first sentence, 1 quote from Dr. Allen, who writes as
follows ; —
" In the fall the change begins with the feet and ears,
HOW ARCTIC ANIMATE TURN WHITE 65
the sides of the nose and the front of the head which
often become radically changed before the body is much
affected; while as regards the body, the change begins
first at the base of the tail and extreme posterior part of
the back, and at the ventral border of the sides of the
body, working thence upward towards the middle line of
the back, and from behind anteriorly, the crown of the
head and a narrow median line over the shoulders and
front part of the back being the parts List changed In
the sormg the order of change is exactly the reverse the
moult beginning on the head and along the median' line
of the anterior half of the dorsal region, extending Uterally
and gradually to the ventral border 01 the sides of the
body and posteriorly to the rump, and then later tc the
ears and down the limbs to the feet, which are the parts
last affected, and which often remain but little changed
tm the head and body have pretty completely assumed
the sumnv.r dress."
It is very hard indeed to conjecture any satisfactory
■-»son for this nmarkable difference.
The American variable hare ranges, at ordinary levels
..bout as far s..uth as Massachusetts that is to say, nearly
to the latrtude of Madrid, and throughout the whole of
tlus extensive tract it turns white in winter. On the other
hand, owing to the much n.ilder climate of Western Europe
™ colour-change takes place in the mountain hares of
Ireland, while it is reported that in those introduced into
Ayrshire and the neighbouring counties of south-western
Scotland the change is much less complete and regular
than in those inhabiting the northern parts of the
country.
An impression appears to be prevalent tliat in the more
northern portion of their range both the mountain hare and
i
0
•• MOSTLY MAMMALS
the ermine (or stoat) are white at all seasons, but this does
not seem to be authenticated.
Observations arc wanting as to whether the changes of
coat and colour in the mountain hare bear any relation
to the appearance and disappearance of snow, or whether
they occur regularly at the same season of the year. In
the case of the ermine in the Adirondack region of New
York, Dr. C. U. Merriam tells us that in this animal the
white livery is a.ssumed only after the first fall of snow,
while the resumption of the brown coat does not take
place till the snow begins to melt. Unfortunately, he
says nothing in regard to change of coat. The late
Dr. Coues stated, however, that in the case of the ermine
the bi-annual change of coat takes place at the same
season, but that it depends upon the condition of the
temperature at the time whether the new coat differs in
colour from its predecessor. In other words, the change
from brown to white might be due either to shedding the
coat or to bleaching of the hair subsequent to such
shedding. The case of the mountain hare is, however,
strongly suggestive that the colour-change is in all instances
coincident with the shedding of the coat.
It is, of course, quite evident that the assumption of a
white winter livery by mountain hares and ermines living
in region.s where the snow lies on the ground for a coii-
.iiderable portion of the year is for the purpose of rendering
such animals as inconspicuous as possible when in their
native haunts. And, so far as we know, such a change
is universal among the species named when dwelling in
high northern latitudes.
There is, however, another animal inhabiting the North
Polar regions of both hemispheres in which the change
to a pur* white winter dress is limited to certain indi-
m-ii.
^
r
if
r* ^'
■y-V/. 6ti
If
'' J
wl
an
Ar
att
inf
ble
Mr
Ro
de\
the
like
pan
out*
the
i^T
HOW ARCTIC ANIMALS TURN WHITE 67
viduals The species in question is ,l,e Arctic fox, of
wh,ch the beautiful fu, i„ both the white and the Le
phase, ,s, as mentioned i„ a later article, now much
a^ced by >ad.es. That both the white Ind tl b
be evident to every one who examines such furs carefully
he length and thickness of the ha.r being cu.te deciiv'e'
on this pomt
With the sinsle exception of Iceland, where they are
always blue, it appears that the white and the blue phase
are met w.th throughout the habitat of the species In
other words, the animal is ..dimorphic," if it b^ pLj
- le to apply this term to a case where the diL™ e
between the two nhas,.^ „f , • . '"ciculc
coloration. ' ' ^'""^^ " ^"'"^'^^ '»
What makes the matter so puzzling is this: if blue foxes
are able to thrive during winter in a snow-clad country
what necessity is there for their fellows-and, indeed fo;
any spec.es-to turn white at that season of the y;ar >
An explanation of the case of the blue foxes has been
attempted in the article already referred to
Since the present article was written important additional
.formation w,th regard to the manner in which hair
aches has been am^dcxl by a communication from
Mr. E. Metchnikoff, published in the Pro„e,i„j,. „f .,1^
Royal Society for ,90. It is there stated that the
Uevounng cells known as phag„ry.., „,, .,„ ^^^^^
the m,sch,ef These cells, „hic„ frequently have amoba
pan ot the hair, whence they make their way into the
-ter or cort,c=. layer, where they absorb, and thus d troy
he pigment-granules. Numbers of these phagocytes may
b. -en in ha.r which is commencing to turn wh^te
U
0
» MOSTLY MAMMALS
"The pari played by phagocytes," writes the autltor,
" in the whitening of the hair explains many phciKHTcna
obser\t>d long ago, but not as yet sufficiently umierstoc'l "
Thus the phenomenon of hair turning while i« a sii^le
night, or in a few days, may be explained by th< jnowased
activity of the phagocytes, which renwve the pigment
within an abnorm" "v short period.
A LAND OF SKELETONS
:—■-;— r;—r3r
.0 hi,,,, wh rL same r; """ '"^'■""^ '=""■■-
, niic ttic same ,5,, to a great extent, the case if
l"s footsteps are directed to India or Africa I, i, ,
."deed, that in both the .at.er countries he w,'l co„^ '
c-tures ,ike elephants and rhinoceros lira,e7ow
unknown in Europe, while in Africa he will ^ conf Z
L'rrT^" ''-'- --•'. -"oir-rer-r
counted as Per Jnin^rl^^":^ ^ 1:™"^ "
iiro/r^w w:,;rret':r- ''- -^"
n.am™a,s, such as the bi„;„ RoL' MounU.^'h """ "^"^
Hear, wapiti, e,k, reindeer, vJolf, and llZZ or f"' ':'","
f" ^''^ ^-"^ ^--- On '"e o^iTa ,rj :rs
r:::rrLir:ec;x:^'T™'^--
-™pe, but ...Wise t.atLnr:frriorCe:'
?:
-t:
70
MOSTLY MAMMAI5
or groups absolutely unknown beyond the confines of that
country, while Old World types are relatively scarce. For
instance, the whole of the typical representatives of that
group of mammals technically termed edentates, such as
armadillos, ant-eaters, and sloths, are exclusively confined
to South and Central America ; while the monkeys of that
continent are quite difl-erenl from those of the Old World,
and, like the pretty little marmosets, an peculiar to the
former area. The camel-like animals known as guanacos
and vicunas, together with their domcsfc representatives,
the llamas, are likewise at the present day exclusively
characteristic of South America, although there is reason
to believe that they were originally introduced from the
north. Then, again, opossums (which, by the way, must
not be confounded with the creatures commonly so called
in Australia) are among the most characteristic of South
American mammals, although some range as far north as
the United States. The rodents, or gnawing mammals,
are likewise remarkable, not only for their numerical
abundance, but likewise for the large size of several of
their members which belong to genera peculiar to tli,-
continent. Among these the capivara or carpiiicho {Hydro-
choerus), commonly known as the river-hog, is the largest
living member of the order, its skull measuring about a
foot in length. Another characteristic aquatic type is the
coypu UFyocaslor), generally termed by Europeans nutria
(properly the Spanish name for an otter), and easily recog-
nised by its red incisor teeth. Of the terrestrial species
the most familiar U the viscacha, which inhabits warrens,
like the prairie marmot of North America, with which,
however, it has no affinity.
But not only is South America remarkable for the number
of peculiar types of mammals it contains, but it is likewise
I h'^-M
A I \N[) OK SKEl.liroNS
TlT^i 'r ""■ '""""■ "' " """"--^ •'• "Id World
notKcahl. among ,„.. ungu.a.s n,- h„.,M 0,..,,,^.^^^ h
. repre«,„ed soldy hy .,„. ^fo,,,,,, ,„„„.,^,„
^- by a group of d«. difrc.n„« ,.„„.,j.,„,„^, ,,„„ ;,
Old WeHdspeccs, although npres,,,.,, „ Nort Am. nca
nd by seve .1 ,p„i.. of tapirs the l.-.ttcr animals b^r^^^
h pre«„t day known dsewherc only hy a solitary kind f!„m
the Malay reg.on, although th.-y were formerl/ abundan"
over a large portion of the Old World. oL.n y
such wdl-kn.,wn and important groups „ u^gu^J^e^
- oxen, goats, sheep, antelopes, horses, rhin,,, roses
state at the present day in So„th America, although .wo
of them V. horses and elephants-formerly existed thr.
Equal yeh„rae.eris.ic ar.. the birds „f South Amer^'
Although ,t ,s only poss.ble here,,, „,,k, .„„.„„.„
few among the., , may e.pecia„y men. „n the en.i e
group of humm,ng.birds, together with a peculiar family
of perch.ng b.rds eon, nonly k„„wn as wood-hewers „d
technically as the AWw,,,.,^,,,, „r ,hich the .veluLown
ovenb„d (so called on account of its dome-shaped Zd
termed" ' "^"""^ ^"^ '^'•^^ eaihnaceoTs birds
termed curassows and euans !.„ „i
, ' S-ians are also very characteriBti,-
wh,le s., 1 more distinctive of the country a're the t am '
H_h,ch, although structurally allied to th/ ostriches, arr so
m the country they are universally so termed. Another
haraeter,st,e South American bird commonly misnamed
by Europeans is the rhea, this bird, whiC. is almost a w^!
d .gnated an ostrich, differing from its African relat v
by havmg three toes instead of two. Yet another rema I
able avtan type is to be found in the large and somewh t"
I
0
at'
MldOCOfV nSOWTION TIST CHAUT
lANSI and ISO TE5T CHART No 2|
i|2.8 |2.5
'lis mm
.8
^ APPLIED l\/MGE In,
7»
MOSTLY MAMMALS
goose-like chaja (pronounced chahS), or horned screamer,
which takes its English name from the spur on its wing
and its loud cry, the latter being sometimes heard when
the bird is so high in the air as to be almost or quite
invisible. The long-legged scriema, which stalks over the
plains in the manner of the African secretary-bird, is
like-wise a very characteristic type. Among characteristic
South American reptiles may be mentioned iguanas (a
name often applied incorrectly to lizards from other parts
of the world) and caimans; the latter being a group of
alligators distinguished by having an armour of bony
plates on the under as well as on the upper surface of
the body. The h'ljje horned frogs {Ceralophrys) are like-
wise distinctive of the coujitry among the batrachians.
Such are a few of the leading features of the existing
fauna of South America, which are sufTicient to show how
totally different is the animal life of this country from
that of -.11 the rest of the world. If, however, we go back
to the later geological periods of the earth's history, we
shall find that this peculiarity and distinctness of the
South American fauna was even more intensified than at
the present day, this being largely due to the circumstance
that at one time the isthmus of Darien seems not to have
existed, so that the northern and southern portions of the
New World were disconnec;ed. Since the time when a
connection was formed between the two continents, their
faunas have, however, naturally tended to blend togethir,
and hence at the present day, and during the Pleistocene
period, the animals of South America arc less sharply
differentiated from those of the northern half of the con-
tinent than would have been the case had the isthmus
of Darien not been formed. It is further interesting to
note that during the Tertiary period there appears to have
A LAND OF SKELETONS ,3
been some kind of connection Ixtween tl,e faunas of South
America and Australia.
The country that has afforded the most information with
regard to the extinct fauna of South America is the Argen-
tme Repubhc, which includes not only Buenos Aires and
the adjacent provinces forming Argentine proper, but like-
w,se the whole of Patagonia. Confining our attention, in
the first place, to the province of Buenos Aires and son.e
ol the neighbouring districts, we may note that the greater
part of th.s vast tract of country is one boundless level
pla,n formed by an alluvial deposit of rich black mud
brought down from the higher lands of the interior by the
tr.butaries of the Rio de la Plata, and constituting the most
extensive pasture-land in the world. Near Buenos Aires
and the valley of the Rio de la Plata this alluvial deposit
wh,ch m places alternates with sandy beds, is of immense
hiekness- but farther to the south it thins out rapidly.
In some places in the neighbourhood of La Colina, about
a hundred miles fron, Bahia Blanea, for instance, the black
so.l .s not more than a couple of feet in thickness, and
.s underlain by a hard white calcareous deposit, locally
known as " tosca," and much resembling some of the
deposits formed by hot springs.f That the black alluvial
deposit, which, from forming the whole of the Pampas or
plain country, is known to geologists as the ParapLan
formation, is of fresh-water origin is perfectly clear, and it
■s probable that it was largely formed in marshes and
swamps, one of its most striking features being the total
absence of pebbles or stones. Indeed, throughout the
country, except in the neighbourhood of the mountains,
and "^.Zy^ZT" '"''" " "'' "''" """^ '"'" '"' '"^P'"' "^ «">■
t At Buenos Aires the alluvial deposit itself is called "tosca."
^i
»"
h
ry
74
MOSTLY MAMMALS
there is not a vestige of rock or stone to be seen, unless
it be in the few places where the aforesaid " tosca " has
been brought to the surface. In spite of its fresh-water
origin, there is, however, evidence that portions of tlie
Pampean formation have been submerged beneath the sea.
For instance, in the neighbourhood of tlie city of La Plata
there occurs a bed of marine shells overlying the alluvial
mud, all the species of molluscs being now found living
in the Bay of Monte Video. I have also observed a
similar bed at Santa Lucia, in the Banda Oriental, at an
elevation of about one hundred feet above the sea, which
was overlain by a considerable thickness of sands; and
the same deposit occurs tar inland, at the town of Parana,
From these data it may be inferred that after the temporary
subsidence of the Pampas, during which the marine be<is
were deposited, there has been a considerable elevation
(which is probably still going on) of the whole country;
and that these movements have taken place at a very recent
epoch indeed.
At the present day the Argentine Pampas, with the
exception of a few willows along the river courses, is
practically destitute of trees (save where they have of late-
years been p'anted around the various settlements), and
forms a boundless sea of grass, relieved here and there by
tussocks of the :»!! Pampas-grass, or giant thistles, and
adorned in spring with scarlet verbena and other bright-
hued flowers. Till the introduction of the countless herds
of horses, cattle, and sheep, which now roam over its
extent, this vast tract of country was tenanted by the
guanaco, the Pampas-deer, the viscacha, and the rhea,
which, with the exception of certain carnivores, were
almost the only animals of any size to be found throughout
its length and breadth.
A LAND OF SKELETONS
75
The rich black alluvial mud of th< Pampas, which as
we have seen, is entirely of fresh-water origin, is, how-
ever, ,he ton.b of thousands, if not millions, of the
skeletons and bones of a host of e.tinc, animals, which
tell us that the country was once inhabited by a fauna
stranger than that found in any other part of the world at
any epoch of its history. While many of these extinct
creatures were allied to the existing South American
mammals, although of vastly greater bodily size, others of
equally gigantic dimensions, were quite unlike all known
animals, either living or extinct. As some of these extinct
mammals are noticed in the next article, I make but brief
mention of them here. It may be observed, however, that
while the gigantic glyptodons were the representatives of
he diminutive armadillos of to-day (although some of the
the megalothere, which rivalled an elephant in bulk, together
w.th ,ts allies the mylodons, were akin both to the sloths
and the ant-eaters of Brazil, and as they were certainly
terrestnal m habits, they ar -.lied ground-sloths. From
he structure of these animal», .,ich were evidently adapted
to sit up on their massive haunches and tear down the
branches of trees with their powerful front claws, it may
be mferred that the physical features of this part of
Argentina were once very different from what they
are at present, and that in place of continuous tracts of
unbroken grassy plain there were probably large areas
of forest-land, as in Brazil at the presenv day. ,n these
forest tracts probably wandered the two species of mas-
todons which were the contemporaries of the ground-
sloths; but the existence at the same time of several
species of horses (some closely akin to living spec.es,
while others were markedly distinct) seems to point to
t.
c-l
a.
-t.
76
MOSTLY MAMMALS
the prcsrncc of grassy plains alternating with the forest.
The same is probably indicated by the numerous species
allied to the guanaco, which nourished at the same time,
and some of which attained the dimensions of a camel'
while the various kinds of deer may also have inhabited
the same regions. Th i'igantic hoofed mammal known
as the Toxodon, which .,au ever-growing teeth like those
of a rodent, was, however, probably an inhabitant of swamps
and marshes, while the still more extraordinary Macrau-
chenia, with its slender, camel-like neck and long, three-
toed limbs, probably stalked over the plains, cropping here
and there the foliage from some tree or copse. Rodents
nearly related to existing South American types were
likewise common, and there were also certain large carni-
vores, such as a species of sabre-toothed tiger and a huge
bear-like creature. With the exception of these carnivores,
together with the guanacos, horses, deer, and mastodons,'
which are unknown in the older formations, and are there-
fore probably late immigrants from the north, all the animals
of the Pampean formation are peculiar to South America.
A further distinctive feature of this fauna is the large bodily
size attained by so many of its representatives, this being
especially Ihe case with the glyptodons, mylodons, megalo-
theres, guanacos, mastodons, macrauchenias, and toxodons,
all of which would come under the designation of giant
animals. In thic respect the Pampean fauna corresponds
with that of the Pleistocene period of Europe, with which
it also agrees approximately in age, seeing that there is
evidence of the contemporaneous existence of man with
several of the extinct mammals.
In certain parts of the Pampean formation the remains
of these animals occur in extraordinary profusion, and
generally in a perfect state of preservation. At times they
A LAND OF SKELETONS „
are found sticK.ng out from the perpendicular cliffs, ,r
A«^«™.,, bordering the river-valleys, while many are met
w. h m smkmg wells or making other excavations. In
wel-d,gg,ng, of course, only a portion of a skeleton is
obtamed ,n the case of a large animal, which is the cause
of the imperfect condition of many specimens in European
during the construction of the docks at La Plata or Buenos
Aires are made, that entire skeletons are obtained, unless,
indeed, special works are undertaken for the purpoce o
obtaining fossils. It does not, however, appear that the
remains are at all evenly distributed through the mud of
the Pampas, some localities being much richer than others
among these Lujan (pronounced Luhdn), near Buenos Aires'
being especially notable.
Although the Museum of the Royal College of Sui^cons
ZTvV"7 'T°" "' ' ""'''""'"^' '°S^"- with
he shel. of a gljptodon, while the British Museum is the
fortunate possessor of a complete specimen of a mylodon
the museums of Europe afford a very poor idea of the
number and beautiful preservation of these marvellous
lossils. To gam any idea of the true state of the case
.t IS necessary to visit the museums of Buenos Aires and
La Plata, and more especially the latter. There the visitor
will be absolutely lost in astonishment at the long array
of perfect mounted skeletons of numbers of these creatures
while the unmounted skeletons and isolated bones displayed'
m the wai:-cases will convince him that I am not
exaggerating when I call Argentina a land of skeletons
That the animals I have spoken of should have died off
one after another through the long ages during which the
mud of the Pampas was accumulating, is in accordance
with what we should expect to occur, while the perfection
i
r
78
^tOSTLY MAMMALS
01 tlieir preservation is sufficiently accounted for by the
nature of tlie deposit itself. The marvel, however, is in
regard to the total disappearance of the whole of the larger
forms and the reduction i.f the fauna of the Pampas to its
present condition, together with the concomitant loss of
the forests. It is not that the country is unsui'ed at the
present day to the existence of the larger types of animal
life, as witness the countless herds of horses and rattle
with which its plains are now covered, together with :he
luxuriance and rapidity with which many kinds of tree.i
flourish when introduced. Neither, I think, can it be due
to a glacial epoch (although there appear.i to be evidence
of the prevalence of a cold period in Patagonia), since any
glaciation of the Pampas would have assuredly removed the
greater part of the alluvial formation, besides havir.g left
indisputable evidence of its presence. Man can scarcely
be credited '..ith the extinction of either the fauna or the
flora. It has been suggested that the number of guanaco
with which the country was overrun previous to European
settlement may have caused the destruction of the forests ;
but we must remember that similar animals existed in
greater variety during the Pampean period, while even if
the disappearance of trees were due to their agency, this
would have had no effect on plain-loving forms like horses.
That the disappearance of the latter animals may have been
due to the number of pumas is another suggestion, but it
will be obvious that this could have had nothing to do with
the destruction of gigantic creatures like the glyptodons
and ground-sloths. The problem is further complicated
by the circumstance that the remains of many of these
creatures occur in caverns in the interior of Brazil, where
the climate is still, and probably always has been, ; npical.
It would seem, therefore, that we must be content to regard
A LAND OF SKKl.ETONS jy
the depletion of the fauna and flora of Argentina a, one
ol the unsolved problims of science.
In regard to other formation,, it must sulTlc-e to say that
Bah,a nianea, there oc.ur certain Tertiary deposit, which
are evidently somewhat older than the Pampean beds,
although containing a closely allied fauna. The most
■nteresting feature connected with this formation (which
may probably b.. correlated with the upper Pliocene of
Europe) ,s that the mamn.als are for the most part of
smaller s.ze than their relatives of the Pampean, this being
especally shown by the glyptodons, and by those ground
sloths known as scelidotheres, which are near allies of the
mylodons When we reach the still older beds of Santa
Uuz, m latagonia, which are probably of Miocene age, we
find not only this diminution in the size of the mammals
st.ll more marked, but we likewise notice the disappearance
of all the northern forms, such as deer, horses, guanacos
and mastodons, thus showing that we have reached the
period when South America was disconnected from the
northern half of the continent, and possessed an absolutely
peculiar fauna. Instead of glyptodons with a shell of eight
or ten feet in length, we meet with species in whici, the
carapace did not measure more than a yard; while in place
of mylodons bigger than a rhinoceros we are confronted with
a speces not so large as a Highland sheep. The camel-like
Afacmud.„ia was likewise represented by several much
smaller allies, while the various species of Nesodo« which
represented the gigantic Toxodon of the Pampean, were either
small or moderate-sized animals. Somewhat curiously there
were however, several kinds of gigantic flightless birds
which are quite unknown in the higher beds, and appear
to have been allied to the existing seriema of Brazil
r
0
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS
I.N the preceding article I hrnuaht under the no: ^e of the
reader some of the leading peculiarities of the living and
extinct faunas of South America in general and of Argentina
in particular, while something was said as to the geological
features of the latter country. I now propose to take into
consideration the leading features of a few ol the more
remarkable types of certain groups. As most of these animals
are known solely by their bones, it is, of course, inipossitjlu
to avoid the introduction of a certain amount of anatomical
details, although I have endeavoured to put these in as
popular a manner as possible.
As mentioned in the last article, among all the fossil
animals of Argentina some of the most remarkable are the
extinct ungulates, or hoofed man.mals, which, exclusive of
the horses, deer, guanacos, and mastodons, belong to groups
almost unknown in any o*^«^ part of the world.* Before
going further, 1 must, however, remind my readers that
existing ungula'es arc divided into four groups or sub-
orders, distinguish d from one ann»her by the structure
of their feet. Of these the elephants, or proboscideans, arc
specially characterised by having five toes to each foot,
and by the two rows of bones in the wrist and ankle
being arranged one above another in a linear manner;
• During the fl-istocene period a few ground-sloths .and glyptodons
entered North America.
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 8,
"•••mples in the pig and the deer th ''"
metrical in itst'f in (S. . j '""^ '^"'-
••'fcer man the others, wh le thev ur.. .1,
syn,n,etr,cal to a line drawn betwee^ then,, ^"l , "
w.se a e -„,,,,, ,^,^^^„^^ "^-een the hucM^h e ' ^
' '7 ^'"'"'". '-'^ '™^"' «™"P, represented only by
•'■urning to the proper subject of this article I eo.„
'"c:.ce my notice with one of the largest of ,h 1
n,amn,als, which derives its name T r '^''^""'"'
Pcculiar,y curved or bow-l ke Zl ° .,T ^""" ""■■
Thi. • • Dow-iike form of its long molar-teeth
rh.s g,g,nt,c animal, which rivalled the larg ,ldil„
.nocero. ,n si^e, is ren.arkable f,r the peculiar lownt
-i:^=^r::rrrri*^-~
<He creature has much the genera;\;p:lr.''r;^ ,.;r
"Tos, as shown by i,s relatively short and stout ncj
:i;\tmi::''""'^^°^'°-'^-^'''''"^'-H-^^^^^^
h.ch the m,d.. one ,s symn.etrical in itself, an observer
■"■ght, at first .ght, be disposed to place the ,!.
-ong .he Odd-toed ungulate. A l^Zr'UZZ
6 ...
0
(t
MOSTLY MAMMALS
would, however, «how that while the middle tne is ncpt
marliidly largrr than cither of the others, the hours of the
wrist arc arranged on the linear plan, while in the ankle
the upper surface of the huckle-bone is nearly flat, or
intermediate between that of the elephants and the odd-
toed ungulates. Omitting mention of certain other minor
peculiarities in thi; structure of the limbs, if we now turn
our attention to the teeth, we shall see that these also
present features unknown in any living ungulates. We
find, for instance, in the first place, thrt the upper jaw is
furnished with two pairs of permanently growing chisel-
like teeth, comparable to the single pair of incisors in the
rodents or gnawing mammals ; these being opposed by
three pairs of nearly similar, although horizontally placed,
lower teeth. Such permanently growing incisor-teeth are
paralleled among existing ungulates in the hyrax, but the
toxodon stands alone in the older from the circumstance
that the cheek-teeth likewise grow throughout life, instead
of forming roots. Here, then, we have anoth-r point of
resemblance in the toxodon to the rodent ir ... When
we examine the form of the grinding surface of the?'
cheek-teeth, there does not appear any marked rcscmblanci'
to those of any existing ungulates. The link is, however,
furnished by certain allied forms from the older Ttr-
tiary beds of Patagonia, know.i by the name of Nesoilmi,
of which the first fragmentary remains were brought to
Europe by Darwin, in the Beagle ; the toxodon beiiij;
confined to the Pampean deposits and the underlying beds
of Mnnte Iiermoso. Now, in the nesodons, the structure
of the cheek-teeth clearly approximates to that character-
ising the odd-toed ungulates, although belonging to what
naturalists term a more specialised type. It is further
noteworthy that in these nesodons, although the cheek-
SOMK KXTINCT ARCKN IINK \r\MM.\l,S 8,
te.th grow for a conskkTablc portion of lif,. yr, .^^
eventually form roots in the onlinary mann.r ;' the «n,e
bemg true of the incisor,, with the exception of a single
pa.r, which grow permanently. VVe see, theref , that the
permanently growing leetn of the toxodon are . speeialised
feature, and the older genus show, th.a these a„in,al,
are clearly alhed to the cld-toed „„,„,,„,, ,1,^^^^
sharply d.stmgui.hed by the .truetu. of the feet. Indeed
..nee their feet are of a more ge |i,ed type- than tho,,:
of the latter (as is especially shown l.y the almost flat
huckle-bone;, while tVir teeth are n.ore specaii.sed, it i,
evi>.-"t '.ha; neither group can k- ano steal to the other
Hence the toxodon and its allies may be regn |e as
forming a separate group of equal value with other
subdivisions of the great ungulate order. When these re-
markable creatures branched off from the primitive ancestral
type, of the latter, and hov they first obtained an entrance
mto South America, where they gradually increased in
size and specialisation till the period of tho Pampean, when
they finally disappeared, ar,. still unsolved problem.
The interest of the toxodons do-s not, however, by any
mean, end here. Although, as we have seen, the toxodon
Itself shows certain resemblances to rodents in the structure
of Its teeth, it will be evident that such resemblances indi-
cate no genetic affinity between the two groups s'nce
rodents are neither the ancestor, nor the descendants of
the toxodons. In a much smaller animal, known as the
typotherium, these rodent resemblances are still more
pronounced, as is especially shown by the incisor-teeth,
which are essentially those of a rodent. Moreover in the
h.nd-feet the toes have lost the hoofs characterising the
more typical ungulates, and were probably protected by
small nails. A still further step is exhibited by a much
?:
<•■■;
0
84
MOSTLY MAMMALS
smaller Argentine mammal, of the approximate size of a
hare, named Pachymcus. If it were not for the intermediate
links, this creature would almost certainly be put down as
a rodent, with which group it agrees in the structure of
its teeth and toes, as well as in many other parts of the
skeleton. Nevertheless, it is clearly a near ally of the
typotherium, and therefore a member of the toxodon group.
Here, then, we have one of the most remarkable instances
of the phenomenon of parallelism in development. We
have, in fact, displayed before us the origin of what we
may call a rodent-ungulate : that is to say, an animal
which, while certainly an ungulate by descent, has acquired
such a marked resemblance to a rodent that, if we had not
the intermediate links, it might be regarded as a member
of the same order. This instance gives us some insight
into the intricacies of evolution, and serves to show the
amount of value attaching to many phylogenies of the
animal kingdom.
In addition to the slightly grooved huckle-bone, the
toxodon group is characterised by at least one of the upper
incisor-teeth growing throughout life, and by the cheek-
teeth being either rootless or not forming roots till very
late. There is, however a second group of allied extinct
ungulates peculiar to the Argentine in which all the molars
are rooted at the usual period, while the huckle-bone is as
flat as in the elephants, although of somewhat different
form. This group is represented solely by two genera,
both of which are confined to the Patagonian deposits,
where they are represented by animals rivalling rhinoceroses
in size, and furnished with molar-teeth somewhat resembling
those of the latter. One of these creatures, on which the
name of Homalodontolherium has been conferred, presents
the rare peculiarity of having the teeth arranged in a
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 85
regular even series without gap or interval, and with
their crowns of equal height. Very different in dental
character are the members of the allied genus Aslra-
Mhenum. in which each jaw was furnished with a huge
pa.r of tusks, those of the lower jaw curving outwards
and upwards after the manner of those of a wild boar
wh,Ie both were kept sharp and keen by their points
vvearmg against one another. In the presence of these
enormous upper tusks, the astrapotheres resembled the
cxtmct uintatheres of North America, although they di.Tered
m the possession of tusks in the lower jaw, while it is
probable that those of the upper jaw were incisors instead
of canmes. One of the most curious features connected
with these animals is the close resemblance of their upper
cheek-teeth to those of rhinoceroses, the similarity being
so marked that if we were acquainted with the South
Amencn animal only by these teeth, it would probably
be clashed with the rhinoceroses. From the structure of
the bones of the ankle it is, however, quite certain that
these two groups of ungulates have no direct connection
w.th one another, and that their common ancestor had
teeth of a much simpler type of structure. It follows
therefore, that the form of cheek-teeth characterising both
the astrapotheres and the rhinoceroses has been evolved
mdependentiy in the two groups, and that we have con-
sequently here another case of parallelism. Although this
type of tooth (which, it must be remembered, is one ol
considerable complexity) is admirably adapted for crushing
vegetable substances, it is by no means the only one which
could have been evolved from what we may probably regard
as the primitive type, and it is therefore difficult to see how
It can have been produced by evolution unaccompanied
by design.
«>"
0
86
MOSTLY MAMMALS
Strange as are the foregoing creatures, they are exceeded
in this respect by the long-necked and !ong-Iimbed animal
named Macrauchenia (on account of the elongation of the
vertebrae of the neck), specimens of which were first
brought back by Darwin from the superficial deposits of
Patagonia. In general form the macrauchenia somewhat
recalls a camel ; and it is a curious circumstance that, in
common with that animal and its allies, it differs from all
other ungulates, with the exception of certain kindred
Argentine forms, in that the arteries of the neck pierce
the sides of the vertebrae to take a course within the
spinal canal, instead of passing merely through a loop of
bone on the exterior. This remarkable resemblance is not,
however, indicative of any affinity between the two animals,
since, if we look at the feet of the macrauchenia, we shall
find that they are of the odd-toed type, and each furnished
with three digits. Moreover, the huckle-bone has the
pulley-like upper surface characterising the odd-toed ungu-
lates ; and as the teeth approximate to those of the latter,
we might be inclined to place the creature in that group.
The wrist- and ankle-joints are, however, formed on the
linear plan, and exhibit certain other departures from the
odd-toed type, and it is therefore evident that the macrau-
chenia and its allies constitute a third group of extinct
ungulates peculiar to South America. Although it is by
foot-structure that the macrauchenia is separated from all
other members of the order, its most remarkable peculiarity
is to be found in the structure of its skull. In an ordinary
mammal the aperture of the nose is situated quite at the
anterior extremity of the skull. In the macrauchenia, on
the other hand, this aperture forms an egg-shaped vacuity
in the forehead, almost between the eyes. Some approxi-
mation to this remarkable arrangement is presented by
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 87
the living tapirs, but it is more nearly paralleled by the
elephants, and still more closely by the aquatic dugong, while
among whales the backwardation (if I may coin a word)
of the nostnls is carried to a still greater degree. That
a land mammal with its nostrils situated in this unusual
position could not have managed to exist without a trunk
«ems evident, and we may therefore conclude that the
macrauchenia was so furnished; while, from its long
slender neck and limbs, it may further be inferred that
't was an inhabitant of open plains or thin forest and
was not a frequenter of marshes and swamps. It may be
added that in its uninterrupted and even series of teeth
the macrauchenia differs from all existing mammals save
man, and agrees with its distant cousin, the homalodonto-
there.
From its large size, the peculiar position of its nostrils,
and the characters of its cheek-teeth, the naturalist is led
to infer that the macrauchenia was a highly specialised
creature ; and it is interesting to find that this inference
IS converted into a certainty by the existence of certain
kindred forms in the older formations of the Parana and
Patagonia, which are evidently the ancestral types from
which the Pampean genus has originated. All these crea-
tures were of relatively small size, with cheek-teeth more
cbsely resembling those of the odd-toed ungulates, and
they show a gradual transition in regard to the position
of the nostrils from the type of the macrauchenia to the
ordinary form. The evolution of such an extraordinary
creature as the one under consideration is therefore fully
explained, although we have yet to learn the special reason
for the peculiar position of its nostrils and the development
01 a trunk.
More or less intimately allied to the ancestors of the
t::
c«
88
MOSTLY MAMMALS
macrauchenia were certain contemporaneous ungulates from
Patagonia, of which the largest did not exceed a tapir in
size. With cheek-teeth so like those of the odd-toed
ungulates from the Paris basin di scribed by Cuvier as
Palaeotherium, these Patagonian ungulates differed from
the macrauchenia in having the dental series reduced in
number and interrupted by gaps. Their most remarkable
peculiarity is, however, to be found in the structure of
their feet, which, in some forms at least, resembled those
of the extinct three-toed horses, or hipparions, in which
the middle toe is very large, while the two lateral ones
are small and functionless. In one genus, moreover, the
toes were reduced to a single large one on each fuot, as
in the modern horse. And the fact that there existed in
South America a group of ungulates wliich exactly paralleled
the horses in the evolution and structure of their feet is
one of the most wonderful features in mammalian de-
velopment.
Among all the extinct mammals of the Argentine, none
strike the beholder with more astonishment than those
gigantic cousins of the modern armadillos of South America,
collectively known as glyptodons, their name being derived
from the peculiar sculpture with which the grinding surfaces
of their cheek-teeth are ornamented. Both armadillos and
glyptodons differ from the other members of the group to
which they belong in having their bodies protected by a
bony shell, or carapace, covering all but the under-parts,
the top of the head being covered by a simihr bony shield,
while the tail is encased by a series oi bony rings, or in
rings at the base and a long tube at the tip. Whereas,
however, the armadillos (exclusive of the aberrant little
pichiciago) have a larger or smaller portion of the middle
region of the carapace formed of movable transverse bands
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 89
of plates, in the glyptodons .he whole structure is welded
.mo a s.ngle piece. It must not, however, be supposed that
this carapace consists of a single solid dome of ix,ne, as,
>( .t d,d, there would, of course, be no possibility of growth.
On the contrary, the carapace is composed of polygonal
or rhomboidal plates articulating at their edges, and thus
anowmg of free growth. I„ very old individuals a consider-
able number of these plates may, however, become com-
pletely fused together. During life these bony plates were
covered with small horny shields, as in the living arma-
<l.llos, and they frequently show incised lines formed by the
lines of union between such shields. For instance, in the
njembers of the typical genus of the group, or ring-tailed
glyptodons, each bony plate was smooth and polygonal in
shape, while the lines indicating the borders of the horny
shields take the form of a rosette. Another .mportant
pent of difference from the armadillos is ,0 be found in
the contour of the skull, which is short, deep, and rounded,
.nstead of be.ng long, flattened, and pointed at the muzzle
rhen, agam, whereas the armadillos have small cylindrical
teeth, those of the glyptodons are large and fluted at the
s.des, with their grinding surfaces marked by the aforesaid
sculpture; while the whole series is in close contact
and forms one of the most efficient grinding machines
imaginable.
To support the enormous weight of the carapace, which
■n some of the larger kinds is considerably more than an
mch m thickness, special modifications are needed in fe
■nternal skeleton. Here we find that nearly the whole of
01 the backbone forms a continuous solid tube. The ver-
tebrae of the neck are also very short, and may be partially
"".ted, so that the movements of the head must have been
?:
a
0
90
MOSTLY MAMMALS
somewhat limited. The observer will not fail to notice
also the great strength and upright position of the haunch-
bones and the powerful build of the legs and feet, the
latter terminating in Ave toes armed with broad, flattened
nails. As an illustration of the various modifications of
the same general plan of structure in use in the animal
kingdom, it may be well to point out how essentially the
arrangement of the armour of a glyptodon differs from
that of an ordinary tortoise or turtle. In the latter the
carapace is completely welded to the ribs, which are situated
externally to the haunch- and shoulder-bones, whereas in
a glyptodon there is no sort of connection betv/een the
carapace and the ribs, while the latter are internal to
the haunch- and shoulder-bones. In these respects the
leathery turtle holds a somewhat intermediate position
between ordinary turtles and the glyptodons, the carapace
being composed of polygonal plates totally unconnected
with the ribs, while the latter are situated externally to
the bones of the shoulder and haunch.
Not less remarkable are the modifications of the vertebrae
of the tail for the support of the rings or tube with which
the latter is encap'^d. In the first place, most of the ver-
tebrae of this region are welded together so as to form
a hollow, tapering rod, while from each segment are given
off radiating processes upon which the bony plates are
borne, and as the whole of the latter are firmly welded
together, the entire structure is of great strength.
When standing with the edges of its impenetrable cara-
pace resting on the ground, its niail-crowned head partially
withdrawn within the front aperture of its shell, and only
the lower portions of the limb:: exposed, a glyptodon n t
have been safe from all foes save savage man, and even
he must have had a tough job to slaughter the monster,
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMAI5 9.
if, indeed, he ever succeeded in doing so. That man did
exist with the later glyptodons, or those which nourished
during the deposit on of the Pampas mud, is, however,
proved by more than one kind of evidence. Tor instance'
crude drawings of these animals have been found incised
on some of the roclt surfaces of Patagonia, while in other
cases human implements have been disinterred side by aide
with the bones and shells. Probably the empty carapaces
of the larger members of the group were employed by the
primitive inhabitants of Argentina as huts, and it is said
that they are sometimes even so used at the present day
by the Indians. That these animals were net killed off
by any living foe-either hu-iu or otherwise-may be
taken for granted, and we must therefore conclude that this
result was probably due to the same general cause which
brought about the extermination of the larger Argentine
mammals, It may be well to mention that, although some
of the living armadillos are carnivorous, it is perfectly
evident, from the structure of their teeth, that all the
glyptodons subsisted exclusively on a vegetable diet.
The earliest known representatives of the group occur in
the older Tertiary beds of Patagonia, and may be designated
pigmy glyptodons, although known scientifically as Propataeo-
hoplophorus. These creatures, which lived side by side with
armadillos nearly akin to existing forms, were the dwarfs
of their race, the carapace not being more than a couple
of feet in length. The plates of the carapace were smooth
and ornamented with a rosette-like sculpture, of which the
central ring in the fore part of the shell was raised into
a prominent boss. In the form of these plates, as well as
in the circumstances that the tail was surrounded from base
to tip with a series of knobbed rings, these pigmy glyptodons
resembled the ring-tailed glyptodons of the Pampas, of which
t..
T:
9«
MOSTLY MAMMALS
they may accordingly be regarded as the ancestral type. In
the intermediate deposits of Monte Hermoso we meet with
other glyptodons, which, while much larger than those of
the Patagonian beds, were generally inferior in this respect
to the giants of the I'ampcan, some of the species being
nearly allied to the small Patagonian representatives of the
group, while others belong to the same genera as those
found In the Pampas.
Passing on to a survey of the leading types of these
creatures found in the alluvial mud of the Pampas, where
they occur in great numbers, we may first notice the one
to which the name of glyptodon was originally applied.
The carapace in this form is characterised by the polygonal
plates being nearly smooth and marked by a rosette of
incised lines, while those along the margin are raised into a
series of bold knobs. In general contour the whole carapace
forms a nearly regular oval dome, with the plates on the
front and hind margins knobbed and ridged. Although in
the specimen first sent to England the tail of another
species was unfortunately affixed to the carapace, it is now
known that the armour of the tail took the form of a
number of rings, gradually diminishing in diameter from
the root to the tip, and severally ornamented with a series
of conical knobs, thus forming a protective case against
which little short of a steam-hammer would have been of
any avail.
Although one might have thought that these ring-tailed
glyptodons, as they may be conveniently termed, were sufli-
ciently large and bizarre to have stood alone in the world,
they were exceeded in size and strangeness of form by a still
more extraordinary creature. In this stupendous monster,
which measured upwards of 1 1 ft. 8 in. in a straight
line, the can<i)ace is characterised by its peculiar hump-
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 93
backed form, while its margins lacl< the prominent knob,
charactensmg those of the preceding group. On cIo«.r
examination it will be found that each of the com
ponent plates of the carapace, instead of l«ing polygonal
and marked by a rosette of lines, is rhomboidal and pierced
by from two to five large circular holes. From the ^naloKV
of the living hairy armadillo-known in Argentina by the
name of peludo, or hairy animal-it is quite evident that
durmg l,fe the holes in the plates of the carapace of this
extmct monster-which, by the way, may be known .«
the club-ta.led glyptodon," or technically as Daedicurus-
must ',ave formed the exits of la.ge bristles, which were
equal in diameter to a cock's quill, and were doubtless many
■nches ,n length. The whole body of the animal must
I refore, have resembled a gigantic porcupine. Still more
extraordinary is the conformation of the huge tail, which
had a length of about five feet. At its base this appendage
was encircled by about half a dozen double bony rings
nearly as large at the base as the iron hoops in the middle
of an ordinary beer-barrel, their component plates being
pierced by the aforesaid holes for bristles. The whole of
the termmal half of the tail is formed by one continuous
piece of hollow bone, which, if we exclude whales, is one
of the most massive bony structures in the animal kingdom
and ,s almost as much as a man can lift. Starting at its
base ,n the form of a nearly cylindrical tube, this sheath
rap,dly expands at the sides, and becomes flattened on the
upper and lower surfaces, until at the tip it finally assumes
he form of a depressed, flattened club, which would have
formed a most effective weapon for a giant. Along the
sides of ,ts extremity this club is marked by a number of
oval depressed discs, showing a sculptured pattern of
ndges and grooves radiating from the centre, and .ome
;.^
?r
94 MOSTLY MAMMAI5
of them attaining a length of six or seven inches. From
the structure of their sculpture it stims evident that
during life these discs formed the bases of huge horns
projecting at right angles to the tail, which would thus
have formed a veritable cheval de /rise. If, as is quite
probable, these horns were as long as ihose of the common
African rhinoceros, the tail of the daedicurus must have
presented a most extraordinary appearance as it dragged
on the ground behind its owner (for it is impossible to
believe that any musi ics could have raised such a stupen-
dous structure). The use of these horny appendages i«,
however, hard indeed to guess, since the creature was
amply protected by the underlying bone ; and it is there-
fore probable that they must come under the category of
ornamental appendages. Be this as it may, with its bristle-
clad body anu horned tail, the club-tailed glyptodon may
well lay claim to the right of bein.^ one of the most
extraordinary creatures that ever walked this earth during
the whole duration of the Tertiary period. Another species
belonging to the same genus, of which the remains arc
found in the Tertiary beds of Monte Hcrmoso, is remark-
able for possessing a cone-shaped aperture in the middle
of the hinder part of the carapace, of which the only
conceivable use is that it acted as the point of discharge
of a gland.
Nearly equal in size to the Pampean representative of
the preceding genus, but distinguished markedly by tht
characters of the skull and the more regularly dome-like
form of the carapace, is another monster from the Pampas
which has been described under the name of Panochlhus.
Although the plates of the carap:;ce have the same oblonu
form as in the club-tailed glyptodon, they lack any per-
forations for bristles, and are marked by a number of
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS ,5
palchet of minute tubercles, so that this »ijecics may bt
spolten of as the tuberculated glyptodon. Doubtless the
carapace was covered during lif,. by thin homy shields,
although the mar' of these are not generally shown on
the- bone; and iom the absen.e of bristles the creature
must have been as smooth as the small existing mulita,
or three-banded armadillo, The tail was much smaller than
that of the club-taikd species, consisting at the base of a
number of relatively small rings, and termin-.ing in a tube
of cb^ut a yard in length. This tube lacks, however, the
terminal expansioji and llattening of tiiat of the preceding
form, while the lar-c discs with which it is ornamented
take the form jf prominent rough bosses, which probably
carried flattened horny knobs, instead of spines, during life.
The last representatives of the p.„up to which I shall
allude ar.; much smaller species from the deposits of
Monte Hermoso and the Pampas, known as smooth-tailed
glyptodons, or, technically, Hophphorus. In these creatures
the carapace was much more elongated and depressed than
in the olhtr kinds, while it projected forward on the sides
of the shoulders in a manner somewhat like that of the
armadillos. The plates of the carapace show a rosette
pattern, not unlike those of the ring-tailed glyptodon, but
they are still smoother, and of an irregular oblong shape.
As regards the tail, this consisted at the base of a number
of smooth rings, fitting into one another at their junctions
like the joints of a telescope, while at the end it terminated
m a slightly flattened tube ornamented with a number of
small, smooth oval discs of about an inch in diameter,
mterspersed with which were arranged a few much larger
but equally smooth and prominent discs along the si '
These discs, of all dimensions, were evidently coated .1,
smooth scales of horn during life, and, from the abst...e
t
MOSTLY MAMMALS
of apertiirca for brixtlca, the lame •mmithneia duubtlru
characterised tht' cara|>ac('. The head wa« protected by a
smooth shlL'ld of small lisaelatcd plates, and the ikull was
characterised by the peculiar twisting and curvature of
the bones of the nose.
Such are the chief charact ristirs of the bettcr-knuwii
representatives of the mailed monsters of Argentina — a
Ijroup which was continued in a straight line from the
pinmy ^lyptiidoT of Patngcnia to the ring-tailed spv ics of
the Pampas, while all the other giant forms of the latter
must be regarded as lateral offshoots from the original
stock, which continued, as is so often the case, to develop
more and more bizarrt characters until the date of their
final disappearance. In conclusion, it should be added that
a strange, gigantic armoured creature, found commonly in
the cavern deposits of Brazil, and also rarely m Argentina,
se( ms to have been a kind of connecting link betweui
the glyptixlons and the armadillos, having the carapace
forni' d of a number of movable plates, arranged in a scrit
of o\Lrlapping bands as in the latter, but with teeth of
the type of the former. Unfortunately, however, this
intei sting creature, which must h^ve bee as big as ,i
large rhinoceros, is known by such fragmei. y remains
that its full affmities cannot yet be tletermined, as wc art.
still Ignorant whether its ski'U approximated to the glypto-
don or the armadillo type.
Sufficiently protected from all attacks on the part of the
wolf-like marsupials and such other large ca.-nivoroiis
mammals as may at the same period ha 'e roamed over
Argentina, the pigmy glyptodon of the Santa Cruz beds of
Patagonia could have had no difficulty in naintaini'^g its
existence against foes of all kinds, and subsequently giving
rise to the gigantic mailed monsters described above.
SOME EXTINCr ARGENTINE MANrNt.M.S „
Side by .id. with ,h>. «clU,.fcnd.d crea.ure .her- liv..,l
coat of mail an that whi, h H,-f..„ i i •
-u^.He.i,,,:-r'irh:rz:z
may have been embcddrd in its skim ,„ i >•""'"''«
. j;ave he. e,.,,y devoid or cl:::-. :■:;::
-ou«H the ..,,,,,. ,,,:::x::',^L'vr
n,mal ,n question may he called, is clearly ,hc ancestra
Thes aUh u h"' ™""""'^ '''''"''''' Kround.lo.h.
These although ,„ some cases unprotected l,y any n„.an,
.hey had .t ,s ne.dless to say, no difliculty in holdin. heir
own; and u is only with ngard to their pigmy anTe ,0
: su'^riivr ;ir'.r ^°""""« ^"' '^- -- -
urvive. Possibly these pigmy ground-sloths were
urrowing creatures, like the great ant-eat.r of the pre! m
ay and hved in holes excavated by their powerful c ws
:::i::.tir''"'^^— — -°'-
Sloths are, however, such essentially arboreal creatures
as characteristic of the lira.ilian forests as ^ oui re '
lorv r "'" "y using such an apparently contra
lictory term as ground-sloths.
t;
98
MOSTLY MAMMALS
To justify myself, and at the same time to enable my
readers properly to understand the structure of these
strange extinct edentates, it is necessary to enter Into a
short dissertation on the subject of sloths, and likewise of
their c'istant cousins the ant-eaters.
The external form and long shaggy hair of the sloths arc
too well known to require description, and I pass on to
draw attention to certain peculiarities in regard to their
skeletons '^rd teeth which will aid in explaining the reason
for the tcrr ground-sloths. In the first place, then, sloths,
which are comparatively small animals, are characterised
by their peculiarly short and rounded heads, of an almost
spherical form. If the skull of one of these animals be
examined, a total absence of front teeth will be noticed ;
while the cheek-teeth comprise five pairs in the upper
and four in the lower jaw.
As already stated, the teeth in all edentates are devoid
of the enamel so characteristic of those of other mammals ;
and in the sloths they form short cylinders, of which
the outer layer is harder than the central core, in con ■
sequence of which their grinding surfaces become slightly
cup-shaped. In the three-toed sloths {Bradypiis) the whole
of the teeth are of this extremely simple type ; but in
their two-toed cousins {Cholaepiis) the first pair in each jaw
are longer than either of the others, and modified into a
somewhat tusk-like form, the upper ones wearing against
the front of the lower ones so as to produce by mutual
attrition an oblique bevelled surface at the top of each.
Both limbs of sloths are remarkable for their length and
slendernesp hut the front pair are much longer than the
hinder ones. The narrow and curved feet terminate in
long hooked claws, which in the three-toed species are
three in number in each foot, although in the fore-feet of
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS 5,
Ihe two-toed sloth they are reduced to two; in fact, the
feet are reduced to the cndition of httle more than hooks
admirably adapted for suspending the animal back-down-
wards from the boughs of trees, but forming poor instruments
or terrestrial progression. Indeed, when on the ground
loths walk slowly and awkwardly, with the soles of the
feet turned inwards, and the weight of the body supported
on the,r outward edges. It is important to notice that
u. the skeleton of the feet the ter,ni„al bones, or those
cnsheathed in the long claws, are not longitudinally grooved
on the upper surface.
The South American, or true ant-eaters, one of which is
terrestrial wh.le the other two are more or less arboreal
n the,r habus, are so unlike the sloths that it is difficult
o beheve they have any near relationship with the
'alter; and, indeed, were it not for the extinct creatures
..ow under discussion, it would have been very difficult
to discover how close the connection between these two
groups really is. In place of the short and rounded
heads of the sloths, the ant-eaters have the head greatly
elongated and very slender, while the thin jaws are totally
<ievo,d of teeth, and the tongue is long, cylindrical, and
h.ghly extensile. There is. however, some degree of
vanation in regard to the elongation of the skull the
n.a.x„„u,n development occurring i„ that of the ^reat
ant-eater. If possible, a still greater difference obtains i.>
I.C structure of the feet, the fore-foot of the great ant-eater
havng five toes, of which the middle one is vastly more
powerful than either of the others, while all but the fifth
and pa, t of the upper surface of the fore-foot are applied
" t e g ,. b , i„ .he hind-foot, which has the fourth
toe the largest and all the five digits furnished with claws
,oo MOSTLY MAMMALS
the whole of the short sole touches the ground in the
ordinary manner. An important difference from the sloths
is to be found in the circumstance that the bones of the
terminal joints of the feet have a longitudinal median groove
on the upper surface at their tips.
With these remarlis on some of the leading features of
the sloths and ant-eaters, the reader will be in a position
to appreciate the peculiarities in the structure of the ground-
sloths, and likewise to understand the appropriateness of
the name by which they are designated.
Apparently the first of these extinct animals known in
Europe was the giant ground-sloth, or Megalolherium, of
which a nearly complete skeleton was discovered in the year
1789 near Lujan, in the province of Buenos Aires. This
skeleton was soon after sent to Madrid, and described by
Cuvier in 1798, who gave it the name by which the animal
has ever since been known. Cuvier recognised the affinities
of the megalothere to the sloths ; and other skeletons sub-
sequently obtained from the superficial deposits of Buenos
Aires, and which are now in the Museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons, the British Museum, and the museums
of Milan, Paris, and La Plata, have in their turn served to
confirm the general truth of the original determination.
One of the most gigantic of land mammals, measuring some-
where about eighteen feet in total length, the megalothere,
although with a more elongated skull, agrees with the sloths
in the number of its teeth. In structure, however, these
teeth are decidedly different from those of the sloth. In
form they are square prisms, with a length of over tin
inches, and a diameter of fully an inch and a half. The
summit of each tooth carries a pair of transverse ridgis,
produced by the alternation of vertical plates of diftercnt
hardness in the tooth itself ; and since the teeth are rootless
'>',i^.' -. -vm
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS lo,
and grow continuously throughout the life of their owner
this transversely ridged structure is likewise permanent'
To contain such enormous teeth, the lower jaw is remark-
ably deepened in the middle of its length, where it descends
suddenly. A long median channel, extending between and
in front of the anterior teeth, is evidently for the reception
of a large and llcshy tongue, which from its size was
probable extensile like that of the giraffe.
If we had nly the megalothere to deal with there
might be some hesitation, judging from the skull and
te.th (which in the group are the only portions of the
eton showing sloth-like affinities) in regarding the
group of animals to which it belongs as closely allied to
the sloths. Fortunately, however, the same Pleistocene
deposits of Buenos Aires (to say nothing of the caverns
of Minas Geraes, in Brazil) have yielded remains of other
and somewhat smaller ground-sloths, known as mylodons
which effectually bridge, in these respects, the gap between
the megalothere and the sloths. In these animals the teeth
are either cylindrical or triangular in section ; and from
having a harder external coat, wear in the same cup-
shaped manner as those of the latter. Moreover in
some mylodons the front pair of teeth in each jaw have
the elongated tusk-like form and oblique wear character-
ising those of the two-toed sloth, while in others they
resemble the hinder teeth, as in the three-toed sloth
W'- thus have an exact parallelism in this respect among
the mylodons to the two genera of sloths; and as their
skulls in their more rounded and shorter form, and the
absence of a descending expansion in the middle of the
lower jaw, are likewise more sloth-like than is the skull
of the megalothere, we can have no hesitation in re-
garding the ground-sloths, so far as cranial characters
t.'
T:
MOSTLY MAMMALS
are concerned, as closely allied to the sloths. It may be
added that the great divergence of the two series of
teeth in the niylodon skull indicates the presence during
life of a tongue of great width and size. Mylodons had
a number of ossicles, like large beans, embedded in the
outer surface of the skin ; but in the nearly allied
glossothere, of which portions of skin covered with long
sloth-like hair have been discovered in a cave in Pata-
gonia, nearly similar ossicles wore embedded in the inner
side of the skin. Strange to say, these ground-slotlis
appear to have been kept in caves as domesticated
animals by the ancient inhabitants of Patagonia.
Thus far I have shown how the ground-sloths are
related to the sloths in the characters of their skulls ;
but other members of the group, known as the scelido-
thercs (Scelidothen'um), although still retaining the same
number of teeth, present a certain approximation in these
respects to the ant-eaters. Thus their skulls, instead of
being short and broad like those of the mylodons, are very
long and narrow, and have the muzzle much produced in
advance of the anterior teeth. Indeed, it would require
only a still greater elongation and narrowing of the skull
of a scelidothere, coupled with the total loss of the
teeth, to produce one very similar to that of an ant-eater.
So far as I am aware, palaeontologists have not yet
been able to trace a complete transitioj. from the gigantic
ground-sloths of the Pleistocene deposits of Bncncs Aires
to their diminutive representatives from the older Tertiary
deposits of Patagonia, although it is known that some of
the species from the intermediate formations were inferior
in point of size to their more recent allies. It is, how-
ever, very interesting to find that the pigmy ground-sloths
of these Patagonian deposits had "^ransvcrsely ridged
SOME EXTINCT ^"GENTINE MAMMALS ,03
prismatic t.eth like those of the megalothere, and not the
cyhndncal or triangular ones of the n.ylodons and scelido-
theres; thus apparently indicating that the former tvoe
of tooth is the oldest. The contrast between the pigmy
ground-sloth and the giant ground-sloth {Mesalotheriun,-)
.s, however, most remarkable. The total length of the
skeleton of the former was only about three feet while
.ts skull was less than six inches, whereas that of the latter
was over a couple of feet in length. Th.n, again the
whole series of five upper teeth occupy i„ the pigmy
ground-sloth a space of less than an inch and a half
-I- less than the diameter of a single tooth of its'
gigantic relative. That such a diminutive creature if as
naked and undefended as its huge cousin appears to have
been, needed some special protection, is evident; and it
IS the need of sjch defence from attack that has led me
to suggest that t,.e creature may have been fossorial in its
habits.
Leaving for a moment the mutual relationships and
affinmes of all these different animals, a glance may be
directed at the skeleton of the body and limbs of the
ground-sloths. In the first place this differs from that
of the sloths in the shortness and extreme massiveness of
the hmbs; and especially in the extraordinary stoutness
and width of the bones of the hind-leg ..nd haunches.
In the general form of the scapula or blade-bone, and
more especially in the presence of a complete pair of
c avicles or collar-bones, the ground-sloths resemble the
sloths and differ from the ant-caters; the clavicles of the
latter being rudimentary. The skeleton of the fore-foot
.s, however, essentially that of an ant-eater, the inner toe
being rudimentary, the next three, and more especially
the middle one, enormously enlarged, and furnished
Tii
104
MOSTLY MAMMALS
during life with huge claws, wliile t!ie outermost was small
and clawless. That during life the creature rested on the
outer side of this fifth claw and the backs of the three
large toes, in ant-eater fashion, may, from the structure
and arrangement of their bones, be considered certain.
Unlike the ant-eater, in which it rests upon the sole, the
hind-foot of the Pleistocene ground-sloths is even more
strangely modified than the front one, these creatures
walking only on its outer edge, while the ei:ormous
middle toe, with its gigantic claw, does not appear to
have touched the ground in walking, and was thus
always kept sharp. The first toe is wanting, and the
second rudimentary, while the two outer ones were rela-
tively small and unprovided with claws. Some idea of
the gigantic proportions of the megalothere may be
gathered fr* i the circumstance that its hind-foot measures
nearly a yard in length. Of the pigmy ground-sloths of
Patagonia the complete skeleton lias not yet been de-
scribed ; but so far as my recollection of a specimen in
the La Plata museum goes, I believe that it was not of
the extremely specialised type characterising the later
gigantic forms. Moreover, while in the latter the terminal
joints of the feet were neither grooved nor split at the
extremities, in the small Patagonian species these wen.'
deeply cleft at the end, as in the scaly ant-eaters or
pangolinr. of India and Africa. As regards the structure
of the vertebral column, the ground-sloths exhibit certain
peculiarities distinctive of the ant-eaters, which are only
rudimentary in the sloths.
When to this brief survey of the chief structural
peculiarities of the skeleton of the creatures under considera-
tion is added the circumstance that, from their enormous
size, they must necessarily have been terrestrial in their
SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS ,05
habits, we arc in a position to realise the approoriate
nature of the term "ground-sloths" by which thi ^ are
designated. These creatures may, in fact, be briefly
described as edentates with a sicull, teeth, and shoulder-
girdle very similar to those of the sloths ; while as regards
their backbone and feet they come very close to the ant-
caters, although in the later and more gigantic forms the
specialisation characterising the fore-feet of the latter has
been extended to the hinder pair.
Turning to the question of the mutual relationships and
phylogcny of the three groups of edentates discussed in
the course of the foregoing paragraphs, we shall have
httle hesitation in regarding the pigmy ground-sloths,
which are the earliest known representatives of the group,
as the direct ancestors of the gigantic megalothere. A
modification in the structure of the teeth would equally
well permit of their having likewise been the ancestors
of the mylodons, which, as we have seen, possess sloth-
like teeth. This, however, will not permit us to regard
the mylodons as having been the forerunners of the sloths,
seeing that the latter have a less specialised type of
hind-foot ; and we must accordingly regard the sloths as
a side branch derived from the pigmy ground-sloths or
some nearly allied forms after the acquisition of cylindrical
teeth, but before the hind-foot had acquired the specialisation
charactensing the mylodons and megalotheres. Hence
the curious structural similarity between the front teeth
of some of the mylodons and the two-toed sloth must be
another instance of that parallelism in development to
which reference has so often been made.
With regard to the ant-eaters, we have already seen
that the fore-foot of these animals resembles that of the
P>gmy ground-sloths in that the terminal joints of the
t.:
a.
so6
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
larger toes are marked by a longitudinal groove repre-
senting the cleft of those of the latter ; and as in both
groups the middle toe is the largest, there is no reason
why the ant-eaters should not trace their origin to these
same pigmy ground-sloths or a closely allied type. In
this case the specialisation has resulted in a lengthening
of the skull and the loss of the tetth, the ..ind-foot having
retained more or less of the primitive type. Here like-
wise we must notice that the resemblance presented by
the skull of the scelidotheres to that of the ant-eaters
must be regarded as an instance of parallel development.
From the structure of their teeth, the ground-sloths
were evidently pure vegetarians ; and the same may be said
of the sloths, whic' are animals specially modified for the
exigencies of an arboreal existence. On the other hand,
the ant-eaters, as their name implies, have given up a
vegetable diet and taken to living on ants, and to this may
be attributed their total loss of teeth. Should germs of
teeth ever be found in their jaws during an early stage of
existence, I venture to predict they will approximate in
structure to the teeth of the groand-sloths.
I cannot conclude without saying a few words as to the
probable mode of life and external appearance of ground-
sloths. The Patagonian specimens have shown that, like
sloths and ant-eaters, they were clothed with a thick
covering of coarse hair. Further, from their massive
proportions, and also from their kinship to the sloths,
it is most likely that ground-sloths were as slow and
deliberate in their movements as the latter. That such
monstrous creatures could not have existed in a treeless
country like the Argentine t'ampas has been already pointed
out, and we may hence a^iaume that in the days of the
ground-sloths Argentina was much like what Brazil is at
SOME F.XTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS ,07
the present day. Browsing on the l.aves and perhaps the
smaller branches of forest-trees, tho ground-sloths probably
obtained their food by rearing th, mscivs up against th,-
trunks, supported on the tripod formed by their massive
lund-Iimbs and powerful tail, the ponderous structure of
tlie haunch-bones being eminently adapted for maintaining
the body in such a posture. The same massiveness of
structure conclusively proves that the creatures were not
arboreal, since no tree capable of beinR climbed could
carry such an enormous weight. It was suggested, indeed,
by Sir Richard Owen that the megalothere was in the
habit, when reared up in the manner indicated above, of
clasping a tree in its armj and swaying it backwards Lnd
forwards until it fell with a crash to the ground ; but
although such a radical mode of procedure may have been
occasionally resorted to, we have no right to assume that
such was the ordinary habit of the ground-sloths.
l:
T:
a.
-<f:
CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION
I'KOBAul.Y at least nine out of every ten of the readers nf
the present article would pronounce the nnme of the island
Celebes with the second syllable short ; and if it were an
English name, they would be right in so doing. But the
Malays have a habit of accenting the middle syllable of
three-syllabled words, and we thus have Sar.-iwak, Basilan,
Celc'bes, etc. In this respect Malay names are the exact
opposite of South American, in which the accent falls on
the third syllable, as in Panama, Gogotd, and Ecuador.
Doubtless it is a small matter, but it is well to be correct
even in the pronunciation of names.
Having put matters right in this respect, the next point
is to inform my readers why Celebes has been selected
as the subject of an article at all ; and why Borneo,
Sumatra, or Java would not have done just as well. To
render this point clear I must refer briefly to the geo-
graphical position of Celebes and the neighbouring islands.
Borneo, Sumatra, and Java are the three larg of tin-
Malayan islands lying nearest to the Malay Peiiinsula ;
and although they possess many peculiar animals — notably
the orang, which is confined to Borneo and Sumatra — yet
their fauna as a whole is very similar to that of the Malay
mainl.ind, and thus intimately connected with that of India.
Accordingly, naturalists are pretty well agreed in including
these islands in what is called the Oriental region of
CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DLSTRIBUTION 109
zoological distribution, of which the Phili,.pin<- Islands
likewise form a part.
Now, Celebes lies due east of Hornco, from which it is
separated by the Macassar Strait, and also marly midway
between the Philippines on the north and the small islamls
of Lomboli, Sumbawa, and Florcs on the south ; these
three latter islands forming the continuation of the line
of Sumatra and Java, which evidently indicates an old
peninsula. Eastward of Celebes lie the Molucias (or
Spice) Islands on the north, ami Ceram (which forms the
lowest member of the same group) in the south ; boih
thes." being nearly midway between Celelx s and I'apua
or New Guinea. And when we reach the latter country
we arc practically in Australia, the animals being quite
unlike those of the typical Malayan islands and the other
countries of the Oriental region. We have, for instance, in
New Guinea, tree -kangaroos, cuscuses, (lying-phalangers,
bandicoots, echidnas or spiny ant-eaters, cassowaries, cocka-
toos, birds of paradise, and bower-birds, all of which are
essentially Australian types, although some, like the birds
of paradise, attain their maximum development in New
Guinea itself The little island of Ceram has also a fauna
of an Australian type, including, among other forms, a
cassowary. Accordingly, all naturalists are agreed that
Australia, New Guinea, Ceram and the other Moluccas,
together with the Aru and some of the other small islands
in the neighbourhood, form one great zoological province,
which may be called the Australasian. But the problem
has been in which region to place Celebes, whose fauna
is in some respects intermediate between that of the
Australasian and Oriental regions. By Dr. A. R. Wallace,
the great authority the geographical distribution of
animals, it was at firsi classed with the former, although
i 1iV,IP>l.«<-A
'10 MOSTLY MAMMAI5
«ub«eqii(iiUy given a doubtful po»itioii ; and his virwR
have bicii fllowed by most later writtii. Ucceiitly, how-
ever, SLveral writers have come to the conclusion that it
should be included in the Oriental region.
A glance at the map will show that Celebes is an isla. d
of very peculiar and unusual shape. It consists of an
irregular central region, from which are given off four
still more irregular peninsulas, of which the one running
in the direction of the Moluccas is considerably the largest.
Its general (itline is more like that frequently assumed
by an amoeba than anything else, and it is quite clear from
this remarkable shape that the island is situated in a
subsiding area, and once formed a portion of a much
larger land-mass. From the peculiarity of its animals it
is evident that Celebes has existed as an island since an
epoch comparatively remote ; and the question naturally
arises whether its last connection was with Bormo and
the other Malay islands, or with Ceram and New Guinea.
In a question of this nature the depth of the surrounding
seas has, of course, a most important bearing.
Putting, however, the evidence of soundings on one side,
we may endeavour to find out how much liglit the animals
of Celebes are capable of throwing on the problem.
Those of my readers who have any acquaintance with
the geographical distribution of animals, are probably awan
that no marsupials at all are found to the westward u(
Celebes, and that to the eastward of that island monkeys
are quite unknown ; while hoofed animals are represented
only by a deer in Timor and a second in the Moluccas,
and likewise by a semi-wild pig in Ceram and another in
New Guinea. In fact, the quadrupeds of the Australasian
region, with these exceptions, consist exclusively of egg-
laying mammals, marsupials, and various peculiar kinds of
CELEBES; A I'ROIll.EM IN t)IST(. tBUTION iii
r.!., mice, and bat.; while, a. already said, their bird,
include ca.«>waric., cockal,*,, bir.l, of paradi«, bowtr.
bird., and a ho.,t of other kind, more or less con pUtdy
unknown in the regions to the westward.
But, unfortunately, then.- i, anoth, , el,-mc„t i„ the
problem which introduces a further complexity The
Malays are bold a„d clever sailor.,, fond of voyaging from
island to island in tlu-se summer seas. And they are al..,
«..nderful adepts in tan.iug animals of various kind.
Many of these they carry about with them i„ their
voyages-some probably for food and others as pets
When they land on a strange island some of these animal,
may occasionally escape, or possibly may b,- turned loose
mtentLonally. Now there is a very considerable probability
that the wild pigs of Ceram and New Guinea have been
thus introduced ; and if this be the cas.-, the fauna of the
Australasian region is made more absolutely distinct from
that of the Oriental province. The deer of the Moluccas
■nid rmior present a ca.-,e of greater diflimlty ; bn- as i-^
Moluccas cannot well be separated from the Australasian
region, they would seem, in these islands at least, to have
been introduced, and. if so, the same will hold good with
regard to certain smaller mammals of an Oriental type-
such as civets. '
We are now in a position to consider how the animals
of Celebes compare with those of the neighbouring islands
Now, the only mammal., of a purely Australian type found
m that island are tw-o species of cuscuses-sleepy creatures
with beautifully soft fur, often very brilliantly coloured'
and showing great individual or sexual variation in the
markmgs. They are near relatives of the so-called
opossums (phalangers) of Australia, and are entirely arboreal
creatures, passing the day comfortably coiled up in slumber
..dL '.'
112 MOSTLY MAMMALS
and feeding at night. If these creatures were of a type
near to that from which the other marsupials of Australia
have sprung, they might be considered as survivors from
a migration of marsupials which it has been suggested
took place at a remote epoch from Asia to Australia. But
they are not so, and it is therefore clear that this hypo-
thesis will not account for their presence in the island.
As they are so completely arboreal in their habits, thty
are, however, just the kind of creatures which we might
naturally expect to be wafted from nntr island to another on
floating timber; and it is far from improbable that it is to
this mode of transport they owe their presence in Celebes.
All the other mammals are of an Oriental type, although
several of them are quite unlike their relatives on the
mainland and other islands. Among them one of the
most remarkable is the babirusa, a curious little pig in
which the tusks of both jaws in the males attain a most
extraordinary development, the lower ones rising straight
upwards, while the upper ones grow right through the
skull to curve backwards in a bold sweep towards the
eyes. Although nothing definitely is known as to the
origin of this strange animal, yet it is evidently a highly
specialised offshoot from the ancestral pigs of Asia. Equally
peculiar is the tiny little black buffalo, or anoa, described
in another article, which is not much larger than a good-
sized ram, and has upright horns quite unlike those of thi-
ordinary Asiatic buffalo. In the island of Mindanao, the
most southern of the Philippine group, there is, however,
a considerably larger buffalo, known as the tamarao, which
serves to connect the anoa with the ordinary Asiatic species.
More important still is the occurrence in the Tertiary
deposits of Northern India of several species of buffaloes
intimately related to the anoa. Clearly, then, this animal
i"'.''PW2r^El£=<'
CELEBES: A PROBLEM IN DISTRIBUTION ,,3
has origina.ed from an Oriental stoc , ,„d .he occurrence
an an,cd speces ,„ the PhiH ,„„s u.ds t, show that
rTJ t "'" '°""'=^'^'' '^' ' ^■-" -"'"^ -Poch with
Ceehes. N the Phihppines .„-..„,., ,„ 1„„ ^^
lhe.r deer, have intimate relation .„ps u,:h Borneo and
thus with the mainland. '
The deer reported to occur in the island is a variety of
>.e rusa of Java, and apparently identical with the for
■"""."; ''; T'"''- " '^ «»"■-"'> ----dered .0 a"
b e„ n,troduc,.d, but as Celebes shows so n,any signs of
. does not by any n.eans appear certain. Anyway, th
raul'a'ofl'"? 7"^""'"" ""'""'^ '■" ""= "-™^'->
launa of the .sland are two species of monkeys, both
™nar able or their black colour. The first of 'th.
.i.e short taded black baboon, a spe-cies representing
K..US by ,t.elf but w,th relationships to the true baboon
of Afrtcn and South-West Asia, Such relationship, ,Vom
eograph,cal pent of view, might seem difficult to accoTnu
for, an to those who neglect the animals of a past epo h
; "ould appear well-nigh inexplicable. But it 1 appe"
.at ext,net baboons occur in India; and as they do t
ISO existed mother parts of the Oriental r4n,
» "0 ddhculty n, accounting for the origin of the Cele
l.es,an representative of the group. The other species-the
.noor macaque-belongs to a widely spread OrieLl genul
1 ut the most cunous of all the mammals „f the Land
- a speces of tarsier-sn.all creatures with enormo
toggle eyes, slender, lanky limbs, and toes termi ,at 1
-suckers, distantly related to the lemurs. Now, hZ
'a-ers are strictly limited to the islands of S matra
^ ■
IT -Vi
,,4 MOSTLY MAMMALS
Borneo, Java, Celebes, and Mindanao, together with some
of the neighbouring islets, and are totally unknown to the
eastward of the Molucca Sea. Although, being arboreal
animals, it may be argued that, like the cuscus. s of Celebes,
they may have been carried about by floating timber, yet
it seems in the highest degree unlikely they should have
reached all the islands with an Oriental type of fauna and
avoided all those where the true Australian type conies
m. Moreover, they are very delicate animals, exceedingly
difficult to keep alive in captivity, and there is accordingly
a strong probability that they are native to the islarxls
where they occur. Like so many of its other animals, tlir
tarsier of Celebes is black— as, indeed, are the speciis
from the other islands.
So far, then, as their mammals are concerned, it seems
probable that at no very distant epoch Celebes, Borneo,
and the Philippines formed one land area; while Borneo
itself was connected with the m:..iiland, probably by way
of Sumatra, the orang and some other species being common
to these two islands and unknown elsewhere. It is furthi i
probable that Celebes, and most likely a portion of tlic
Philippines, became isolated before Borneo ceased to Uj
connected with Sumatra— or at all events with the main-
land. Possibly this early separation may account for ;i
very curious difference between the fresh-water fishes uC
the two areas; Celebes having no carps (Cyprinii/,;) ir
cat-fishes (Siluridae), both of which are abundant in Boiiu",
as in Asia generally. With regard to the south-wcst<-iii
portion of the Philippine group, it is important to nuticc
that the island of Palawan shows evidence of a closer con-
nection with Borneo than with the rest of the archipelago
to which it belongs. On the other hand, the mountains
of Luzon, in the Northern Philippines, are the home o!
CELEBES: A PR01;|.EM IN DISTRIUUTION ,.5
a remarkable group of rats, some of which show affinity
to those mhabiting Australia; and it therefore seems
highly likely that the Philippines mark a portion of the
l.ne by whieh Asia was probably in eommunication at a
still earlier epoch with New Guinea and Australia. Still
there are some difficulties in this view of the ease, because
the more primitive types of marsupials now found in
Australia are at present unknown in New Guinea, Possibly
however, some still ren.ain to be discovered in the un
explored mountains of that country; while, since the ex-
ploratton of the Luzon Mountains by the late Mr. John
Whitehead yielded such wonderful zoological results there
IS the possibility that when the mountains of the' other
islands have been as carefully worked we may find a few
marsupials still surviving. Should such a fortunate "find '■
turn up we should have much support to the view that
the ancestors of the present fauna of Australia travelled
from Asia by way of the east-- ■ archipelago.
There are many other poinf :ted with the present
distribution of ani.iial life in , ■ ..onderful region and
their bearing on the former relations of the various islands
to one another, to which the limits of this article forbid
reference. A word may, however, be said in reference to
Timor, which, as already mentioned, forms the eastern
extremity of the line of the Sunda Islands-that is to say
tlie line including Sumatra, Java, and Flores, which is'
evidently a broken-up peninsula. By most writers that
portion of the chain lying to the eastward of Java and
Bah has been assigned to the Australasian region, and it
has consequently been assumed that the deer found in
Imior must have been introduced by man. Timor and
Floics also contain several other mammals common to the
Oriental region, notably a monkey, a civet, a porcupine
J^«»
r.%
:^^'
*=•«'.
ii6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
and a palm-civet ; and although it is quite possible t'.iat
they may have been introduced by the Malays (as some of
them appear to have been into the Moluccas), the absence
of any typically Australasian mammals except a cuscus
(whose presence may be accounted for in the same way as
in Celebes) is, to say the least, very remarkable. More-
over, the birds of Timor show at least a . many Oriental
as Australasian features, and it accordingly seems more
consonant with the known facts to regard the whole
chain of the Sunda Islands, which are geographically one,
as having formed a part of the old Asiatic continent.
Possibly my readfrs may think I have written a very
dull and uninteresting article, and that it is a matter of
very little importance indeed what were the former relations
of a number of obscure Malay islands. And in one sense
this is undoubtedly the case. But all those who have once
essayed the study of the distribution of animals cannot fail
to be fascinated by the problems it presents; and in no
case are these problems more difficult to solve than in the
eastern islands of the Malay "chipelago. As evidence of
the interest attaching to d- ' ^a, I cannot do better than
conclude by an extract from Dr. Wallace's " Island Lift ."
"There is no other example," it is written, "on the
globe of an island so closely surrounded by other islands
on every side, yet preserving such a marked individuality
in its forms of lite ; while, as regards the special features
which characterise its insects, it is, so far "•< ts yet known,
absolutely unique. Unfortunately, very little is known of
the botany of Celebes, but it seems probable that its plants
will to some extent partake of the speciality which so
markedly distinguishe its animals; and there is here a
rich field for any botanist who is able to penetrate to the
forest-clad mountains of its interior."
A DROWNED CONTINENT
f„rrH ji'"'' '"""' ""^""'""^ "-^ """-t'^t™
m the ,sland of Funafuti, in ,he Eliice group of Polynesia
w..h the pnmary object of ascertaining the depth to which
oral-rock, or h.-„estone of coral origin, extends. As it was
found that such coral-made material extended to depths
^ar be ow .he level at which living coral can exist, evidence
was afforded that the island had subsided. And as sub-
sidence was thus proved to have taken place in a single
■sand selected ahnost at randon,, the conclusion could
hardly be res.sted that the greater par,, if „ot the whole
of Po,y„es,a must likewise bo a subsiding area, or, in othe;
word,, the remnants of a drowned continent, some of the
h^her lands of which are indicated by the atolls and other
othe pe ..anenceor otherwise of the great oceanic basins
and con.nental areas of the globe: a subject, i. ne d
scarcely be sa,d, having not only an intense ilte est of Us
own, but also one of the utmost importance ,n regard L
many pu„h„g p,,,,,^, ,„„„^^,^j ^^,. ^ ^^^ J Jo
sgeograph,cal distribution of terrestrial animals a
plants on the surface of the globe
Although it might well have been thought that opinion
n saenffic matters would be unlikely to veer suddenly
w.th equal force n. the one immediately opposite, yet
la,!"
SB"
ii8 MOSTLY MAMMALS
there are few instances where the swing of the pendulum
of opinion to one side has been more swiftly followed by
its oscillation to the other than has been the case in the
problem of the permanency of continents and oceans.
When geology first began to take rank among the exact
sciences, and it was demonstrated that most of the shells
and other fossils found in the solid rocks of many of
our continents and islands were of marine origin, it was a
natuial, if hasty, conclusion that land and sea had been
perpetually c langing places, and that what is now the
centre of a continent might comparatively recently have
been an ocean abyss. Accordingly, when any difficulty
in finding an adequate explanation in regard to the
geographical distribution of the animals or plants of two
or more continents or islands occuired, the aid of an
"Atlantis" or a "Lemuria" was at once invoked without
misgiving, and a path thus indicated across which the
inhabitants of one isolated area could easily have passed
to another.
This was one swing of the pendulum. But as the
methods of geological observation and investigation became
more exact ami critical, it was soon obvious that, in many
areas at least, the alternations between sea and land could
not have been so frequent or so general as had been at
first supposed. It was, indeed, perfectly true that many
portions of some of our present continents had for long
periods been submerged, or had been at intervals alter-
nately land and sea. But at the same time it began to
be realised that the fossiliferous marine deposits commonly
met with on continents and large islands were not of such
a nature that they could have been laid down in depths
at all comparable to those now existing in certain parts of
the basin of the Atlantic. Even a formation like our
rs" ■**-.-• ^.^T-Aj^-^ n»-
A IlROWNEn CONTINENT ,,,
English chalk, which had b.;cn supposed to have analogies
with the modern Atlantic deposits, appears to have been
laid down m a sea of much less depth and extent, and
probably more nearly comparable with the modern Medi-
terranean. Then, again, it was found that large tracts in
some of our present continents, such as Africa and India
had existed as dry land throughout a very considerable
pnrtion of geological time. Moreover, it was asserted that
no formations exactly comparable to those now in course
of deposition in the ocean abysses could be detected in
any of our existing continents or islands ; while it was
further urged that in none of the so-called oceanic islands
(that IS, those rising from great depths at long distances
from the continental areas) we.e there either fossiliferous
or metamorphic rocks similar to those of the continents
and larger continental islands.
This was the second swing of the pendulum, and for a
long period it was confidently asserted that where con-
tinents now exist there had n=ver been any excessive
depth of ocean ; and, conversely, that in the areas now
occupied by the great ocean abysses there had never been
land during any of the ter geological epochs. It was
indeed, practically affirmed that wherever the sounding-line
indicates a thousand fathoms or more of wat-r there sea
had been practically always, and that no part of the
present continents had ever been submerged to anything
like that depth. J s
Almost as soon as the pendulum of opinion had attained
he full hmits of its swing in this direction (and this swing
had been largely due to the influence of geologists and
physicists), there began to be signs of its return to a less
extreme position. It was, in the first place, proved that
a few deposits-and these of comparatively recent date-
"° MOSTLY MAMMALS
analogous to those of the ocean abysses do occur in
certain areas. And, in the second place, it was shown
that a few oceanic islands do contain rocks Hke those of
the continents, and are not solely of volcanic or organic
origin. Zoological and palaeontological discoveries were at
the s.™e time making lapid .idvances ; and the students
of these branches of sLiem.-, who had been among the
foremost in giving the swing of the pendulum on the side
of continental instability its first impulse, now began to
press their views^- only in a more moderate manner— in
the same direction. Kvidence had long been accumulating
as to the identity of certain fresh-water formations and
their included animal and plant remains occurring in South
America, South Africa, India, and Australia ; and it was
urged that during the Secondary period of geological history
not only was Africa connected with India by way of
Madagascar and the Seychelles, but that land' extended
across what is now the South Atlantic to connect the Cape
with South America, and that probably India was likewise
joined to Australia by way of the Malay Archipelago and
islands. In fact, there seems good evidence to indicate that
at this early epoch there was a land girdle in comparatively
low latitudes encircling some three-fourths of the earth's
circumference from Peru to New Zealand and Fiji.
Even taking into account its comparatively early date,
the existence of this girdle of land, the evidence in favour
of which can scarcely be shaken, gave a heavy blow to
the adherents of the absolute permanency of continents,
and oceans, as it clearly indicates the relatively modern
origin of the basin of the South Atlantic. But this is not
all : South America, which, as mentioned in an earlier article,
was once more or less completely cut off from the northern
half of the New World, shows certain indications of affinity
A DROWNKI) CONTINKNT ,„
i' ts fauna with that of Europ. in early Trr.iary tinus
an<l to a certain extent with tl.at of modern Africa ; and
the most sat,sfaet.,ry way of explaining these relationships
|s by assuming either the persistence of a land cnnection
l«tween the tape and South An.erica across the South
Atlanfc t,ll a comparatively l.,,e geological epoch, or that
such connection took place farther south by means of the
Antarctic continent. There are several objections, which
."•ed not be considered here, in regard to the latter alter-
native, and since there is other evidence in favour of the
con,para.,vely recent origin of the South Atlantic depre.
-on, the persistence of a land connection in lover
latitudes seems the more probable explanation
In addition to all this there are indications of a relation-
ship between the land faunas of Australa-.ia and South
America; and as similar types are not met with in Africa
and several of them belong to groups unlikely to have
en ured Antarctic cold, it has been suggested that America
and Australasia were in connection a. no very remote epoch
so "■'"f :l : ^'°"' '^^" " '^ '"°''"- •■- '-'-«, that
alhed to others which inhabited . outh America before ft
was connected with North America; and as no kindred
types are me. with either in the latter area, in Europe
-in Africa, a land connection bv way of the South Pacific
and that at a comparatively recent epoch, offers almost the
only satisfactory explanation of the means of transit, if the
Antarctic theory be rejected. And it may be^ mentioned
;n passing that the acceptance of even the latter would
■mply a large modification from the existing distribution
of land and water in the southern hemisphere. Similar
vidence is afforded by certain extinct tortoises common
to South America and Australia.
?:>
laa MOSTLY MAMMALS
But the evidence for a land connection by way of the
I'acilic docs not hy any meant rest on the testimony of
tnarsupiala and tortoises alone. Passing over certain
groups, it may be mentioned that the earthworms of
Austraha and New Zealand are stiangely like those of
Patagonia, and have no very near relatives in Africa ;
while an almost tr|ually strong aflinity is stnted to exist
between the I'atagunian and Polynesian land-sluj. ~. Ntilher
of these groups of animals are fitted to withstand the cold
of hitjh latitudes, and it is difiicult to see how the members
*■ the second, at any rate, could have reached the two
areas by any other means than a direct land connection.
Turning to the reports of the Tunafuti boring, it appears
that this has been carried far below the limits of coral
life, and was still i' coral limestone, b - far, therefore,
the advocates of the !; cry that Polynesia is the remains
of a sunken continent have scored a great triumph ; and
although there is still the possibility that some of the
atolls in this vast area may prove to be perched on the
denuded summits of extinct submarine volcanoes, even
this would not interfere with the general conclusion, if
deeper borings should result in touching rocks more or
less similar to ordinary continental sedimentary deposits
or metamorphic crystallines, an even firmer basis would
be afforded to the hypothesis of subsidence which has
now received such striking confirmation.
As the result of the boring, it appears, then, that there
is a possibility that the community between the South
American and Australasian faunas may admit of heing
explained by means of a direct land connection between
the two areas at a comparatively recent geological date
Even, however, if this explanation receive future support
and acceptation, there are, as in all similar cases, still
A DROWNED rONTINENI' ,,3
many tlifficulties with which to rantend. due of thfse
is the practical absence of all non-volanl mammals fro,,,
Pnlyniva, with the .-xcrption of the S..l.unon group, wh,re
a few discuses and rats are found. But the cas- of the
West Indies— where there is every probability that there
was formerlj' a large mammalian fauna, the majority of
which were drowned by submergence— nay very likely
afford the solution of the difficulty. Worms and slugs
would probably find means of survival in circumstances
where mammali.m hfe would disappear. This explanation
will, however, clearly not apply in the case of New Zealand,
where, if n.ammals had over e.xist d, their remains would
.tlmost certainly have been discovered. It must be assumed,
then, that if Polynesia was the route by which the faunaj
of Australia and Patagonia were formerly connected. New
Zealand was at that time isol.ited. And, indeed, seeing
that the presumed land connection between the areas in
question must have existed at a comparatively late epoch,
it is most likely th.it the ancient Polynesian land was
already broken ud to a considerable extent into islands and
.irchipelagos, sr !-,e main line of communication may
have been but narrow, and from time to time interrupted.
Indeed, it rau.t almost of necessity have been very in-
complete and of short duration after the introduction of
modern forms of life, as otherwise the types common to
Australia and Patagonia would have been much more
mimerous than we Hnd to be the case. Hence there is
no improbability in the suggested isolation of New Zealand
during the period in question.
But, putting these interesting speculations aside, the
r.sults of the Funafuti boring indicate almost without
doubt that Polynesia is an area of comparatively recent
subsidence, and it has already been mentioned that there
■c::
5 ■
-IT
sa<t".
"4 MOSII.V MAMMALS
an- iicm\ reasons fur rrB.irilirig a largr part of thr hasin
of the South Atlantic as of no gnat antiquity, wliilu tin-
ar.a of th.' Indian Ocran wems to haw In in ronsitli lat.ly
iiilargid durinK H"- lat.r g. ologi.al ,-pn,lis, Appaicnlly,
llifrilorc, the gnat extent of oc, an at pn wnt i liarartiristii-
of the southern hemisphere is a relaliv. ly nm>l> rn feature.
Hence it is clear that tlie extreme views prevalent a few
years ago as to the ahsolute pernianeney of the existing
continental and oceanic areas stand in need of sonii-
degree of modification. And what we have now to avoid
IS that the pendulum should not once more take too l.mg
a swing in the oppi.sitc direction.
So far as the great continental masses of the northern
hemisphere arc concerned, it would appear that p.>rtions
of these have always existed to a greati r or lesser extent
as land. Hut the great extent and homogeneous character
of formations like the Mountain I.imistone, the Chalk, and
the Nunimulitic Limestone, suggest that sea was much
more prevalent in this area than it is at present, and that,
so far as the Old World is concerned, the continental area
has been growing. The North Atlantic, and probably nlso
the North Pacific, may apparently be regarded as basins
of great antiquity. On the other hand, in the soutliern
hemisphere, although Africa, parts of Australia, and at
least some portions of South America, are evidently land
surfaces of great antiquity, they, together with the islands
of the Coral Sea, seem to be mere remnants of a much
more extensive southern continent or continents. Con-
versely the southern oceans have gained in area by swallow-
ing up these long-:ost lands. Obviously, then, although
true in a degree, continental permanency hps not been
the only factor in tlie evolution of the present surface of
the globe.
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS
h p(i|iular errors ciiliiitilid with nialti-rs sciiiitific ,irr hard
lo kill, still more is this tlit- rasi' whtn the Lrronemis
opinions have been held by seicntisls themselves. The
idea that (lints and othi r stones ^row is, I have good
reason lo believe, siiM far from extinct among the non-
seientific, and it is not improbable that there are persons
[."■.sessing some aer|uaintanc.' with science who still clierish
thi' belief th.nt riesi rts are uninterrii|>led plains of smooth
sand, originally depr>sited at the bottcmi ol the sea, from
which tlu-y have bein raised at a comparatively recent
epoch. At any rate, there are .several books, published
not very many years ago, in which it is stated iti so many
wonis that the Sahara represents the bed of an ancient
sea, which formerly separated Northern Africa from the
re(;ions to the southward of the tropics.
As a mati' i ■ f l,i<t, these opinions with regard to the
origin ami nature of deserts ar. scarcely, if at all, less
erroneous than the deeply ingrained popular superstition
as to the growth of flints and pudding-stones. And a
little reflection will show that the idea of the loose sands
of the desert being a marine deposit must necessarily be
erroneous. Apart from the difficulty of accounting for the
accumulation of such vast tracts of sand on the marine
hypothesis, it will be noticed, in the first place, that desert-
sands are not stratified in the manner characteristic of
196
MOSTLY MAMMALS
aqueous formations; and, secondly, even supposing that
they had been so deposited, they would almost certainly
have been washed away as the land rose from beneath
the sea. Then, again, wc do not meet with marine shells
in the desert-sands, of which at least some traces ought
to have been left had they been marine deposits of com-
paratively modern age.
Whether or no the subjacent strata have ever been
beneath the ocean, it is absolutely certain that the sands
of all the great deserts of the world have been formed in
situ by the disintegration of the solid rocks on which they
rest, and have been blown about and rearranged by the
action of wind alone. All deserts are situated in districts
where the winds blowing from the ocean's surface have
to pass over mountains or extensive tracts of land, which
drain them more or less completely of their load of
moisture. Hence, in the desert itself, when of the typical
kind, little or no rain falls, and there is consequently
no now of water to wash away the debris resulting from
the action of the atmosphere on the rocks below.
In other words, as has been well said, desert-sands
correspond in all respects, so far as their mode of origin
is concerned, to the dust and sand which accumulate on
our high roads during a dry summer. On our highways,
indeed, the summer's dust and sand are removed by the
rains of autumn and winter, only to be renewed the following
season; but in a desert no such removal takes place, anil
the amount of sand increases year by year, owing to the
disintegration of the solid rock here and there exposed.
Only one degree less untrue than the idea of their
submarine origin is the notion that deserts consist of
unbroken tracts of sand. It is true that such tracts in
certain districts may extend on every side as far as the
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS u;
eye can reach, and even much farther; but sooner or
later ridges and bands of pebbles, or of solid rock, will
be met with cropping up among the sand, while fre-
quently, as in the Libyan Desert, there are mountain
ranges rising to a height of several thousand feet above
the level of the plain. And it is these exposed rocks
which form the source whence the sand was, and still is,
derived. These mountains naturally attract what moisture
may remain in the air, and in their valleys are found a
more or less luxuriant vegetation. Oases, too, where the
soil is more or less clayey, occur in most deserts ; and it
is in such spots that animal and vegetable life attains
the maximum development possible in the heart of the
desert.
In the most arid and typical part of the Libyan Desert
the sand is blown into large dunes, which are frequently
flat-topped, and show horizontal bands of imperfectly con-
solidated rock ; and between these are open valleys, partly
covered with sand and partly strewn with blocks of rock
polished and scored by the sand-blast. In such sand-
wastes the traveller may journey for days without seeing
signs of vegetation or hearing the call of a bird or the
hum of an insect's wing. But even in many of such dis-
tricts it is a mistake to suppose that vegetable and animal
life is entirely absent throughout the year. In the western
Sahara, for instance, showers generally moisten the ground
two or three times a year; and after each of these a
short-lived vegetation springs suddenly up, and if no other
form of animal life is observable, at least a few passing
birds may be noticed.
Among the most important and extensive deserts of the
world we have first the great Sahara, with an approximate
area of sixteen thousand square miles, nearly connected
an
«!-1
I9g
MOSTLY MAMMALS
with which is the great desert tract extending through
Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia. By means of
the more or less desert tracts of Baluchistan, Sind, and
Kuch, this area leads on to the great Rajputana Desert
of India. More important is the vast Gobi Desert of
Mongolia, and other parts of Central Asia. In Southern
Africa there is the great Kalahari Desert, of which more
anon. In North America there is a large desert tract
lying east of the Rocky Mountains, and including a great
part of Sonora; while in the southern half of the New
Worid there is the desert of Atacama, on the borders of
Peru and Chili. Lastly, the whole of the interior of
Australia is desert of the most arid and typical description.
But among these there are deserts and deserts. Tracts
of the typical barren, sandy type are, as already said,
extensively developed in the Sahara, as they are in the
Gobi and the Australian deserts. Between such and the
plains of the African veldt there is an almost complete
transition, so that it is sometimes hard to say whether
a given tract rightly comes under the designation of a
desert at all. A case in point is afforded by the South
African Kalahari. Although there are endless rolling dunes
of trackless sand, and rivers are unknown, yet in many
places there is extensive forest, and after a rain large
tracts could scarcely be called a desert at all. Mr. H. A.
Bryden, for instance, when describing the Kalahari, writes
as follows : " And yet, during the brief weeks of rainfall,
no land can assume a fairer or more tempting aspect.
The long grasses shoot up green, succulent, and elbow-
deep ; Howers spangle the veldt in every direction ; the
giraffe-acacia forests, robed in a fresh dark green, remind
one of nothing so much as an English deer-park ; the
bushes blossom and nourish ; the air is full of fragrance ;
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS ,.,
and pans of water lie
upon
hand.
Another month
orinlu h' """^ "^ ^'^'^y ^--" "crds of
spnngbok used to migrate in the „ld days to the Kala-
han, ,n the northern part of which giraffes hve the whole
year although they must exist without tasting water for
months.
Although such a district can scarcely be termed a
desert ,n the proper sense of the word, yet its sands have
precisely the same origin as those of deserts of the typical
description. JP^"'
For sand to accumulate to the depths in which it occurs
m many parts of the Sahara and the Gobi by the slow
disintegration of the solid rocks under the action of
atmospheric agencies must require an enormous amount
of time, to be reckoned certainly by thousands, and, for all
we know, possibly by millions of years. And we accord-
.ngly arrive at the conclusion that the larger desert tracts
must not only have existed as land for an incalculable period
but also as desert. Hence we can readily understand wh^
the animals of Algeria and the rest of Northern Africa
differ for the most part from that portion of the continent
y.ng to the south of the northern tropic, the Sahara
having for ages acted as an impassable barrier to most if
not all. '
But if other evidence were requisite, there is another
reason which would alone suffice to compel us to regard
deserts as areas of great antiquity. The habitable parts
of al deserts-and it is difficult for the inexperienced
to realise that barren tracts will suffice for the mainten-
ance of animal life-are the dwelling-places of many
animals whose colour has become specially modified to the
n^eds of their environment. And it will be quite obvious
9
r-
a.
SI*. •
MOSTLY MAMMAIS
that such modifications of colour, especially when they
occur in animals belonging to many widely sundered
groups, cannot have taken place suddenly, but must have
been due to very gradual changes as the particular
species adapted itself more and more completely to a
desert existence.
To obtain an idea of the type of coloration character-
istic of the smaller desert animals, the reader cannot do
better than pay a visit to the Natural History branch of
the British Museum, where, in the Central Hall, he will
find a case devoted to the display of a group from the
Egyptian desert, mounted, so far as possible, according
to their natural surroundings.
Among such animals may be mentioned the beautiful
i'u'e rodents respectively known as jerboas and gerbits,
t'j.ether with various birds, such as sand-grouse, thi?
cream-coloured courser, the desert-lark, desert-finches, and
desert-chat, and also various small snakes and lizards,
among the latter being the common skink. Although
some of the birds retain the black wing-quills of their
allies, in all these creatures the general tone of coloration
is extremely pale, browns, f^iwns, russets, olives, greys,
with more or less of black and pink, being the pre-
dominant tones; and how admirably these harmonise with
the inanimate surroundings one glance at the case in tin-
Museum is sufficient to demonstrate. Very significant
among these are the desert-finches (Erythrospiza), which
belong to the brightly coloured group of rose-finches,
one of these specially modified species ranging from the
Canaries through the Sahara and Egypt to the Punjab,
while the second is an inhabitant of the Mongolian desert.
Among larger animals, a considerable number of the
gazelles are desert-dwellers, these including the palest-
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS ,3,
Wide,, s,::jtLt:z"'''"'' '^■'™^' "o--^. -
^e . p^e .e ..,.- -;^- -J^;.
to, some, such as He ,,„f ""^ "'°''= ^<>'"^^«<'
anfcopes at ' o e Sort '•^'"^ ^""^''^^ "^ '"^
An the „e„,bers of .1, group ar^K '""'"' ^''^-^''^■
'^■- sand, open districts^ and' neve": :a:r" "' ™"^ °'
oon,e under the designation of t^, ^3 /"? d"^"'
accordingly find that both are hv nJ """
coloured a„in,als, while both Tr. T""" ""' P*'"
bands of sabie o^a^e ti fj ZZ^f^ f "^ "old
borders of the Sahara ther^^ oc / h °" "'
different member of ,h/ ' however, a very
and likewise by the e' trel pi, Tf t ' ir?"' ''""''
- mostly dirty white, with pa c e .„u o! r'""' ;'''^''
— o-ousiytt^sp^r^'^,:^;
■y--Z
J'- '
53.'
: mil,
,j, MOSTLY MAMMALS
modified as regards coloration for tlie exigencies of a purely
desert existence, and as it is also structurally very different
from all its existing kindred, it must clearly be looked upon
as a very ancient type, which commenced its adaptation to
the surroundings of the Sahara ages and ages ago. The
Arabian desert is the home of another species of oryx
{0. bealrix), which, although more nearly allied to the
East African beisa, is a much smaller and paler-coloured
creature. In this case also there would seem little doubt
that the period when this animal first took to a purely desert
existence must have been extremely remote.
But an even more striking instance is afforded by
another antelope remotely connec'»rf with the gcmsbok,
which is an inhabitant of the Su.wri, and the Arabian
desert, and is commonly known as the addax. It is an
isolated creature, with no near relation in the wide world,
and is easily recognised by its dirty white colour, shaggy
mane, and long twisted horns. It must have branched off
at a very remote epoch from the gemsbok stock, and
affords almost conclusive evidence of the antiquity of the
deserts it inhabits, as we have no evidence of the occurrence
of allied extinct species in other countries.
Some degree of caution is, however, necessary in drawing
conclusions that all isolated desert animals have been
evolved in the precise districts they now inhabit. A case
in point is afforded by the saiga, a pale-coloured antelope
without any very near kindred, inhabiting the steppes of
Eastern Russia and certain parts of Siberia, where it is
accompanied by the hopping Kirghiz jerboa (Ahctaga).
Now, since fossilised remains of both these very peculiar
animals have been discovered in the superficial deposits of
the south-eastern counties of England, it is a fair inference
that physical conditions similar to those of the steppes
DESERTS AND THEIR INHABITANTS 133
(which, by the way, are by no means true deserts)
obtained in that part of our own country at an earlier
epoch of its history. From their comparatively isolated
position in the zoological system, as well as from their
occurrence in the strata referred to, both these desert
animals evidently indicate very ancient types, and they
accordingly serve to show not only that the semi-desert
steppe area formerly had a much greater western extension
than at present, but probably also that the existing portion
of that area dates from a very remote epoch. Hence
they confirm the idea of the early origin of the present
deserts of the Old World and their inhabitants.
It will be gathered from the foregoing that the deserts
and steppes of Africa and Asia possess a large number of
animals belonging either to species which have no very
near living relatives, or to altogether peculiar genera. In
the Arizona Desert of the Sonoran area of North America
it seems, however, to be the case that its fauna is largely
composed of animals much more nearly related to those
inhabiting the prairie or forest-lands of the adjacent
districts, of which, in many cases at any rate, they con-
stit-te mere local races distinguished by their paler and
more sandy type of coloration. This is well exemplified
by the mule-deer, which in the Rocky Mountains is a
comparatively dark and richly coloured animal, but be-
comes markedly paler on the confines of the Arizona Desert,
assuming again a more rich coloration when it reaches the
humid extremity of the Californian peninsula. Most of
the North American mammals, indeed, acquire similar
pale tints as they reach the Arizona desert-tract, and a
practised naturalist can pick out with comparative ease
the specimens coming from this area from those of the
raoister districts.
r'- •
»34
MOSTLY MAMMAI5
It is not easy to obtain information as to the physical
features of the Arizona Desert as compared with the
Sahara, and especially as to the amount of sand it contains
area for area ; but, judging from the comparatively slight
modifications which its mammals appear to have und>,''r-
gone as compared wf''^ those of the mt^re humid regions
adjacent, it seems not unlikely that these deserts are of
more modern origin than the Sahara and the Gobi.
Whether or no it be true in this particular case, it may
be laid down as a general rule that the greater the amount
of sand to be found in a desert, and the greater the
difference between the animals inhabiting that desert from
those dwelling in the adjacent districts, the greater will be
the antiquity of the desert itself. In the case of a desert
forming a complete barrier across a continent, like the
Sahara, if the animals on one side are quite different from
those on the other, its antiquity will be conclusively
demonstrated. If, on the other hand, they are more alike,
the age of the desert will be proportionately less.
AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS
If we take a map of the world, and, after tracing upon a
sheet of thin paper the outline of the British Islands, cut
out the tracing and lay it upon India, we shall find that it
cover .,ere patch of that great area. Repeating the same
process with India, and placing the tracing thus obtained
on Africa in such a manner that the sharp angle on the
tracing formed by Assam overlies the projecting point of
Somaliland, which it almost exactly covers, it will be found
that the whole area embraced in the tracing occupies only
a small patch in the middle of the eastern side of the Dark
Continent. As a matter of fact, the patch thus marked
out ends in a blunt point northwardly some distance above
Khartum, thence it runs south to the neighbourhood of the
Victoria Nyanza, from which district it rapidly narrows to
terminate in a sharp point a little distance to the southward
of Zanzibar. Allowing some slight overlaps, no less than
six Indias can indeed be traced on the map of Africa ;
and as these leave between them and on their margins
considerable spaces of the country still uncovered, it would
be but a moderate estimate to say that Africa includes at
least seven times the area of British India. Some idea,
tspecially to those familiar with our vast Indian dominions,'
may in this manner be most readily gained of the huge
extent of the African continent.
Having made these comparisons of the actual size of the
13s
CI
3 ^
"If
•3«
MOSTLY MAMMALS
three anas under consideration, I must ask my readers to
regard them for a moment from another point of view.
Every one familiar with the birds and mammals of the
British ' :es is aware that, even excluding Ireland, the same
species are not found over the whole area. The Scottish
hare, for instance, is speciticaliy distinct from "he ordinary
English kind; while the red grouse is unknown in the
southern and eastern c(,unlies of England, and the ptarmigan
is confined to the colder districts of Scotland. The.se are
accordingly indications that even .such a small area as
the British Isles contains local assemblages of animals, or
faunas, differing more or less markedly from those of
other districts.
Turning to India, we find such local faunas— as might
be expected from its larger area— more distinctly defined,
and more markedly dilTerent from one another. One great
fauna occupies the southern slopes of the Himalaya from
their base to about the upper limit of trees ; this fauna,
which includes many peculiar types unknown elsewhere,
being designated the Himalayan. The second, or typical
Indian fauna, occupies the whole of India, from the foot of
the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, exclusive of the Malabar
coast, but inclusive of the north of Ceylon. The third,
or Malabar fauna, occupies the Malabar coast and some of
the neighbouring hills, together with the south of Ceylon ;
the animals of these districts being very different from'
those of the rest of India. The fourth, or Burmese fauna,
embraces only the province of As-im, in what we commonly
term India ; and many of its animals, again although of the
general Oriental typ are very different from those of
the other districts, but even such divisions by no means
give the full extent of the local differences between the
animals of the whole area. In the second or typical area.
AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS ,3,
for example, the creature, inhabiting the open di.trict, of
the Punjab and the North-West Provinces display re-
markable difleronce, from those dwelling in the forests of
Southern India (the home of th,- strange loris) ; while the
dwellers in the jungly tract of the south-western districts
of Bengal are equally distinct from those of either of the
other areas.
Seeing, then, that while slight differences are observable
m e.e local faunas of such a small area as the British
Islands, and that much more important one, characterise
the different zoological provinces of the vastly larger extent
of country forming British India, it is but natural to suppose
that distinctions of still higher value would be characteristic
of different parts of Africa, accordingly as they differ from
one another in climate, and consequently in vegetable
productions.
As a matter of fact, such differences do occur to a most
marked d.gree; but when the vast superiority of Africa
over Indu is taken into consideration, the marvel is that
the fauna of the greater part of that area is not more
d.ss.milar than it is, and that it has been found possible
to uiclude the more typical portion of the continent in one
great zoological region or province.
But the re„der will naturally inquire what is meant by
calhng one portion of a continent more typical than the
rest. As has been pointed out in the last article. Northern
Afnci has, so far as its animals are concerned, been cut off
from the districts lying south of the Tropic of Cancer by
the great barrier formed by the Sahara ; and as the animals
of the districts to the north of that desert are for the
most part of a European type, while Southern Europe and
Northern Africa were evidently joined by land at no very
d.stunt epoch of the earth's hisiory, the districts north of
ci:
■38
MOSTLY MAMMAI5
the Sahara are for zoological purposes rigarilcd ai part
of Europe and Asia. Typical, or Kthiopian Africa, as it is
more generally termed, includes, therefore, only such portion
of the continent as lies to the south of the northern tropic.
But some critical reader m,-iy perhaps be led to remark
that some at least of the animals of Nor'' rn Africa
are common to the south ; the lion, whose range extends
from Algeria to the Cape, afford- ij; :i cast in point. To
this it may be replied that, p. vjlar prejudice notwith-
standing, the lion cannot in any sense be looked upon as
a characteristic African animal. Although year by year
growing rarer, it to this day still lingi rs on in certain parts
of Western ' dia, while it is likewise found in Persia and
Mesopotan.'a, and within the historic period was common in
.South '.stern Europe. At a still earlier epoch, as attested
bv ]N fossilised remains, it was an inhabitant of our own
island. It may, therefore, to a certain degree be regarded
as a cosmopolitan animal, which may have obtained entrance
into Africa by more than one route. In a minor degree
the same may be said of the hippopotamus, which was
formerly found in the lower reaches of Ihc Nile, and at
a much earlier epoch in many parts oi' Europe, inclusive
of Britain. Being an aquatic animal, it can avail ii^cll' i.f
routes of communication which are closed to purely tcrrcsti i.il
creatures.
Of the fauna of typical Africa, as a whole, some of the
most striking features are of a negative nature ; that is to
say, certain groups which are widely spread in most other
districts of the Old World are conspicuous by their absence.
This deficiency is most marked in the case of bears and
deer, neither of which are represented throughout the whole
of this vast expanse of country. Pigs allied to the wild
swine of Europe and India are likewise lacking, their place
AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS
'39
being taken by ;he bu«h-pigB and the hideous wart-hogs,
b(^th of which are nmojii; the most characttristii- of Afrion
animals. Except for a couple of species of ibex in the hills
of the north-cast, shiip and gnats are likewise uiikiiowii
m a wild state. Among other abscntci', in the fauna,
spicial mention may be made of marmots, and tlirir near
allies the susliks, as well as of voles, beavers, and moles.
Of the mammals (and space permits of scarcely any
reference to other groups) which may be regardtd as
ih.iracteristic of typical Africa as a whole, the following, in
addition to the bush-pigs and wart-hogs already mentioned,
arc some of the most important. Among the monkeys the
most widely distributed are the hideous baboons (Pa/iio),
11. .w restricted to Africa and Arabia, the southern portion
■f the latter country beitig included in the same great
zoological province. The guenons (Ceno/iillimis), species
"f which are the monkeys commonly led about by organ-
Kiinders, have also a wiile distribution on the continent,
although of course more abundant in the forest regions
than elsewhere ; and the guerezas (Colobus), one of which
is described in a later article, have also a considerable
range. In a totally different group, the curious little
juniping-shrews {Macnsulides) form a peculiarly charac-
teristic family of African m? Mmals belonging to the
insectivorous order. There are also many peculiar genera of
mongooses, but as most of these have a more or less local
distribution, they can scarcely be considered characteristic
of the continent as a whole ; still, they are quiie different
liom those found elsewhere. A very curious carnivorous
mammal known as the sard-wolf (Praleks), strikingly like
a small striped hyaena, is not the I. ast peculiar among the
animals of Africa, where it has a comparatively wide range.
The hunting-dog {Lycaon), which presents a considerEble
mss^ ■mu^'d ^fSL^w '
MOSTLY MAMMALS
resemblance to the spotted hyaena, is an equally remarkable
representative of the dog family. Although formerly found in
Europe, the spotted hyaena itself is now exclusively African.
Passing by the rodents, or gnawing mammals, as being
less familiar to non-zoological readers, we have the two
species of hippopotamus.es absolutely confined to Africa at the
present day ; we are all familiar with the common species
in the "Zoo," but the small West African kind, which has
more the habits of a pig, is much less commonly known.
The stately giraffes are solely African, but are mainly
confined to more or less open districts; while their ally
the okapi is a forest species. The herds of antelopes, foi
(he most part belonging to generic types unknown elsewhere,
with the exception k,i a few in Arabia, form one of the most
distinctive features of African life. Many of them, like th.;
strange gnus and the graceful gemsbok group, are confined
to the open districts of the south and east ; but others,
such as the bush-bucks and the harnessed antelopes, have
representatives in the forest districts of the west. Both
species of African rhinoceros are quite different from their
Oriental relatives ; but only one of these, the common
species, has a wide distribution in the country. Zebras
and the extinct quagga are familiar and striking African
animals, although roost of them are confined to the open
plains and mountains. On the other hand, the African
elephant, which differs so widely in the structure of its
teeth from its Asiatic relative, has a much more extensive
distribution, and may therefore be classed among the most
characteristic of Ethiopian animals. Even more peculiar
are the little dassies (Procavia), the miscalled coneys of
our version of the Bible, which form a family absolutely
peculiar to Africa, Arabia, and Syria ; some of the species
dwelling among rocks, while others are active climbers, and
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AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS
frequent the forest districts. But perhaps the strangest
mammal that may be regarded as characteristic of Africa
as a whole is the aard-vark (Otycteropus), commonly known
to the colonists as the ant-pig. It is a strangely isolated
creature, having at the present day no near relations,
eitlicr poor or otherwise.
The African buffaloes, with their several races or species,
also belong to a type quite peculiar to the continent. To
a great extent the ostrich is characteristic of Africa and
Arabia, although there is evidence to show that it formerly
enjoyed a c» . liderable range in parts of Asia.
The above are only a few of the more striking instances
showing how different are the animals of Africa as a whole
from those of the rest of the world. Many others might be
added, but they would only weary my readers. Of course,
there are many groups, like the cats, common to other
countries, the lion and the leopard being found alike in
Africa and India ; but such do not detract from the pecu-
liarity of the African fauna as a whole. And here it may
be mentioned that a large proportion of the types now
peculiar to the Dark Continent once had a much wider
geographical range, fossil remains of baboons, giraffes,
hippopotamuses, ostriches, antelopes of an African type,
and not improbably zebras, having been discovered in the
Tertiary deposits of India.
But if the animals of Africa as a whole stand out in
marked contrast to those of the rest of the world, much
more is this the case when those characteristic of certain
districts of that huge continent are alone taken into con-
sideration. And most especially is this the case with the
inhabitants of the great tropical forest districts extending
from the west coast far into the interior of the continent —
reaching, in fact, the watershed between the basins of the
fmn ^
M» MOSTLY MAMMALS
Congo and thff Nile in the neighbourhood of W&rlclai. As
a large number of the peculiar animals of this district are
more or less exclusively confined to the west coast, extend-
ing from Sierra Leone to the Congo, the area is appropriately
termed the West African sub-region. It is here alone that
we find the gorilla and the chimpanzee, the former being
restricted to the neighbourhood of the coast, whereas the
latter ranges far into the heart of the continent. And this
district is likewise the exclusive home of the pretty little
mangabeys, or monkeys with white eyelids (Cenoce/msj.
The galagos, which are near relatives of some of the
lemurs of Madagascar, extend liiroughout the forest region ;
but the even more curious pottos, or thumbless lemurs, are
confined to the west coast. Huge and forbidding fox-bats,
some of them with remarkable tufts of long white hairs on
the shoulders, are likewise restricted to this portion of the
tract, as is the insectivorous otter, or Polamogalr, first
discovered during the travels of Du Chaillu. The equatori.il
forest-tract is also the sole habitat of the African 11- ing-
squirrels, to which further reference is made in the sequel ;
all these being distinguished from the flying-squirrels of Asia
by the presence of a number of scales on the under-surface
of the tail. Most of them belong to the genus Ammalurus,
but the smallest of all forms a genus (Idiiirus) by itself,
while a flightless type {Zenkerella) also belongs to the
group. Dormice of peculiar types and tree-mice are also
very characteristic of this tract. But far more generally
interesting are the pigmy hippopotamus of Liberia and the
water-chevrotain {Donalherium) of the west coast, the latter
an ally of the chevrotains of India and the Malay countries.
So far, indeed, as the equatorial forest tract fauna has any
representative in other parts of the world, it is to the
Malay Peninsula and its islands that the resemblance is
AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS
■43
closest. It is there alone that the other large manlike
ape — the orang— dwells ; and there is a group of brush-
tailed porcupines common to these two districts, and
unknown elsewhere throughout the wide world. Both
faunas, however, in all probability trace their descent from
the animals inhabiting Europe during the Pliocene and
Miocene epochs, among which was an extinct species of
water-chevrotain. As already mentioned, the okapi is
restricted to the forest area, as is the beautiful white-striped
bongo antelope, and its much smaller relative the zebra-
antelope.
The other great sub-regions include the open grazing
grounds and mountains of South and East Africa, the fauna
of which is quite different from that of the equatorial forest-
tract. Minor divisions may also be recognised in this area,
the Cape having many animals not found farther north.
Among the latter are the extinct quagga, the pretty little
meerkat (Siiricala), and the Cape sand-mole (Bathyergiis),
which, by the way, has nothing to do with the true moles,
being a member of the rodent order. The tract as a whole
may be termed the east central sub-region ; and to it belong
the great hosts of antelopes, the zebras, and the aard-wolf
and hunting-dog. Very characteristic of the southern and
eastern parts of this tract are the beautiful golden moles
(Chrysochloris), unique among mammals for the lovely play
of iridescent colours on the fur, and which have nothing
in common with the moles of Europe and Asia. To
the northward, in Abyssinia, this tract is the home of
another very remarkable animal, the great gelada baboon
{Theropitliecus), easily recognised by the lionlike mantle of
long hair on the forequarters, whose nearest relative is
the Arabian baboon.
Whether Somaliland should be included in this area, or
• •••
144
MOSTLY MAMMALS
should have a division to itself, may admit of argument ;
but ac any rate it has many peculiar animals, among which
are a number of antelopes.
Lastly we have the Saharan sub-region, which contains a
comparatively limited fauna, passing by almost insensible
degrees into that of NorthiTn Africa.
In some respects, especially in its galagos, the fauna of
Africa presents a certain resemblance to that of Madagascar ;
but the connection between that island and the mainland
was evidently very remote, and must apparently have
taken place before the great incursion of antelopes, zebras,
rhinoceroses, monkeys, elephants, etc., from the north, as
none of these are found in the island. Madagascar, there-
fore, is best regarded as forming a zoological province by
itself.
Within the limits of a single article it is manifestly
impossible to give anything like an adequate sketch of the
fauna of such an extensive area, but such points as have
been noticed serve to show in some faint degree its richness
in peculiar forms of animal life.
It may be added that North-Eastern Africa has an extinct
mammalian fauna of its own, which seems to include the
ancestors of the elephant tribe.
MONKEY HAND-PRINTS
T.iE arrangement of the fine ri.lgcs and grooves on the
palmar asp,ct of the hun.an hand has of late years been
studied with great attention-first by Sir Francis Galton
and subsequently by Mr. Henry, now Chief Commissioner
of the Metropolitan Poliee-in order to develop a satisfactory
system of identification by means of "finger-prints." That
exceedingly important and interesting subject is not discussed
in the present article, in which attention is restricted to the
arrangement of these lines on the hands of monkeys and
the.r function in both men and monkeys. This study
seems to have been first seriously taken up by Or. I)
Hepburn, of Dublin, who communicated to the Dublin
Society the results of his investigations, which were duly
pubhshed in the Transadics of that Society. The method
employed by Dr. Hepburn was to take impression.s of the
hands of hving monkeys on plates of glass coated with
prmters' mk ; but there are many diflicultics connected with
lh,s operation, and in preparing a series of in.pressions for
th,' Natural History Museum, it occurred to me that I might
be able to take them on paper from the hands of monkeys
recently deceased. I accordingly communicated with the
IVosector to the Zoological Society, asking him to be good
en.mgh to send me the right hands of some of the monkeys
tliat died in the Society's menagerie. With this request he
very kmdly complied, and from the specimens which from
146
MOSTLY MAMMALS
■K. '. I.
"v...|
time to time arrived at the Museum, I was enabled to
take, among others, the impressions herewith reproduced.
Although they are not quite so successful as might be
desired, they are yet amply sufficient to show the general
plan of arrangement of their lines, and the variation to which
they are subject in different genera. Enlargements from
these same impressions are now exhibited in the British
(Natural History) Museum.
Before proceeding farther I must disclaim any intention
of poaching on the preserves of the so-called science ol
" palmistry." This, so far as I can understand its methods,
deals exclusively with the folds or creases on the human
palm (corresponding with the white lines in the annexed
figures); while attention is here concentrated on the modu
of arrangement of the raised ridges and their intervening
grooves. It may, however, be mentioned that the creases
in question have, both in man and monkeys, a definite
mode of arrangement, which appears to be due to thi:
position and action of the palmar muscles. What possibli
connection there can be between such muscular creases ami
the duration of human life or the vicissitudes of our mortal
career may well be left for the professors of palmistry icj
explain as best they can.
As regards the structure of the palmar ridges, .in
examination of the reader's own hand wit!/ a lens nill
easily show that these consist of a series of very minute
cone-like elevations, placed close together, and on thi
summits of which are situated the apertures of tin
sudoriferous or sweat r^ands. If a section of the skin
be examined under a microscope, it will also be evidtnt
that within these papillae are certain organs of toiali
know as the tactile bodies. Between the papillary ridgi ~,
as we may term them, are situated the equally narrow
» -"■*
m -
'LM
Kithi r,.l,.l,„ l„,|,„,„.,l.l \|,K,,q^K M„„k,% ..Ifa,-,,, „.,,».„.,,„ ,;
l^i;.' '"ia, ,„|,n,u..f ., Ma,,,,.,.., (//„A,/, .„ 4,,,
-K,!;!!! 1 :,!„,„■ I,-;,,,-, ., , K^M,,^to! l.c;,T;ur ;;■,««, ,„;V,,.„ .j
['J'o/acc J-. 140
5:„;:JI
th
ha
fri
ye
on
Ob
MONKEY HANU-PRINTS ,47
grooves, which contain neither .wcat-glands nor tactile
bodies.
Looking carefully at fig. A in the plate, and, ,f necessary
employing a lens, it will be seen that the arrangement of
the ridges and grooves, instead of being uniform over
the entire palm, takes the shape of a series of definite
|«tterns in certain ireas, between which a more or less
regular linear arrangement obtains. On the ball of each
linger and the thumb, for example, it will be noticed that
the ridg<s assume what may be termed a concentric pattern,
m which the central ridges run longitudinally. Again, an
the three eminences situated on the palm opposite the
.lefts between the four fingers, they take the form .1
concentric whorls (a, b, c). A similar radial eminence (d)
with a whorl-like pattern is situated opposite the cleft
between the thumb and the forefinger ; while yet another
whorl-bearing elevation {e), which may be termed the ulnar
eminence, has its position at the basal angle of the palm
opposit. the little finger. Minor eminences, with much
le«s distinct patterns, also occur on the palmar surfaces
01 the two basal joints of the fingers. Between these
various pattern-bearing eminence!!, as is especially well
^hown on the fingers, the ridges and grooves tend to
arrange themselves either in transverse lines, or (in the
words of Dr. Hepburn) wii'i such slight mouification of
this direction as would place them parallel to the long
axis of any cylindrical object which might be grasped by
the foot. It may be added that although in the human
hand the patterns found on the balls of the fingers are
Irequently more complex than those in the monkey's hand
yet the converse of this is true with regard to the eminences
on the palm itself, the ulnar whorl being generally quite
obsolete in man.
• •••
T'l
148
MOSII.Y MAMMALS
fir,;;
In iTifiiiary fivi-tingtrcd monkeys, whether thiy hail
from Ihc Old Wnrlil or from llic New, the forrgoing type
of emintnci'H is very constant. 'I'liia is well exemphfied
by the impression of the hand of one of the South American
capuchin monkeys (fig. A). Merc, however, the fingers
are much longer and more slender than in the Old World
macaque. Iti conserpience of this the bulbs of the fingers
are much less developed, so that it was found impossible
to get a good impression of Iheni. These features are
even wore developed in the hand of tlic tiny American
marmosets (tig. 1)), in which the digits are more like
claws than fingers, and consequently afford only a narrow
and blurred impression. A peculiarity of the marmoset
hand-print is to be found in the circumstance that the
radial eminence has come up to form an arch with the three
interdigital elevations, and that the ulnar elevation and
pattern are obsolete. Seeing how comparatively wide apart
from one anotlu r (both zoologically and geographically) are
the ordinary monkeys of the Old and New Worlds, it is
not a little remarkable that the palm-print of the macaque
should be so strikingly like that of the capuchin.
This similarity (since everything in nature has a usi i
suggests thiJt the patterns on the hands of these two
monkeys are due to the same physiological cause ; and
we have now to inquire what that cause is. The best
clue to the problem seems to be afforded, somewhat
strangely, by the tails of such of the South American
monkeys as are endowed with prehensile power in those
appendages ; confirmatory evidence being likewise afforded
by the prehensile tails of the American opossums and
tree-porcupines, as well as by those of the Australian
phalangers. In all these animals tiie naked, grasping
portion of the tail, which is situated at the extremity, !'
MdNKKY IIANhl'KIMS ,4,
cov. rt-d Willi papillary ridj-.s an.l grooves prx-isrly similar
tothnsi^on thi- h.imis anil firt ..C monk, vs, but invariably
airiiiiKiHi in simple transvtrsr lines ain.ss llie tail, so ilial
in the act of grasping they w.ulil be p.irall.l to the lo,.(
axis of the branch around which the tail w.is ciilid.
Clearly, then, papillary ridgi s are primarily connect. I
with the graspiiig power, and when they are i.u ...led
solely for that function, they arc so arranged .1. 1.1 !,.■
parallel to the axis of the object gras|ied. As ttran'-i
this function of the papillary ridgi s. Dr. Hepburn (.h.^ervn
that although they are comparatively low, "yet they niu..'
cause a certain amount of friction, and tliireby prev.nt
slipping, while the naturally moist and clammy condition
of the palm and sole of monkeys must be of material
assistance to the Hrnniess of tln' grasp. A man instinctively
moistens the palms of his hands when he wishes to make
his grasp more secure ; and the grasping power of monkeys
must be considerably increased by the application of the
numerous papillary ridges which ,ire cap.ible of intimate
adaptation to the surface c.f the object grasped."
In a later passage the same observer adds that, apart
from the hook-like manner in which the oiang-utan and
the American spider-monkeys employ their hands in trapeze,
like movements, there can be no doubt that the palms are
capable of a considerable amount of lateral folding, as is
proved by the creases to which allusion has been already
made. And it appears probable that the papillary ridges
are designed to afford increased firmness of giasp when
the palms are thus folded. Conseqii' 'itly, sinnile transverse
ridges on the palms, except in the second jumts of the
fingers, are conspicuous by their absence ; and we find
mstead the complicated patterns on the eminences already
described.
5°
MOSTLY MAMMALS
.^Jr
A somewhat different type of arrangement obtains in
the hand of the South American spider-monkeys (fig. B), in
which the thumb is wanting. In this group, although whorl-
like patterns are observable in the interdigital eminences, yet
they are much smaller and less distinct than in ordinary
monkeys ; the same being the case with the ulnar eminence.
The radial pattern at the inner side of the thumb is,
however, practically wanting, owing doubtless to the absence
of that digit. It will further be noticed from an examination
of the figure that elsev.here on the palm, not even excepting
the fingers, the general arrangement of the ridges is longi-
tudinal. Since the hands of the spider-monkeys are, as
already mentioned, largely used in a hook-like manner
during the arboreal evolutions of these active creatures, it
would seem at first sight that the arrangement of the ridges
precisely controverts what has been said above as to their
being parallel with the long axis of the object grasped.
But the palms of even these n-.onkeys, as is i- " ated by
the numerous creases, are evidently much foldet. ^jiterally ;
and it must also be boi ne in mind that an equally important
function of the hand is the plucking and holding of spherical
or sub-spherical fruits. And for such a combination of
functions the mode of arrangement of the ridges is doubtless
the one most suitable. If the ridges were transverse, the
fruit would very probably have a tendency to slip out of
the hand on one sidr- or the other; but this is clearly
prevented by the longitudinal arrangement.
The above are the chief modifications displayed by the
palm-print5 of monkeys ; and it may be added that a very
similar general plan of arrangement of the papillary ridges
and grooves obtains on the sole of the foot of these animals,
subject, however, to such modification as is necessary for
the differfint function of the foot as compared with the
MONKEY HAND-PRINTS 151
hand. But in some at least of their allies, the lemuroids,
as represented by the true lemurs of Madagascar, the
galagos and pottos of Africa, and the lorises and tarsier of
Asia, a very curious departure from this arrangement
obtains. In regard to the trt": lemurs, it is generally stated
that on the outside of the palm of the hand and under the
base of the fingers are situated fleshy pads, giving them
greater grasping power. This, however, is scarcely an
adequate statement of the true state of the case. Fig. C
shows the palm-impression of the red-fronted lemur, a well-
known Malagasy species. In this it will be seen that the
balls of the digits are expanded into large convex circular
pads upon which are a number of papillary ridges; but
instead of these ridges covering the whole surface of the
pads, they are interrupted by an irregular network of
relatively large canals, producing the white lines in the
impression. On the palm of the hand are seen the three
interdigital eminences of the monkey's hand, together with
a large radial and a somewhat smaller ulnar eminence.
The radial eminence is, however, divided into two portions
by a deep groove, and on all five eminences are observable
the usual papillary ridges and grooves traversed by the
aforesaid irregular network of grooves. On the palmar
aspect of the second joint of the fingers, and on such
portion of the centre of the palm as exhibits an impression,
the papillary ridges, insi ad of being uniformly distributed
111 regular lines, are restricted to certain small pustule-like
eminences, on which, however, the linear arrangement is
ilistinctly visible with the aid of a lens. And if it had
been possible to obtain an impression of the basal joints
of the fingers, a similar pattern would doubtless have
been noticeable there also. \\ hether the curious arrange-
ment of canals characteristic of the palm of the red-fronted
'52
MOSTLY MAMMALS
<«
"►
;:?r
lemur, or a modification thereof, obtains in all the true
lemurs, must wait the acquisition of additional fresh
specimens of the hand ; but in that species at all events
it seems certain that these pads have a kind of suckei-
like action, which must greatly increase the firmness of their
owner's hold on the boughs it grasps.
Apparently this type of palm-structure culminates in the
curious little tarsier of the Malay Islands, in which the long
and slender toes terminal* in round sucker-like discs ;
simitar discs occuri'ing on tbe toes of the hind-foot.
Unfortunately I have had no opportunity of taking the
palm-impression of a recently deceased tarsier, and it will
probably b* long before such a chance occurs, so that I
can say nothing as to the mode of arrangement of the
papillary ridges.
It may be added that the finger- and t'>t pnA^ of th'>sf
curious lizards comnxjnly known as geckos af like wis*
modified into adhesive discs. But in this case th* sucl<ing
action is caused by the skin being raised into a s*Ti»-8 of
parallel plates, and as palmar eminences, as well as papillary
ridges, are wanting, the structure is iint apparently strictly
comparable with what obtains in the farsier and the lemurs.
But even the foregoing by no means exhausts thf
subject of palmar and plantar eminences. Any one of my
readers who takes the trouble to examine the feet of a
cat, a dog, or a rabbit will find a number of bare elevated
pads, covered with rough granular skin, interspcrs' rt
among the generally hairy surface. In all cases, both ni
the fore and hind limb, one of these bare pads will U
found occupying the tower surface of tlie terminal joint
of each toe, lying imnitdiately below the claw. And it
will be quite obvious that these correspond to the pattern-
bearing eminences occupying the balls of the thumb and
MONKEY HAND-PRINTS
'53
fingers of the monkey. In regard to the pads on the
palm and sole, these are subject to some degree of variation
in the cari,ivora, and they may sometimes coalesce to such
a degrc-e that their original relations arc more or less
obscured. But in some of these animals • three distinct
pads are observable in the forefoot corresponding in position
with the interdigital eminenc-s of the monkey's palm.
Continuing tli, semicircle formed hy these three is a fourth
pad, representing the radial eminence of the monkey, while
farther down on the palm is one corresponding to the
ulnar eminence of the latter ; a small additional pad being
intercalated between the radial and the ulnar pads.
It is thui fully demonstrated that th.- pads on the fore-
loot of the dog and the cat correspond with the pattern-
bearing eminences of the monkey's palm, and these again
with the much less distinctly defined eminences on the
human band. In animals which use both feet exclusively
for walking, it will, however,- be obvious that delicate
papillary ridges, .lesigiied partly for the purpose of obtaining
a firm grip on any object seized, and partly to act as
organs '/ touch, would be perfectly useless. And we
accordingly find the papillary ridges of man and monkeys
replaced in the cat, tS^ dog, and the rabb.t by granular
conical elevations, which ha\'o, however, doubtless the same
structure, and are foreshadowed by the pustules on the
lingers and palms of the lemurs.
One other point remains to be mentioned. In all the
lower monkeys that have been examined both by Dr.
Hepburn and myself the pattern of the papillary ridges
• Those who are interested in the subiect may turn to the figure
of the fool-pads of the Linsang, given by the late Prof Mivart
OT p. 158 of the rrocicUngs of the Zoological Society for the
year 1882.
f5::
. I !
'54
MOSTLY MAMMALS
*«
•'h'
is of the concentric type (as shown in fig. A), in which
the central ridges are longitudinal and the external Mies
form broad ellipses. In the chimpanzee, however, and
probably also in some or all of the other manlike apes, the
pattern on the balls of the fingers is of the form known as
the looped type, which is of common occurrence in the
fingers of the human hand. On the finger-tips of man
alone occurs the still more complicated whorled type ; and it
is thus evident that even in such a minute detail as the
arrangement of the lines on the fingers the manlike apes
and man stand apart from their kindred, and that in man
alone is the most complicated type ever developed, although
even in him it is comparatively rare.
LIVING MILLSTONES
The mill-like action of their own upper and lower molar-
teeth upon one another may have been quite sufficient to
suggest to our prehistoric parents the idea of opposing a
pair of corrugated stones in such a manner that by mutual
rotation or revolution they should be capable of reducing
to powder hard substances placed between them. Indeed,
the idea of millstones is such a simple and natural one
that it is quite probable it may have occurred to the human
mind without any reference to any prototype in nature ; and
in any case, if S\ich a natural prototype is to bo sought, it
is not necessary to go farther in search of it than our own
dental organs. Excellent, however, for their special purpose
as are these organs (when not subject to premature decay),
there are other types of tooth-structure to be met with in
the animal kingdom which present a much closer approxima-
tion to millstones, and might well have foreshadowed these
instruments, had they only been accessible to the primeval
savage. But since these natural millstones occur only in
marine lishes, some of which inhabit distant seas, while
Cithers are met with only as fossils deeply buried in the
■ oclis, it is evident that the idea of artificial millstones
is not derived from these natural prototypes. In other
words, to use an expression now fashionable in natural
science, the development of artificial and natural millstones
is a case of parallelism.
■56
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I*
fit 4
lit.- ; "
In spite of the fact that their early ancestors were provld. d
with a good working set of sharply pointed dental organs,
birds in these degenerate days manage to gt t along without
teeth at all. A few mammals, too, like the South American
ant-eaters, are in the same condition ; and some people have
thought that in a few more g-iierations civilised man himself
will be reduced to the same toothless state. The great
majority of mammals, however, possess a more or less
efiicient set of teeth, varying in shape, size, and number
according to the need of each particular species or group.
But there is one feature common to these organs in mammals
of all descriptions ; and this is that they are strictly confined
to the margins of the jaws, never extrtiding either on to the
palate, or to the space enclosed between the two branches
of the lower jaw. In many reptiles, such as crocodiles and
a large number of lizards, the same law of dental arrange-
ment obtains. In some lizards, and still more markedly in
certain extinct members of the reptile class, we find, however,
a number of teeth developed on the palate, having flattened
crowns, and thus tending to make the mouth act the part of
one large millstone. But we must descend a stage farther
in the scale of animated nature before we come to slructurt s
which are strictly comparable with artificial millstones and
crushing cylinders. And it is in the class of fishes that wc
meet with these organs in the full perfet tinn of this type of
development. Not that they occur by any means in all the
groups of that class ; the fact being that at the present day
living millstones are going out of fashion, the great pre-
ponderance of modern fishes having their dental armature
mainly restricted to the margin of the jaws, with or witlK.et
a mmor development of crushing teeth on the palate or the
banes of the gullei With the -exception of a comparatively
limited nuaiber of cases, showing a different type of develop-
LIVING MILLSTONES
«57
ment, to which it is not my present intention to allude, these
dental millstones are confined at the present day to those
hideous marine fishes commonly known as skates and rays,
and to the singular Port Jackson shark and a few allied
species inhabiting the Pacific and Malayan seas. On the
other hand, the seas of the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and ante-
cedent epochs absolutely swarmed with numerous kinds of
sharks more or less nearly related to the Port Jackson
species, whose mouths were filled with pavements of teeth
showing marvellous variety of structure and beauty of
ornamentation. The skates and rays, too, displayed types
of dental millstones quite unlike any of those of the present
day. And in addition to these, there were hosts of enamel-
scaled fishes whose mouths were likewise crammed with
beautiful crushing teeth, albeit of a totally different type
of structure to that obtaining in either the sharks or the
rays. Although well-nigh extinct, these enamel-scaled
fislles are still represented by the bony pike of the rivers
of North America and the bichir (remarkable for its fringed
fins and the row of finlets down its back) of tropical
Africa. But it is noteworthy that in neither of these sur-
vivors of an ancient group do we find the mouth furnished
with an apparatus of millstones ; while, as already said,
among the host of sharks that infest the warmer seas of
the globe it is only in the Port Jatkson '^pe.ies and its three
kindred that we find similar structures retained ; all the
other members of the group having den-loped cuspidate
teeth adapted for seizing and tiaring soft-deshed prey,
instead of for grinding-up roail-clad food.
Clearly, then, there has been some general cause at work
which has rendered crushing teeth, so to speak, unfashion-
able among the fishes of the present day and the imme-
diately antecedent epochs. And in this connection it is
■.i'll '■'.
'S»
MOSTLY MAMMALS
"•ill
important to notice that there has been an even more
strongly marked tendency to the extinction of the enamrt-
scaled fishes, and their nplacement by the ordinary si>Jik-
scaled Hshes so abundant in the present seas. As tW
majority of these old mail-clad fishes, as well its a l»rge
proportion of the ancti ni sharks, were provided with
crushing teeth, it is a f»i. inference that their food con-
sisted largely of shell-li->h and crustaceans, with ^ certain
proportion of their own mail-clad nlatives. Wheii, hnw-
ever, the swift-swimming, soft-scaled fislies came to the
fore, they would naturally offer a moix- tempting and
nourishing diet to such sharks and other predaceous
numbers of their own class as were swift enough in their
movements to make Ihem their prey. And consequently
the old millstone-jawed sharks would tend more or less
completely to disappeai-. On the other hand, the skates and
rays, which are for the most part slow-moving creatures,
flapping sluggishly along on the sea-bottom by means of
their fan-like lins, wuuld be quite unable to capture the
modern type of swiil-swimming fish. And they have thus
had to content themselves with the old-fasliiuned diet of
shell-fish and crabs, in consequence of vvliif h a lirge pro-
portion of them have retained the dental millstones which
have been so steadily going out of fashion among their
more advanced relatives. Not that these rays and skates
have by any means been content with the kind of molar
machinery that did duty for their forefathers, since some!
of them, together with their Tertiary ancestors; have de-
veloped what appears to be an absolutely perfect type of
living mill, far superior to that which served the purpose
of their predecessors. And it must always be remembered
that these beautiful living millstones and cylinders (which
are some of the most exquisite bony structures to be met
.■.aj'T» /'♦Tie- iffi «ii
Hif Jk
LIVING MILI^TONES ,j,
with in the whole animal itingdom) excel their artificial
substitutes in that they never wear out; being renewed
either by the development of new teeth on the inner or
hinder aspect of the cylinder, or by vertical successors
replacing the individual teeth from below or above.
And now that the dental millstones of the rays have been
mentioned, it will afford a convenient starting-point for a
brief survey of some of the most remarkable types of
structure presented by these curi' is organs.
The teeth of rays always form a pavement-like structure,
of which the component elements are arranged in straight
longitudinal rows, although they sometimes likewise show
a quincunxial mode of arrangement. The individual teeth
are not replaced by vertical successors; but, being in the
form of a half-cylinder, as those in front become worn
down, the whole series is pushed forwards, and new teeth
are developed on the hinder margin of the cylinder. The
supreme development of a dental structure adapted for
crushing in this group occurs in the family of the eagle-
rays {Myliobalidae), in which the millstone of each jaw
forms a perfuct semi-cylinder or plate, made up of flat-
<Tow,:id prismatic teeth united at their edges, often so as
to c< .istitute a mosaic-like pavement. No piece of modern
machinery can be better adapted for crushing hard sub-
stances than are these beautiful ivory cylinders and
plates, the crushing power of which, when worked by the
-trong jaws, must be enormous, and sufTicicnt to grind
iiie strongest shell that can be introduced between them
to powder. Although in all cases pavcment-Iike, the
millstone differs considerably in the different species in its
structure.
A'i an illustration of I he group, we may take one of the
niil'stones of the beaked eagle-rays (Rliimpiera). Here the
i6o
MOSTI.V MAMMAI^
I
•*
r-
iil
millstone is In the form of a semi-cylinder, consisting of five
or more rows of teeth ; a very usual number being seven.
Generally the teeth of the middle row are the widest ; those
of the rows on cither side being considerably narrower,
while the two or three marginal rows on each side may be
compared to the tesseroe in a mosaic pavement. A further
development of the same type is exemplified by the typical
eagle-rays (Myliobalis), in which the middle row of teeth
in the millstone becomes still wider, while the three lateral
rows on each slile are reduced to the cimditiim of iiexagonal
tesserae. Moreover, whereas in the species of Rhinofiaiis
both millstones are in the form of half-cylinders, in
Myliobalis the upper one alone retains this form, the Umi r
being a flattened plate. The culmination of this type of
sculpture is displayed in the rays belonging to the allied
genus Aflobalis, in which both upper and lower millstones
are flat and composed only of the middle row of teeth,
which are of great width ; the lateral rows having com-
pletely disappeared. The existing representative of this
genus is not very large (for a ray), seldom, if ever, measuriii).;
more than about five leet across ; but some of its extinct
predecessors must have been monstrous fish, as the teeth
measure some five or six inches in diameter.
Quite a different type of dental armature is presented
by the millstones of the beaked rays (Rhinohalidae).
Here the teeth take the form of closely packed diamond-
shaped knobs, arranged in an alternating manner, so that
although they present loh^^itudinal rows, yet they also
show oblique series, so .\s to give rise to a quincunxi,i1
pattern. Then, again, the entire millstone in each jaw is
thrown into a seric-- of undulations, so that the upper
one exhibits a large median boas, flanked by a pair of
smaller undulations, which are received into corresponding
LIVING MILISTONF.S ,4,
drprcMions in the lower millstone. It is difficult •„
conceive a m.v hinc better ada[-'-d Inr rru.hing than ,,
presented by Xhc jaws of the beaked rays.
Of a much 1,-s powerful type .irr the millstones of the
ordinary rays skates (A'„„rf,„) of our own roasts and
among these the con,n,on thornback (Kain clavala) presents
.1 very remarkable condit .,., since the individual teeth take
the form of obtuse knobs in the female, whereas in the
male the centre of ea.i, of these knobs acquires a sharp
recu.ved point. Smce everything in nature has a meaning
.t would seem a fair inference that there must be son,,
important difference baween thr food of the male and
female thornback, but I have not come across any obser-
vations bearing upon the subject.
Among the fossils to be obtained occasionally from the
workmen in large chalk-pits are teeth i- the (orm of convert
quadrangular bosses, ihe marginal port.on of whirl, consists
<,f a broad granular area, whil, the centre is occupied b^ a
variable number of bold ridges, or folds, between which are
often irregular knobs. It i, from these ridges that the fish
takes the name of Plychodus. For a long „m,- it was un-
certain how these teeth were arranged, but careful comparison
of a number of more or less incomplete series in situ has at
length solved the problem. In the lower jaw the complete
m,llstone was formed by a median row of large teeth,
0,1 each side of which were six or seven other rows
composed of teetl, gradually decreasing in size fror, the
ct-ntre to the margin. In the uppti jaw, on the ciher
hand, there was a central row of small teeth, flanked
on each side by a row of large ones, externally to which
came a series of rows gradually diminishing in size. From
llii-s mode of arrangement it is inferred that Plychodus was
a ray; and the whole dental structure is as remarkable
MICROCOPY RfSdUTON TEST CHART
(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)
A APPLIED IIVMGE Inc
l62
MOSTLY MAMMALS
'(:•'
for its perfection as a crushing macliine as it is for its
intrinsic beauty.
Even more elegant from an aesthetic point of view are
the " millstones " of the Port Jacltson shark {Ceslracion)
and its allies. In place of forming a continuous plate
across the palate after the fashion of the eagle-rays, the
individual teeth in this group are arranged in oblique
bands round the edges and inner sides of the jaws,* showing
in the hinder region a melon-shaped swelling of remarkable
gracefulness, which would form an attractive ornament for
the capital of a pillar. In this melon-like portion of the
millstone the indivM Jal teeth form bluntly convex oblongs;
those of one row being remarkably larger than all the rest,
while the rows in front and behind this do not correspond
with one another in size. Examined with a lens, each of
these blunt teeth is seen to have a minutely pitted structure,
while its median longitudinal line is marked by a narrow
smooth streak. New teeth are being continuously produced
on the margin of the series on the inner side of the jaw ;
and as the outer ones become worn away, the whole series
is pushed over towards the edge of the jaw. Proceeding
from the larger rows of teeth towards the front of the jaw,
it will be seen that as the individual teeth become gradually
shorter their smooth median line gains prominence, till it
finally develops into the sharply pointed cusp surmounting
each of the front teeth.
As already said, the Port Jackson shark and a few otlur
nearly related species (all of which, by the way, feed on
shell-fish and crustaceans) are the only sharks with mill-
stones met with in our present seas. And it is fortunate
that these have lived on, as otherwise we should never
♦ Strictly speaking, the tooth-bearing cartilages of sharks are not
true Jaws.
LIVING MILLSTOiN'ES
■6j
have gamed a true idea of the dental armature of their
extinct relatives whidi ab< funded in the seas of the Jurassic
cpocli. Visitors to Whitby must be familiar with certain
black oblong fossils of about an inch and a half in length
known to the quarrymen as "fossil leeches." These arc
the hinder teeth of an extinct shark (.lskraca>,lhi,s) nearly
allied to the Poi t Jackson species, but of much larger size ;
and although they are more rugose than pitted, they show
the same smooth line on the summit. A beautiful specimen
from Caen, in the British Museum, shows that the arrange-
ment of these hinder teeth was almost exactly the same
as in Cestradon, which may thus be regarded as a survivor
from a long-past epoch of the earth's history.
But there were other "millstone-mouthed" sharks at a
still earlier period which appear to have been allied to
Ce,lrado», although the degree of relationship is uncertain.
In these Palaeozoic sharks, as exen.plified by Cochtiodus,
the series of hinder teeth seems to iiave had an arrangement
very similar to that obtaining in Cestracion, but the indi-
vidual teeth of several series were more or less completely
fused into a single solid plate, the ridges on which mark
the origmal lines of division between the component series
These sharks exhibit, therefore, one among many instances
where the earlier forms of a group are in some respects
more specialised than their descendants.
So much space has been taken up by the rays and sharks
that only a few lines remain for the millstones of the enamel-
scaled fishes. In none of these do the teeth, which are
developed on most of the bones of both the upper and lower
jaws, ever form continuous plates ; and they are generally
either sph, rical or kidney-bean-shaped and arranged in more
or less longitudinal rows. Unlike those of the sharks and
rays, these teeth, as in the familiar Lepidolus of the Wealden
>
164
MOSTLY MAMMALS
are replaced by vertical successors; and their mode of
development is so peculiar that in some cases the new tooth
is placed wrong way up beneath the one it is destined
to replace. In other instances, as in Coelodus from the
Folkestone Gault, successional teeth have not been ob-
served, and the mode of renewal is consequently still
unknown. Although within the Umits of a single article
it is impossible to do more than give the crudest sketch
of a vast subject, yet what has been written may be sufficient
to attract my readers' interest to an extremely fascinating
branch of zoological study.
*'
r
,^.
I?-
AN INVISIBLE MONKEY
In most English dictionaries the verb " to mimic " has for
its synonyms " to ape, imitate, counterfeit, or mocli " ; and
it is thus intimately connected with the monkey tribe, whose
imitations of human gestures and actions form one of their
most prominent cnaractcristic features. Till a few years
ago naturalists were, however, totally unacquainted with
any instance among these animals of "mimicry" in its
scientific sense— that is to say, no case was known where
a monkey, for the sake of protection, resembled in form
or coloration either some other animal or an inanimate
object. During a journey to Mount Ke.iya and Lake
Barengo, in East Africa, Dr. J. W. Gregory, late of the
Natural His-.ory Museum, discovered that the peculiar type
of coloration characterising certain African monkeys is
protective in its nature, and that these monkeys, when
in their native haunts, are thereby rendered practically
invisible.
The monkeys in question (one of which is represented
in the annexed plate) are known to the natives of certain
districts of East Africa by the name of "guereza." They
belong to the group of thumblcss apes (Cohhis), which
are restricted tc the African continent, where they take the
place of the langurs, or sacred apes, of India and other
Oriental countries. Fror-. the other thumbless apes the
guerezas (or those species to which that name properly
167
168
MOSTLY MAMMALS
applies) are distinguished by their long silky black and
white coats, which are much sought after by the natives
of Africa as articles of costume and for purposes of deco-
ration. In the typical Abyssijiiari guereza, the greater part
of the fur of the body and limbs is of a deep shining
black, but from the shoulders there depends a mantle of
long white silky hairs extending down each side and
meeting on the lower part of the back, so as to hang do\n
over the sides of the body as well as over the hips and
thighs. The terminal third of the tail is also clothed with
long white hairs. Strikingly handsome as is this species,
it is excelled in this respect by the East African guereza,
in which the base of the tail is alone biack, the wh"le of
the remainder of that appendage being developed into a
magnificent white brush, which may be compared to an
Indian chowri, or fly-whisk.
Black and white is a type of coloration so conspicuous,
and, at the same time, so rare among the larger mammals,
that whenever it occurs we may be quite sure it is developed
for some special purpose, although, unless we have an
opportunity of seeing the animals in their native haunts,
it is almost impossible to divine what that purpose may
be. It is met with elsewhere in the zebras, and also in
the great panda {Acluropus) of Tibet. Although the former
animals are conspicuous enough in a stall at the " Zoo,"
or when stuffed in a museum, travellers tell us that when
seen in the haze of an African desert their black and
white stripes fade at a very shn ' distance to an almost
invisible grey. This may even be observed in a hot
summer, when the grass is burnt brown, in the Duke of
Bedford's seat at Woburn Abbey, where several o these
beautiful animals roam at will in the park during the
summer months.
I ,,
••1 *•■
AN INVISIBLE MONKEY -.Sg
With regard to the great panda, we have at present no
infornik ,. n may be suggesfd, howt .r, ihal the start-
ling contrast presented by its strealts and patches of creamy
white on a jtt.blacl( ground may harmonise with patches
of snow r.i blacit rocl(s, nr possibly with the lines of light
between the dark stems of forest trees.
Be this as it may, Dr. Gregory's observations have sov-jd
the problem of the use of the remarkable coloration of
the gucrezas, which has so long puzzled naturalists. Like
others of their kind, these monkeys pass most of their
time high up on trees, whe.c they sleep either resting on
a bough or hanging bc-.eath by their hands, or hands and
feet. Now, in the den;e forests clothing Mount Kilima
Njaro and other districts of East Africa, the black-barked
boughs are thickly draped with pendent n-sses and wieaihs
of grey beard-moss or lichen, which reach for several feet
below them. "As the monkeys hang from the branches,"
wntes Dr. Gregory, ■• they so closely resemble thr lichen
that I found it imposs.hle to recognise the.-, when but a
a. ort distance away."
W'- have thus decisive evid.-nce that the black and
white coloration of the guerezas protects these animals
by a clos.. resemblance to their inanimate surroundings.
There are, however, certain smaller mammals with a
similar type of coloration in which the startling cc-trast
of black and white seems to be for the purpose of rendering
them conspicuous; end as son.e at least of these creatures
are endowed with a most disgusti; • odour, their con-
spicuousness has been regarded as warnmg other animals
from attacking them. The bes: know.i of these creatures
are the ill-famed American skunks, which are in the habit
of stalking over Argentine Pampas in full daylig"-;
with the most consummate indifference to the presence o.'
,jo MOSTLY MAMMALS
other and mnre powerful animals. And any one who is in
doul)t as to the cause of this proud inilifrer<nce -hould
read Mr. W. II. Hudson's account of the terribh: and
lasting effects of their fo..iid excretion, as detaded in "The
Naturalist in La Plata." Less familiar is the so-called
Cape polecat 'Irtoiiyx), an animal of about the same size
as an ordinary poleiat, but having its fur marked with
broad longitudinal bands of blackish brown alternating
with white. As this creature is stated to have an odour
as disgusting as that of a skunk, there can be little
hesitation in classing it among animals possessing " warning
odours."
Another incmber of the same family (I'ociilogak alhiniicha)
from South Africa is likewise conspicuously banded with
blackish brown and white, and thus closely resembles the
Cape polecat, for which it might readily be mistaken.
Unfortunately, its habits seem very imperfectly known, and
it is difficult to ascertain whether it has an odour as
powerful as .hat of its larger cousin. It is very probable
however, it has not, and that its coloratior . a true
mimicry of that of the latter. If this be bc, we shall
have the pied coloration of the animals above mentioned
attributable to three distinct causes. In the case of the
guereza it affords protection, from its resemblance to in-
animate surroundings; in the skunk and Cape polecat it
serves to warn other animals from attacking a noisome
beast, which is thereby protected ; while the South African
weasel enjoys immunity from attack from being mistaken
for the simii.irly coloured polecat.
SOME QUEER-NOSED MOiNKEYS
Or all the features of the human co' ■ ''nance none siems
more prone to exhibit marked variatinii in si/e and shape
than the nose A broail and flattened nose, is, for Instance,
characteristic of negroes and Australian natives, whereas
the classic or Grecian nnse is found only among the highest
types of the Caucasian races of Europi . But wl^ c the
nasal organs of the lower races of mankind differ ir neral
from those of the higher peoples of Western Europe, yet
it is among the latter that perhaps the greatest amount
of vai.jtion in this respect -iay be notic<d. And although
even amorg these mixed Western nations a considerable
amount of such nrsal variability is evidently hereditary
and distinctive of particular families or races, yet there
are many instances in which it appears largely individual,
although it may, of course, be due to reversion. Be this
as it may, it will suffice for our present purpose to note
that among European races a distinctly " snub-nosed," or
" tip-tilted," type is not uncommon on the one extreme,
while at the other we have what is commonly called the
" long-nosed " type ; the latter being broadly distinguished
from the arched Roman, or aquiline, nose.
Now, it is a remarkable fact in natural history that
whereas the great majority of the monkeys and apes of
the Old World have noses of an ordinary pattern— that is
to say, not very far removed from the type characterising
172
MOSTLY MAMMALS
the inferior representatives of the human race — three of
them have developed peculiarities in this respect which
entitle them to be regarded as among the most extraordinary
of all four-footed beasts. And not the least remarkable
circumstance in connection vi'ith these nasal eccentricities
is that the two extremes are found in members of a
ringle group inhabiting widely distant and completely
isolated areas.
Before referring to the species displaying these remark-
able peculiarities, it vill be well to briefly refer to their
nearest relatives. These are most familiarly known by
the sacred Hanuman monkey, or langur, of India, which
is one of a large group of species inhabiting most of the
Oriental countries ; one kind, the Himalayan langur, being
found at a considerable elevation in the outer hills of the
m'ghty range from which it takes its name. And in winter,
or early spring, these large grey monkeys may frequently
be seen disporting themselves among pines heavily laden
with snow. As distinctive features of the langurs, reference
may be made to their slim build, long hind-legs and tail,
and the absence of pouches in the cheeks for the storage
of food. Their hair is long and coarse, and may be of
any colour from slaty grey to bright foxy red or black.
All have, for monkeys, fairly well-formed noses, of ordinary
dimensions. Unlike the majority of the members of their
order, they feed on leaves in preference to fruits ; and, as
showing how similarity of habit gives rise to similarity of
structure (or, if the reader so please, vice versa), it is inter-
esting to note that the langurs have complex stomachs,
strikingly similar to those of sheep and ruminants in
general ; most other monkeys having simple stomachs of
the normal type.
As already mentioned, the three species of monkeys
lTcJa,,f. 172
5^
SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS 173
which have gone in for eccentric nasal development are
near relatives of the langurs. The first of these, which
has been known in Europe since 1781, is an inhabitant
of Borneo, where, be it observed, there are also true
langurs with normal noses. As may be seen from the
figure, which represents S male in the Natural History
branch of the British Museum, the proboscis monkey, as
the species is called, is characterised by the inordinate
length of the nasal organ of the adult male, which projects
far in front of the line of the mouth, and gives to the
whole physiognomy a most grotesque appearance. So
remarkable, indeed, is the face of this monkey, that the
first view of a stuffed specimen suggests to the beholder
that it has been " faked," after the fashion of the " bogus "
animals formerly manufactured by our Japanese friends.
The nostrils are situated on the under surface of the tip
of this ungainly proboscis, and are separated from another
by an extremely narrow partition. According to recent
observations, the nose, instead of projecting straight forward,
should bend down in front of the mouth. In the case of
the female the degree of nasal development is considerably
less; and in the young of both sexes the nose is com-
paratively short, with the nostrils visible from the front,
instead of being directed downwards. In point of size,
the proboscis monkey is a comparatively large animal, the
length of the head and body of the adult male being about
thirty inches, and that of the tail some three inches less.
Its colour is likewise conspicuous and striking, the upper
parts, with the exception of a light band across the loins,
being brilliant chestnut, and the face, which is fringed
with long yellowish hair, a reddish flesh-colour.
Far more brilliant in colour is the first of the two
Tibetan species which exhibit the opposite type of nasal
174
MOSTLY MAMMALS
eccentricity in tlie langur group. But tliese snub-nosed
monkeys, as tlicy may be appropriately called, are fully
as large as the Borneau species, and as they are of nmch
stouter build, both as regaids body ajid limbs, they look
considerably bigger. Instead of a proboscis-like develop-
ment of nose these two very peculiar monkeys have their
nasal organs bent suddenly upwards at a sharp angle to
the line of the face, so that tlie nostrils are fully visible
from the front ; the whole aspect of the face being curiously
piquant. The species here figured — the orange snub-nosed
monkey — was first made known to European science by the
French missionary, Abbs David, who obtained specimens
while travelling in the province of Moupin, in Eastern Tibet.
Some of his specimens arc preserved in the Zoological
Museum at Paris ; and the coloured plate of a female has
long been the only figure available tu naturalists. Thanks,
however, to an energetic English naturalist resident in
China, the British Museum a few years ago acquired a
pair of these monkeys ; the figure being taken from the
male, which has been mounted for exhibition, and forms
one of the most attractive specimens in the large monkey
case. Since the photograph does not attempt chromatic
effect, it is necessary to mention that the general colour of
the upper-parts is rich olive-brown, flecked with yellow
and suffused with rufous, while the sides of the face, the
lower part of the forehead, and the under-parts are brilliant
yellowish orange, tending to full orange on the face, the
naked portions of which are pale blue. Across the loins
there is a light patch comparable to th-.- f the proboscis
monkey ; the tail being proportionately rather shorter than
in the latter, with a distinct tendency towards a club-shape.
Altogether, the appearance of the animal is highly peculiar,
both from the point of view of form and of coloration.
OkA.MK. Sm I!-N.KE|, Mo\ki,v.
A niitivc -jIS/.c* liiieii.
$
SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKEYS ,75
The head, for example, in addition to its "tip-tilted " nose
IS noticeable for its extreme massiveness, which gives an
almost leonine appearance. And this general massiveness
.s equally observable in the limbs, which are relatively shorter
thn . in the true langurs ; the feet being especially heavy
and broad, with their toe= almost concealed by long hair
And here the attention of the reader may be directed to
the circumstance that animals inhabiting cold countries
(and Sze-chuan, where the British Museum specimens
were obtained, can be very cold) are almost always much
more heavily and substantially built than their relatives
from warmer climes. An excellent instance of this phe-
nomenon ,s afforded by the case of tigers in the same
collection; the Bengal tiger being a long lanky beast,
whue Its cousi., from Mongolia is a heavily built creature
with extraordinarily massive limbs. Of course the longer
hair of the Central Asiatic animal tends to exaggerate its
general massiveness, which, however, would be perfectly
apparent even without this extraneous aid. Possibly a
stout and heavy build, es^pecially as regards the limbs
may aid in protecting the circulatory system from the
effects of extreme cold.
As -egards the habits of the orange snub-nosed monkey
our information is of the most meagre description. These
animals are stated, however, to congregate in troops of
considerable size, and to ascend the tallest trees (the part
of Tibet they inhabit being more or less wooded) in search
of fruits, which they much prefer to leaves. When pressed
by hunger, leaves and the tender shoots of bamboo are
said to form their staple nutriment. Bearing in mind
this alleged partiality for fruits, it would be interesting to
determine whether the stomach of these monkeys is as
complex as that of the true langurs.
176
MOSTLY MAMMALS
•!v;:
In 1899 the professors of the Paris Museum were enabled
to publish, with excellent coloured plates, the description
of a second species of the same group, also coming from
Tibet and the adjacent districts of North-Wcstern China.
This second species, which may be popularly known as
the slaty snub-nosed monkey, is fully as large as its more
brilliantly coloured relative, which it also resembles in the
form of its nose. The tail is, however, much more bushy,
and long-haired throughout. And while the colour of the
upper-parts and outer and front surfaces of the limbs is
dark slaty brown, the cheeks, under-parts, and thighs are
mostly pure white ; the naked portions of the face being
flesh-coloured.
The specimens of the slate-coloured species in the Paris
Museum were obtained in the north-west extremity of
Yun-nan, on the left bank of the River Mekong, in the
neighbourhood of Yerkalo, and it seems evident that the
species inhabits the crest of the long range separating
the valley of the Mekong from that of the Vang-tsi-kiang.
During the summer it is probable they frequent that side
of the range which overlooks China, while their winter
quarters would appear to be the side directed towards
Tibet. The native name of " tchru-tchra," or mow-monkey,
sufficiently indicates the severity of the climate of the
region they inhabit. Probably the Blue River forms the
line of division between the distributional areas of the slaty
and the orange species, the latter being found in Southern
Kansu, Northern Sze-chuan, and Moupin.
Despite their long isolation from the sphere of European
science, one, if not both, of these peculiar monkeys seems
to have been known to the Chinese from time immemorial,
for in a work entitled " Shan-Hoi-King," or " Mountain and
Sea Record," which has been supposed to date from earlier
SOME QUEER-NOSED MONKOYS ,„
worth knowing abou. th.se ani.as UnL ,""'"""«
who have had .he opportunity ofteing "he e"":':'',' ''°"'
the.r native haunts hav,. „„, . ■ j ^ monkeys in
.Here is an abso t TL of ^ ■" '" '"'^ "•^"^^' ""
,M • ="'uic jacK ol information m reearH tn ii,-
all-important noint tk,. .u "^Sara to this
^. Jessing i: i'^ ^^hT i::.:::: ^^ '°'-'
-- be regarded as practicaliy ce f„ " T he"'"™"^'
Jar, owing partly .o the anxiety to describe n 1 '"''"'
and varieties, and nartlv to ,h j ■ '"'"^ "^»' sP«cies
°r every aniinai fo o^r ireu.rTh '" °'""" '"'"'""'^
;-eney ror inteiiigent e^^ aTtra^ :! IT
-Xofrsrt:i^-::r-'F-
:eSr:.t:.rirF^=^— -
discovery of t e 2„ ^" "? .'^"'"^ «"-'-• "•« "he
Tibetan'monkeys o of .1? °' •''^ ''P""'"^'' -- of the
Bornean cousinf lonid be a .b T "^ "'''" °' "■-
'han the acquis til of ^^'^"'^ '™es more valuable
-'^eZraci:':!!:;-;;/----
io:rru:rrr^----~:^
B. an means, tbLrTirisTrLvT:'™^ -^'™-
— collecting into aver, subS^:^;::rS
: . _ C
■ ;8
MOSTLY MAMMALS
ft*:.
S
all their energies to the solution of problemt of this n»ture
(and their name is legion) before it becomes for ever too
late.
After what has been said as to the necessity of actual
observation to determine the reason for the peculiar nasal
development of these monkeys, it would obviously be out
of place to attempt to solve the proh'.-m ir any other way.
Attention may, however, b<- directed to the circumstance
that the chiru, or Tibetan antelope, has a remarkably
swollen and puffy nose. And although the saiga antelope,
of the plains of Ceiuj al Russia, has an equally remarkable
nasal development, yet it seems highly probable that in
the case of the chiru, at any rate, the enlarged size of the
nasal chamber and nostrils is correlated with the rarefied
atmosphere of the elevated plateau on which that ruminant
dwells. The snub-nosed monkeys, although living at a
considerably lower elevation than the chiru, are yet " well
up in the world"; and since the shape of the nose in the
former would appear designed to admit the passage of as
much air as possible with the least impediment, it may
perhaps be suggested that the habitat has something to do
with the nose structure. As to the reason for the genesis
of the ungainly proboscis of the Bornean monkey, 1 have
not even the rudiment of a theory to offer my readers.
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL
Mv readers are not to imagine that the animal whose
portrait appears as a frontispiece to .t,is work i, one new
t^'rT7: Z "" """ """'^ ^'^^'^^-^ "- "i'herto beer.
«t, known On the contrary, i, has been known
to science for nea.ly a century and a quarter, but it is
altogether su.h a pecuhar and interesting crea.Jre tha
may well form the text of an article.
Like so many of its cousins el.. lemurs, the aye-aye
which '7T"[ "' "'"'^^"^"' ''""" "^••- -«' -ast of
wh,ch .sland the first specimen known to European
.c,ence brought to Paris in ,;.o by the Fre^:::
— sr;T::ds"''V'r^^?7™' "'"^ -'-
«iiu Diras. by the naturalists of that time
despite the remarkable peculiarity in ,he structure of
he forepaws mentioned later on in this article, it was
,lZt ^- '■ "•"';■■''' ""'' ""O'di-'gly named Sa.rus
^fS'-sc.'-'e'.s.s. It was, however, soon after apparent
h t, whatever might be its real affinities, it could
^quirrels, and it was accordingly renamed, at first
ih justification for the proposal of this second title was
'ha. the first had been previously employed in botany
which was then (although not now) regarded as "'
"s use in zoology. And at the present day n,.
,80 MOSTLY MAMMA13
naturalists think that the almost forgotten Daubtiiloma
ought to Ik- resuscitated, and the familiar Chiromj/s
abolished. This, however, is a matter whith may be left
for ihc specialists to settle among themselves.
But it is not with regard to its scientific name alone
^M the creature has been unfortunate ; a difTercnce of
u.inion having arisen as to its right to the name "aye-
aye, by which it has been universally known ,nce
Sonncrat's time. That traveller, it appears, had at first
two living specimens captured on the west coast of
Madagascar; and when these were seen by the natives
of the east coast (where the species is unknown), they
ejaculated " aye-aye "—or more probably " hai-hai "—which
seems, not unnaturally, to have been regarded as the
nati-e name of the animal. At least as early as i860
it was, however, suggested that in place of being the
anim.i's name, it was merely an exclamation of surprise
at the sight of a strange and unknown creature. And
this view of the case is maintained to be correct by
Mr. Shaw, a missionary who resided for many years in
Madagascar. On the other hand, inothe missionary,
:ir. Baron, afTirms that the name "hai-hai s derived
from the creature's peculiar cry.
Wnen those who have the best opportunities for
deciding arrive at such opposite conclusions, it is difficult
for uthers to form a judgment. I have, however, con-
sult, d a naturalist familiar with Madagascar, who tells
me that "hai" is undoubtedly the Mala^isy expression
of surprise or wonderment ; and that as the aye-aye
is a shy and rare creature, seldom seen even by the
natives of the districts where it is found, and then
regarded with superstitious awe, the colloquial expression
of wonderment may well have become its accepted name.
A REMARK \B1.I.: MAMMAL ,«,
"■' however, "hai-hai" be, a> Mr H,.
creature', own cry ihen \^ ,. "'"'"' ""^
An>w.y, there „ems undoubt.dly to be ,„„,c. kinri nf
connection bc-.ween the exclamatfon " hal-hT and ,h
name " avc-ave " n,„i . "•" nai and the
a-ept the La 7 """ T""""' "^ ""'"' '°
ha, anothr vernacular titk-in "' "' """'"'>
\, ,1„, . "'" ""'^ '" 'O""*^ parts of the island.
A, already ™.nt,oned, the naturalist Gmelin, by whon,
^aye-aye was originally described, regarded 't a
aroi^rr-r:.--"'«-^....e:u
— s.r.ed;on,'rsr:h:;i;;t::^ "-
0 .he animal, and -he appr„,i..ior:: ^^ ^ ; rj^::
the rodent type. When, however the P,r,.
more carefully examined anT s kul air'™""'" ""
n Pans specn.en remained the only examnip
LZT '" ='''- '"^■^'■"' '^^^ ^-d-'H left EngZd
Xn prr:::ro' "^-"""^ " "^ •'^'^-""- ^^^ '^''-
^f£^.^:t::ci— d\-— :-
" '" ^™"'= "^^'-^ ■" E"s!and preserved .n Spirit
IS,
,gj MOSTLY MAMMALS
It was dissected and described by Owen in i860; and
from tlie beautiful drawing by Wolf which accompanies
that memoir the figure illustrating the present article is
reproduced.
Soon after the arrival of the specimen sent to Owen
a living example of this strange animal was received at
'he menagerie of the Zoological Society in Regent's Park ;
his being p female presented in 1862 by Mr. E. Melhsh.
An cxceller account of the habits of this animal in
captivity was published by the late Mr. A. D. Bartlett in
the Society's Proceedings for the same year. A male and
female were also received in the menagerie in the summer
of 1883, while a fourth specimen was purchased in the
autumn of 1887.
The ordinary public saw, however, little or nothing of
these specimens, for as might be inferred by its large
eyes the aye-aye is esse-tially a nocturnal creature,
remaining comfortably curled up during the daylight hours,
and only venturing out as darkness comes on. In this
respect it resembles the majority of its cousins the lemurs ;
and were we naming animals afresh, the name lemur would
in some ways have been more appropriate to this part.ctdar
species than to those to which it properly belongs. For
the word "lemur" in its original signification means a
ghost, and not only is the aye-aye stealthy and ghost-.ke
in its movements, but it is regarded with superstitious
dread by the Malagasy, who believe it to be a kind
of spirit. . . .u
As already mentioned, the aye-aye has somewhat the
appearand f a large dark-coloured squirrel; and in size
it may be compared roughly to a cat, the total length
being about three feet. The head and face are short and
rounded and the large eyes are furnished with a membrane
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL ,83
which can be drawn across them from one side The
arge and rounded cars, which are inchned backwards,
The blackish brown hair all over the body is long and
cc,arse but becomes longer Mill on the long and 'bushy
h h . r'"f """ "™='^^'">''= ^--'^ in the structure of
he hmd-hmbs, which somewhat exceed the front pair in
length; but the forepaws, or hands, which are unusually
elonga ed, display a most strange peculiarity. As in lemurs
generally, the thumb is capable of being opposed to the
.ndex finger, which is short; .he latter, together with
.he fourth and fifth digits, being of normal thickness and
provided w,th long compressed and pointed claws. The
third or middle finger, as is beautifully shown in the
figure, .s however, quite unlike the others, being extremely
thm and sp,der-I,ke. Of its use, n.ention will be made
This attenuated middle finger is one of two marked
pecuhar,„es whereby the aye-aye differs so strangely from
.ts relatives the lemurs. Its other peculiarity is to be
found ,n its dentition. Ordinary lemurs, it may be observed
have from thirty-two to thirty-six teeth; the incisor or fron^
teeth, although presenting certain peculiarities of form
agreeing numerically with those of monkeys and man in mos^
cases. In the aye-aye, however, there are only eighteen
teeth, all told ; the incisors being reduced to a single pair in
each jaw, the canines, or tusks, wanting, and the cheek-teeth
or grinders, comprising four pairs in the upper and three'
■n the lower jaw. Nor is this all, for the incisors, which
grow throughout life, are large somewhat chisel-like
teeth, recalling in many respects those of a beaver or
other rodent, although with peculiarities of their own
which render them easily distinguishable from those of all
f '"'•^1^5^
,,.,j^..
i84
MOSTLY MAMMALS
the members of that group. Still, the whole character
of the dentition is so essentially rodent-like that there is
little wonder the old naturalists regarded the aye-aye as
a near relative of the squirrels.
The general anatomy of the aye-aye, especially the
structure of its skull, shows, however, that it is certainly
a near relative of the lemurs, which are themselves distant
cousins of the monkeys, from which, among many other
peculiaritiis, they differ by ihe'" expressionless, fox-Hke
faces. The aye-aye is therefore classed as a lemuroid ; of
which group, owing to the peculiarity of its dentition and
its attenuated middle finger, it must be regarded as a highly
aberrant and specialised member.
Unfortunately, in spite of recent explorations in the
superficial deposits of Madagascar, where bones of huge
extinct lemuroids have been disinterred, nothing whatever
is known as to the ancestry of the aye-aye. Evidently,
however, it must be a comparatively ancient type, for, if
we may judge from the analogy of other groups, a long
period of time must have been required to allow of the
gradual evolution and development of its characteristic
peculiarities of dental and manual structure.
Evidently these peculiarities must be connected with its
mode of life. And we learn from those who have observed
the creature in its native forests or in captivity, that the
aye-aye, unlike the true lemurs, subsists largely upon wood-
boring insect larvae, especially on the larva of a beetle known
to the Malagasy by the name of andraitra. Apparently the
aye-aye possesses a sense of hearing so acute that when
on a bough it can hear the faint rasping sound made by
the jaws of the andraita as it bores its way through the
wood in the interior. Thereupon it at cnce sets to work
with its powerful front teeth to chisel away the intervening
-fLf^i^^w. :
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL
185
wood till it opens up the tunnel of the burrowing
larva. As soon as the tunnel is reached the attenuated
ra.ddle finger is thrust in, either to act as a probe to
determme the position of the larva, or to drag it out from
Its hid.ng-place, or perhaps for both purposes. Some un-
certamty slill obtains as to the exact details of these and
other operations of a lil<e nature, for our information on
tnese points appears to be mainly, if not exclusively, based
on native ac-.unts. There is, however, little doubt that
the modus opuandi is in the main as described above
We thus have a sufficient and satisfactory explanation
the reason why the aye-aye differs so remarkably in its
.ntition and in the structure of its hand from all its living
k.ndred. If, however, we attempt to account for the gradual
development of these peculiarities by what is commonly called
natural selection, we encounter considerable difficulty. It is
easy to conceive how the ancestors of the horse lost their
lateral toes by disuse, but how an ancestral aye-aye gradually
reduced the size of its middle finger till it assumed the
attenuated proportions of its existing representative is very
hard to understand, seeing that a slight diminution in the
cahbre of this digit would be of little or no advantage
Some much more potent cause than " natural selection "
seems necessary in this, as in many other instances.
As regards its general mode of life, the aye-aye wanders
through the silent forest at night in pairs, and never appears
to associate with others of its fellows than its partner Pro-
baoly the partnership is for life, but on this point we have
no definite information. The aye-aye is one of the com-
paratively few mammals which build a regular nest; this
being constructed, according to Mr. Baron, of the carefully
rolled up leaves of one pa.ticular kind of tree, and lined
with small twigs and dry leaves; the whole structure having
'^wr.Y.^mx^M
1 86
MOSTLY MAMMALS
Si
a diameter of about a couple of feet. Apparently the sole use
of this nest is as a nursery, and in it at the proper season
the female brings forth a solitary offspring — whether born
naked or clothed with hair docs not seem to be ascertained.
The female alone builds the nest, which is placed securely
in the fork of a tree.
In addition to the use described above, the attenuated
middle finger is employed to comb the hair and clean the
eyes, mouth, and nose ; the animal, when thus engaged
generally suspending itself head-downwards from a bough
by its hind-feet ; at any rate, this is the case in captivity.
As a rule, the food is not held in the paws, after the
usual monkey and lemur fashion, although the act of
drinking is performed in an ape-like manner, the fingers
being first dipped in water and then sucked.
Besides the boring larvae already alluded to, it is certain
that the aye-aye will eat various other kinds of food,
although native accounts differ to a considerable extent on
this point. Some say, for instance, that it subsists largely
on birds and their eggs, whi'e others assert that honey is
its favourite food. Probably there is some degree of truth
in all these accounts, and that the creature is to a certain
extent omnivorous. It will eat sugar-cane with considerable
gusto, and in captivity has been known to take bananas.
But that these latter are not its natural food would seem to
be evident from the fact that they stick in and clog its teeth.
As regards its distribution, the aye-aye is a very local
animal ; its chief habitat being the great forest clothing the
eastern border of the great central plateau of the island.
Heie, however, it is apparently restricted to the district
forming the confines of the provinces of Sihanaka and
Betsimisaraka, which is situate about five-and-twenty miles
inland in latitude 17° 22' S. I am, h. wever, informed by
A REMARKABLE MAMMAL
187
the fnend mentioned above that an aye-aye occurs in the
south of the island, which, if its habitat is isolated from
that of the typical form, may turn out to bo a new local
race, or possibly eve.i a distinct species.
Although the aye-aye is certainly far from being a common
animal, yet it is probably less rare than is often supposed.
Its supposed great rarity appears to be largely due to the
dread in which it is held by the natives, who can seldom
be mduced to capture a specimen. It is believed to be
endowed with the power of causing the death of those who
attempt its capture, and it is consequently only some of the
bolder natives who will venture on this undertaking, and
then only after providing themselves with a charm to
counteract the effects of the creature's supposed super-
natural power. Occasionally, according to Mr. Baron's
notes, it is tall-;, in traps set for lemurs; but it is
then, unless the owner is possessed of the aforesaid charm,
invariably set at liberty, after being anointed with fat in
order to propitiate its goodwill and forgiveness. Only
very occasionally is a specimen offered for sale in the
market at Tamatave, when a good price— presuniably from
Europeans — is always obtained.
& *%\r
V
THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT*
Although it is a commoa notion that our ordinary " tabby "
is thie direct descendant of the European wild cat {Fell's
calus), now nearly exterminated in Britain, the best modern
authorities are of opinion that the real ancestor is a wild
species inhabiting North-Eastern Africa, and commonly
known as the Egyptian cat (Fdis libyca) ; a reputed
variety of tlie same species being stated to inhabit parts of
Southern Europe. The facility with which several of the
smaller species of wild cats will breed together, and likewise
the circumstance that the domesticated cats of Asia appa-
rently have an origin distinct from that of the European
breeds, renders the subject one of more difficulty than
might at first seem to be the case.
With regard to the differences between the domesticated
and the wild cat, it has been generally asserted that the
latter is considerably the larger animal of the two, although
the comparisons made by Dr. E. Hamilton, who has
published a book on the subject, indicate that this is not
really the case. The statement that the tail of the wild
species is shorter and stouter seems largely due to the
circumstance that the fur is more abundant and bushy,
* A portion of the substance of this and the next article appear
in the one on "the Origin of Domesticated .\nimais." In spite,
however, of a certain amount of repetition, it has been thougtit
advisable to let all three stand in their original form.
THE PEDIGREE OF THE CAT .89
so that the tail of the don,eMicated breeds appears longer
and more slender; but, on the whole, it seen.s ,r n in
domesticated cats the tail does differ to a certain extent in
th.s respect from that of the pure-bred wild animal, although
.nd,vduals of the don,es.icated breeds are sometimes me,
w.th wh,ch exhibit scarcely any difference in this respect
from the w.ld cat. Obviously, then, the tad-on which so
much stress has been laid-is not a matter of very much
.mportance in the inquiry. With regard ,0 the general
coloration of the fur, although both the wild eat and a
large number of individuals of the old European domesticated
breed are what is commonly known as the "tabby" type
the markings of pure-bred specimens of the former a.e
stated to present certain differences from those of the latter
and are described as being more tiger-like. Then, too, the
dark nngs on the tail of the wild cat appear blackish
brown when held against the light, whereas those of the
domestic tabby are jetty black.
Perhaps the most important point in which domesti-
cated cats differ from the pure-bred wild cat, and thereby
resemble the Egyptian cat, is in the coloration of the hind-
oot. Dr. A. Nehring, of Berlin, who first brought the
fact to notice, states that in the Egyptian animal the pads
on the under-surface of .he toes are black, this colour
extending upwards on the foot as far as the heel-bone the
under-surface of this part of the limb being in some cases
"holly black, but in others marked with black stripes
on a hghter ground. On the other hand, the pure-bred
wild cat has only a small black spot on the pads, while the
'"lour of the fur on the under-surface of the foot as far
"P as the heel-bone is some shade of yellow or yellowish
grey. Since all European domesticated cats-except of
course, those which are wholly black or white-agree with
igo
MOSTLY MAMMALS
tlie former type of coloration, there seems full justification
for regarding them as the descendants of the Egyptian
cat. Moreover, the tail of the latter is distinctly longer
and less bushy than that of the wild cat, and thus more
like that of the domestic breeds. Aduiiional evidence in
favour of the soithcrn origin of our domesticated breeds
has been furnished by Dr. G. Martorelli, of Milan, who
has described two European wild cats, the one from
Sardinia and the other from the Tuscan Maremma. These
are stated to be very different from the ordinary wild cat,
and to approximate to the Egyptian cat, of which they
are regarded as f ning a race or variety, under the name
of the Mediterranean cat (/". mediterranea). As these cats
are stated to present considerable resemblance to domes-
ticated breeds, there can be little hesitation in accepting
the view that, so far as Europe is concerned, the la:ter
were originally derived from the Egyptian cat.
But Prof. Martorelli goes one step farther than this,
and suggests that the European wild cat, through the
intervention of the Mediterranean race of the Eg^'ptian
cat, is likewise descended from the latter. Curiously
enough, Dr. Hamilton, from the circumstance that certain
fossil remains found in Belgium and England seemed to
belong to F. libyca rather than F. calus, had previously
hazarded the conjecture " that the European wild cat and
the Egyptian domestic cat are derived from one common
ancestor."
Although it is going a little out of the way, it may be
mentioned here that, in tnn opinion of Prof Martorelli, the
Egyptian cat has given rist to another line of descendants.
The first species on this line is the jungle-cat {F. chaus)
of India and Africa, while the second place is occupied by
the various species of lynxes, between which and the
^-'
i
THE PEmOREE OF THE CAT ,„
Egyptian ca, the jungle-cat forn,. a connecting link. ! rom
a s,de branch of .his line ,he steppc-cat (F. cauda>a) of
Bokhara >s considered to have sprung
Returning to the domesticated cat of Europe, i, may be
-n.,oned .hat the animal termed .W by the ancient
Creeks and kept by them in a don.es.ica.ed state, was
not really a cat, although the word is so rendered in ou
rans lafon of the classics. On the contrary, i. appears,
from the researches of the late Prof Rolleston, of Oxford
to have been a .pecies of marten (MusMa). That cats
were tamed by the ancient Egyptians is prove-J by the
number of the,r mummified remains entombed in various
parts of the country, notably at Bubastis, Indeed, so
plent,ful are mummified cat,, that a few years ago they
ormed a br.sk art.cle of trade, being employed for manure
Irom a careful exammation of these remains, it has been
.nerred by Prof. Virchow that the animal .; which hey
Wonged was mdistinguishable from the wild Egyptian
at, and was not truly domesticated. In one of the anc „"
frescoes of the country there is, however, depicted a c
prescnt,ng a striking likeness to the ordinary ■■ tabby"
and .t ,s therefore quite possible that a distinct domesticated
race may also have existed in ancient Egypt. There is
.n...ed a poss.bility that if the so-called Mediterranean cat'
e really a wld variety o^ the Egyptian cat, a domesticated
ace may have or.ginated in South-Eastern Europe, rather
an .n North-Eastern Africa. In suggesting 'tlahl
ngmal domestication took place in the latter area Dr
Ham ton ates the occurrence of representations of undo bted
-^ew^Ltohi;'^s^iowr..::h^trt;r
was no doubt whatever that the Etruscans received Ihl
'9'
MOSTLY MAMMALS
Si
t
domestic cat from the Egyptians by means of the Pho^iician
traders, as in the very earliest and rudest Etruscan tombs
in the neighbourhood of Civcta Castullani (the contents
of which are now in the Museum of Papa Giulio, near
Romt) there are unmistakable traces of the Phoenician
tradt." Without denying that such may have been the
case, the discovery of the Mediterranean cat, as already
mentioned, suggests the possibility of a European origin
for the domesticated breed. On the other hand, the
Mediterranean cat itself may prove to be merely a feral
race derived from an Egyptian importation.
Be this as it may — and the problem Is one hardly
capable of decisive solution— Dr. Nehring is of opinion
that wild cats were originally brought under subjugation
by stationary agricultural tribes, to whom it must have
been of the utmost importance that their hoards of grain
sho". Id be protected as much as possible from the ravages
of rats and mice.
When once a domesticated breed had become established
in Europe, it would certainly have freely crossed with the
wild cat. And it seems highly probable that to such
crossing is due the great prevalence of " tabbies " in Europe
previous to the introduction of the now fashionable Persian
breed, the wild cat having the dark stripes bro-'der, and
frequently more numerous, than they are in the gyptian
cat.
As to the date of introduction of the domesticated cat
into Britain, the earliest written evidence of its existence
there occurs in the laws of the Welsh prince Howel
Dhu, which were enacted about the middle of the tenth
century. Certain remains of cats have, however, been dis-
covered in Roman villas in this country, which appear to
belong to the domesticated breed; and if these be rightly
THE PEDIGREE OK TflE ( \T
i;.., «..„.... ..,„r;„:;;:r,„rr;;
e unknown, and eichc. sp„...<, „. ,„,ro Jy c;,ou red cats
- prevalent, ,n India, for instance, .here they hive no
^.n crossed with a European stock, the ordinary ca are
..her spotted or fulvous, with barred limbs. ,' sZ we
ave he peculiar and valuable Siamese cat. chara c",!:
by .he uniformly tawny fur of the body, the dark mu«lc
under-parts, and limbs, the short leg", and blu "ye '
Ag m, he long-haired Persian or Angora breed s a, so
uniformly coloured, the prevalent tint, being white I
iowish, or greyish. ' ^"
Among the sn,aller wild species of the genus indigenous
.0 Ind,a ,s the desert-cat (/-,.& on.a,,), of which Z
general colour is pale sandy, with sma 1 roundi 1, black
^pcs on the body and elongated spots or streakl on
neck and face, two dark bars being present on the inner
.s.de of the fore-limb From this species have probablv
^gmated the spotted domesticated 1 of India, nwch
e spots tend to aggregate into streaks on the fore-pan
of the body, wh,le the slender tail is ringed. Probablv
However considerable mossing has taken place w th two'
o^er w,ld Indian spec, -namely, the leopard-cat (K Z
M»n) of these spotted Indian domesticated cats have run
ft t:i' -"iMmMiMmmwmsK^Kfm
S5
t
I
,,^ MOSTl.V MAMMALS
wild, »nd one such has been described as a diilincl
species.
With regard to the fulvous domesticated Indian breid,
in which the fur of the body is uniform tawny, the legs
barred, and the tail ringed, it seems probable that this too
was originally desctnded from the dcscrt-cat, but that it
has derived its uniform coloration from the jungle-cat
{F. cliaus), which, as already said, is related to the lynxes.
That it is not the direct descendant of that species seems
evident from the dilTirent relative lengths of its tail and
limbs, and the absence of pencils of hair on the ears.
1 have already said that in the opinion of Prof.
Martorelli the jungle-cat and steppe-cat are descendants
of the Egyptian cat ; and as the desert-cat and steppe-cat
are closely allied, it follows that, if his views be correct,
all the Indian domesticated cats trace their ultimate origin
to the Egyptian cat.
Nothing definite is known as to the origin of the beau-
tiful Siamese cat, but it seems possible that it may be
the descendant of the golden or bay cat <F. temmincki) of
the Malay countries, which is a unilori.ily coloured bright
ferruginous-red or dark-brown species, with a relatively
short tail.
There is likewise no certain information with regard tu
the pedigree of the Persian or Angora cat. The deserts
of Central Asia are, however, the home of a very peculiar
species of the genus Felis, which was first described by the
Russian naturalist Pallas, under the name of F. mamil, ami
is popularly known as Pallas's cat. This species, which is
about the size of an average domesticated cat, differs from
all other wild Old World members of the genus by the
great length and softness of its fur. Its general colour is
pale whiti^n grey, with some narrow dark markings on the
rw^.m'"»m..
LVvtTl
TIIK PEDIGREK OF THK cat
tho«.. which „,i.h, be ,Zl, , I "^"" '" J""
an,n,al co.n,only known as />/„ rf„„,„„, ./'"b: ."
..ng,nal domes.ic breed soon bccan,e crossed with ,s in
mediate cousin the wild cat
„"",* "'';;.'■"'■: ""''^■" "• -*"■' i*™™ ...
A^ *i:ir
1^
196
MOSTLY MAMMALS
are now largely crossed with their somewhat remote cousin,
the striped domesticated cat of Europe.
The Persian cat, as we have seen, may probably be
derived from Pallas's cat, which has no sort of connection
with the Egyptian cat; and the cross between the Persian
and European " tabby," now so common, is consequently
a very mixed breed indeed. Finally, it is probable that
the Siamese cat has an ancestry totally distinct from that
of all the rest.
THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG
The number of breeds and varieties of the domesticated
dog IS so great tliat it is at first rati,er l,ard to believe
that all are descended from a few wild tvpes. Neverthe-
ess, the difl-crenees between these are not greater than
those met with among domesticated pigeons and fowls
wh,ch are known to be respectively descended from the
wdd pigeons of Europe and the jungle-fowls of Asia A
peculiarity of most domesticated dogs is their power of
barkmg, which seems to be entirely unknown among all
w,ld members of the family CaMae, even the semi-domes-
t.cated dogs of the Eskimo being unable to bark, as are
the dtngos of Australia. But if kept among barking dogs,
both these breeds, and apparently also wolves and jackals
w.n soon learn to bark in a more or less thorough manner
liarkmg ,s, therefore, evidently an acquired habit ■ but that
■t affords no argument against the derivation of the domes-
t.cated breeds from the wild races is evident not only from
the above instance, but also from the circumstance that the
As,at.c jungle-fowl are unable to crow in the manner
characteristic of their domesticated descendants. Several
traits-sueh as turning round several times on a hearthrue
in order to make a hole before lying down, and scratching
up earth with their fore-feet and throwing it backwards
with the hmd pair, common to wolves and jackals-are
mhented by even the most domesticated of domestic
dogs; and these are evidently of great value in helping to
197
MOSTLY MAMMALS
trace the ancestry. A Girman writer, the late Prof. L.
Fitzinger, considered that domesticated dogs might be
divided into seven well-marked groups, which included
close upon a couple of hundred of more or less well-marked
breeds and varieties. Other authorities are, however, of
opinion that the number of main groups might be reduced
to half a dozen, these including wolf-like dogs, such as the
Eskimo breed, the various kinds of greyhounds, spaniels,
hounds, mastiffs, and lastly terriirs.
All who have written on the subject are in accord in
regarding all domesticated dugs, with the exception of the
Australian dingo, as constituting but a single species— the
Cams fainiliaris of Linnaeus. But if it be true, as seems
probably the case, that domesticated dogs trace their
ancestry to more than a single wild species, it will be
obvious that Canis familiaris cmutit in any sense be re-
garded as equivalent to an onluiary wild species ; and that,
properly speaking, if this were possible, the various true
breeds ought to be affiliated to the wild species from which
they are respectively derived. Still, for practical purposes,
the ordinary classification may be accepted, if it be remem-
bered that Canis familiaris, like Fetis liomeslica, is in all
probability a "convergent" species.
By naturalists all the members of the dog tribe are in-
cluded in the great family Canidae, which thus embraces
wolves, jackals, foxes, wild dogs, the African hunting-dog,
the long-eared fox of the Cape, and the bush-dog of Guiana.
Somewhat different views are entertained as to how many
of these should be included in the typical genus Canis, but
this is a matter which needs no consideration here, and wc
may accordingly proceed to eliminate from the list those
groups which have certainly no claim to be on the ances-
tral line of the domesticated breeds.
THE I'EUIGREE OF THE DOG ,99
First of all we may dismiss th. rare South American
bush-dog {Spechos), which is a small somewhat fox-like
creature with a short tail and teeth of a quite peculiar
type. Equally far removed from the line are the long,
eared Cape fox iOlocyon) and the African hunting-dog
(Lycaon), the former having more teeth than the domes-
ticated breeds, wh.le the latter has fewer toes. Next we
may eliminate the wild dogs of Asia, which are frequently
separated from the other members of the family under
the name of Cvo«, as all these have one pair less of
cheek-teeth in the lower jaw, and therefore obviously can-
not be the ancestral stock, as an organ once lost cannot
be replaced. Rather nearer to the domesticated races arc
the foxes and fennecs (Vulpes), exclusive of the .South
American species commonly so called. But if we examine
the skull of the British or any other species of true fox
an important difference be found between i. and the
skull of any domestic. ,g, w„if, „, jackal. This
difference is best display, > ... the shape of the projecting
process of bone forming the hin<ler border of the socke* of
the eye; this process in a fox being distinctly concave
whereas in all the others it is highly convex.
We thus arrive at the conclusion that the only existing
members of the family that can possibly be the ancestors
of the domesticated breeds are wolves, jackals, the Aus-
tralian dingo, and certain South American species which
although commonly termed foxes, are really more closely
allied to the jackals and wolves; and it is further obvious
that the only extinct species which can claim a place in the
hne of descent are those having skulls and teeth of the
wolf type-in other words, species of the genus Cams in
Its restricted sense.
Before proceeding farther, it may be mentioned in con-
imts^z'^-
MOSTLY MAMMALS
5^
I
^
S
^
firmation of the foregoing views that in all the late Mr.
Bartlett's long -experience at the *' Zoo " he never met with
a well-authenticated instance of a fox interbreeding with
either a dog, wolf, or jackal ; and although newspaper
reports have subsequently mentioned a hybrid between a
fox and a dog, it is obvious that suc'i crosses are, at the
most, of extreme rarity.
On the other hand, when suitably matched, there is no
sort of difficulty in obtaining crosses between wolves and
jackals and domesticated dogs ; and it is a well-known
fact that the Eskimo are constantly in the habit of crossing
their sledge-dogs with wolves in order to impart strength
and stamina to the breed. Indeed, Eskimo dogs are so
closely related to wolves that there can be no question
that they are descended from them, Mr. Bartlett remarking
that they are undoubtedly " reclaimed or domesticated
wolves."
This being so, Eskimo dogs should properly be called
Cams lupus instead of C 'is famiUaris ; and if it couli be
shown that all domesti.; ' ^ dogs have the same ancestry,
the former name should stand for all. On the other hand,
as was long since pointed out by that acute observer the
late Sir John Richardson, the Hare Indians of North
America, who inhabit a zone lying considerably to the
south of Eskimo territory, have dogs very closely resem-
bling the small Anicrican prairie-wolf, or coyott;, which
is the wilu species most commonly met with in their
territory. And it may be affirmed with a considerable
degree of confidence that the Hare Indian dog pLCsents
the same relation hip to the coyote as is borne by the
Eskimo dog to the wolf. Accordingly, if we base our
nomenclature on descent, the former breed ought to be
called Cams latrans.
THE PEDIGREE OF THEvDOG ,oi
We have now arrived at the conclusion that domesticated
dogs trace their descent hack to at least two wild species,
and we may quote once more from Mr. Bartlett, who writes
as follows : " All wolves, if taken young and reared by
man, are tame, playful, and exhibit a fondness for those
who feed and attend to them. The same may be said for
all the species of jackals. This being so, it is highly
probable that both wolves and jackals were for many ages
in the company of man, and that owing to this association
the different species of these animals may have bred
together .and become domesticated."
This introduces the v...ious species of jackals into the
problem, and since there is a marked similarity between
certain domesticated breeds of dogs and jackals, while the
native domestic dogs of nearly every country present a
more or les'. markedly striking likeness to one or other of
the indigenous wild Canulac of the same district, there can
he little doubt that Cams familiaris has a multiple origin,
and that man has tamed various wild races at different
times in different parts of the globe. And it will be obvious
that where the domestication has taken place in very
rcmot. ages, and there has been much subsequent mingling
and shifting of population, the resemblance to the wild
species will be the least marked. On the other hand,
where the taming has been -omparativelj recent, where'
there has been no shifting of population, or where the
original breed was best adapted to the needs of its masters,
then the resemblance to the original r.tock will be most
likely to persist longest.
To give a few instances. Mr. Blyth was much struck
with the marked resemblance between many of the Indian
pariah dogs and the wolf of the same country— a resem-
blance to which I can testify from my own experience. In
J?
»o» MOSTLY MAMMALS
many parts of Europe the wolf-dogs and sheep-dogs are
remarkably like the races of wolves inhabiting the same
districts ; and the black Florida wolf-dog is strikingly similar
to the black wolf of that country. Sheep-dogs may there-
fore be included among the breeds descended from wolves,
and are some of those which have undergone the least
amount of modification from the parent type. On the
other hand, when we proceed to South-Eastern Europe
and the South of Asia, we meet with breeds of dogs so
like the jackals of the same districts that it is hard to
believe they are not very closely related. South Africa
is the home of 'hat very peculiar species, the black-backed
jackal, and in many districts dogs are met with showing
a marked resemblance in form and coloration to that
species, although having lost the deep black patch on the
back from which it takes its name. It has also been
noticed that certain domesticated breeds in r>outh America
are so like the Cant's azarae of the same region as to lea^l
to the belief that the one is the descendant of the other.
From these and other con.sidcrations Darwin was led to
the following conclusion : " It is highly probable that the
domestic dogs of the world are descended from two well-
defined species of wolf— namely, C. lupus and C. talmns—
and from two or three doubtful species— namely, the
European, Indian, and North African wolves ; from at
least one or two South American canine species ; from
several races or species of jackal ; and perhaps from one
or more extinct species."
In all the above-mentioned instances the domesticated
breeds belong either to half-savage races, or are those
which, like wolf-dogs, sheep-dogs, and pariah dogs, have
departed but little from the original wolf or jackal type.
In some cases we have seen these breeds are kept true
THE PEDIGREE OF THE UOG 103
by crossing with the original stocii, and se- ral of them
may be comparatively modern. Such breeds throw no
light on the origin of the more specialised domesticated
breeds, such as mastiffs, spaniels, hounds, and terriers, all
of which are quite unlike any wild species, and have
evidently undergone a long course of modification, dating
liack in some cases for hundreds if not thousands of years.
To trace the pedigree of such breeds is probably quite
in.possible, although the investigations of archaeologists
and palaeontologists are most important in proving the
1 xtreme antiquity of the domestication of the dog. Ancient
monuments show that at a very early period domesticated
dogs were differentiated into two very distinct breeds—
namely, those which hunt by scent like hounds, and
those which, like greyhounds, depend upon sight in the
chase; and when once these were established further
modifications would doubtless have soon arisen if attention
was paid to breeding. Many of these breeds and strains
were doubtless produced by crossing those derived from
different wild species, by which means all trace of the
original ancestry would gradually hi;ve been lost.
In the Roman per.od not only were sight-hounds and
scent-hounds fully differentiated, but there were also various
kmds of lap-dogs and house-dogs, although none quite like
our modern breeds. Even as far back as about 3000 n.c.
Egyptian frescoes show not only greyhound-like breeds,
l)ut one with drooping ears like a hound, and a third
which has been compared to the modern turnspit; while
house-dogs and lap-dogs came in soon afterwards. Whether
any of these are the direct ancestors of modern breeds, or
whether all such have been produced by subsequei-t cross-
ing, is a very difficult question to answer, more especially
when we recollect that if an ancient Egyptian artist had
MOSTLY MAMMALS
55
to draw the portrait of a modem dog it would be very
doubtful whether it would be recognised by its master or
mistress.
But the record of the antiquity of domesticated dogs
does not even stop witli the earliest known Egyptian
monuments. Not only were such breeds known in Europe
during the Iron and Bronze Ages, but also during the
antecedent Neolithic or polished stone period. These have
been described by the late Prof. Rutimeyer and Dr.
Woldrich ; and those who are acquainted with the diffi-
culty of distinguishing between some of the living species
by their skulls alone will understand the laborious nature
of the task. Still, tht-^o authorities appear to have made
out that the Swiss Neolithic dug (Cam's paluslris) had
certain cranial resemblances to both hounds and spaniels,
and thus indicated an advanced type, which is considered
to have been derived from neither wolves nor jackals, but
from some species now extinct. Certain other breeds have
also been recognised from the superficial d-posits of the
Continent ; and if, as is very likely to be the case, any
or all of these races are the forerunners of some of thi'
modern breeds, it will readily be understood how complex
is the origin of the mixed group which we now call Cams
familiaris. Even in South America there is evidence of thf
great antiquity of domesticated dogs, for I have described
a skull from the superficial deposits of Buenos Aires,
which, though apparently contemporaneous with many of
the wonderful exti.Mct mammals of the Pampas, yet shows
unmistakable signs of affinity with domesticated breeds,
although the precise relationship has not yet been estab-
lished.
Perhaps, however, the greatest puzzle in the group is
the dingo, or native dog of Australia, which has been
THE PEDIGREE OF THE DOG
J05
rtgarded as a distinct species, under the name of Canis
ilingo, and is found both in the wild condition and also
in a semi-domesticated state among the natives. In
appearance it is somewhat lilie a rather small wolf, with
piiinted cars and a bushy isi! ; its usual colour being
rufous tawny, although sonic individuals are much paler,
and others so much darker as to be almost black.
As, with the exception of numerous peculiar kinds of
rats and mice and a few bats, Australia is populated with
marsupials to the exclusion of ordinary mammals, it was
long supposed that the dingo, which appears to be very
closely related to the Indian pariah dog, was introduced by
man. But of late years a quantity of its fossilised remains
have been dug up in various parts of Australia in association
with those of gigantic kangaroos, diprotodons, and other
t.vtinct marsupials, in beds where there appears to be no
evidence of the presence of man. And it has consequently
been urged that the dingo is as truly indigenous to
Australia as are kangaroos and wombats. There is,
however, great difficulty in accepting this view, as the
rodents might have obtained .ii entrance by being carried
en floating wood, or by some other means of transport;
and if the dingo travelled by land to Australia, other
placental mammals ought to have accompanied it. More-
over, the dingo is neither ; wolf nor a jackal, but in all
essential characters a true dog of the domesticated type,
which seems scarcely separable from Canis familiaris. We
have, therefore, the further difficulty of determining, if it
be really a distinct species, from what Asiatic form it took
Its origin. This difficulty is enhanced when we recollect
that throughout the Malay countries there are no wild
species of the restricted genus Canis. known, the so-called
Wild dogs of Java and Sumatra belonging, as already said,
\mM ^m r'=^
>e6
MOSTLY MAMMAI„S
I
I
to Cyou. It is true that Messrs. Kohlbruggc and J<-ntink
have recently described a dog from the Tenngcr Mountains
in Eastern Java under the name of Ccnis /amiliaris Itnu-
grrana, which is apparently a semi-domcsticatid race living
in a partially wild condition. When more is linown about
it, and its resemblances or dissimilarities to the dingo are
fully indicated, there may In.- a possibility of some rays of
light being shed upon the problem <>i he intrtxiuction of
that animal into the Antipodes.
TWO FASHIONABLE FURS
To lh,«r who arc o." an observant nalnrc, an aftrrnoon's
stn.U throuRh any of il„- fashionable I.omlon thoroughfares
.luring any of the past few winters must have revealed
the prevalence of a fashion for the beautiful furs respectively
known as blue fox and white fox. The skins of these
animals are either worn entire as boas for " necklets," as
I am told they are called by ladies) or made up as nluffs,
and in either condition are strikingly beautiful. Blue fox
has long been highly esteemed as a fur, skins selling for
between ten and fourteen guineas ten years ago. White
r<ix, on the other hand, has only during the last few years
been appreciated as its beauty deserves, the price per skin
having ri- ■'rom between half a crown and sixteen
shillings an„ sixpence during 1891 to three or four
guineas, or even more, during recent years.
But it is not the price of either the blue or the white
skins I propose to discuss in detail in the present article.
The circumstance to which I desire to draw the attention
of my readers is the very remarkable one that both the
blue and the white skins belong to one and the same kind
of animal. At first sight this may seem, perhaps, a fact
of no special interest or importance. For, as we all know,
certain species of mammals, such as the stoat or ermine'
the mountain-hare, and the lemming, arc normally white in
rcrtain parts of their habitats in winter and dark-coloured in
loil
MOSTLY MAMMALS
55:
Is.
I
•ummcr. Again, many mammals vary lo a great ixtint
in coloration according to locality, so that thtre may be
flark^olourid and light-rolourcd races inhabiting different
localities. The most striking instance of this is, perhaps,
the big-horn wild sheep of North America, which in the
Rocky Mountains is a khaki-col.mred animal with a white
rump, but in Alaska is nearly pure white all over through-
out the year. It is true, inil.-cd, that American naturalists
prefer to regard the big-horns of the Rocky Mountains and
Alaska as distinct species rather than local races of a
single variable animal, but for our present purpose such
slight differences of opinion do not really affect the case
one way or the other.
That white fox and blue fox skins arc not (as was once
supposed to be the case by some naturalists) the summer
and winter coats of the same individual animals will be
apparent by a comparison of furs of the two descriptions
worn by our lady friends. Both descriptions have the
same long thick hair, with a woolly under-fur at the base,
and are evidently the winter coats of the animals to which
they respectively belong. Indeed, with all long-haired
animals of the northern parts of the Old World, with the
possible exception of the Polar bear, it is the winter coat
that is alone valued by the furrier.
That blue and white foxes arc not local races of the
same species (or distinct species) is evident from the fact
that in certain districts both occur together, although in
other localities (as in Iceland, where all the foxes arc
blue) only one form may be met with. It is, indeed,
possible that in some cases blue and v hite tubs nny appear
in the same litter. For instance. Prof. A. S. Packard in
his work entitled "The Labrador Coast," states he was
informed by a native " that the white and blue fox littered
^vir:
msimim^^
TWO FASHIONABLE lURS
109
together, bu, ,h„ the blu. vanV.y was v.ry rar. ■• x„ ■
of .psa,a,w,K.e„bs,.va..,„,j;;t,i,X :;;:'■■■''•
"The 'blue' foxes are unirom.ly ,la,lt.c„lonr ■ I
-J «in.e. and do „„ .h,,,,, .o'.b e t ; ,:r"r
tlie summer thev ir,. v,.r„ 11 , , ^ • '"
winter .hey a e .K I t "'' ''^"""' '" <■"''• -
inej ait also (lark, but more bluish Tk • j
n.u.zle white. The ,,istribution of h, ." ,' 'y^ ■■•""
'-ever. .u,.ct .„ |„,|y,„, ,;:.;:«--":' W'-i».
■ I'served on Bear I.l,,, i • ""^ "'^ """'
"l.ice and the ta L lu" "in'TceLr:' ""^ '■"'^" ^''
'l.e Arctic foxes are blue" '" '^^'»"'' " '^ ^'••"^■'' •'-' all
and White fox of "the f " ""'"" "'^' ""^ "'"^ f-
...-".reri/^sS^r-r^-r'^-'^'-""^
. "' ""- ^P«'« -^ called) normally assuuKs a da t
coat ,n summer. The difference between ,1
:;:—:;:;-'---- Sritinrr
'-he°^^r:^:~^*----"%^een Placed
British Museum In /h "''^' ''"'"'' °' "'^'
-shas.e„in.rodu;edasSc:or::r::rr
MOSTLY MAMMALS
?5
I
I
the same coat. In contrast with this, the case in which
arr placed the above-mentioned animals in their darlt
summer costume contains a specimen of the wliite phase
of the Arctic fox in its darlc summer coat. In this speci-
men, the hair (which is much shorter than that of the
example in the winter dress) is dirty rufous brown shading
into grey on the upper-parts and outer side of the limbs,
and yellowish white below. In other examples the colour
of the upper-parts is greyer, while the under-parts are
nearly pure white. Sometimes also, it is stated that grey
hairs are largely mingled with the white winter coat, so
that we have a more or less marked tendency towards the
blue phase even in the winter dress. In all cases the
muzzle remains black, and it is stated that there may
occasionally be a black tail-tip in the white winter dress.
I have not seen a " blue fox " in the summer dress,
but am told that the coat is then chiefly distinguished
from its winter condition by its much shorter hairs and
less pure blue colour.
Of course, the so-called " blue " of even the best skins
is a slaty or French grey rather than a blue in the proper
sense of the word, and in many instances it tends to drab
or dark purplish. Alaskan blue fox, which is somewhat
coarse in the texture of the fur, has this purplish or sooty
tinge most strongly developed, and at one time was
specially valued on this account, although of late years
the lighter varieties seem to have been chiifly in demand.
Lest any of my readers should be led to think that th.
Arctic fox is a near relative of the common species, it
may be well to state, before going any farther, that it is
a very distinct animal indeed. Apart from its coloration,
the most iistinctive features of the species are to be
foimd in its short, rounded ears (which look almost as
TWO FASHIONABLE FURS »,,
though they had been cropped), moderately sharp muzzle,
very long and bushy lail, and the coat of hair on the
soles of the feet. From this latter feature the species
takes its name of Canh- Inaopus ; the object of the hairy
soles being, of course, to afford the animal a firm foothold
on the ice and frozen snow on which it passes so much
of its time. In having two distinct colour-phases :t all
seasons of the year, which may be met with in the same
locality, the Arctic fox stands practically unique among
mammals. It is true that black-maned and yellow-maned
lions may be occasionally met with in the same litter,
while black leopards and black jaguars occur now and then
among litters of cubs of the ordinary colour. But neither
of these instances is exactly on all fours with the case
of the Arctic fox. With regard to the lion, it has now
heen ascertained that the black-maned and tawny-maned
specimens belong, in most cases at any rate, to distinct
local races; and it is most probable that when light- and
dark-maned cubs are met with in the same litter, it is due
to crossing between two of these races. Black or melanistic
leopards and jaguars, on the other hand, are more analogous
to albinoes, and generally occur in hot and damp climates.
The black phase of the common water-vole, found high up
in many British valleys, is an instance somewhat analogous
to that of black leopards, being apparently due to climatic
conditions, and therefore not strictly comparable with the
case of the Arctic fox.
Many invertebrate animals exhibit two or more distinct
phases— generally differing -o a certain extent from each
other in details of form or structure— and to such the
name of dimorphic animals is technically applied. Natural-
ists have agreed to designate the Arctic fox by the same
title, although, were it not that it might he taken to
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
1^
convey an altogether different meaning, the term " dichroic "
would be more appropriate, seeing that the difference
between the two phases is solely one of colour, and has
nothing to do with shape or structure. Using, then, the
term " dimorphism " as indicative of the existence in one
animal of two distinct colour-phases totally unconnected
with either locality or season, the Arctic fox appears to be
the only mammal to which this designation can be
properly applied.
The reason for this remarkable dimorphism in the Arctic
fox is hard indeed to discover, and no satisfactory explana-
tion of the puzzle appears hitherto to have been offered.
It is almost unnecessary to say that the reason why
Arctic and sub-Arctic animals turn white in winter is that
they may be as inconspicuous as possible in their environ-
ment of snow and ice. And if blue foxes were met with
only in countries where snow lies but a short time in
winter, while white ones occurred solely in riore northern
lands, some clue to the puzzle might be forthcoming. But,
as a matter of fact, this is not the case.
The distribution of the Arctic fox is circumpolar, ex-
tending in the New World about as far south as latitude
$0° — that is to say, nearly to the southern extremity of
Hudson Bay — and in the Old World to latitude 60", or,
approximately, to the latitude of Christiania and the Shet-
land Isles. Northwards the species extends at least as far
as Grinnell Land.
In Iceland all the Arctic foxes appear to belong to the
blue phase, and as that island is far to the south of many
portions of the habitat of the species, it might be thought
that this is the reason why the white phase is unrepre-
sented there. But that island is far north of the line
where the mountain-hare and the stoat begin to assume
TWO FASHIONABLE FURS ,,3
a white winter livery ; and if it is essential for these species
that they should assimilate their colour to that of their
surroundings, why is it not equally so in the case of the
Arctic fox ?
Again, although, as already mentioned, blue foxes are
rare m Ubrador, in Alaska they are comparatively common,
and the same is the case in Greenland, whence the Royal
Greenland Company imported ,,451 skins to Copenhagen in
I»9I. And ,f it be essential for animals to turn white in
wmter in any country in the world, it is surely Alaska It
.s difficult to ascertain the proportion of blue to white foxes
m either Alaska or the Pribiloff Islands, but it is certa'
that m both localities the two phases are found together
I'ving apparently under precisely the same physical con-
ditions.
As regards the islands las. named, Mr. Elliot in his
work on "The Seal Islands of Alaska," writes that "blue
and white foxes are found on the Pribiloff Islands, and
find among the countless chinks and crevices in the
basaltic formation comfortable holes and caverns for their
accommodation and retreat, feeding upon sick and pup
seals, as well as water-fowl and eggs, during the summer
and autumn, and living through the winter on dead seals
left on the rookeries and their carcases on the killing-
grounds."
This account, then, fully establishes the fact that blue
and white foxes occur in regions where, according to all
accepted rules, there ought to be none but white in-
dividuals during the long and dreary winter. It gives
however, no definite clue to the reason for the strange
association.
There is, however, a description of the habits of Arctic
foxes in Grinnell Land given by Colonel Ficlden, in his
914
MOSTLY MAMMALS
f5
I
I
"Voyage to the Polar Sea," which may possibly throw
some light on the subject, although, unfortunately, it
does not tell us whether blue as well as white foxes
are found in that region. After referring to the numbers
of lemmings to be seen looking out from the mouths of
their holes, or feeding in the vicinity, the author proceeds
as follows : —
" We noticed that numerous dead lemmings were scat-
tered around. In every case they had been killed in the
same manner — the sharp canine teeth of the foxes had
penetrated their brain. Presently we came upon two
ermines killed in the same manner. , . . Then, to our
surprise, we discovered numerous deposits of dead lem-
mings ; in one hidden nook under a rock we pulled out
a heap of over fifty. We disturbed numerous 'caches'
of twenty and thirty, and the earth was honeycombed with
holes, each of which contained several bodies of these
little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over
them. In one hole we found the greater part of a hare
hidden away. The wings of young brent-geese were also
lying about ; and as thet? birds were at this time just
hatching, it showed that they must be the results of suc-
cessful forays of prior seasons, and consequently that the
foxes occupy the same abodes from year to year. I had
long wondered how the Arctic fox exists in winter."
Now, it will be evident that in this instance the foxes
killed the prey stored up for winter use while they were
in the dark summer coat. And since in winter, when the
birds have left and the lemmings have retired to the
depths of their burrows, they have no game to capture
and no enemies to fear save Polar bears (which would
not be likely to do them much harm), it would appear
to be a matter of no consequence whether their coats be
TWO FASHIONABLE FURS 2,5
dark or light. Consequently, it seems a possible explana-
tion of the phenomenon under consideration that the blue
phase of the Arctic fox indicates a reversion to the
ancestral coloration of the species, due to the fact that
no advantage is to be gained by the assumption of a
white livery. Such reversion might well take place only
in certain individuals of a species, and would probably
tend to become more or less completely hereditary. Before
such an expLination can, however, be even tentatively
accepted, it is necessary to ascertain whether the blue
Arctic foxes ,f Iceland are in the habit of making winter
stores of provisions. If they are not, but hunt their prey
in winter, the theory will not hold good.
For animals which hunt their prey in winter, or are
themselves hunted, it would seem essential that they should
be white even in the highest latitudes, where the long
Polar night lasts three-quarters of the year, since in the
bright starlight— to .say nothing of moonlight— they would,
if dark-coloured, be almost as conspicuous on the snow
as in daylight.
As regards the number of Arctic fox skins which find
their way into the market, Mr. W. Poland, writing ten years
ago, states that from twenty-five thousand to sixty thousand
of the white phase were then annually imported from
Siberia, the greater number of these coming to Leipsic.
The fur of these is of a rather coarse quality, quite different
from that of the fine-haired Greenland skins. In 1891 about
rune thousand white skins were imported by the Hudson
Bay and Alaska Companies, and nearly one thousand by
the Royal Greenland Company. Of blue skins, about
two thousand were annually imported into London by the
Alaska Company, and some five hundred to Copenhagen
by the Greenland Company, although in 1891 the number
ai6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
K
I
of skins sold by the latter body rcichcd 1,451. It is note-
worthy that in the fur trade Greenland blue fox skins are
well known to be of the same fine-haired quality as the
white skins from the same locality, while the Alaskan blue
skins are equally coarse-haired. Consequently there is
presumptive evidence of the existence of a Greenland and
an Alaskan race of the species ; and, as a matter of fact,
American naturalists have recently split up the Arctic fox
into several distinct forms, some of which are regarded as
species.
THE SEA^TTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION
A FEW summers ago a gentleman with whom I am
acquainted spent his holiday in shooting and fishing on
the west coast of Ireland, and in the course of his trip
procured several fine otter-skins, taken in some of the
bays cf that picturesque district. As these otters lived in
the sea, my friend, who does not profess to be a naturalist
jumped to the conclusion that they were sea-otters; and
as he had heard of the value attaching to the pelts of the
latter animal, was not a little elated at having obtained
such spoha opma at such small cost. And it came some-
what as a shock to him when he heard that otters living
m the sea were not necessarily sea-otters in the zoological
sense of the term, and that to procure specimens of the
latter he would have to journey to the shores of the islands
and comments of the North Pacific.
Now although it is improbable that many of my readers
would be likely to confound an ordinary otter which has
taken up its residence on the coast with its truly marine
cous.n, yet before entering upon the consideration of the
habits and impending extermination of the latter a few
words relating to some of the leading points of distinction
between the two animals will scarcely be wasted.
Ordinary otters, then (of which there are numerous
species, ranging over nearly all the habitable parts of the
globe where water is plentiful), are animals nearly aUied
>i8
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
I
to the martens and weasels, but specially modified for the
needs of an aquatic life, and furnished with teeth adapted
to seize and hold the slippery prey on which they subsist.
Since, however, they are much less exclusively aquatic
than seals, spending much of their time on shore, their
structura,' variations from the ordinary mammalian type
are far less marked than is the case in the riembers of
the latter grc i. The toes, for instance, are not webbed,
and neither pair of limbs shows a tendency towards a
paddle-like form, although both are relatively short. In
addition to this shortening of the limbs, the points chiefly
noticeable as adaptations for swimming are the great breadth
and flatness of the head, the small size of the ears, the
absence of a distinctly defined neck, the elongated and
flattened body, moderately long and powerful tail, and the
denseness and softness of the fur. As regards the teeth,
it will suffice to mention that while these conform to the
general marten type, the hinder ones are remarkable for
the greater extent of grinding surface, the last upper molar
especially being distinguished by the peculiarly squared
form of its crown. In all these teeth the cusps are re-
markably strong and sharp, and thus suited for piercing
the scales of fish.
Contrast these features with those distinctive of the sea-
otter — which, by the way, is the only representative of
its kind. In addition to its being a shorter- and thicker-
bodied creature, with a still broader muzzle and no
definable neck at all, the sea-otter is at once distinguished
by the structure of its hind-feet, which are fully webbed,
and so lengthened and expanded as almost to simulate
paddles ; the extremities of the toes being, it is said,
turned down beneath the sole when on land. The tail,
too, is thicker, less tapering, and more flattened than that
THE SEAOTTKR AND II'S EXTERMINATION jig
of
ordina
Ihc
r otter.
as a pilluw-case covers a pillow ; and the dark brown fur
is unrivalled for its softness, depth, and density. But
even more remarkable is the difference between the check-
teeth of the two animals. In place of the sharply cusped
grinders of the common otter, the marine species has the
crowns of these teeth surmounted by smooth ill-defined
bosses, separated by narrow crack-like lines ; the one type
having been aptly compared to freshly chipped (lints, and
the other to water-worn pebbles. Clearly such structural
differences must be correlated with a totally different
description of diet, and, in place of being a fish-eater,
the sea-otter subsists by grinding up sea-urchins, clams,'
iiiussel.s, and such-like, shells and all.
Had we living animals alone to guide us, there might
be some hesitation in saying that the sea-otter is a highly
modified ohshoot from the stock of the ordinary otter, but
the evidence of e.xtinct forms indicates the probability of
this being the case. Fossil remains of true otters occur
comparatively low down in the scries of rocks belonging
to the Tertiary period ; and somewhat higher in the scale
are found, both in Europe and India, those of an extinct
genus {Enhydriodon), in which the cheek-teeth are to a
certain extent intermediate between the types respectively
characteristic of the ordinary and the sea-otters. These
intermediate extinct otters appear, however, to have been
fresh-water animals, so that purely marine habits would
seem to have been acquired only with the advent of the
modern sea-otter.
The geographical range of the latter on the American
side formeriy included Alaska, the Aleutian and Pribiloff
Islands, Sitka, and Vancouver Island, and thus down
the coast to California; while on the opposite shore it
MOSTLY MAMMALS
K
I
embraced Kamtchatka and the Komandorksi and Kurile
lalands.
Numerous accounts of the habits and capture of this
' lable animal have been published as the results of the
observations of naturalists and hunters on both sides of its
habitat, many of these relating to lim^ when it was still
more or less abundant, and its pelts consequently did not
realise the extravagant prices now current. The attention
recently directed to the fur-seals of Bering Sea has resulted
in equally important observations with regard to the sea-
otters of the same region, and the results of some of these
are recorded in a pamphlet issued by the Treasury Depart-
ment of the Washington Government, drawn up by the
Commandant of the Bering Sea Patrol Fleet, Captain
C. L. Hooper. As in the case of the fur-seals, the same
sad story of ruthless destruction and relentless persecution
is unfolded; and while the animal has already been com-
pletely swept away from several of its original haunts,
there is great danger of its complete extermination from
this side of the Pacific unless adequate means for its pro-
tection are promptly devised and effectually carrie nto
execution.
From the same report it appears that when the I ssians
first visited Alaska its shores literally abounded with sea-
otters, which were relentlessly hunted and slain, affording
a rich harvest to their captors. In consequence of this,
afler a period of about fifty years — that is to say, towards
the close of the eightet .th century — a notable decrease
in numbers was observable ; ant' by the same date the
otters, which ere said to have swarmed on the PribilolTs
at the time of their discovery in 1786, had almost com-
pletely disappeared from 'hese islands. From the close of
he eighteenth century till the taking over of the country
THE SEAOri-ER AN!) ITS EXTERMINATION »■
by the United State,, the Russian-Americn Company had
the practical control of the Alaskan territory, and formu-
lated regulations for otter-hunting, by which the total
catch was limited and a r,slriction placed upon the number
captured by individual natives.
In the earlier days the sea-otters were in the habit of
coming ashore, both to feed on the sea-urchins and shell-
fish thrown up by the tide, an,| also for the purposes of
repose and breeding. The otters were either captured in
nets or killed by means of spears or clubs. Only males
were, however, then slaughtered ; the hunters being taught
to distinguish the females, even when in the water, by the
difference in the colour and shape of the head and neck
And when hunting on shore the utmost care was taken to
prevent disturbing the animals more than necessary and
also to leave as few trace, as possible of human presence
Notwithstanding these regulations, the sea-otters con-
tinued to diminish in number; and, in addition to the
PribilofTs, had already disappeared from certain district,
at the date of the transference of Alaska to America
After this date, although the hunters for several years
adhered to some extent to the old rules, the destruction
became much more rapid, and all precautions for the
preservation of the breed were ignored. Numerous cod-
fishenes were established on some of the banks ; and the
people thus collected, together with the refuse left on the
shore, rendered many districts unsuitable to the otter
Moreover, there were no regulations to prevent white
men from killing as many animals as they pleased; and
as the sea-otter was by far the most valuable inhabitant
of the shores, it naturally came in for the largest share
of attention.
Harassed on all sides— netted in the sea, clubbed and
MOSTLY MAMMAI-S
55
K
I
shot on shore, itn landing-grounds rendered uninhabitable by
human presence as well as by the refuse of the fisheries
and the decaying bodies uf its own companions— the sea-
otter, as might have been expected, has totally changed
its r.riginal mode of life. Instead of hauling out on shore
to feed, repose, and breed, it now slcrps and breeds on
floating masses of seaweed, while its ..eding-grounds are
banks in some thirty fathoms of water. But even in these
situations the unfortunau' -niiniah enjoy no peace, but are
hunted and harassed by Ceets of bchoonera from March
till August. From many of its old habitats it has more
or less completely disappeared, all the grounds to the
west of Unimak Pass being practically deserted. On a
few of the banks, indeed, a stray otter may now and then
^» captured at long intervals, but on others not a single
head has been observed for the last ten years or so. At
the present day most of the otters captured in the Aleutians
are taken on the banks lying to the south-west of Kadiak.
These banks are bounded on the north-west by the Alaska
peninsula, on the north-east by Kadiak Island, to the
south-east by the Trinity Islands, and to the south-west
by the Semedl Islands.
Between the years 1873 and 1883 inclusive, the approxi-
mate number of sea-otters annually captured by the
natives of the Aleutian Islands varied between 2,500 and
4,000. The latter number was exceeded in 1885, but from
that year there has been a rapid tUcrease, as is shown by
the following figures — viz., 1886,3,604; 1887,3,095; 1888,
2,496; 1889, 1,795; ^890, 1,633; 1891, 1,436; 1892, 820;
1893, 686; 1894, 598; 1895, 887; 1896, 724.
This very heavy numerical decrease has been accom-
panied by an equally marked rise in the price of the
skins. In 1888 the average price per skin was ;i^2i lOs.,
THE SEAOTTER AND ITS EXTERMINATION «]
in !889 it had incre«»cd to ;f 33, and in 1891 to £ij, «incL-
which date the price has again risen. For sptcially Hne
skins /88 was considered a record price some years ago,
but now /;ioo is by no means uncommon, and £100, and
even ^225, have been paid for unusually splendid specimens.
As regards the methods of capijie, clubbing and spearing
are probably the least wasteful, few, if any, of the animals
thus killed being lost. The gun is less satisfactory, as
many wounded animals escape to die a lin>!cring death.
But the most wasteful of all is the net. Unless the animals
be removed from the net within a few hours after death
their skins arc irretrievably ruined by the attacks of the
myriads of minute crustaceans which swarm in the Arctic
seas. Netting can be effected only in stormy wtather, the
nets being stretched from the shore to some convenient
rocks; and frequently it is impossillc to visit them for
days together, when such captures as they may contain
are valueless.
But the great diminution in the numliers of the sea-otter,
although bad enough, is by no means the most serious
element in the matter. Ever since the Russians took
possession, hunting the sea-otter has afforded the chief
means of livelihood to the Aleutian islanders. On this
point Captain Hooper write, as follows: "The decrease
in the yearly catch has .ilready brought .some of the settle-
ments to the verge of want, and if they are allowed to
become exterminated, actual suffering and even starvation
can only be averted by Government aid. Properly pro-
tected and reserved exclusively for the use of the natives,
the otter, while it can probably never be brought up to
its former nuniU rs, can be preserved from extermination,
and will furnish a means of subsistence for these people
fur many years."
"W«*
*/ .v;
»4
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
Although there is some little doubt in the matter, it
appears probable that the whole of the present haunts of
the sea-otter are within the territory of the American
Government, and if this be the case there will be no need
for an international agreement. Captain Hooper has com-
piled a code of regulations for provisional acceptance by the
Government, and as these appear in every way admirably
suited to effect the object for which they were drawn, it
must be the earnest hope of every naturalist that they will
be sanctioned and put into operation with the least possible
delay.
A GIANT AMONG SEALS
Few generalisations have taken a firmer hold of the
popular pagination than the notion that the animals of
to-day bear no sort of comparison with their predecessors
of the past m respect of bodily size, and that, so far as
he giants of the animal kingdom are concerned, we are
l.v.ng ,n a dwarfed and M,poverished world. Like most
popular conceptions, this idea contains a considerable
element of truth mingled with a la.,e amount of mis-
conception. In the first place, there is no accurate defi-
n.fon of what is mean, by "the past." If it n,ean only
those epochs of the earth's history previous to the advent
of man, „ is unquestionably inaccurate. If, on the other
hand, It also embrace the prehistoric portion of man's
sojourn on the globe, it has scarcely a claim to be regarded
as a fair or accurate statement of the true state of the
case, seeing that the extermination of a very considerable
percentage of the large animals of the epoch in question
has been the work of man himself-a work, unhappily
which IS still proceeding apace.
But, in addition to this, the animals of one geological
epoch are very frequently confounded with those of another
so that dinosaurs and mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs and plesio-
saurs, mastodons and mammoths, and glyptodons and
ground-sloths are often spoken of as if contemporaries and
inhabitants of the same country.
»5 ,j
»6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
S5
I
If such were really the case, we should indeed be living
in an impoverished epoch of the world's history ; but if
we take the term " present " in not too narrow a sense,
and also bear in mind that Europe, and such other parts
of the world as have been more or less thickly populated
for untold ages, scarcely form a fair basis of comparison,
it will be manifest that the idea in question is to a con-
siderable extent due to misconceptions and inaccuracies of
the nature of those referred to above.
It is true that in certain portions of the world the
larger forms of animal life disappeared at an epoch when
man can scarcely be regarded as having taken a promi-
nent part in their extermination ; a notable example of this
kind being South America, where the huge ground-sloths,
toxodons, and macrauchenias of the latter part of the
Tertiary epoch disappeared with seeming suddenness in
what is to us an unaccountable manner. The extermi-
nation of the mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros, and the
hippopotamus from Europe, although partly, perhaps,
attributable to climatic change, has not improbably been
accelerated by man's influence; and the same may be true
with regard to some of the larger mammals of ancient
India.
In the latter country we have, however, still the Indian
elephant, the great one-horned rhinoceros, and the wild
buffalo, which, although not actually the largest repre-
sentatives of their kind, are yet enormous animals. In
Africa the presence of animals of large corporeal bulk is
more noticeable. Although the extinct elephant of the
Norfolk " forest-bed " is stated to have been the biggest
of its tribe, it is very doubtful if it was really larger
than the living African elephant ; and the so-called white
rhinoceros, in the days of its abundance, was certainly not
A GIANT AMONG SEALS „,
inferior in point of size to any of ies extinc. relatives.
Tl.e g.raffe, again, wliich m the Mount Elgon district is
stated to tower to twenty feet, is n.uch taller than any extinct
IZZ r '"r '° "' """ '"' hippopotamus falls
but 1, tie short of Us ancestors of the Pleistocene epoch
rhe elands, again, are by far the largest of antelopes
known at any period of the earth's history; and the
ostrich, although not comparable with some of the New
Zealand moas (which, by the way, were probab'y exter-
..atcd only a few centuries ago by the Maoris), is yet
■he largest member of its own particular group. Again
no fossil ape is known which is anywhere in the running
as compared with a full-grown male gorilla. It is more!
over, probable, despite the old-world legends of giants
that man at the present day is, on the whole, a taller and
hner animal than he ever was before.
Of course, there are certain cases where the animals of
to-day cannot compare with some of their predecessors,
and a case in point is afforded by the extinct atlas tor-
oise of Northern India, which (although its size has
been vastly exaggerated) far exceeded in bulk its living
cousins of the Galapagos and Mascarenes. This, however
|..ay^^,«rhaps be accounted for by the larger area of itj
Among the inhabitants of the ocean we shall find even
...ore striking testimony as to the large bodily size (either
absolute or relative) attained by many animals of the
present day. Probably no mollusc was ever larger than
he giant clam, whose valves measure a yard or more in
and squids forming the food of the sperm-whale were
ever rivalled in size during past epochs. The huge long-
hmbed crab of the Japanese seas, and the cocoanut crab
328
MOSTLY MAMMAUS
f5
K
^
(which is but a marine creature that has taken to a ter-
restrial existence) of the islands of the Indian Ocean, are
likewise probably the giants of their kind. At no epoch
of the earth's history have we any record of an animal
approaching in size the blue rorqual, with its length of
between eighty and ninety feet, and its weight of, probably,
at least as many tons. The sperm-whale and the Green-
land right-whale were, at the time of their abundance,
certainly the largest of their resprctive kinds ; while the
basking-shark has probably been unequalled in bulk by
any of its predeci i ors. The great white shark of the
present day is indeed considerably inferior in size to its
cousins whose teeth now strew the floor of the Pacific ;
but these latter lived at no very distant period, and may
possibly still survive. Walruses were never larger than
they are at the present day, and the dugongs and manatis
of the seas of our own days were fully as large as any
of their ancestors of which we have ken ; while the north-
ern sea-cow of Bering Sea— exterminated only a century
and a half ago— was in this respect far ahead of all other
competitors.
The same is true with regard to the animal forming
the subject of the present article — the sea-elephant, or,
better, the elephant-seal — which so vastly exceeds in size
all other members of its tribe, that even the largest sea-
lions and walruses, when placed alongside its huge bulk,
look dwarfs by comparison. But it is not only from its
vast size that this seal is of more than ordinary interest,
since it is remarkable for many peculiarities in structure
and habits, approaching the eared seals (or sea-lions and
jea-bears) more closely than is the case with any other of
the true or earless seals. It has also, unhappily, an interest
attaching to it on account of its impending extermination.
A GIANT AMONG SEALS
' ixtyes, Lalilornia, where thpv fim „
practically extinct. As these r» f '^ ™
^e^n^iete, isoiate. ^ t^^^^ .^ ^^1:
=>ea Islands, tliev are r,„„-^..A u ^ ■ auutn
-tit.tin.'a ;2rne^j::r::r'i-
d.st.nc„on frcn, the typica. scthern for , i hu sJt [
-.h totheArrctic'Sr" """ '^^^ ^ -"'^"
Our first definite, if not actual, knowledge of the eleohan,
.. ,r „ ' "^ "sure and account e ven in thp
Voyage Round the World " of ,1,5,,
~. » j„ ,«.., . „„ „7,.r„.'~
E~H"=--— «^^^^^^^^^
those to be met w ,h M h '"''' " ""' '"^J""'^' "^
«: met with at the present day. After f».in»
exposec, .n the Museum galleries for con's-dc^ m:
S d ndT^^rr^ "'":' ^"^ ''™'-"°"
ine still more misch evous hands ,>f
vsitors who then, as now, doubtless displayed a„irr
-fb'e impulse .0 handle every accessiWe 'object) hj
pecimen must certainly have shown marked ,£. of
wear and tear. Anyway, if „e may judge by the fa
«J0
MOSTLY MAMMALS
K
I
I
that the jaws and teeth, which had been mounted in
the skin, were sold by the Museum to the Royal College
of Surgeons in 1809, the specimen appears to have been
destroyed early in the last century. The aforesaid jaws
and teeth are still preserved in the museum of the College
of Surgeons.
Although many years later a female skin, presented b^
the Admiralty, was mounted and exhibited, from the date
of the destruction of Lord Anson's specimen the British
Museum till quite recently had no example of either skin
or skeleton of an adult male of this giant seal to show
the public. The deficiency has been made good by the
generosity of Mr. Walter Rothschild, and the mounted
skin and skeleton of two nearly adult males are now
exhibited in the same case. Unfortunately the taxidermist
has not been as successful as he might have been in the
mounting of the skin ; but nevertheless the specimens
suffice to con-'ey an adequate idea of the huge bulk of
the creature and the leading peculiarities of its form.
It may be mentioned here that Anson's figure and
description afforded to Linnaeus his only knowledge of the
species, and upon this evidence was established his Plioca
leonina, the specific title being the equivalent of Anson's
"sea-!yon." As the real sea-lions are totally different
animals — eared seals, in fact — it is a great pity that this
name was ever given, but, as being the earliest, it has to
stand, and cannot be replaced, as proposed by some writer?,
by the more appropriate ekphantina. As the elephant-
seal differs very widely from the common seal and its
immediate relatives, it could not, of course, with the advance
of zoological science, be suffered to remain in the same
genus, and it accordingly now typifies a group by itst-lf
under the name of Macrorhinus koninus.
A GIANT AMONG SEALS jji
The generic title Macrorhims refers to the most dis-
tinctive feature of the species, the peculiar trunk-like form
of the muzzle of the old males. Not only do the male
and female elephant-seal differ in regard to the form of
the muzzle (the trunk being undeveloped in the last-named
sex), but there is also a vast inferiority in the size of the
latter as compared with the former. So marked, indeed,
is this discrepancy, that an early observer is stated in
Weddell's " Voyage " to have mistaken the two sexes for
mother and young.
From the testimony of old " beach-combers " and others
who have hunted them in their native haunts, it seems
evident that the dimensions now attained by sea-elephants
fall far short of those reached in the old days, when they
abounded on the islands of the South Seas, and were
permitted to grow to their full size. In the majority of
text-books twenty feet is given as the length of the species ;
but it is definitely known that specimens at the present
day frequently reach or exceed this length, and as none
of these (as exemplified by the condition of the bones in
the British Museum and other skeletons received of late
years in England) appear to be fully adult, it seems well-
nigh certain that old bulls must have grown to much
greater size. Probably twenty-five feet would not be an
undue estimate for the length of an adult male, and it is
far from improbable that close upon thirty feet may have
been reached in some cases.
Among the favourite haunts of the elephant-seal were
the islands of the Crozet group, Kerguelen, and St. Paul,
in the Indian Ocean, as well as Heard Island. In the
South Atlantic these monsters formerly abounded on
Tristan-da-Cunha, and nearer the American coast they are
again met with farther south on the Falklands, South
»3»
MOSTLY MAMMAI5
5:
It
^
Georgia, and Ihe South Shttlands. On the eastern side
of the Pacific they occur, as recorded by Lord Anson, on
Juan Fernandez, and thence by way of the Marquesas to
the Macquarie and other islands south of New Zealand,
where the British Museum specimens were obtained. They
were likewise common on the coasts of Tierra del Fuego
and Southern Patagonia ; and tlie occuiTcnce of the isolated
colony noith of the equator in California has been already
mentioned.
The trunk-like muzzle of the old bull sea-elephant, like
the sac on the crown of the head of its relative the bladder-
seal, is capable of inflation during periods of excitement,
but at other times is small and relatively inconspicuous.
Probably it is only when the animals arc on shore, and
more especially during the breeding season, that the trunk
is inflated to its full extent. The sketch in Lord Anson's
" Voyage," although true to nature in some respects, is in
many ways a caricature, and it is only of late years that
photographs have been obtained showing the true form of
the animal. From these it appears that when on land the
old bulls are in the habit of supporting the fore-part of
the body on the front flippers and raising the neck and
head into a nearly vertical posture, so that the laaer is
fully six feet above the ground. When the trunk is
inflated to its fullest extent, the mouth is opened, and the
animal emits a succession of terrific -oars, which may be
heard for miles.
In using its front flippers as a means of support to this
extent, the elephant-seal is quite unlike the rest of tin
earless seals, and resembles the sea-lions and sea-bears.
It also agrees v- ,th the latter group in the great superiority
of the males to the females in point of bodily size. A
third point of resemblance between elephant-se»is and
A GIANT AMONG SEALS ,33
eared seal, is shown by their breeding habits, which are
in many respect, sin,ilar. On the Crozet Islands, for
example, where they arrive abo.u the middle of August
the old bulls seeuie a station for themselves. They do
no,, however, pas, any long period without taking food
neither ,lo they collect "harems" for themselves after the
manner ofthe sea-bears and sea-lions; the females selecting
a stafon for themselves ,„n,e distance away. Soon after
landmg the females give birth to their young, which are at
first black, and, although there is some discrepancy between
different accounts, it seems pr.,b.-.hle that both sexes remain
wuh their offspring till the latter are ready to enter the
sea, which they usually do when about six or seven weeks
old. When they have once taken to a maritime life the
young sea-elephants are said to grow at a prodigious rate •
and, mdeed, unless they take many years ,0 attain full'
maturity, this must necessarily he the case.
As just indicated, the few accounts that have been given
of the breeding habit, of these seals by no means accord
with one another, and this is the more to be regretted
since, owing to the comparative scarcity of the species at
the present day, it is very unlikely that an authentic
history will ever be given to the world.
The extermination of this giant seal, so far as it has a,
yet gone, ,s a sad story, accompanied as it is by details of
.evoltmg and fiendish cruelty. In the eighteenth and the
early part of the nineteenti, century these seals were met
w.th in thousands on mc^t of their island haunts as well
as on the shore, of Patagonia, but the ease with which
they could be killed, and the value of their hides and oil
soon led to a vast reduction in their „u,„Nrs ; and in
many of their old bieeding-placvs, su.-), as the Falkland,
they are either very scarce- or are ,hogether exterminated'
»34
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
I
On Heard Island they still survive in considerable numbers,
owing to the difficulty of gaining access to their favourite
breeding-ground, to reach which from the shore two
glaciers have to be crossed. The difficulty of removing
the oil and hides from such a locality has, however, betn
to a considerable extent overcome by driving the seals to
sea during stormy weather, when they arc compelled to
seek an easier landing-place. In the Macquarie Islands
elephant-seals appear to be still found in considerable
numbers, but the difficulty, or impossibility, of obtaining a
fully adult male tells its own tale as to the persecution to
which the species is subject; and it is only too palpable
that long b-fore the middle of the present century elephant-
sealing wil! have been abandoned as an unprofitable trade.
But by that time we shall really be living in an impoverished
worid, so far as large animals are concerned.
THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND
AFRICA
n^sr,TE the repetitu,,, of .1,. statement as to .lair essential
s ructura. dif^-rence in almost every work on popular natural
h.story .ssned to the public, few .xTsons, save .hose who
.ave made anatomy a special study, can be induced to
eWve that swallows and swifts are not cl,.ely allied
b..ds And „ may be presumed tha. an equal degree of
mcreduluy will prevail in the minds of most people when
they are told that the two animals whose portraits are
g.ven m the plates accompanying l,ave no sort of intimate
relat,onsh,p, being in fact much more widely sundered from
one ano.her than are such apparently dissimilar creatures
as a squirrel and a beaver. An instance of this incredulity
has indeed been actually published with regard to the
figured species of the so-called African flying.squirrels or
as they might be better termed, scale-tailed squirrels. Now
thrs particular species of the group was sent home from
Central Afnca b, Emi„ Pasha in tlu: 'eighties, and described
and figured under the name of Anomalun.s puMtu, by Mr
Thomas, of the Bri.ish Museum, in i88; and 1888 Three
years later the figure (the one here reproduced) appeared
."Major Casati's "T.n Years in Equatoria," with the
lollowmg remarks :—
"The flying squirrel {Mboma) lives in the forests, almost
always upon the branches of the trees, whence it throws
1)6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
itKlf, expanding the membrane which joins the feet to the
hody, nice a parachute. The sliin is nscil as an ornament.
I think it is identical with one very romnion in the island
iif Ceylon, which is almr>st lame."
The extraordiimry misconception .i.s to the affinities of
the creature displayed in thi last sentence of this quotation
will be apparent when 1 say that the scale-tailed »i{uirrel«
—whether furnished with a flying membrane or not — are
absolutely restricted to Africa, where not a single repre-
sentative of the true nying-squirrcis of Asia and Europe
exists.
The reason why tbise two very dissimilar groups of
animals are regarded in popular estimation as near relatives
is, of course, due to the fact that both are furnished with
expansions of skin by means of which they are enabled
to Uke Hying leaps from bough to bough. Such Hying
membranes are developed in very few mammals, and the
popular idea is that the presence of such a membrane must
necessarily imply intimate affinity between all the forms in
which it occurs. Hence not only are the African Hying
scale-tailed squirrels associated with the typical flying-
squirrels, but the still more widely separated Hying-phalangers
of Australasia arc likewise regarded as members of the same
group.
In making such associations the public fail to recognise
that similar structures may be produced in totally different
groups of animals owing to their living under similar special
conditions, or having peculiar habits of the same nature. In
external appearance rodents belonging to different families,
such as squirrels and dormice, may be very much alike ;
and if certain members of each group had acquired the same
mode of life as the flying-squirrels, their similarity would
probably have become still more noticeable. For unless
1
'Srt^
J5
K
I
THE FLYING SQUIRRELS OF ASIA ANn AFRICA 237
the whole skeleton of the fore-limbs be so modified as to
form a wing, as in bats, it is difficult to see how ordinary
mammals could be endowed with the power of taking flying
leaps save by the development of an expanse of skin along
the sides of the body in the manner which obtains in the
true flying-squirrels, the scale-tailcd flying-squirrels, the
ilying-phalangers, and, it may be added, the flying-lemurs.
The development of flying membranes in all these four
groups of mammals has, in fact, taken place quite inde-
pendently, and affords an interesting example of what is
known as parallelism in development. Such parallelisms
are due, so to speak, to the poverty of possibilities in
the way of modification of animal structures. As already
said, the simplest and most obvious way of endowing an
ordinary four-limbed mammal with the power of taking
nying leaps is by the development of lateral expansions
of skin. Similarly, the only easily conceivable method by
which a primitive short-limbed and many-toed hoofed
mammal could be converted into one cut out for speed,
like a horse or a gazelle, is by reducing the number of
the digits and increasing the length of the lower segments
of the limbs. Accordingly, we find parallelism in this
respect between the horses and the zebras on the one hand,
and the gazelles, antelopes, and deer on the other.
But the parallelism is by no means exact in this latter
case, as indeed would be naturally expected if the lines
of evolution were distinct ; and the structure of the lower
portion of the limb of a horse differs essentially from the
same part in a gazelle.
Neither is the 1 .irRllelism exact in the case of the two
groups of (lying-squirrels. In the flying-squirrels of Europe
and Asia, such as the one depicted in the plate, the
Hying membrane, or parachute, is merely a lateral expansion
»3«
MOSTLY MAMMALS
ii;
I
of the ordinary skin of the body, which extends outwards
between the limbs as far as the wrists and ankles. In
addition to the two lateral membranes, there is a narrow
and inconspicuous one passing from each cheek along the
front of the shoulder to the front of the wrist ; and another,
at least in tlie larger forms, connecting the two hind-legs
and involving the base of the tail.
In general characters the parachute of the scale-tailed
llying-squirreis of Afri.a confcjrms to the above type ; and
a superficial obs^-rver might say that the two were in all
respects similar. A closer examination will, however, reveal
the fact that the parachute in this group is support<(i by
a process of cartilage prt.jtcting like a yard-arm from the
elbow and extending to the edge of th< membraro As
this is present in all tlw; »cale-t#*** fas w< may call them
for short, especially a.s they have no right at all to the
title of squirrelsj and absent in all lin- true flying-squirrels,
it evidently indicates an important diffenoce between thi
two groups.
.\ further important distinrtion between them is afforded
by the presence on the under-surface of the basal portion of
the tail of a series of overlapping horny scales, from wlin li
the African group takes both its popular title of scale-tail
and its scientific name of Aiiomalurus. Evidently these
scales are intended to aid in supporting the animals as
they climb the boughs or stems of trees, and they are
thus strictly analogous to the stiff tail-feathers of wood-
peckers.
Yet another difference between the two groups is to be
found in the structure of the crowns of their cheek-teeth.
In ordinary squirrels the grinding surfaces of these teeth
are surmounted by simple tubercles, which in some cases
may be elongated into ridges. And a similar type of
il
I
THE FLYING SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA 23,,
tooth-structure obtains in most of the flying-squirrels of
Europe and Asia, although in the species shown in the
plate the structure has become somewhat more complicated
owing to the taller crowns of these teeth. In the scale-tails,
on the other hand, a totally diflferent type of tooth-stnicturJ
obtains, the crowns of the molars being divided by trans-
verse folds of enamel, after a fashion recalling that which
prevails in certain South American rodents.
To the anatomist these differences are sufticicnt to render
it quite certain that the scale-tailed flying-squirrels are, at
most, but very remotely connected with their non-scaled
namesakes of the northern hemisphere. The non-scientiiic
person might, however, say that the "yard-arm" in the
parachute and the scales on the tail are features which
have been developed concomitantly with the acquisition of
the parachute itself in certain species of flying-squirrels,
and that, like the differences in the structure of the teeth,
they are of no particular importance one way or the other
in regard to the affinities of the animals in which they
occur.
A few years ago it would have been impossible to
produce absolutely decisive evidence as to the futility of
such specious arguments. Recently, however, there has
been discovered on the West Coast of Africa— that home
of strange and primitive types of animal life— a rodent
looking not unlike a large dormou.se. which is really the
"grandfather" of all the flying scale-tails. For this creature
(known as ZenkereUa), although without a parachute, has
scales on its tail like Anomalurus, and teeth of the same
type as the latter. Whether it is the actual form from
which the flying scale-tails are descenckd, or whether it
is itself a descendant of such ancestral form, may be left
an open question, as it is one of no piactical importance,
I
'*° MOSri.Y MAMMALS
But it may bf taken as certain that the Hying scale-tails—
of which, by the way, there are two distinct generic types
(Anomalurus and Mmrus)-w the specialised descendants
of a creature closely allied to, if not idenli.al with, Zenkerella.
It may further be affirmed with r, nainty that the evolution
of the nying frc;;i the non-flying scale-tails has taken place
in Afri.r,. Whether, however, Zenkenlla itself is an aborigi-
nal African type, or an immigrant into the dark .nntinent
from the north, is a question difficult 1., answer at the
present time.
Although the nying-squirrels of Europe and Asia have
bie., known from time immemorial, their pedigree is not
so easy to trace as is that of the scale-tails. Probably
they were evolved from non-llying squirrels at an earlier
date than that at which Aiiomalunis branched off from
Ztnkmlla (or its prototype), as they appear to be repre-
sented by teeth in some of the earlier Tertiary deposits
of Europe. It is therefore quite probable that even the
geneiic types from which they trace their descent have
died out. Neveithelesii, it may be considered practically
certain that they are descended from rodents mon oi less
nearly allied to the true squirrels of the genus Scuru^.
Their pedigree is theiefore wholly distiurt from that of their
reputed cousins, the scale-tailed (lying-squirrels of Equatorial
Africa.
In appearance the true flying-squirrels, of which thei.
are three distinct generic types, ar»- very similar to
ordinary squirrels, as indeed they are in their habits;
their long flying leaps, durmg which they half float in the
air by the aid of the parachute, being only an txtensioii
of the bounds taken by the ordinary red squirrel ir. its
passajy from tree to tree. Many of them are even m<.r<-
beautifully coloured than ordinary squirrels Ctmpar.d
■leklA'- *i%.
THE FLYING-SQUIRRELS OF ASIA AND AFRICA ,4,
with the latter, flying-s.,uirrc|s are more strictly nocturnal
.n the wooded districts of the Himalayas, as thev are
attracted by the light of the can.p-lire ^
I he smallest numbers „f the gr,_,un are the pigmy
ny,ng-s<,u,rreis, typified by Sa.n,^Ur,.s r.,l,„u of Kastern
Europ. a„u Siberia and represented in NWh America
l.y he closely alhed S. vo,uce!la. They are pretty little
-ea ures, w,th soft velvety fur and enorn.ous tar g
.•^ eyes. ,n all the pig,ny ,lyi„«..„„>,,„ „, „2.
Lane connecting the hind-legs and the base of the tad is
bsen;but,,ncon,p,„sati„n, the tail itself is broad, fiat,
..n^d^^laterally expanded, so as to form an edicient aid hi
The typical and larger (lying-squirrels, formerly known
uron T. T ""^■'' '■'■""'-■"'.-- confined to
•u ope and As,a, havng no transatlantic representative
Unhke that of the pigmy nying-s.u.rrels, the t'llo; tt:;
rodents ,s cylindrical and comparativ.-ly thin, while ns
al-iy^sa,d, the parachute is .lly developed bet.ee,; the
In the. last and finest representation of all th.. Ilvini,
J.rrels-the species shown in the accompanying pi td
-ar 1878, when ., Si inagar, Kashmir, he purchased
tanner), who stated th.t it came from Asm, „r (iikd,
and that he had ..ver previonsly seen its Nk„. ,„ .^ J
o a perambulator-rug, in which capacity it „as in use
several years, on one occasion narrowly escapiuT
complete destruction by the i,ws of . r= -I ''■""»
, , . . ■' "" J'""- of a favourite pug-dog
A. this period. „ ,„a, 1^ mentioned that the wr,'ef w^
lb
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J5
I
less well acquainted with Rfaniinals, so far as their exteriors
are concerned, than he is at the present day. And
although he had a suspicion that the skin in question
was peculiar, no steps were taken to ascertain whether
this was really the case. One day, howwer, in 1888,
when payinj; a visit to the Natural IliMory Museum, he
was show:, a living flying-squirn- 1 from Astor, remarkable
for its 'ark colour and bushy tail, which was pronounced
to repre. nt a then unknown vivcic^ A brief inspection
was sufficient to render it evident that the skin serving as
a perambulator-iug belonged to the sfimo species as the
living animal, although a much larger anu finer individual.
It was soon after presented to the Museum, and described,
in (\injunctinn with the complete specimen, not only as
the type of a new species, but of a new genus, under the
title of Eupelaurus cinereus. Owing to the splendid de-
velopment of the tail in the flat skin, the figure of which
a reproduction is given in the plate was partly drawn
from that specinuii.
The main reason for making the woolly flying-squirrel
(as, from the nature of its coat, it has been called) the
type of a genus by itself is alTordeil by the characters o:
its cheek-teeth, which dilfer from those of other mrirbers
of the group by their tall crowns and imperfectly developed
roots. This t:haracter indicates greater specialisation than
the ordinary flying-squirrels. Unfortunately little 01
nothing is known as to the life-history of this splendid
representative of the flying-squirrels, but there is :,oiii'
reason to believe that it dwells, at least to a certain exteiii,
among rocks rather than in trees.
Although they do not properly come within the scope
of the present article, a few words may be said with
regard to the flying-phalangers (the flying-squirrels of ti e
^m^i
THE FLYING.SQUIRREI.S OF ASIA AND AFRICA U3
colon,,,,) of Australia, ,i„ce in one respect they present
a cunons analogy with the flying-squirrels of the Old
World It need hardly be said that these Australian
fly.ng-phalangera are true marsupials, with a dentition
resembling that of the ordinary phalangers, or, as they
are l«ally ealled, opossums. The larger nymg-phalanHers!
wh,eh consftute the genus Pclaun,s, are eharacterised bj
the full development of the parachute and the rounded
bushy tail. A, in -he case of the Asiatic (lying squirrels
we are unable to point out the non-volant type of
phalanger from which they are descended
On the other hand, the beaufful pigmy flying-phalanger
(Acroi«,es), wh.ch differs from the larger forms by fhe
scantier development of its parachute, as well as by its
tail being formed after the type of a feather-that is to
say, being flattened, with a line of hair along each edge-
is evidently descended from the non-flying feather-tailed
phalanger (D.s„c/,ur„s). or the immediate ancestor of the
alter. In this case, therefore, we have an exact parallelism
to the descent of the flying representatives of the scale-tails
Irom the non-flying Zenkerella.
THE BEAVER IN NORWAY
I
I
Had not the use of its hair in the manufacture of hats
been superscdt-d by that of silk, there Is little doubt that
the beaver, both in the Old World and in America, would
by this time havi- been numbered among txtinct animals.
As it is, the creature has but a hard time of it at best,
for although tht re is no longer a demand for its hair by tht:
hat-manufacturer, yet beaver-fur is an article highly valued
by the furrier, and equally highly esteemed by the fair
sex. Although a few survive in the Rhone and the Rhine,
while more numerous colonies are found in parts of Russia,
the beaver has been practically swept away from most
Kuropean countries, though place-names frequently bear
testimony to its former presence. Among the countries
where it still maintains a foothold is Norway, where Dr.
Robert CoUett, the well-known Zoological Professor at tli<-
University of Christiania, has described its present condition
and habits.
It appears that for some years the beaver has enjoynl
a certain amount of protection in Norway, and if this pm-
tection be continued, Dr. Collett is of opinion that thr
animal will survive well into this century. The two most
important colonies now remaining are situated at Aanili
and Nedrethelcmarkcn.
The Norwegian beaver began to decrease in numbers
from the early part or middle of the eighteenth century,
"^"MTr^prmm^i
THE BKAVER IN NOR\'AV ,^j
-d by ,soo ha,, al„.,dy ,fi.app,.»red l„„„ „„s. parts of
• ^ coun.ry, w,„ .he .xcp.io,. „f .he n,.r.he,n LrJ,
'I Hnma,. and Nordland, and .he ,„u.h.,„ province
V-.l-a,, or ChnMian.sa„d. Ihe wn.K of ex.L.ina.ion
«.nt on morr or less rapidly .ill ,he year ,845, when it
wa, s„,„ewh„ cheeUd by the enaet.n, n. of „" c",v
statutes ; h.,t either these could not have „or d v r;
.Penally or .he war ofeMer ati„„ had bee,, only .00
-11 earned ou., for in ,880 the numl. , o, individual.
su.v,v„,g throUKhou. the eountry was es.in,;...., .. „ ,!
abou. three seore. Th,ee yea,s later the nu™,,er of he d
was put down roughly at a hundred, and nnce that d"'
. .s pro, able , ha. ,b,. number has been fully „,ai„tai„e,,,
", indeed, ,t has not actually inrieased
The s.a.u.es which ,ave been enacted for the ,„eserva
o,. of the beaver in Norway a,.e no,, ,,,r the Jotrt
smack. The statuf, of ,845 p,.„vided .ha. no beavers a.
an should be killed fo .en years, and .l,e„ only by th
p™pr,e.ors of .he es.a.es on which .hey were found, 'xhi
J durable so far as it went, but as fro. the beginning
H.r restncfon as to ti,„e or number, it is obvious that
he good results of the first enactn,en. n,igh. very well
ha». been speedily los.. Probably this was found .0 b
esabhsh.nga close .,n,e a,„l fi.xing a lin.i.a.ion in number
W„,g eo this statute, beave,s were only allowed .0
Oct :7 "'■ "■""'"^ "' ^"«-'' September, and
October, and then only by owners of estates, who were
^rLl"' ^"' - ■"^'-- ---y - -
Special exemptions might, however, be granXxi by the
MICKOCOTY RESOIUTION TKT CHART
(ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2)
1.0
I.I
taps
■^■5
■ iO *^W
Ib
!f Hi,
1^
i^
1^
1^1^ nl
^ /APPLIED IIVHGE In.
246
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
sovereign, who was enabled to give permission for the
killing of several individuals on large estates, or even
to permit the proprietors to kill the whole number of
animals on an island or enclosed property, thus putting
some of the colonies, like the one at Aarali, entirely in
the power of the owner. Moreover, although slaughter is
entirely forbidden on Crown or municipal lands, beavers
might be killed to any extent, and .-.ppanntly in any
number, on private estates where they inflicted appreciable
damage.
Two much more effectual statutes have, however, come
into operation: the one, daUj August 31st, 1894, pro-
tecting all the beavers in the Amt of Sondre Bcrgenhus
till the end of 1904, and the other, dated September 3rd,
1895, doing the same for the colony of Aamli till the end
of 1905. The penalty for illegally killing beaver is a fine
of eighty kronors (about £^ los.), which can be inflicted
on all the participators in the offence.
The chief food of the beaver in Norway consists of the
fresh bark of deciduous trees, more especially the aspen,
the larger branches being barked, but the twigs consumed
entire, and the coarse bark of the trunk generally rejected.
For winter use small branches are sunk near the entrance
to the lodge, but no store of stripped bark is collected.
Most of the trees felled are situated close to the water,
with beaten tracks leading to them from the lodge, but
occasionally some are chosen a considerable distance away
from the river. The trees are gnawed all round until
the portion left is so thin that the stem breaks from its
own weight, the stump remaining being generally about
half a yard in length, and terminating in a point Hke a
pencil, as does the lower end of the felled stem. Small
trunks or branches are, however, gnawed in a slanting
THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 247
direction. Only healthy trees are selected for fell.ne
and sometimes these are left half gnawed through withouj
any apparent reason. No attempt appears to be made
to make the trees fall in any particular direction, as they
may be seen lying pointing all ways. The trunks and
boughs, after being stripped of their bark, are cut into
convenient lengths and employed for building, the current
being used for their transport whenever practicable. Many
lodges are, however, constructed in still water, and the
animals are then compelled to convey the timber by their
own exertions, this being efTected by holding the log in
the water between the fore-paws and swimming with the
nind-feet.
The construction of the lodge is a serious business
occupying at least two years, and annual repairs are
necessary to keep it in habitable condition. Building
operations take place in the autumn, lasting from Se,;
tember till well into November, and as they are nearly
always undertaken at night, it is but seldom that an
opportunity occurs of seeing the animals at work. In
Norway the lodges are either conical or elliptical in shape
he majority being now of the latter type. The conical
odges which appear to have been more common formerly
than Uiey are at present, are placed on the banks of ponds
■n which the water level is constant, such ponds being
ether natural or made by the animals damming up the
stream. On the other hand, the elliptical or elongated
lodges are invariably formed on the banks of a river with
running water subject to constant change of level. Although
the majority are considerably smaller, they may be as
"uch as fifty feet in length, the width seldom exceeding
eight or nine feet. One half generally lies under water
and thus prevents the edifice from being left high and dry
248
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J5:
I
when the river runs low. The main entrance is invariably
placed at the end of the submerged portion, but another
outlet may be made on shore beyond the lodge itself, and
is then generally covered with a layer of twigs, or twigs
and earth. As a rule, the lodges are isolated, although a
couple may be built in contact. Seen from a distance, the
lodge looks like a confused pile of timber and earth with-
out any definite arrangement. The logs employed are
usually from a couple of feet to a yard in length, although
liiey may sometimes be double this size; twigs are also
largely used, and sometimes take root and develop into
saplings on the roofs. Stones are but seldom employed.
Many of the logs are stripped of their bark, but others are
built in just as they are felled ; and not infrequently drift
logs of pine and other trees which are men-felled are
annexed. The logs and twigs are thrown together pell-
mell, and the interstices tightly rammed with earth, the
thickness of the walls being about a couple of feet. The
passage leading from :he submerged edge of the lodge to
the central dwelling-chimber is usually single, and about
twenty inches in diame'er, its interior, when in clayey soil,
becoming vi'orn perfectly smooth.
A double lodge opened in 1895 is described by Mr. Collett
as follows : " The left or short lodge contained an unoccu-
pied chamber without lijiing. The right, which was long
and of considerable age, extended for some way under an
oak coppice. The chamber in this was situated about si.\
yards from the water, half a yard underground, and con-
sisted of an enlargement of the passage to about three-
quarters of a yard in height." It was thickly lined with
the under-bark of the aspen.
Ice-floes and floating timber do much damage to the
lodges, and thus entail an annual repair, which, as already
I
THE BEAVER IN NORWAY 24,)
said, is carried out in autumn. Spring and autumn floods
also frrqucnlly submerge the lodges, from wliich large
portions are loosened and swept away. F-om twenty to
thirty years is the probable period durinR which a lodge
is habitable.
On the bank of the river in the neighbourhood of the
lodge numerous burrows arc met with, a few of which are
in connection with the lodge, although most arc entirely
separate. Burrows are the first refuges formed by the
beaver when taking possession of a fresh spot, and they
may accordingly be likened to the rude sheds erected by
workmen employed on building a mansion. Probably
each lodge is tenanted only by a single couple and their
young family, the young beavers, when able to do without
parental assistance, either settling down temporarily in
burrows in the immediate neighbourhood, or wandering
away to found new colonies. Small lodges constructed in
a kind of jerry-building fashion appear to be run up by
bachelor beavers who have not yet ventured to take upon
themselves the responsibilities of a wife and family. There
may, however, be also spinster beavers to whom such
accommodation is also necessary — it is to be hoped only
temporarily.
Dams are constructed where beavers have quartered
themselves by the sides of gently flowing streamlets, or
small ponds through which a current runs, in order to
obtain water of sufficient depth and maintaining a constant
level. The dam is substantially built and difficult to
demolish. One examined in 1895 was constructed at the
outflow of a small stream through a forest-marsh ; and
where there was formerly but a small shallow pool, a
pond or lake of some few hundred yards in diameter soon
resulted from the labours of these indefatigable rodents.
250
MOSTI.V MAMMALS
I
The dam, which was about fttleen feet in length, with
a cross-section of some two feet, was entirely made in the
course of three weeks during th< summer of 1890. In
Canada, when the dam is sufficiently stout, the pool will
eventually silt up and form a " beaver-meadow," but Mr.
Collett does not record any of these " meadows " in
Norway.
During the cold winter months the beavers, although
not hibernating in the proper sense of the teim, pass what
appears a somewhat dull existence in the central chamber
of the lodge, the roof of which for most of the time is
buried in snow. Sometimes, however, when the weather
is mild for the season, and an unusually cold autumn has
prevented tlie completion of the annual rep:ti-s at the
proper time, the beavers will venture out from their
retirement for a shor* period in order to remedy such
dilapidations as stand in urgent need of immediate atten-
tion. When they have been engaged en such works their
footprints are visible in the snow. Immediately after the
breaking up of the ice in spring the animals issue forth
to procure a fresh supply of food and resume their daily
avocations.
The young beavers are born in April or May, three
being apparently a common number in a litter. At first
their eyes are closed, but they grow rapidly, and by
September or October are about the size of a cat. When
able to shift for themselves, they leave the parental lodge,
and frequently start off to found a family in some fresh
locality, although sometimes they set off on l.-cir wanderings
alone. Following the courses of small streams, they
frequently track straight across the open mountain-slopes
for many miles, so that one or more not infrequently
make their appearance in valleys where none have been
THK HEAVER IN NORWAY
>S'
known for years. They will even occasionally cross
small arms of the sea, and the perils of the journey end
in death to no inconsiderable number.
Several old-time superstitions still cling round the beaver.
One of the most persistent and most incorrect is that
the flat scaly tail is employed as a trowel for plastering
down the mud during building operations. Another is
that the secretion of the tail-glands— the cislorcum of the
old pharmacopoeia— has the property of frightening away
whales or porpoises when approaching the boat I Still
more strange is the old idea that some individuals were
compelled to lie on their backs and be laden with building
materials, when they were dragged by their companions
to the scene of operations. Probably this fable originated
from the circumstance that many individuals have the
hair worn off the back from constantly passing up and
down the narrow burrow or entrance to a lodge.
THE EXTINCT QUAGGA
Si
When the Dutch first colonised that pari of Africa of
which Cape Town now lurms the apit.nl, thiy found the
country absohitcly swarmini^ with a great variety of species
of large game and other animals, whose furni and appear-
ance were for the most part unfamiliar. As they thei,.-
selves came from a land which had long since been stripped
of the larger members of its fauna, it is possible that
unfamiliarity with these prototypes was one of the causes
which led to the indiscriminate and often inappropriate
bestowal of the names of the large mammals of Europe,
or compound's of the same, on the animals of the new
country. What, for instance, can be more inappropriate
than the transference of the Dutch name for elk (eland)
to the largest of the Cape antelopes — unless, indeed (which
is scarcely likely), the settlers were acquainted with the
fact that etymologically the word signifies, in its GreeK
original, " strength " ? Neither is hartebtest (stag-ox) much
better, although wildebeest (wild ox) is by no means an
unsuitable designation for the animals known to the
Hottentots by the title of gnu. Bastard hartebeest, on
the other hand, is a cumbrous and senseless name for the
antelope the Bechuanas call tsessabe, and it is much to
be regretted that the Boers did not see fit to adopt for
South African animals the native titles they found ready
to hand.
THE F.XTINCT Qt'AdCA
'Si
In two inst.-.. s, and apparently in two on/, o far
as the larger animals arc concerned, they did, however,
adopt this practic. The first instance is that of tht
larRc and handsome spiral-honiol antelope now univer-
sally known as kudu, a name which i, certainly not Dutch
and is helicved by Sir Harry Johnston to be of Hottentot
origin, since it is unknown to the Kaffirs or other tribes
who speak dialects of the lian'u languagr. The second
case is that of the animal furming the subject of this
article, which is now universally km, .„ as quaRga, from a
corruption of its Hottentot ian,e quacha, pronr.unc.d by
the natives as "quaha." Tven in this instance, howe.-er,
the Boers appear at first to have displayed considerable
reluctance to adopt the native name, for they .riginally
called the animal wilde esel (wild ass) in the same way
as they christened its cousin, liurchell's zebra, wilde
paard, or wild horse. Eventually, however, better counsels
prevailed, and Ei/uiis qiiaggu became known to th- Cape
Dutch b^ the aforesaid native name, while the wilde paard
(whose early title still survives in Paardcberg) was
renamed bonte quacha, or striped quagga. When, how-
ever, the true quagga became very rare and eventually
externinatcd, the prefix bonle was dropped from the Dutch
designation of Bu.chell's zebra, which was henceforth
known throughout South Africa as the quacha, or quagga
pure and simple. Hence much confusion, and possibly
also a factor in the extermination of the spe -es to which
that title of right belonged. For as the name in question
continued to be in common use in South Africa at the
time the true quagga was on the point of extermination.
It is quite probable tha is may have been the reason
why the attention of natu.alists in Europe was not drawn
to its impending fate while there was yet time.
«54
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
I
According to the best obtainable evidence the quagga
appears to have become extinct, in Cape Colony at any
rate,* about the ytar 18O5, at which date a specimen
was actually living in the London Zoological Society's
menagerie ; while anoth'.*r had died there only the year
before. Of the latter example, a male, presented to the
Society in 1858 by the late Sir George Grey, the carcase
was fortunately acquired by the Dritish Museum, where
both its skin and skeleton are now preserved. The former
specimen — a female purchased in 1851 -survived till the
summer of 1872, when its carcase was sold (apparently
without the least idea of its priceless value) to a London
taxidermist, from whom the mounted skin was p.cquired
many years after by Mr. Walter Rothschild, for his museum
at Tring. Not impossibly, this specimen was actually the
last survivor of its kind, although, as already said, there
was not even a suspicion that it belonged to a rare species.
Most fortunately for natural history, a photograph of this
animal was taken in th; summer of 1870 by Me? rs.
York & Son, and it is from that picture that most of ih,'
later figures of the animal appear to have been taken. It
is probably the only photograph of a living specimen in
existence.
According to a note published by the Secretary, in the
Proceedings for iSgr, the only other example of the quagga
in the London Zoological Society's menagerie was one
purchased in 183 1. No record of its death appears to
have been preserved, but it may have been the same
* From the fact that a skin was purchased by the Edinburgh
Museum in 1879, Mr. G. Renshaw {Zoologist, February, 1901) has
suggested that the species may have 5ur\ived in the Orange River
Colony till about that date ; but the Edinburgh specimen appears to
have been an old one at the date of it purchase.
THE EXTINCT QtAGOA ,55
specimen of which tlic skin was exhibited in the Society',
old museum in 1838, or thereabouts. Thew, however,
were by no means th. only specimens brought ahve to
England, for as early as 1815 one was in the possession
of Lord Morton, while somewhat later on in the last
century Mr. Sheriff Parkins was in the habit of d-iving
two quaggas in a phaeton about London, and in narratinj;
this circumstance the late Colonel Hamilton i- .■li men-
lions that he himself had been drawn in a gig i,y one of
these animals, which showed " as much temper and delicacy
of mouth as any domestic horse." Another (|uagga was
in the possession of a former Prince of Walls, and there
are records of others in England. The skulls of the two
driven by Mr. Parkins, as well as a portrait of one of
them, are preserved in the Museum of the Royal College
of Surgeons.
In addition to tl.e specimens in the Bt -ish, Edinburgh, and
Tring museums, several skins are preserved on the Con-
tinent. With one exception, all appear to t« of the same
general type as the London example photographed by Messrs.
York in 1870. The exception is one in the Imperial Museum
at Vienna, of which a description and photograph have
recently been published by the Director, Dr. L. von Lorenz,
in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London!
Unfortunately there is no record as to the locality where
the Vienna s|)ec.men (which is a female) was obtained, all
tl..u is known being that it was acquired by purchase
in 1836.
Compared with the ordinary type of quagga, as exemplifie.1
by York's photograph, the Vienna animal is of somewhat
larger dimensions, with a creamy buff (instead of greyish or
chocolate-brown) ground-colour on the upper parts, with the
exception of the head, which is clay-brown. A more striking
156
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J5-
I
difference is to be found in the broader dark stripes (of which
there seem to be more in a given space), and a corresponding
decrease in the width of the intervening Ught intervals. The
stripes also seem to extend farther back on the body.
But there is also a difference between quaggas of the type
of the one photographed by York and those figured by the
early writers, as exemplified by the plate in Colonel Hamilton
Smith's volume on horses in the " Naturalists' Library." In
the specimen there represented, which not improbably came
from Cape Colony, the het-J, neck, and forequarters are
marked by narrow black stripes on a chestnut ground.
The markings are, indeed, as Dr. von Lorenz remarks, just
the reverse of those of the Vienna specimen ; the British
Museum example and the one figured by York being in
some degree intermediate between these two extreme types.
With seme hesitation, Dr. von Lorenz suggests that there
may have been local races of the quagga, as there are of
Burchell's zebra.
Even in the days of its abundance the quagga (which,
by the way, takes its name from its cry) had a comparatively
limited distribution, ranging from the Cape Colony up the
eastern side of Africa as far as the Vaal River, beyond
which it appears to have been unknown. In this respect
it closely resembled the white-tailed gnu, which, however,
is known to have crossed that river in one district.
Curiously enough, the two species lived in close comradeship,
and in the old days their vast herds formed a striking
feature in the landscape of the open plains of the Orange
River Colony. Both have now disappeared from the face
of the country, for the white-tailed gnu, if, indeed, any are
now left, only exists in a semi-aomesticated state on a
few farms.
Owing to its rank flavour, and especially its yellow fat,
THE EXTINCT QUAGGA ,„
'he ne,h of the quagga was almost uneatable by Europeans
^tHough ,. was keenly relished by the Hot.entot,'who
'" '"^^fy "^y' of 'he Cape Colony, were large y fed
pon u by their Dutch masters. Whether this tas t
art o thl '"T"'-'"'' "'^ ''-PPe-ance from that
part of the country, ,t is new impossible to say but
,"'' '° "'' '""="°^ ■" '836, quaggas were no longer to
be me wuh n any numbers in Cape Colony, although
Cornel Hampton S,ni.h, writing a few years later, state
Ih t H T- "' °""^"'' ''"""•-- ■" 'heir original
- mudes, and u was not till about the middle of the
St cent.^y that the Boers took to hide-hunting, and
thus .n a few years accomplished the extermination'of the
Alh,sion has already been made to the facility with
wh,ch the quagga could be broken to harness, and
-cms probable that the species could have been more
-s,y domesticated than any of its South African relates
Another tra.t ,n its disposition is worth brief mention It'
was sa,d to be the boldest and fiercest of the whole equine
T:TT ' '"' "'"'"' ""^ "o"' 'he wild dog and the
po ted hyaena. On this accou.n the Boers are stated
LsM"""'" ''■" ' '"^ '^™ "-««- - their
ar^s wh.ch were turned out at night to graze with the
horses^,n order to protect them from the attacks of beasts
of the Vaal R.ver the quagga was the sole wild representa-
ve of the horse family, the true zebra being con ,ed to
North of the Vaal River the veldt was, however, dotted
«7
I
sjg MOSTLY MAMMALS
over with herds of Burchell's zebra, the aforesaid bonte
quagga, which, inclusive of its local races, has a very
extensive geographical distribution in East and Central
Africa. It is scarcely necessary to say that this species
differed from the quagga in having the whole or the
greater part of the body striped, as well as by the more
brilliant coloration and the pattern of the striping. One
very remarkable feature in connection with this species
must not be passed over without notice. In the original
and typical race (now nearly extinct), which was obtained
just north of the Vaal River, in British Bechuanaland,
and therefore immediately adjacent to the northern limits
of the quagga, the whole of the legs, as well as a
considerable portion of the hindquarters, are devoid of
stripes. In this respect the typical form of the Transvaal
species comes much nearer to the last-mentioned animal
than do the races from more northern districts, in which
the hindquarters and legs are more or less completely
striped; the striping attaining its fullest development in
the most northern race of all, the so-called Grant's zebra
of Somaliland and Abyssinia.
Of course, these gradations towards the quagga type of
coloration of the more southern representatives of Burchell's
zebra, as well as the differences in the coloration of the
quagga itself as compared with zebras, have a meaning
and a reason, if only they could be discovered. And it
may be remarked incidentally in this place that unless we
attempt to account rationally for such variations, there is
little justification for the modern practice of distinguishing
between the local races of variable species.
The striping of the zebras, which there is considerable
cause for regarding as the primitive type of coloration of
the horse family in general, is evidently of a protective nature.
THE EXTINCT QUAGGA ,5,
It was stated some years ago that zebras a short distance
off were absolutely invisible in bright moonlight, and I
have reason to believe that the same is to a great extent
the ca« .n sunhght. For some reason or other the species
mhabumg the plains (not the mountains, be it observed) of
South Afnca have tended to discard this striped coloration
he southern race of Burchell's zebra exhibiting the first, and
^.e quagga the second stage in this transformation. In
North Afnca the transformation has been carried a stage
arther, the wild asses of the Red Sea littoral having
d.sca,ded the,r stnpes almost completely in favour of a
un.form grey or tawny livery. I„ this part of the continent
there .s now no trace of a transitional form, whatever may
have been the case in the past, and we thus have the
sharp contrast between the uniformly coloured wild asses
of the coast of the Red Sea on the one hand, and the fully
stnped zebras of Abyssinia and Southern Somaliland on
the other.
Whether there is anything in the climatic and other
physical conditions of the plains of Cape Colony which
renders a partially striped species less conspicuous than one
m wh,ch the striping is fully developed, the disappearance of
the quagga makes it now impossible to determine. But
observation might advantageously be directed to the com
parat^e mvisibility, or otherwise, of the wild asses of the
Red Sea httoral and the fully striped zebras of the interior
and whether this would be affected in any degree by the
transference of the one to the habitat of the other. What
ever be the explanation, the fact remains that at the
opposite extremities of Africa some of the members of
'he equme tribe have developed a tendency to the replace-
ment of a striped livery by one of a uniform and sober
hue, and that in the south of the continent this tendency
I
,60 MOSTLY MAMMALS
exists only in tiie species inhabiting the plains. Moreover,
it is only in South Africa that the transitional form is met
with, and only in the north of the continent that the
striping has been completely lost.
But, as I have already mentioned in earlier articles, this
is only one phase of a general tendency among mammals
to replace their spots or stripes by a uniformly coloured
coat.
So far as I am aware, no one has ever attempted to
give a philosophical reason for this remarkable tendency.
But till an adequate explanation of the phenomenon be
forthcoming, naturalists, to repeat the words of a well-
known ornithologist, have left half their work (and I am
inclined to think the more important half) undone. Without
ascertaining the reason for phenomena of this nature, our
zoological work is, indeed, as though a man were content
with describing the mechanism of a complicated machine
without an inkling as to its use.
One word more, and I have done. To the systematic
zoologist, the quagga is an animal of special interest as
affording evidence of the intimate relationship between
the zebras and the wild asses. Although, judging from
its geographical distribution, it was probably not the actual
transitional form between the two groups, yet it serves to
show the manner in which the transition was effected.
ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPPOPOTAMUSES
Tmk popular conception of hippopotamuses is tliat thev
are clumsily built creatures of enormous si^e and bulk
spending the greater part of their time in the rivers and
hkes of Afr,ca, where they are more at hon.e than on land
dwmgwth the readiness of a crocodile, and even walking
on the nver bed with their bodies submer^,- d many feet
elow the surface of the water. As regards the common
hippopotamus {Hippopotamus amplnbms), which is the one
■hat alone has been exhibited in our Zoological Gardens,
th,s conception is a perfectly true one. As, however
■s so frequently the case in popular zoology, this concept
'.on, excellent as it is so far as the common species
are concerned, does not cover the whole ground, for i,
happens that there exists in Liberia a second species of
he g. nus, known as the pigmy hippopotamus (//
Mm.,,.,), differing not only in size, but likewise in
hab,ts, from the one with which we are all familiar. In
place of a total length of about eleven feet, measured in
a straight line, and weighing probably between three and
lour tons, the pigmy hippopotamus is not larger than a
good.s,zed wild boar, although it has the short and stout
hmhs of ,ts gigantic cousin, with which it also agrees to
a certain extent in the relatively large si..e of its head
As regards its mode of life, this species differs, however
'"Mo from the common one. Instead of passing at leasj
362
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
as much of its time in the water as on land, and never
living away from rivers or lakes, the pigmy hippopotamus
is an inhabitant of the dense tropical forests of that part
of Western Africa which is its home, where it apparently
leads a life very similar to that of wild pigs, wallowing
in swamps after the manner of those animals, but apparently
not habitually frequenting rivers, though it is il 'ilitless,
like almost all mammals, able to swim well when the
necessity arises. Moreover, in place of associating in large
herds after the manner of the common species, and never
moving far from one particular locality, the Liberian
hippopotamus is a comparatively solitary creature, going
about at most only in pairs, and wandering long distances
through the woods, where it seems to have no definite
place of abode. At the present day the creature appears
to be very rare, and there are even rumours that it is
extinct.
Out of a large number of representatives of the genus
once spread widely over the Old World, th.e eomnon
and pigmy hippopotamuses, both of which are confined to
Africa, are the only species which have survived to the
present day ; and the reader will at once see, when we
take into consideration the irobable habits of the extinct
kinds, how fortunate it is that these two widely different
forms have been preserved. Were there only the common
species, we should have had no conception that any hippo-
potamus possessed the habits characterising the smaller
kinds, and might thus have been led into drawing very
erroneous inferences as to the mode of life and habitat
of fossil species.
The general appearance of the commnn hippopotamus is
so familiar that but little is necessary in the way of descrip-
tion. It may be observed, however, that the enormous sizt
ANCIENT AND MODERN HIl'I'OPOTAMUSF.S ,63
of the head, and especially the great width of the mouth
the pronimept position of the eyes and nostrils, the minutJ
ears, bulky body, short and stout limbs, and short tail
are among the most striking external features of the'
creature. The j.resence of hoofs (four in number on each
foot) shows that the hippopotamus belongs to the great
order of hoof.d, or ungulate, mammals, and the thickness
of US nearly naked hide led the older naturalist, to place
.t among what used to be called the pachyderms. It has
been shown, however, by anatomical investigations that the
group thus designated, which included such totally different
forms as elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses, i,
an entirely artificial one, and that the last-named animals
together w,th their near relatives the pigs, ^re much more
closely connected with the ruminants.
If the reader desires to know why zoologists place such
very dissimilar-looking animals as the hippopotamus and
he giraffe in the same great group, while they sunder
from the former the apparently more similar rhinoceroses
.t may be replied that this is largely due to the difference
m the structure of the feet of the two groups. I„ ,hat
the bones of the skeleton of the two middle toes are
^symmetrical to a line drawn between them, the hippo-
potamuses and pigs resemble the ruminants, whereas the
rhmoceroses agree with horses in having the middle toe
Ovhich IS alone present in the latter) symmetrical in itself
Une of the essential characteristics of the ruminants is
the circumstance that in the lower part of the leg the
two m.ddle toes are supported by a single bone known
as the cannon-bone, which consists anatomically of two
ongmally distinct elements welded together, while the
supporting bones of the small lateral toes are incompletely
developed. If, on the other hand, we examine the skeleton
964
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
ol a hippopotamus, wc shall find that in each foot the fo '■
nearly equal-sized toes are severally supported by four
complete and distinct bones, known in the fore-limb as
the metacarpals and in the hind-limb as the metatarsals ;
and it will be obvious that this is a much simpler or more
generalised type of foot-structure than that which charac-
terises the ruminants. If, again, we contrast the foot of a
hippopotamus with that of a pig, we shall find that whereas
in the latter t"-- lateral pair of hoofs are considerably
smaller than the middle pair and dn not touch the ground
when the animal is walking on a hard surface, in the
former the two pairs arc nearly equal in size and are all
applied to the ground in walking. In this respect the
hippopot-Tius is the moFt primitive of all the even-toed
hoofed mammals that have survived to the present day,
and is, therefore, a creature of special interest to the
believer in evolution. It is, indeed, a member of the great
group from which the ruminants are considered to have
originated ; although, if the reader should be led from this
statement to jump to the conclusion that a hippopotamus
was in any sense an ancestor of the giraffe, he would be
led into a grievous error. As is the case with nearly all
existing animals of a primitive type, the hippopotamus, in
pL-ce of being an ancestral form, is a side branch from
the original stock, which has developed certain specialised
features not found in the latter. To show that this is the
case, we have but to study the teeth of the various species
of hippopotami, which are of such a nature as to show
conclusively that those of the ruminants could not have
been derived from them.
In the group of animals last mentioned the molar-teeth
have crescent-shaped columns on their grinding surfaces.
Extinct animals show a complete passage from such teeth
ANCIENT AND MODERN HIPrOPOIAMUSES .6j
to a simple type „ot unlike that now found in the pigs
The molar-teeth of the hippopotamus, though of the same
general plan as those of the latter, have, however their
four main columns, when partially worn, with a distinctly
trefuil-shaped pattern ; and it is <|uite evid.nt that such
a tooth could never have given rise to the eresce;,t-teetl,
of the run.nants. The hippopotatnus molar is, indeed
quite pecul.ir, and its structure is so well marked and
characteristic that any person who l,as once seen a
specimen could immediately identify any example that
might come under his notice.
As regards their front teeth, it may be mentioned that
hippopotamuses hrve an enormous pair of curved tusks or
canines in each jaw. In the common species, between
these huge tusks are two pairs of incisors, those of the
upper jaw 1,, : ^- of nearly equal si«., whereas in the lower
jaw, where these teeth are cylindrical and project nearly
horizontally forwards, the central ones are very much
larger than the lateral pair. If, however, we examine
the lower jaw of the pigmy Liberian spc'cies, we shall
hnd that normally there is but a single pair of incisors
between the tusks, which would lead to the conclusion
that this animal is a more specialised type than its larger
relative. The truth of this inference is curiously confirmed
by the circumstance that individuals of the I.iberian hippo-
potamus are occasionally met with in which tlure are two
incsor-teeth on one side, while on the other there is but
the s.ngle tooth ; this being an excellent example of what
evoiutiouists term reversion or atavism. This, however
by 10 means brings us to the end of the variation in the
number of these teeth obtaining in the group under
consideration ; but before proceeding farther it is necessary
to remark that, since in ordinary mammals the typical or
tM
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J:
I
full complement of inciior-teelh comists of three p»ir», it is
naturnl to suppose that one pair has been lost in the common
species. That sucli is really the crsc is demonstrated by
the extinct Siwalilt hippopotamus (//. sivali-mis) of the
Pliocene deposits of the outer ranges of the Himalaya.
Here between the two large tusks there arc three pairs of
incisor-tccth, which differ from those of the common species
in being all of nearly equal size ; and if we v.ore to
examine the upper jaw, we should find that in this also
there is the same number of teeth. In the presence of
these three pairs of incisor? the Siwalik hippopotamus
resembles the pig, from which t departs less widely than
does the common species in that these teeth are relatively
smaller and also of nearly equal size. The Siwalik hippo-
potamus must accordingly be regarded as a less specialised
species than either of its living cousins ; and since, together
with an allied specie? rom the Irrawady Valley known as
the Burmese hippopotamus (//. iravalims), it is the oldest
representative of '.he genus, its generalised features are
precisely what evolutionary considerations would have led
us to expect.
There is, however, yet another curious point in con-
nection with these teeth demanding a moment's notice.
From the evidence of the two species mentioned, it is
quite impossible to determine which of the three pairs of
lower incisors found in the Siwalik hippopotamus have
disappeared in the common species. Fortunately, however.
palaeontology here once more comes to our aid, showing
not only which pair has been lost, but how the loss was
brought about. From the gravels of the Narbada Valley
in Central India, which are probably intermediate in age
between the Pliocene deposits yielding remains of the
Siwalik hippopotamus and the brick-etrths of our own
ANCIENT AND MODERN UII'TOPOTAMUSES jfi;
country in which occur tho«e of the common African species,
there are found two extinct meiiilwrs of the genus, .
iinown as the Narbada hippopot.-mu, (//. „a,„a,licus). and
the other as the Indian luppopotamus (//. fialanniUcu,). In
the former of these the low. : incisors are similar in size
and number t.. tliose of tli -.iwalik siicries ; but in the
lattir, while the inner anu outer pairs are very large,
there occurs, on each side b<tween them a minute and
rudimentary tooth, squeezed out from the general line to
the upper margin of the jaw, and evidently just about to
disappear altogether. We have thus decisive > vidince that
the missing pair cf lower incisor-teeth in the nmimon
hippopotamus is the secoml ; ami we further see how a
complete transition can he traced, as regards the number
of these teeth, from the Siwalik species throuKh the
common one to the Liberian hippopotamus. While it is
possible that the African hippopolamus ma\ have been
directly derived from the Siwalik species, it is quite clear
that the pigmy hippopotamus is not the descendant of its
giant existing cousin.
With regard to the geographical distribution of the genus,
we have already said that the two living species are confined
to Africa, to which it may be addid that there is no record
of their having ever occurred in the districts lying to the
north of the Sahara during the historic period. They are,
therefore, essentially inhabitants of what naturalists term'
ihe Ethiopian region, although they are quite unknown in
;he island of Madagascar, which belongs to the same
zoological province. So far as I am aware, there is no
evidence that the pigmy species ever ranged beyond its
present habitat of Liberia, although the case is very different
with regard to the range of the common species. At the
present day this animal is found from the Cape Colony
>68
MOSTLY MAMMALS
i
northward* to the camracti of the Nile, and it extendi
wettwardi to Senegal ; but while fnr teveral centuriei it
has been very seldom met with on the Nile below the
entrance of the Atbara and Blue Nile, :iere it abundant
ivideni that in the time of the I'liaraohs it wa« common
in Kgj, vhcre in the ttmple of K;lfu, as well as several
other builili-3», there are 'rescoes representing the mode in
which it was hunted and speared. That the hippopotamus
is the animal indicated in the Book of Job under the name
of brhimotli is, according t'> Canon Tristram, Uiidoubted,
but there is no evidence that the Jews were acquainted
with it (ither'vise than during their sojourn in Kgjpt. It
is true, indeed, that the writer just mentioned suggests
that its range may have extended eastwards as far as
Palestine, but this is mere conjecture, and had the creature
ever lived lb' re the expeditions which have from time to
time explored that country ought to have found some of
i's remains, lo the I'leistocene and upper Pliocene deposits
of Southern and Central Europe there occur, however,
numerous rem. .ins of a hippopotamus which cannot be p^-^ci-
fically distinguished fron, the existing African form, althi -h
it is generally of rather larger size. The difference in siie
was at one ime thought to indicate that the fossil form
was a distinct species, but the discovery many years ago
of a half-fossilised jaw in the alluvium of the Nile near
Kalabshi, in Nubia, showed that in former times the
African hippopotamus attained dimensions as large as the
European form. In England the hippopotamus ranged at
least is far north as Leeds, and it is a remarkable ei cum-
stance that in many places its remains have been found
in association with those of the reindeer. How animals
now inhabiting countries with such totally different climatic
conditions as tropical Africa and Lapland could have lived
ANCIKNT AND MODERN Illl'r'OCOl AML'SKS ,f„t
in the Mme country at the lanir time, i« vrry difficult lo
understand. If the hippopotamut had been different from
the living African one, we might liave regarded it aa a
tcrrettrial apeciea, like that of Liberia, and thus perchance
capable of standing a colder climate; but being identical
with the former, we are perforce compelled to believe
that its habits were similar, and that in its hnnie the
rivers must have been more or leas free frimi ire through-
out th- year. Whatever may be the true cxpliinatinn of
the diiricully, it is pretty clear that no theory of humnrer
and winter migrations *ill hold good, as the hippopotamus
is essentially ^ resident animal.
Returning once more to Afiica, wc may notice that in
Alg' ■ where the genus is now unrepresented, a small
spe (//. hippnnemis) flourished during the Pleistocene
perio< this species being distinguished by carrying three
pairs i lower incisor teeth, whiih differed from those of
other members of the genus in having their enamel
smooth and their extremities somewhat expanded, thus
approximating lo the corresponding teeth of the pigs.
Kqually noteworthy is the occurrence of another species,
Lemerle's hippopotamus (H. lemerlfi), m Madag.nscar,
where its remains are common in the great marsh of
Ambulisatra. Somewhat intermediate between the common
and the Siwalik species, this rather small hippopotamus
had sometimes three and sometimes two pairs of lower
incisors. Certain traditions current among the Malagasy
suggest that this species may have lived within the historic
period, and it may even be one of several mysterious animals
alluded to by an early European voyager.
In addition to the common species, Southern Europe,
inclu.sive of Cyprus, Malta, and some of the other Medi-
terranean islands, was the home of several smaller species,
»70
MOSTLY MAMMALS
^
I
one of which, the Cyprian H. minulus, had much the
proportions of the Liberian species, although its molar-
teeth are of a simpler type. Possibly these small forms
may have been more or less completely terrestrial in their
habits.
The three Indian species have been already sufficiently
discussed, while mention has been likewise made of the
Burn-.esr hippopotamus. The latter species, by the way,
was dec. -dly pig-like in many parts of its structure, and
may well, thei.fore, ' ave been a marsh-haunting anim:il.
It was at one time l.iought that one of the later Indian
hippopotamuses was an unknown animal referred to in
Sanscrit literature, but fuither investigation has shown
this view to be untenable. Eastwards of Burma, we are
unaware that there is any evidence of the existence of
these animals, and they appear to have been always
unknown in the New World.
Although it is possible that in M?dagascar Lenierle's
1. ppopotamus may have been exterminated by human
agency, such an explanation will not hold good with regard
to the other fossil species. So far as can be seen, India and
Burma are now in every way as well fitted to be the
dwelling-places of hippopotamuses, giraffes, and ostriches as
they were during the Pliocene period, when those animals
either wallowed in their lakes and rivers, or stalked over
their plains ; and as the former countries have not been
completely swept during the interval by a glacial period,
it seems impossible to divine the reason why these creatures
should have so completely vanished from the one area
and have survived in full strength in the other.
.MLifW:Jt!aS:'
THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS
October 1 2th, i86o, will always be memorable as the date
of the burning of the Imperial " Summer Palace " in the
Yuangraing Yuan, the wonderful pleasaunce situated to the
north-west of Peking. The Yuangming, which at the time
had apparently been unvisited by Europeans, occupies an
area of many hundred acres, and is in fact a park diversified
with lakes, and containing a collection of buildings of
immense extent, among which was the Summer Palace.
The most beautiful part is the forest clothing the flanks of
the Hiang-chan hills, which attain a height of a thousand
feet, and from which may be viewed at the foot the ex-
tensive lake, and in the far distance the walls of Peking
enveloped in a smoky haze. Dotted through the gardens
were temples, lodges, and pagodas, groves, grottos, lakes,
bridges, terraces, and artificial hills. "It certainly was,"
writes a spectator, "one of the most beautiful scenes I
had ever beheld." In the Summer Palace were gathered
together all the treasures and curiosities accumulated by
the reigning dynasties of China during untold centuries.
All the.se perished in the conflagration, which lasted two
days. Whether this burning of the palace, which was
ordered by Lord Elgin as a punishment for the atrocities
inflicted by the Chinese on British subjects, was justifiable,
it is not our province to inquire. Mr. Justin McCarthy, in
his "History of Our Own Times," considers that it was.
87"
«7»
MOSTLY MAMMALS
|55
I
5
All that concerns us here is the fact that among the loot
sent home from the destruction of the Yuangming Yuan
were the skins and antlers of certain deer which had been
shot in the gardens. These specimens, now in the British
Museum, appear to have been obtained by Colonel Saul,
although Consul Swinhoe was the gentleman by whom they
were sent to this country.
Although there docs not appear to be any record that
such was the case, these specimens may be taken as an
indication that among the other attraction^ of the grounds
of the Summer Palace were herds of deer, kept either for
the purposes of sport or to enhance the beauty of the
landscape. The best of the three specimens sent home
was a young stag in tlic winter coat, of which a coloured
figure was given in the Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London for 1861. By the late Dr. Gray, then
keeper of the Zoological Department of the British Museum,
this deer was regarded as belonging to an ill-defined species
named many years before. Two years later this identifi-
cation was disputed by Mr. Swinhoe, by whom it was
regarded as representing a new species, for which the
name CervKs hoiiiihruiii— the deer of the (Summer Palace)
Gardens— was, appropriately enough, suggested.
For many years this species was regarded as inseparable
from one inhabiting Manchuria, which is now known to
be a very different animal. But among the deer now
living in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn are a
herd of a very beautiful species from Northern Manchuria,
which is now ascertained to be identical with Mr. Swin-
hoe's Cenius Imrtulorum. These Peking deer (as it has
now been agreed to call the species) are remarkable for
the extraordinary difference between their summer and
winter dress— a difference so great that persons who have
[.nikaf.zjz
I
THE DEER OF THE PEKING PARKS ,„
seen them at one season may well be excused for not
recogn,s,ng them at the other. In the summer coat as
*hown .n the plate, they are of a brilliant reddish chest-
nut profusely spotted with white; in winter, on the other
hand, when the coat of the old stags becomes very long
and shaggy, they are uniformly umber-brown, although
hmds. The old stags are but little inferior in size to red-
deer, w,th which species certain hinds from the Summer
Palace we- mdeed identified by Mr. Swinhoe, who quite
failed o .-ecognise that they were really the adult form
of his " garden- deer."
In England the Peking deer seems to thrive as well
as red or fallow deer, and in time we may hope to see it
established in many of our parki;.
But the Yuangming ^•uan was not the only park where
deer were kept by the Chinese Emperors. To the south
V.nha,-tze), far exceeding in extent the Yuangming Yu n
the brick wall by which it is enclosed being f'.y.fi";
nules .n circuit. This imperial hunting-park, as it is
commonly called by Englishmen, is separated from the
city by a plain, which is marshy in places, and gives rise
Llf "tL^T? '" '•"' °' ■'' """^ "^™"Sh the park
Itself. The whole tract ,s thickly forested, but villages and
military posts are dotted here and there in the clearings
The park was in former days strictly guarded, and no
Europeans were allowed entrance, although there are
reports that by the aid of disguises a few entered from
ime to time, According to rumour the park was the
home of large herds of deer of various kinds, as well as
of nocks of the Mongolian gazelle, or y.llow sheep, as it
IS called by the Chinese,
«74
MOSTLY MAMMALS
1
Till the year 1865 naturalists had no idea as to the
species of deer to be found in the Non Hai-tzu, the
Anglo-French expedition of i860 having confined their
attention to Peking and the Yuangming Yuan. In February
of the former year, however, the well-known F:cnch
missionary, explorer, and naturalist, Ptre Armand David,
obtained an opportunity of looking over the wall, and was
much astonished at the sight which met his eyes. In
addition to Mongolian gazelles, he saw herds of a species
of deer which he then regarded as an unknown kind of
reindeer, although he described it as somewhat donkey-
like in appearance, with a long well-haired tail. At that
season of the year the stags were without antlers. At
this time the energetic missionary was quite unable to
obtain a specimen of the new deer, but by bribing the
Tatar guards of the park he succeeded, in January of the
following year, in acquiring the skins of a stag and hind.
Meantime the French Minister at Peking had been en-
deavouring to procure a living pair of this deer by
diplomatic means, and in February of that year succeeded
in his efforts. The stag, however, unfortunately died soon
after its removal from the park, and its skin was sent to
Paris with those of the two specimens obtained from the
Tatar guards.
When these specimens arrived at the Paris Museum
they were examined by Prof. Milne-Edwards, who in due
course described them as representing a new genus and
species of deer, under the name of Ehphurus davidianus.
By the Chinese, it may be well to mention, the animal is
known by the name of mi-lou, or, more commonly, sen-
pou-siang.
The accompanying photograph gives an excellent idea
of the external appearance of the stags of this very
fP^'iM
[To,,uif. 2n
5:
I
^rx-'-rfte.;-:
THE DEER OF THE PEKINC; I'ARKS ^^^
remarkable and interesting specie, of deer. To describe
Its characteristics in anything lilte detail would obviously
be quite out of place in a,, article of the present nature
and ,t will suffice to allude to a few of its more striking
peculiarities. One feature by which the stags of this
species differ from those of all other Old World deer save
the elk and the roe, is that the antlers are of the forked
type-that is to say, in place of having a forwardly pro.
jccting brow-tine immediately above their base, the main
shaft, or beam, is undivided for a short distance, and then
splits in a fork-like manner. A peculiarity of the mi-lou
deer, and one whereby it differs from all the numerous
species of American deer carrying antlers of the forked
type, IS that the hind prong of the main fork forms an
undivided tine of great length directed backwards. The
front prong, on the other hand, is forked at least once
and has but little forward inclination till the point of
bifurcation is reached. The long donkey-like tail, which
attracted the attention of the Abbe David at his first sight
of the animal, is particularly well displayed in the photo-
graph. The general colour of the coat is fawn-grey
becom.- lighter on the face, rump, inner sides of thJ
I'rab; .„d under-parts. Unlike the majority of deer
there is but little change in the colour of the coat accord-
ing to season. One very curious peculiarity displayed by
the stags in the herd of mi-lou dee at Woburn Abbey
IS that they shed and renew their antlers twice a year
instead of once, as in other deer. Whether, however this
peculiarity has always been inherent in the species, or
whether it is the result of long domestication, is impossible
to say, for the species is quite unknown in a wild state.
Indeed, it cannot now be asc(Ttained whether this double
change of antlers took place .,m.,ng the herds in the
176
MOSTLY MAMMALS
« •
i
Non IIai-l2U, or even in the ipccimcns first brought to
Europe.
The date of the introduction of tliese deer into the
imperial hunting-parl< is probably very remote, seeing
that, as already said, they have never been found wild in
any part of Asia by Europeans. It is true that, according
to Dr. S. W. Bushell, to whose account reference is again
made in the sequel, a Chinese writer of the latter part of
the eighteenth century mentions Kashgaria as the native
country of these deer ; but even if that be correct, the
species may have been exterminated there centuries ago.
Anyway, there is but little hope of its survival in that
district at the present day.
As China became slowly opened up to European
enterprise, the difficulty of obtaining specimens of the
mi-lou deer gradually decreased, and in August, 1869, a
male and female were received at the menagerie of the
Zoological Society as a gift from Sir Rutherford Alcock.
A second pair were acquired by purchase in 1883, since
the death of which the species appears to have been
unrepresented in the Society's collection. Meanwhile
specimens were from time to time received by vaiious
menageries on the Continent ; and the species has bred at
the gardens of the Sociite d'Acclimatation at Paris ?• d
elsewhere.
The subsequent history of this interesting and remark-
able species is extremely sad, no one apparently having
had the least idea that it was on the point of extermina-
tion until too late. No definite statements are made by
the earlier travellers as to the numbers of these deer in
the Non Hai-tzu when they first came under the observa-
tion of Europeans. Writing, however, in the summer of
1898 to the Secretary of the Zoological Society, Dr. Bushell
I
THK I.KER 01 THE TEKINCi PARKS ,„
».at.d that he had forn,..rly ridden .-.mong ,h. herd, which
be n re«rv.d for ti.e spor. of .he tour,, a.ul were c.re
uly prcccd. Whether, in ,a.er year., ,e„ care wT,
taken than fo^erly .0 ,ee .ha. .he p, k ,„„ ^r-
no. state.; but dunng or ahout the year ,804 the Hu„-h„
wh,ch nows through .... p,.,, became 'noode a :
reached the wall in several places. Through the gaps
hu. ..ade .U the n,,-lou deer escaped, and appeaf
have been kdleo and eaten by the peasantry of he sur-
round,„g „s.ric.s, who were sulTering a. .h'a. .i.e Z
uTies , " "*" ''"■^''^" P^™"-" '" -k-^ in-
quires on h.s return ,0 China if any of the deer had
Assuming, then, that the n,i-lou deer d«s „„. exist
m a w.,d state in some unexplored part of Kashgaria,
If -7 ;'=,7'^P-' "^ Central Asia, it seems oni;
too e..dent that ,ts sole living representa.ives are .hose
preserved ,n European collec.ions. By far the greater
number of these are now at Woburn Abbey, where they
run m the open park with .he o.her deer. They breed
freely, wuhout an undue proportion of males among the
awns; a very hopeful sign being .ha. some hinds pur!
chased from Pans, where they were sterile, bred after .hey
were .ransferred to their new quarters. Some time ^
a KM '"™ ""'"""'' "''■' '-"'^ ''-'^. and"!
avour of the prospects of .he .rvival of the Woburn
r .s the fact that .he species has for cen.uries been
kept m a state of semi-donies.iea.ion_.hat is to sav it has
«78
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J:
I
lived in an endoseil park without, appannily, any infuiion
of frish Wood. I' would, thcrifore, seem probablf 'hat it
will be lew likely to suffer from the tflects of inbreeding
than is the case with animals suddenly transferred from
the wild state to captivity. Every care is, of course,
taken of these valuable animals, and naturalists will watch
with interest the results of the attempt to renew and
preserve a decadent and almost exterminated race.
So far as I am aware, Pere David's mi-lou deer is
the only example of a mammalian species used neither as
a food-supply nor as a beast of burden which has been
preserved from extermination in a semi-domesticated state.
Readers of this article who may be desirous of s<.eing
the mi-lou deer, w ll find a handsome stag, with fully
developed antlers, exhibited in the Natural History branch
of the British Museum, where there is also the mounted
head of a female— both the gift of the Duke and Ouchcss
of Bedford. Unfortunately, the taxidermist to whom the
task of mounting the stag was confided (and taxidermists
are the despair of naturalists, whose name they are prone
to appropriate !) took for his model a red-deer instead of
photographs like the one here reproduced. Consequently,
instead of having the slouching, donkey-like cariiage so
essentially characteristic of the species, the Museum
specimen is represented with its head elevated, after the
fashion of Landseer's picture, "The Monarch of the Glen."
As already mentioned, the mi-lou deer, which is the
sole representative of its kind, has no near relatives in
the Old World. In spite of a certain not very importaiU
difference in the structure of the bones of the fore-foot, it
appears, however, to be a not very distant cousin of the
typical American deer— that is to say, the numerous species
other than the elk, the wapiti, and the reindeer, which
m^^^ji
THE DEER OF THE PEKINfi PARKS ,„
are rc.lly Old World for„„, who,., entrance into Am.-ric.
i» apparrntly , o.mparativcly rrrent event. IVobably both
•he nnlou a„d the An,.rican deer .„ ,h.. de«enda„t, of
"ITT ^™"''' *'"• """"' "f "« «"'* 8«^"<^ral typ,.
wh,ch nour^hcd in Europe during the later portion of
the Ternary epoeh. The greater the pity that such an
anccnt and remarkable type a, the former should be on
the point of extermination I
■"-^fV^I;
I
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP
Of late years, at any rate, the attention of British breeders
of sheep and cattle has been directed to the obUteration
rather than to the development of horns ; these weapons of
offence and defence being not only quite unnecessary to
domesticated animals which are never exposed to the attacks
of beasts of prey, but often being the cause of serious
damage, either from the animals fighting when in the open,
or goring one another when crowded together during transit
by rail. Among cattle the estimation in which " polled "
breeds are held at the present day, and the practical dis-
appearance of the old longhorns, arc excellent examples of
this fashion ; while among sheep, if we except the mountain
and Dorset breeds, the majority of those bred in this country
are hornless.
If, however, fashion and custom had set in the opposite
direction, there is little doubt that some extraordinary
developments in the form, size, or number of horns might
have been witnessed in both these groups of animals.
Length of horn was indeed a feature in the old-fashioned
breed of British long-horned cattle, and the massiveness and
size of the horns of the humped cattle of Gallaland and
Abyssinia, as well as the length frequently attained by the
same appendages in the trek-oxen of Cape Colony, bear
testimony to the facility with which developments in this
direction can be encouraged.
2eo
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP jSi
Horn-development among domcsticatti; ,ai;,!., Iioucv^r,
seems to be restricted to increase in size will-, .some ,<.; '.
paratively slight degree of modification in -fi.vrd t., gen, al
form and curvature ; and it docs not appcu^ .....L .: . . b eed
is known in which the horns are permanently characterised
by an abnormality in structure.
Very different is the case in sheep, in which the horns
seem to lend themselves with great facility to abnormal
development in several directions. The typical form of
horn is familiar to us in the wild sheep of Europe and
Asia as well as in the old classical sculptures of Jupiter
Ammon ; and this type, although much reduced in size
IS fairly well retained in the modern Dorset and merino
breeds. In old rams of both breeds there is, however, a
tendency to produce a spiral of greater length than
ever occurs in wild sheep ; and this tendency is perhaps
even more noticeable in the mountain breeds of Scotland
and Wales. In all the above breeds the original close
and incurved horizontal spiral is, however, preserved
But m the so-called Wallachian breed of Eastern Europe
the horns take the form of upwardly directed corkscrews
mimickmg in fact to a certain degree those of the beau-
tiful African kudu antelope. A single skull in the old
Hunterian collection of the Royal College of Surgeons
indicates the existence of a closely allied if not identical
breed of sheep in Sumatra.
A far more curious modification produced by domesti-
cation is, however, displayed by the augmentation in the
number of the horns ; two, three, four, or even six extra
horns being sometimes noticeable. When a pair of such
additional horns are developed they usually occupy the
upper and fore part of the head, and are of a more slender
shape and tahe a more upright direction than the normal
h-m-'^^
382
MOSTLY MAMMAUS
I
pair, which generally retain their ordinary position and form,
although frequently showing a more or less pronounced lack
of symmetry. When the Zoological Society possessed a
farm at Kingston Hill, in the year 1829, several of these
four-hcrned sheep were kept there ; but, although llamas
and alpacas, which are just as much domesticated animals,
arc exhibited at the present day in the Society's menagerie
in the Regent's Park, four-horned and other abnormal
breeds of sheep are not on show. Flocks of four-horned
slieep are, however, kept in several British parks.
Bearing in mind the close affinity existing between
sheep and goats, it is not a little remaikable that the
additional horns developed in the four-horned breed of the
former should approximate to a considerable degree both
in direction and in curvature to those of the latter. This,
however, must not be taken as an indii-.ition that the
additional pair in the four-horned sheep represents the
normal pair of the goats.
Four-horned sheep belong to at least two distinct breeds,
one of which is of great antiquity. According to report this
breed originally came from Iceland and the Faroe Islands,
where these sheep still exist, as they also do in the Orkneys,
Shetlands, Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. Occasionally, it
is said, the little brown sluip of the island of Soa, in the
Hebrides, develop four horns, although they are normally
two-horned.
Like the Soa breed, European four-horned sheep arc
of very small size, and dark in colour, the (leece being not
infrequently mottled with patches of brown and white. The
wool, too, as in nearly or quite all the inferior breeds of
sheep, is much mi-xed with hair, so that it is by no means
of a fine quality.
From the islands of north-western Europe four-horned
FOUR-HORNEn SHEEP
283
sheep may bu traced eastwards, across the northern districts
of Continental Europe and Asia into China, where they
appear to be comparatively numerous. Among the flocks of
the nomad Tatars, the presence of four horns is associated
with an enlargement of the base of the tail, owing to the
deposition in that region of a large amount of fat. Although
such a dififcrcnce might be produced by crossing Icelandic
four-horned sheep with the two-horned fat-tailed breed,
. quite possibly indicates an altogether distinct breed.
Moreover, Brian Hodgson, a late Anglo-Indian naturalist,
in a paper on the tame sheep and goats of the Sub-
Himalayas and Tibet, published in vol. xvi. of the Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1847), stated that the
Hunia sheep of the I limalayas, which are white with black
faces, occasionally develop four or more horns. Again,
Darwin, in his "Animals under Don- ■ ,tion," mentions
that merino sheep when exported to f . play the same
tendency.
A breed of black and white sheep, originally natives of
Zululand and other parts of South Africa, not unfrequently
develop an additional pair of horns which are quite different
in shape from those of the Icelandic breed, as indeed are
both pairs in colour, which is black, A flock of this breed
is kept by the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth,
In most, if not in all cases, the two horns on each side
of the head in these sheep arc perfectly distinct and separate
from one another at the base ; but this does not prove that
they may not ;n the first instance have originated by a
.splitting or division of the young horns of the normal pair.
In this connection it is very noteworthy that the antlers of
deer are occasionally bifurcate for a portion or the whole of
their length on one side of the head, although there does not
seem to be an instance on record where such a feature occurs
284
MOSTLY MAMMALS
c-
h
I
OH both sides. That such duplicated antlers are due to a
splitting during early development is rendered perfectly
tnaniTest by the head of a fallow-deer figured on p. 855 of
the Proceediu^s of the Zoological Society for 1896. In this
instance it is the right antler which is double throujrhout its
length ; but instead of the t*vo divisions of this biiiler being
complete in every detail, the front one corresponds only
with the fore half of the normal complet'j antler, and vice
versa. Hence the proof of bifurcation.
On the other hand, in a three-horned red-deer head in the
collection of Lord Towerscourt at Enniscorthy the dupli-
cated sutlers of the right side are practically replicas of one
another; both being soniuvvhat simpler than the normal left
antler. In this case there is no evidence of bifurcation, but
the three-horned fallow-deer seems suHicient to demonstrate
that the origin of the abnormality is the same in both
instances. If this be the case, there seems no reason why
additional cranial appendages develor-U in the four-horned
breeds of sheep should not have '■■:-.■■■ originally due to
fission, although no trace of such origmal splitting can now
be detected. As a matter of fact, a specmien in the British
Museum actually shows the occurrence of such a splitting in
the horns of a ram of this breed.
Splitting seems, indeed, to be a very common mode by
which abnormalities are produced. The Museum of the
Royal College of Surg, ons possesses, for instance, the skull
of a dog in which both the upper tusks, or canine t-^eth, are
longitudinally split fur about half their length, and there is a
similar specimen in the Briti^'' Museum. This splitting is.
clearly due to a partial fission of the crown of the tooth-
gum. And it is not improbable that a similar fissioh, carried
to a greater extent, may explain the condition obtaining
in the skull of a fox killed during the winter of 1900 by the
FOUR-HORNED SHEEP
285
South Oxfordshire Hounds, in which there are two complete
canines on each side of the upper jaw, one behind the other,
giving a most remarkable appearance to tlie jiead. As
already said, the complete duplication of the upper canine
may quite possibly be an extreme development of the
imperfect fission noticeable in the other specimens ; but, on
the other hand, it may be due to the growth of a supple-
mental germ which exists at the root of most mammalian
teeth, but, as a rule, remains dormant throughout life.
Tn retvn-n to our sheep. It has now to be mentioned
that tlie development ol' two or nior ■ additional horns in
these animals is by no means the only abnormality which not
infrequently makes its appearance in connection with these
appendages. There is, on the contrary, an equally marked
tendency to "sport " in t'le opposite dircction-that is to say,
to the coalescence of the normal pair so as to give rise to
what are practically unicorn-sheep.
These unicorn-slieep have a much more restricted habitat
than their many-horned cousins, being apparently eonline<l
to a certain portion of the Himalaya or libit, although they
are not referred to by Brian Hodgson in his paper on the
tame sheep and goats of the Sub-Himalayas and Tibet,
already referred to.
Three specimens of the horns of this remarkable breed
of sheep are known to be preserved in England, two of
them being in the British Museum (t,. which they were
presented by Hodgson), while the third is in the Museum
of the Royal College of Surgeons, as the gift of Colonel
Finch in 1830. The latter is described in the Museum
Catalogue in .he following words : " The horns have grown
parallel to each other, and are Hrmly united throughout
their whole extent, producing the appearance of a single
■ orn, the extremity of which has been sawed off, probably
186
MOSTLY MAMMAIS
^
I
to relieve the animal of the inconvenience of pressure upon
the necii."
Precisely the same description, inclusive of the sawing off
of the top of the amalgamated horns, would apply to the
two skulls of this breed in the British Museum.
In the case of the many-horned breed of sheep it would
seem that the redundancy in horn-development is more
probably a disadvantage than a benefit to the animals in
which it occu.s. And if, as seems to be the case, the
amalgamated horn in the unicorn-sheep tends to run into
the neck of the owner so as to necessitate the amputation
of the tip, the abnormality is altogether harmful ; so that
if it cccurrcd in a state of nature it would probably soon
disappear.
This amalgamation of the horns in the unicorn-sheep
presents a curious analogy to the so-called solid-hoofed pigs,
which have been known from a very early period. " From
the time of Aristotle to the present time," wrote Darwin,
" solid-hoofed swine have occasionally been observed in
various parts of the world. Although this peculiarity is
strongly inherited, it is hardly probable th?t all the animals
with solid hoofs have A cended from the same parents ; it is
more probable that the same peculiarity has reappeared at
various times and places." The peculiarity is produced by
the welding together of the middle pair of hoofs into a single
large hoof.
Although we may at present be unable to explain the
curious variations displayed by different organs among
animals under domestication, this is surely no reason why
we should refuse to study them at all.
'■.* -v;-
MUSK-OXEW IN ENGLAND
Some persons are unfortunate in their names, and the
same is the case with certain animals. The ruminant
popularly known as the musk-ox and scientifically as
Ch'tbos ,„n,c/,nlus is an instance of this, for although no
objection can be taken to the prefix " musk," and its Latin
eqivalent moschatus, yet the English title "ox" is in the
highest degree misleading, while the technical "Ovibos,"
which suggests characters intermediate between the oxen
and the sheep, is equally unsatisfactory. To say that the
creature is an animal sui gemris would be a truism, seeing
that it is the sole existing representative of the genus
Ovibos; and yet this expression, perhaps, best conveys
the real state of the case- namely, that it is a more or
less isolated member of the rumin.nt group, coming under
the designation neither of an ox nor a sheep, nor yet
being a connecting link between the two. Under these
circumstances it would be much better if the name
"musk-ox" could be dropped altogether, and (unless it
be altogether unpronounceable) its native Greenland equi-
valent adopted instead. Unfortunately, however, I have
hitherto been unable to ascertain by what name the creature
is known to the Greenlanders.
Although now restricted to Greenland and Arctic America
eastward of th- Mackenzie River, the musk-ox was formerly
a circumpolar animal, its remains being occasionally met
38/
388
MOSTLY MAMMAI-S
5=
^
I
with in the interior of Alaska, more commonly in the frozen
cliffs of Eschscholtz Bay, and also in the ice-bound soil of
the Lena and the Yenisei valleys. Although unknown in
Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergcn, the musk-ox extends
polewards through I'arry Island and Grinnell Land into
North Greenland, where its noithwird range is probably
only limited by the limits of vegetation. South Greenland
at the present day is, however, too hot for such a cold-
loving beast, and Melville Bay now forms the southernmost
point to which it wanders on the west coast. Consequently
it would seem probable that the musk-oxen on the west coast
are completely isolated from those on the eastern seaboard ;
the central mountain range of the ir.terior of Greenland
being apparently impassable even by such hardy animals,
while a transit vid Cape Farewell is, as we have seen,
barred by climatic conditions of an opposite nature.
In America, however, the musk-ox still ranges consider-
ably farther south, its limits in this direction being
approximately formed by the sixtieth parallel of north
latitude ; but it is state<l that year by year its southern
range is slowly contracting — possibly owing to pursuit by
man. When the musk-ox ceased to be an inhabitant of
the Siberian Itindra, or why it should ever have disappeared
from regions apparently so well suited to its habits as are
Northern Asia and Alaska, there are no means of ascer-
taining. But the date of its disappearance was probably
by no means remote, comparatively speaking, and it is
even possible that man himself may have taken a share
in its extermination. However this may be, it is beyond
doubt that the mu.-.k-ox was an inhabitant of the south
of England, as well as of parts of France and Germany,
during or about the time of the glacial epoch ; its remains
occurring not uncommonly in the gravels of the English
MUSKOXEN IN ENCLANI) .Sy
river-vai:<-ys, such as those of tnc Thames and Seven, ns
well a, in ,hc brick^arth, of Kent. It is al.o probable
that the- occur in the "forest-bed" of the Norfolk coast,
wh.ch somewhat antedates the great glacinlion of Britain
Th„ be.ng so, it is evident that t.,e mu»k-o.x was a
l.y.ng British animal within the period uuring which our
.slands have been inhabited by ,„an, for in n.any of the
deposus in which its remains occur flint in.plements and
other evidences of human presence are likewise found
Probably, mdeed, the early human inhabitants „f Britain
not infrequently made a meal of musk-ox beef; but the
disappearance of the animal from the British fauna may
apparently be attributed rather to a change in climatic
conditions than to pursuit by man.
From that long-distant day when the last indigenous
Bntish musk-ox departed this life no living representative
of the spec.es appears to have been brought to our islands
>.ll the autumn of ,899, when a couple of young bulls were
added to the collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn
Abbey. These were captured in August in Clavcring Island
situated off the coast of East Greenland, .posite Konig
W.lhelm Land, about latitude 74° 5' N. When they arrived
they were about the size of a rather large sheep, but by
March of the following year the solitary survivor had
increased considerably in size, although the horns were then
only just visible above the long hairs of the sides of the
forehead.
Probably most of my readers are more or less familiar
with the general appearance of the adult musk-ox ■ but
those who are not would do well to turn to its portrait
as shown opposite next page, o,-, still better, to pay a
visit to the British Museum at South Kensington where
both the mounted skin and the sktlet.jn are exliibite.l. The
'9
BiLillwu K ■■■^,^'i-Lt.a^^
390
MOSTLY MAMMALS
hi
I
absence of the large flattened, fibrous, and downwardly
curving yellow horns, which almost meet in the middle
line of the forehead of the adult bull, renders the aspect
of the head of the calf very different. In other respects,
however, the calves arc very like the full-grown animals
in general appearance, showing the same long, str:\iglit,
and rather coarse hair, the conspicuous light-i.li urcd
"saddle" on the back, the white "stockings," the woolly
trianirular cars, the broad and almost completely hairy
muzi..^, and the entire burying of the rudimentary tail in
the long hair of the hindquarters. Owing, however, lu
the inferior length of the hair on the flanks, more of the
legs is exhibited in the young than in the adult ; and
this enables the peculiarly ; ivy and massive term of the
pasterns and feet to be t .' f seen. Nothing was more
curious about the calves at Woburn Abbey than their
movements, which recalled those of a Polar bear more
than those of an ox or a sheep, the hocks being turned
outwards in an altogether peculiar and distinctive manner.
If this strange gait is also characteristic of the adult, it is
probably adapted for progression on glaciers and other
ice-coated surfaces ; firmness of foothold being secured by
the presence of a considerable amount of hair on the
under-surfacc of the foot.
But there is one respect in which the Clavering Island
calves differed from the adult specimens exhibited at the
time of their arrival in the British Museum, as well as f cm
the description then given of i.ie species. This is the
presence of a large patch of white hair on the forehead,
as well as of an ill-defined white streak down each side of
the face, and some scattered white hairs in the middle line
between the muzzle and the eyes.
As these differences have been found to be constant.
..V-C^L^i-i^
ft
I
«^m'^^^r"
MUSK OXEN IN ENGLAND ,,,
(he GrwnUnd mutk-ox is now regarded » reprcKntin.
1 distinct local -ace.
To discus, the affinities of the musk-ox on this occasion
wou'd obviously be out of place; but my reader, may
probably like to be informed of some of the reasons which
preclude it. being classed either with the oxen or with the
sheep As regard, the horns, it will suffice to say that
they are quite unlike those of either of the groups in
question. From the oxen the animal is broadly dis-
tinguished alike by the structure of its upper teeth and
also by Its hairy muzzle. But this broad and hairy
muxxle, in which there is a narrow naked and granular
area immediately above and between the nostrils, is equally
unlike the narrow and short-haired mu/zle of th.' sheep
and goat.. In the structure of it. upper teeth, as well as
in the presence of glands below the eyes and of only two
mammae in the female, the musk-ox is, however, mu^h
mo. like the latter group. But these two latter features
are of no great zoological .importance, some sheep lacking
face-glands, while one species of goat has four mammae •
and they in no wise serve to prove the existence of any
close relationship lew,.. ..usk-oxen and sheep. It may
be added that the aborted tail of the musk-ox separates
It very widely from the oxen, in all of which this appendage
IS of gr.at relative length ; but in this respect the animal
comes closer to the sheep, nearly all the wild forms of
which have short and stumpy tails. In the extremely
late development of the horns (as attested by the survivor
of the Woburn pair) the species seem to stand apart from
both groups.
Judging from the photographs in an account by Dr. Nathorst
of the hunting of these animals, it would seem that in East
Greenland musk-oxen are commonly found in small herds of
393
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
I
from eight to nine or a dozen in number. Their favourite
haunts seem to be the gently sloping and boulder-strewn
short valleys at t.ie foot of the cliffs. Here they can be
approached without much difTiculty, and killed in the open,
tlie members of the herd standing to gaze unconcernedly
at the aggressor after one or more of their number has
been shot down. When separated from their mothers,
the young calves are by no means difficult to capture. I
have been told by a friend that during an expedition to
Greenland some officers succeeded in capturing a number
of these calves, which they were carrying down on their
shoulders to the coast ; but the captive animals squealed
so loudly as to attract the attention of all the Polar bears in
the neighbourhood, which thereupon started in pursuit and
soon induced the unarmed captors to drop their booty 1
I
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE
Among many losses attributable, dire.tly or indirectly, to
the firs. French Revolution appears to be one whidl is
absolutely ,rre.r,evable, and must ever remain a source of
the deepest regret to the naturalist. Up to that fme there
were preserved in Alsace two huge horns commonly
reputed to belong to the great extinct wild ox of Europe
The one was kept in the cathedral at Strassburg, the
other m the episcopal palace at the neighbouring town of
Zabern or Saverne. The former was of great length
o It 6 .n.), and comparatively slender, while the second
(which was mounted with silver and used as a drinking-
horn) was also very large and apparently stouter. Its
i ll'lH^r ^'T' '"' "' "P^"''^ ^'' '" ercat that it
would hold four litres of wine.
The French naturalist Buffon, who saw the Strassburg
spectmen, believed that it was truly the horn of a wild
ox or aurochs, but this opinion is disputed by Prof
Nehnng, of Berlin, who, on account of its great length and
senderness, considers that it belonged to a domesticated
Hungar,an bullock. This is confirmed by an ancient
ad,t,on that the horn in question was that of one of
the oxen employed in carting stones fur building the
cathedral, and Dr. Nehring's view may accordingly be
accepted. e j "<=
On the other hand, the Zabern horn, whose capacity, as
393
I
J94 MOSTLY MAMMALS
already said, was four litres, may, in the opinion of the
same authority, be confidently regarded as that of an
aurochs. For if it be assumed that its capacity has been
somewhat enlarged by shaving away the inner surface, it
would seem to accord fairly well in size with large fossil
specimens of the bony horn-cores of that animal. For
three centuries the Zabern horn was the emblem of an
association known as "the brotherhood of the horn."
This society was founded in May, 1586, by Bishop John
von Manderscheid, who came into possession of the horn
as a hunting-trophy, or heirloom, from his ancestors. The
meeting-place of the society was the castle of Hoh-Barr,
near Zabern. The horn was regarded with great veneration
by the members of the confraternity, to which distinguished
strangers were occasionally admitted as " honorary members."
Like the Strassburg ox-horn, the Zabern aurochs-horn
mysteriously disappeared during or soon after the French
Revolution.
With its disappearance vanished apparently the last
relic of an aurochs killed within the historic period. It is
true that Prof. W. B. Dawkins • has stated that a pair of
aurochs-horns were borne in procession on certain occasions
in the canton of Uri, Switzerland, so late as about the year
1866, but it does not appear that the practice is continued,
or that the horns are still in existence.
In the Middle Ages aurochs-horns were commonly pre-
served—although even then as rarities- in churches and
castles, where they were generally used as drinking-vessels ;
and it is mentioned in the "Commentaries" of Julius Caesar
that even in his time such horns, mounted in silver, were
employed for the same purpose. In the year 1 550, Conrad
Gesner mentions that an entire aurochs-skull (apparently
* Quart. Jmm. Gtol So,., vol. xxii. p. 393.
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE J95
-■■'h the horns) was preserved in the town-hall at Worms
and another at Mayence. Probably both have long since
perished.
Seeing that horns arc almost unknown in a fossil state
■t might well have been thought that, with the loss of the
historic Zabern specimen, the last example of an aurochs-
horn has disappeared for ever. By a lucky chance a
nearly perfect horn of the wild ox has, however, been
recently discovered in a peat-bog in Pomerania, together
with a fragment of the bony horn-core on which it was
supported during life, The specimen has been described
by Dr. Nehring, and proved to belong unquestionably to
the aurochs, as distinct from the bison.
The mention of both aurochs and bison in the preceding
sentence renders it desirable to allude to a matter which
has been the cause of considerable confusion and mis-
conception. Until within the last few years, nearly all
naturalists regarded these two names as synonymous, and
apphed them both to the bison; or rather, in many cases
dropped the latter name altogether, and miscalled the
animal to which it belongs the aurochs. The same practice
■s largely followe.l ^.- =r,„r,smen at the present day.
In old German the wild ox appears .. h».- he^n called
indifferently either ur or auerochs; the former name being
Latinised by Caesar into Urus. Amrochs. according to the
usual interpretation, signifies mountain or wild ox ■ but
opinions differ as to whether ur has a similar meaning, or
whether it signifies the old or primeval ox. Be this as it
may, the wild ox, which may even in Caesar's time have
been growing scarce, gradually became rarer and rarer
during the Middle Ages, till it finally disappeared in the
hrst half of the seventeenth century. The name, however
still remained among the peasantry of Eastern Europe, and
296
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
1
as there was no species to which it could possibly apply
save the bison, which then still survived in Poland and
elsewhere, it was transferred to that animal, of which, as
already mentioned, it became the common designation.
A precisely analogous instance has occurred in Eastern
Russia. The bison, in place of being restricted, as now,
to Lithuania and the Caucasus, was formerly much more
widely distributed. When it disappeared from certain
districts, its name still survived, and became transferred
by the peasants to the eastern race of the red-deer,
as the only large wild ungulate with which they were
acquainted
As rera- -li the gradual extermination of the aurochs
as a wild animal during the Middle Ages, much important
evidence has been collected of late years by Messrs. Nehring
and Schiemenz.
During the Pleistocene epoch, when the mammoth and
the woolly rhinoceros inhabited the British Islands and
the Continent (which were then one), tlie aurochs was a
common animal, as is attested by the abundance of its
remains in formations of that age. Some of the finest
and largest skulls of this . lios primtgenms were
obt-fineH ^y /...: !itt Sir Antonio Brady from the brick-earths
of Ilford, in Essex. Other skulls have been obtained from
the peat of Perthshire, from Burwell Fen, Cambridgeshire,
and from a peaty deposit at Newbury, in Berkshire. A
skull from Burwell Fen, in the Woodwardian Museum at
Cambridge, has a flint implement embedded in the fore-
head, thus showing that the animal was hunted by the
prehistoric inhabitants of our islands at a time when the
mammoth and rhinoceros had already disappeared.
As to the date of the extermination of the wild aurochs
in Britain there is no decisive evidence, but no skulls or
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE
297
oTRor"'"',*"" '"""'° """ """"«'" f™'" deposits
of Roman or later age. It is, of course, possible that it
-ay have surv.ved till the epoch in question, or later in
he more remote parts of the kingdom, and Prof Dawkins
F ..Stephen who wrote his "Life of Beckett" in the reign
were r' '„" '""'"'""^ '"^ '""'•"'^ -""'^ London,
were abong,nally wild an-mals. On the other hand, the;
tZir" «' "!," '^^^ ""-"" -^^""^ "■»' "^'^ run wild, and
M98 that the Bos sylveslris of the Caledonian Forest was
.he°cn!^' ?""'""'' "' ■'"'^ "'^ "'"^"^ °f Caesar as to
the ^existence of the aurochs or uru, in the Hercynian
or Black Forest with the bison and the elk. A d Ts
related how the young German warriors of that Le
prepared themselves for war by hunting and killing the
fierce aurochs. A remarkable confirmation of the tru^ o
Caesars statement as to the coexistence of the aurochs
and b.so„ on the Continent during the period of the Roman
occupation .s afforded by the discovery in Swabia, during
h wdenmg of a railway in ,89s, of two statuettes of oxen
longmg to the Roman ^riod. They were dug up in Z^
at a depth of nme feet below the surface, and have been
described and figured by Prof. E. Fraas.* The one a"
shown by the great elevation ad depth of the Le!
quarters, clearly represents the bison. The other, on the
contrary, ,s as evidently intended for the aurochs The
emls o'f th" '"'" "" '" '"" ^■'^^™^"=' •>"' ""-
hev sh M '^"" '■" ""''' ""'^"^-^ "'"^ 'he form
.he Blak /"""'■ '" '''""« ''^' '»"' ^P-- -habited
Black Forest contemporaneously, it is not meant that
* "Fundberichte aus Schwaben," vol. vii. p. 37 (,5^),
398
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
they were actually found in company. On the contrary,
it is more probable, as pointed out by Dr. Nehring, that
while the one frequented the low-lying and swampy forests,
the other resorted to the higher and drier woods.
Of later chronicles than Caesar's one describing the
wars of Charlemagne in the early part of the ninth century
alludes to the king going to hunt bisons or aurochs
{bisoHtium vel urorimi) in the forests of Aix-la-Chapelle,
The use of the term vel is a little ambiguous, but Prof
Dawkins considers that the passage indicates the occurrence
of both species in the forest, while he is also of opinion
that the animal slain by Charlemagne was undoubtedly an
aurochs. Of special importance is th. • ■ ntion of both
bison and aurochs (urus) in a grace usea at the Abbey of
St. Gall about the year 1000. Another important state-
ment is to the effect that aurochs and elk were met with
by the First Crusade when crossing Germany at the close
of the eleventh century, special reference being made to
the enormous size of the horns of the former animals.
Again, in the " Nibelungen-Lied," of the twelfth century,
Siegfried is related to have killed a bison and four aurochs
near Worms.
A work by the German writer Herberstain, entitled
" Moscovia," of which an Italian translation was published
at Venice in 1 5 50, affords the most important evidence
of any as to the survival of the aurochs in Poland (and
probably also in Hungary) during the later Middle Ages.
In this work appear woodcuts— rude, it is true, but still
characteristic and unmistakable— of two perfectly distinct
types of European wild cattle, one being the aurochs, or
ur, and the other the bison. As Herberstain had travelled
frequently in Poland, it is probable that he had seen both
species alive, and the drawings were most likely executed
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE ,„
under his own immediate supervision and direction It
has been suggested that the figure of the aurochs was
taken from a domesticated ox, but Messrs. Nehring and
Schiemen^ have shown that this is quite a mistaken id.a.
Not the least important feature of the work of Herberstain
IS tlie apphcation of the name "aurochs" to the wild ox
as d,st,nct from the bison. The locality where aurochs'
survived m Herberstain's time was the forest of Jakto-
zow^a, situated about fifty-five kilometres wes.-sou.h-west
of Warsaw, in the provinces of Bolemow and Sochaczew
From other evidence it appears that the last aurochs was
killed .n th,s forest in the year ,027. I, is important
to no .ee that Herberstain describes the colour of the aurochs
as black, and this is confirmed by another old picture
of the animal. Gesner's figure of the aurochs, or, as he
cals .,, "thur," given in his "History of Animal.,," pub-
.shed m .622, was probably adapted from Herberstain's
t may be added that an ancient gold goblet depicts the
hunting and taming of the wild aurochs •
As a wild animal, then, the aurochs appears to have
ceased ,0 ex.st in the early part of the seventeenth century •
but as a species it is still among us, for there can be no'
doubt the majority of the domesticated breeds of European
cattle are its descendants, all diminished in point of size
and some departing more widely from the original type
han others Aurochs' calves were in all probability cap-
tured by the prehistoric inhabitants of Britain and the
Contment and tamed; and from these, with perhaps an
occasional blending of wild blood, are doubtless descended
most of our European cattle.
Much misconception has, however, prevailed as to which
breeds ^re the nearest to the ancestral wild stock. For
* Sn Keller, GMus, vol. Ixxii., No. 22 (1897).
300
MOSTLY MAMMALS
.1
instance, in 1866, Prof. Dawliins wrote as follows:
" The half-wild oxen of Chillingham Park, in Northumber-
land, and other places in northern and central Britain,
are probably the last surviving representatives of the
gigantic urus of the Pleistocene period, reduced in size
and modified in every respect by their small range and
their contact with men."
When this was penned, it is only fair to state, the fact
that the colour of the aurochs was black docs not appear
to have been known to the writer ; neither was it then
generally recognised that the park cattle (which are always
white) are semi-albinoes. Such semi-albinism is always
the result of domestication, as is mentioned in Bell's
" British Quadrupeds," and could not have arisen in the
wild state. Moreover, the park cattle display evidence of
their descent from dark-coloured breeds by the retention
of red or black ears and brown or black muzzles. In the
Chillingham cattle the cars are generally red, although
sometimes (probably as the result of crossing) black, and
the muzzle brown; while in the breed at Cadzow Park,
Lanarkshire, both ears and muzzle are deep black, and
there are usually flecks of black on the head and fore-
quarters. It is further significant that, in the Chillingham
herd at any rate, dark-coloured calves, which are weeded
out by the keepers, make their appearance from time to
time.
Now, it is a remarkable fact that when the black Pem-
broke breed of domesticated cattle tends to albinism, the
ears and muzzle, and more rarely the fetlocks, remain
completely black or very dark grey, although the colour
elsewhere is whitish, more or less profusely flecked and
blotched with pale grey. In the shape and curvature of
the horns, which at first incline outwards and forwards,
THE WILD OX OF EUROPE j,,
and then bend somewhat upwards and inwards, this breed
0 cat^e which is known to be of great antiquity, resem-
bles both the gigantic aurochs and the (by comparison)
dwarfed paric breeds. Moreover, in both the Pembroke
and the park breeds the horns are light-coloured with
black tips.
Important evidence as to the close affinity between these
two breed, is furnished by Low, in his "Domesticated
Animals of the British Islands." It is there stated that a
breed of cattle very similar to that at Chillingham was
found m Wales in the tenth century, these cattle being
white with • ears. "The individuals of this race yet
ex.st.ng in Wales are found chiefly in the county of
Pembroke, where they have been kept by some individual,
perfectly pure as a par. of their regular farm-stock. Until
a period comparatively recent, they were relatively
numerous, and persons are yet living who remember when
they were driven in drove, to the pasturages of the Severn
and the neighbouring markets. Their whole essential
characters are the same a, those (of the cattle) at Chil-
hngham and Chartley Park and elsewhere. Their horns
are white, tipped with black, and extended and turned
upward, in the manner distinctive of the wild breed
The ins.de of the ears and the muzzle are black, and
the.r feet are black to the fetlock-joint. Their skin i,
unctuous and of a deep-toned yellow colour. Individuals
of the race are sometime, born entirelv black, and then
they are not to be distinguished from the common cattle
0. the mountains."
It i, thus evident that the white park cattle are a
specahsed offshoot from the ancient Pembroke black breed
wh.ch, as Low mentions in a later passage, from thei^
soft and well-haired skins, are evidently natives of a humid
3"
MOSTLY MAMMALS
1
climate, luch <"■ that of the forest! in which dwelt the
wild aurocha. ihis diaposes, once and for all, of a theory
recently broached that the park cattle are descendants of
a white sacrificial breed introduced by the Romans.
A further inference is that the Pembroke cattle are
themselves the most immediate descendants of the wild
aurochs (which, as we have already seen, was black) now
living in the British Islands, or perhaps, indeed, anywhere
else. That the park cattle have in some cases reverted to
a semi-wild state, whereas the Pumbrokes are thoroughly
domesticated, has nothing to do with the argument, and
is merely the result of the force of circumstances.
To some persons the red ears of the Chillingham and
some of the old Welsh white cattle may give rise to a
doubt as to the relationship with the aurochs and Pem-
broke breed ; but it should be borne in mind that red is
the primitive coloration of all wild cattle, and that, for
aught we know to the contrary, the calves, or even the
cows, of the aurochs may have been of thif colour, aa an'
those of the banting, or wild ox, of Java, of which thi
old bulls are black. The red ears of the Chillingham breed
are therefore, at most, a reversion to the colour of the
ancestors of the aurochs.
From the foregoing statements it is evident that tlic
aurochs and the Pembroke and park cattle belong to one
and the same species, and since the latter do not appear
specifically separable from 'he domesticated caale of Scan-
dinavia, which probably fc.ied the type of the Bos laurtis
of Linnaeus, it is clear that the aurochs has no right to
a distinct species name. Instead c. Bos primigeniiis, it
should be called Bos laiirus frimigeitius.
THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE
Among the larger mammals the species or varieties in-
habiting islands aie more or less markedly inferior in
point of size to their nearest continental relatives. In
the case of the smaller islands, like Sardinia and Corsica,
the reason of such a diminution in stature is not far to'
seek, and it is therefore not in the least surprising lo
find that the Corsican red-deer is a very inferior edition
of its prototype of the mainland. The buffalo of the
small island of Mindoro, in the Philippines, is greatly
inferior in size to the wild buffaloes of the tall grass-
jungles of Assam. In the case of islands of the
dimensions of Sumatra and Borneo the reason of the
phenomenon is by no means apparent, especially when
we find them inhabited by a man-like ape (the orang.
utan) almost rivalling in bulk and stature the gorilla
of Western Africa. Nevertheless, even in such areas
the same feature is to a certain extent noticeable, the
wild buffalo of Borneo being considerably smaller than
.ts Indian relative. As regards its actual area, the
■sland of Celebes occupies a kind of intermediate position
5m:e it is much inferior in extent to either Sumatra or
Borneo, although far too extensive to come under the
denommation of a small island. From its peculiar shape
which recalls the form often assumed by an amoeba, it has'
however, a much smaller area that could be enclosed by
3f>i
304
MOSTLY MAMMALS
»
I
a ring fence than many island! of less than half its
acreage, and this may really bring it, so far as the de-
velopment of animal life is concerned, into the same
category as a small island.
Be this as it may, Celebes has the distinction r.i wing
the home of the smallest living representative of the wild
cattle, or, indeed, of the wild cattle > i .-'tiy period of the
earth's history, for no equally diminutive fossil member of
the group appears to be known. An idea of the extremely
diminutive proportions of the aiioa, or sapi-utan, as the
animal in qucstio' is respectively called by the inhabitants
of Celebes and the Malays, may be gained when it is
statcJ that is height at the shoulder is only about 3 ft.
3 in., >'■; .i-eas that of the great Indian wild ox, or gaur,
is at i.-ust 6 ft. 4 in. In fact, the anoa is really not
much, if at all, larger than a well-grown Southdown sheep,
and scarcely exceeds in this respect the little domesticated
Indian Bramini cattle.
The anoa has many of the characters of the large
Indian buffalo, but its horns are relatively shorter, less
curved, and more upright. In this, as well as in certain
other respects, it is more like the young than the adult
of the last-named species; and as young animals fre-
quently show ancestral features which are gradually lost
as maturity is approached, it would be a natural suppo-
sition that the anoa is a primitive type of buffalo. This
idea receives a remarkable confirmation from the circum-
stance that in the later Tertiary strata of Northern India
there occur skulls of anoa-like buffaloes, which, however,
in correlation with the continental area where they are
met with, indicate animals of considerably larger dimen-
sions than the living Celebes animal. In fact the latter,
together with the somewhat larger wild buffalo, or
MAIK am, Ikvaii; Asoa. .iK DuAKi H[ ln,n
■ni.l,ull„,,.,.„|„„„„.„dyl,„, ,l„ K'.'a.« ,,a,l „1 iu- ,:,iJ.
1
4M
.ii'
■hf
w
i-*
Iffip
R'tf:„:
THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE 305
1^„T', 1- **' '•■"' "' ""'^°™' »"'' «•= "foresaid
«^nct Indmn .pecies, constitute an altogether pecuiar
«nd primitive group of the buffalo tribe
In .l» young state and during middle hfe the anoa is
covej«i w,h a fairly thiol, coat of somewhat woon^ai"
wh.ch .s a. first yellowish brown, but eventually becom s
dark brown or blackish. 1„ common with other Asirjc
the neck and back as far as the haunches; that is to
«y the t.ps are directed towards the head instead If
nd^r/Ts „\ ° "" ""^ """"S many antelopes
and deer) .s not yet ascertained. ''ossiblv it m,v h.
-ething to do with the manner in ::;^ 1 LT^^
rub^themselve, against the stems or boughs of ...es and
In old individuals, especially those of the male sex
h. coat of hair almost completely disappears, leTvilg the
general. Th„ condition has been attained by the buH
■ts tail, which somewhat alters the appearance of i„
hindquarters. With the usual fatality that atTenH -^
grouping Of animals, it has also happened tLThe hi d'
quarter, of the bull are in full vierwhile those of ht
U was <ound necessa, to a^'^ b^ LXTotir
^rom the more typical buffaloes the anoa diff,™ k T
a gorget on the lower part of the throat,
I
I
jjj MOSTLY MAMMALS
and of one or two spots on each side of the unde.-jaw
as well as patches above the lateral hoofs ; but there may
aL" white blotches on the neck and back, and m front
of the eyes, while more or less of white may appear on
the muzzle and the whole of the lower portion of the
limbs. The special interest attaching to these white
markings is that the spots on the sides of the face as
: ^as the gorget on the throat are also met with
among certain antelopes, such as the kudu and the bush-
bucks; and from this it has been inferred that the anoa
is more nearly related to the antelopes than is any other
member of the ox tribe. Although this may be true to
a certain extent, the connection with the kudu tnbe is
reinotc
According to the meagre accounts we at present possess
of the creature in it, native haunts, the ^noa dwells in
pairs on the elevated ground of the interior of Celebe ,
where it passes most of its time in thick forests in the
neighbourhood of water. In associating in pairs it ..
quite unlike all other wild cattle, with the possible excep-
?ion of the Philippine tamarau; and here again it presents
a resemblance to the kudu and bushbucks, which also
Kenerally go about in pairs or small family parties.
' Example's of the anoa are but rarely seen alive ,n
England, although they do not appear very difficult to
pr«ure. The first specimen exhibited in the London
Zoological Gardens was purchased in May, .87. and a
fecond was obtained by exchange in June, ,880. Between
the Utter date and .896 (when the last complete hs.
of the animals in the menagerie was pubhshed) not a
ngle example of this very interesting little buffalo wa
obtained. At Wobum Abbey the pair -presenUd in
accompanying photograph dwelt in a good-sized paddock
i
THE SMALLEST WILD CATTLE 307
by themselves, and flourished for a considerable period
Unfortunately, however, one of the two has died since
the photograph was taken.
Apart from the interest attaching to it as a primitive
■sland type, and as being the smallest representative of
the ox tribe, it cannot fairly be said that the anoa is a
very attractive animal. It has nothing specially to com-
mend It from an aesthetic point of view, being, i„ fact
a rather ugly nd ungainly creature; and from its pug!
nacous disposition it is not adapted for turning out fn
British parks among other horned animals. Moreover
■t has a decidedly delicate constitution, which alone
would be sufficient to render it unfit for this kind of
liie.
ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES
Among the many womlerful palacontological discoveries that
have startled the scientific world during the last few years,
none, perhaps, is more unexpected than the assertion that
the ancestral whales were protected from attack by a bony
armour analogous to that with which the armadillos of South
America are covered. Scarcely less marvellous is the fact
that vestiges of this ancient coat of mail are still borne by
such familiar cetaceans as the porpoise and its near relative,
the Japanese porpoise {Neophocaena phocaenoidts), the latter
species being distinguished by the absence of a back fin.
That creatures like the modern pelagic whales and porpoises,
or even the river dolphins, could ever have been invested
with a complete bony armour, is, of course, an absolute
impossibility. The rigidity of such a panoply would have
interfered far too much with the mobility of their supple
bodies, while its weight would have impaired their buoyancy.
Consequently it is necessary to assume that in even the
earlier representatives of these types the armour must
have been in a condition of degradation and elimination,
so that we must go back to more primitive forms to find it
in its full development. As every one knows nowadays,
whales and dolphins trace their ancestry to land animals,
and nothing is more likely than that when such ancestral
creatures began to take to an amphibious life on the
seashore, or at the mouth of a large river, they should
308
ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 30,
have developed a dern.al armour which would serve lo
protect them alike from the breakers and from the attacks
of sharks and other marine monsters. For the idea that
the terrestrial ancestors of the cetaceans were clad •-
armour cannot for a moment be entertained, since the
primitive mammals were not so protected, and the American
armadillos afford an instance of the development Je novo
of such a bony panoply at a comparatively recent
epoch.
Years ago the late Dr. H. Burmeister described a porpoise
from Argentina as Phocan.a spMpim.is. on account of its
possessing a number of spiny tubercles embedded in the skin
in the neighbourhood of the back-fin as well as on the fin
Itself " Some small spines," he wrote, •• begin in the middle
of the back, at the distance of twenty-five centimetres
in front of the fin, as a single line of moderate spines-
but soon another lin. begins on each side, so that in the
beginning of the fin there are already three lines of spines.
These three lines are continued over the whole rounded
anterior margin of the fin and are augmented on both sides
by other small spines irregularly scattered, so that the whole
number of lines of spines in the middle of the fin is five"
In a section of the skin of the back-fin the tubercles are
distinctly seen, many of them being double.
Similar tubercles were described on the back-fin of a
porpoise taken in the Thames in ,865 ; and quite recently
a row of no less than twenty-five well-developed tubercles
has been detected on the front edge of the back-fin of a foetal
porpoise, these tubercles being nearly white and thus showing
up in a marked contrast to the dark-coloured skin Even
more distinct are the tubercles in the skin of the finless
oack of the Japanese porpoise, where they form several
rows of polygonal plates.
310
MOSTLY MAMMALS
it
In a fossil porpoise {Delphmopsis freyeri) from the middle
Tertiary deposits of Radoboj, in Croatia, the tubercles are
still more strongly developed, and form a series of regu-
larly arranged and parallel rows in the neighbourhood of
the back-fin. They clearly indicate one step from the
modern porpoises in the direction of a species provided
with a functional bony armour in this region of the body.
Between the extinct Croatian porpoise and the much more
ancient whale known as Zeuglodon, some parts of whose
body are believed to have been protected by a bony armour
as solid as that of the giant relatives of the armadillos, the
intermediate links are at present unknown, although they
may turn up any day. Zeuglodon was first discovered
in the early Tertiary strata of the United States, but its
remains have subsequently been found in the equivalent
deposits of Egypt and elsewhere, and in early times it
was probably the dominant cetacean of the world. Years
ago there were discovered with the bones of the internal
skeleton of this whale a number of bony plates which
originally formed a dermal armour ; but these plates were
regarded as belonging to a species of leathery turtle and
as having nothing to do with the whale.
In microscopic structure, as well as in their arrangement,
these polygonal bony plates are said, however, to differ from
the armour of the leathery turtle ; while their structure is
generally similar to the undoubted bones of Zeuglodon
with which they are found in association. Moreover, a
fragment covered on one side with armour of this type has
been discovered which cannot apparently be any part of
the shell of a turtle, but which may well be the back-fin
of Zeuglodon. And as the aforesaid bony tubercles of
the porpoises are always found on or near the back-fin, it
has been assumed that in Zeuglodon the entire dorsal fin.
ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 3,,
as well « some portion of the back, was covered with a
complete tesselated armour of bony plates.
The majority of the living toothed whales (inclusive of
porpoises and dolphins) are furnished with a dorsal fin
and ,t i, therefore reasonable to suppose (apart from the'
evidence of the specimen just referred to) that Zmgloion
was similarly provided; and if this be so, that cetacean
was evidently a pelagic creature. For the function of a
dorsal fin is ,0 act as a kind of keel in maintaining the
balance of the body, this appendage being most developed
■n purely pelagic cetaceans like the killer, while in littoral
or (luviatile forms such as the narwhal, the white whale
and the Japanese porpoise, it is either small or wanting
t IS, further, noticeable that cetaceans with pointed muzzles
(of which Zeuglodon is one) nearly always have a larger
back-fin than those in which the muzzle is short and
rounded. In the whalebone bones, among which the
dorsal fin is either small or wanting, its function may be
discharged by the keel on the middle of the upper jaw
or, owing to corporeal bulk, no such function is required
at all. ^
If, then, we are right in regarding Zeuglodon as a pelagic
cetacean, ,t is evident that it could not have been completely
armoured, but that such armour as it retained was merely
a survival from a fully armoured non-pelagic ancestor. For
■t.s almost impossible to believe, if they were armoured at
a", that the ancestral form was not invested in a complete
panoply, at least on the dorsal region.
The whole argument is tersely summed up as follows
by Dr. O. Abel (&//r. Pal. OsUr.-Ung., vol. xiii. p 4
■901), to whom naturalists are indebted for these interesting
researches. *
In their earliest stage of development the toothed whales
3"
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
were full armoured. The object of the armour was as a
defence against enemies, such as sharlis, such an armour
being also very valuable to animals exposed to the force
of a strong surf on rocky shores. As the creatures took
more and more to an aquatic lilit, the acquisition of greater
speed would be of greater value to them, and this would
be accomplished by diminishing the specific gravity and
friction of the body, the shortening of the extremities
and the development of a caudal fin to serve as the sole
instrument of locomotion.
Accordingly the armour would very soon be lost by the
pelagic cetaceans in order to diminish friction and lighten
the specific gravity. Only among certain types, which
diverged at an early epoch from the ancestral stock and
took to a fluviatile or estuarine life, did vestiges of the
armour remain, while the dorsal fin remained undeveloped
(Neopliocaena). That in this form, as well as in the closely
allied true porpoises {Phocaena), we have the most primitive
type of living toothed whales, is confirmed by the nature
of the dentition as well as by the circumstance that in this
group alone the premaxilla is toothed. The relation of the
interparietal to the parietal bones of the skull is likewise
confirmatory of the antiquity of the porpoises.
It miy be added that Zeuglodon differs from modern
cetaceans by the characters of its teeth, those of the
lateral series being double-rooted and having compressed
and serrated crowns, distantly recalling those of the leopard-
seal. Between Zeuglodon iid the shark-toothed dolphins
{Squalodon) the gap is very great, but still one which
might readily be bridged were the missing links forth-
coming; and as it is, the molars of the one type seem
derivable from those of the other. In Squalodon the molars
alone retain the double-rooted character of Ztughdon, and
ARMOUR-CLAD WHALES 3,3
a .ra„,i,io„ from the former, in r«pec. of tooth-charaetcrs,
dtlphs, of th<. Argentine Pliocene, in which the roots of the
eeth although single, are elongated antero-posteriorly and
thus display clear evidence of their original duality. By
.h ■ ^1: ^"•"O^'PI"-^ » indeed regarded a, occupying
the middle position between Sgualodon and the modern
dolphins ; the porpoises being considered to form a side
branch which diverged from the main stem at an earlier
date than the appearance of the genus first named
In conclusion, it may be mentioned that modern investiga-
hons tend to connect the ancestral toothed whales with the
Carnivora, and in no wise support Sir William Flower's
favourite Idea that these cetaceans trace their descent from
early ungulates.
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR
r
Altholt.h the name " sloth " is not infrequently mis-
applied by travellers to the slow-lemurs of India and
the Malay countries, or to their cousins the galagos of
Africa, it should properly be restricted to certain peculiar
mammals inhabiting the tropical forests of Central and
South America. In addition to the simple character of their
teeth, which are confined to the sides of the jaws, sloths
are characterised by their short faces, tudimentary tails,
shaggy coats, and hook-like claws, by means of which
they hang suspended, back-downwards, from the branches
of the trees among which their lives are spent. Two very
distinct types of these animals arc known, readily distin-
guished by the number of toes on the fore-limb. In the
one form — the three-toed sloth— there are three claws on
each foot, both in the front and the hind limbs. But in
the other— the two-toed sloth— there are only two claws
on each of the fore-fett.
These, however, are by no means the only difierences
between the two types (and I say types rather than
species, because it is quite probable that each modification
has more than a single specific representative). In thr
first place, there is a difference in the form and position
of the first tooth in each jaw. In the three-toed sloth,
or al, for instance, this tooth is similar in form to those
behind it, from the first of which it is separated by a
3"4
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 3,5
space no. longer than the one between the «cond and
third. In the two-toed form, on the other hand, the firat
100th ., taller than those behind, and ha. a bevelled
instead of a nat grinding surface, while the space dividing
U from the second much exceeds that between any of
the others. Again, the front of the upper jaw of the
two-toed sloth cani. . a T-shaped bone, corresponding to
the prema^.llae of oth.r mammals, which is totally wanting
m the other species. The front of the lower jaw of the
former is also prolonged ,0 as to form a kind of spout
of which there is no trace in the latter. In both these
respects tli. two-toed sloth comes much nearer to the
extinct ground-sloths than is the case with its three-clawed
cousin.
Again, if the males of the three-toed sloth be examined
Ihere will be seen a patch in the middle of the back where
owing to the absence of the long coarse external hair'
the presence of a soft orange and brown under-fur is
shown. It has been stated that this patch of under-fur
IS made visible by the animals rubbing their backs against
boughs and wearing off the long hair, but it seems much
more probable that it is a sexual character. Of this under-
fur the two-toed sloth has but a very imperfect development
Apart from its extremely coarse and brittle nature the
most sinking peculiarity of ti e outer hair of the sloths is
Its more or less decidedly green tinge. To see this in
perfection it is necessary to examine living animals, as it
ends to fade away more or less completely in skins
long exposed to the light, leaving the hair of a pale greyish
brown colour.
Now green is a very rare colour among mammals, and
there ought, therefore, to be some special reason for its
development in the sloths. And, as a matter of fact, the
3>«
MOSri-Y MAMMALS
meanii by whir h this coloration it produced is one of the
moat marvellous phenomena in the whole animal kingdom —
so marvellous, indeed, that it is at first almost impossible
to believe that it is true. The object of this peculiar type
of coloration is, of coursp, to assimilate the animal to its
leafy surroundings and thus to render it as inconspicuous
as possible ; and when hanging in its usual position from
the under-side of a bough, its long, coarse, and green-tinged
hair is statrd to render the sloth almost indistinguishable
from the bunches of grey-green lichens among which it
dwells. And if the physical means by which this green
tinge in the hair of the sloths is produced be little short
of marvellous, what is to be said with regard to the inducing
cause of the phenomenon ? But of this anon.
If a few hairs of the al be examined under the microscope
by a person familiar with the structure of hair in general,
it will be found that while the central portion consists of
what is technically known as cortex (and not of the medulla
which forms the core of the hair of many mammals), the outer
sheath is composed of an altogether peculiar structure, for
which the somewhat cumbersome name of extra-cortex has
been proposed. Possibly it may correspond to the thin
cuticle of more ordinary hairs, possibly not ; either way, it
need not concern us further on this occasion. In old and
worn hairs this outer sheath (as it will be more convenient
to call it) becomes brittle and breaks away piecemeal, leaving
the central core alone.
But in ordinary circumstances the sheath tends to form
a number of transverse cracks, and in these cracks grows
a primitive type of plant — namely, a one-celled alga. For
the benefit of my non-botanical readers it may be well to
mention here that algas (among which sea-weeds are in-
cluded) form a group of flowerless plants related on the
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 3,,
onf hand to (he funguiti .nd on the other to the lichens
I he ,„.,jority live in water-either ..It or fresh-eompara-
t.vely few deriving their nourishment frnni the moisture-
contained in the air. Some, indeed, are confined to particular
deKnptions of rock, and po.aes. .tructure, recalling roof
but even m these case, it is doubtful if they draw more
than an insignificant fraction of their nutriment ft, ., the
substance on which they grow.
In the moist tropical forests forming the home ol thn
sloths the algas in the cracks of their hairs grow -..lollv
and thus communicate to the entire coat that general t e, n
tint which, as already said, is reported to render them
almost indistinguishable from the clusters of lichen among
which they hang suspended.
" In thick transverse sections of the hair," writes Dr
Ridewood, who has recently inve.tigated the structure of
sloth-hair, " these algal bodies show up very clearly, since
they stain deeply, and have a sharply defined circular or
slightly oval outline. Unless the hair is much broken, they
are confined to the outer parts of the extra-cortical layer."
Not the least curiou. phaw of a marvellous subject is
that the two-toed sloth, although the structure of it. hair
is very different from that of the a(, also has an alga
which belongs to a species quite distinct from the one
found in the former.
In the two-toed sloth the hairs lack the outer sheath
investing those of the al, and consist chiefly of the central
core or cortex ; in other words, they correspond to those
hairs of the latter from which the outer she..,, has been
shed. The surface of these hairs is distinctly furrowed
with longitudinal grooves or channels, and it is in these
channels that the alga distinctive of this particular species
's lodged and flourishes. After stating that a solution
3»8
MOSTLY MAMMALS
^
capable of exhibiting the absorption bands of the vegetable
colouring-matter chlorophyll can be obtained from the hairs
of this animal, Dr. Ridewcod gives the following particulars
with regard to their structure : —
" The hairs are, as a rule, coarse, and with a single curve
extending over the greater part of the length, while the
basal fourth or so is wavy ; but in young specimens, and
in some apparently adult examples from Costa Rica, the
hair is very delicate and soft, and sinuous from base to
point. However, in these forms the hairs . . . have only
two or three furrows instead of the more usual nine, ten,
or eleven. The algas, also, are quite absent from many of
the grooves. When such an empty groove is examined
in optical section it exhibits the outlines of obsolete extra-
cortical cells. ... In baby specimens more than half of
the hairs are slender non-medullate cylinders, with a very
distinct scaly cuticle, and no grooves on the surface."
These simple hairs are, in fact, the only rudir • i * , of
an under-fur possessed by the two-toed sloth, or unau.
It may be added that in the extinct ground-sloths (the
skin of one of which has been preserved in a cave in
Patagonia) the hairs are solid, without any trace of the outer
sheath of those of the ai, or of the flutings characterising
those of the unau. Thest are thus evidently of a less
specialised type than is the hairy covering of the modem
tree-sloths, as indeed woild naturally be expected to be
the case in the members of the ancestral group from which
the latter probably trace their descent.
The above, then, are the essential facts with regard to
the peculiarities of their hair by means of which the sloths
are brought into such special and remarkable harmony with
their environment, and it now remains to consider how best
to explain their origin.
■. of
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 3,9
Of all the problems with which the naturalist has to
deal, those connected with the "mimicry" of one animal
by another, or the special resemblances by certain animals to
their inanimate surroundings, are some of the most difficult,
and the present instance forms no exception to this rule, if
it is believed that "natural selection," or some such mode
of evolution, has been the sole factor in the case.
'n this instance, at any rate, there can be no question as
to any volition on the part of the animal concerned having
aided in the development of its protective resemblance.
And, on the hypothesis of natural selection, it appears
necessary to assume that when the modern type of sloths
was first evolved no alga grew in the hair of these animals,
which were consequently able to exist and flourish without
any such adventitious aid. The nature of their hair formed,
however, in the case of each of the two groups, a con-
venient nidus for the lodgment and growth of an alga;
and such a suitable situation was accordingly in each
instance seized on as a habitat by one of those lowly
plants. At first, of course, only a certain number of
sloths would have had alga-producing hair, and these,
from the green tinge of their coats, would consequently
enjoy a better chance of escape from foes than would their
brethren which had not yet acquired the greenish garb.
And, on the assumption that alga-growing hair is in-
herited, their progeny would consequently have the best
chance of winning in life's race. It is, of course, not
'iifficult to assume that when the alga had once become
lirmly established as part and parcel of the hair of each
group it acquired in both cases distinct specific characters,
even if there were not originally two kinds of these plants
concerned.
And here arises one of the many difficulties connected
3»o
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I i
.^
^
I
with this sort of explanation. It is quite clear that an
alga would have been of no advantage to the sloths until
they had acquired their present completely arboreal kind
of life, and since there is a considerable probability that
both types of these animals were independently derived
from some of the smaller ground-sloths, it follows that on
two separate occasions an alga has independently taken
advantage of this suitable vacant situation and adapted
itself to its new surroundings. This diificulty, like the
one connected with sloths having flourished before they
acquired a lichen -growth, may appear of little importance
to those who are convinced of the all-sufficiency of natural
selection, but to others it may (if well founded) seem more
serious.
As we have already seen, the structure of fhr hair m
the two types of sloth is, each in its own way, absolutely
peculiar, and has therefore doubtless some special purpose.
And, to put it shortly, the question consequently is whether
these two types of hair structure were specially developed
for the reception and growth of algaa designed to aid in
the protection of the animals in which they occur, or whether
such development has taken place for some totally different
object, and that the subsequent growth of the algas, and
the additional pro(eclion thereby afforded, have been puiely
fortuitous. The fact that the (/airs themselves assirailale
the body of the sloth to a liihin-clad knot shows that
thi-ir peculiar charac'cr is largely protective, and it would
be a most curious coincidence had this protective resemblance
been enhanced by an accidental growth of algas.
As regards the manner in which the growth of algas is
maintained in the sloths from one generation to another,
the only rational expla/.ation which presents itself is that
the young sloths become infected with alga-spores from
SLOTHS AND THEIR HAIR 3,,
their parents. As already mentioned, in very young
individuals of the two-toed sloth a large proportion of the
hairs are devoid of grooves ; and it would therefore seem
that the young sloths do not develop a growth of alga till
about the time they are old enough to leave the maternal
arms and hang independently o„ the leafy and lichen-clad
boughs of their native forests.
s»
BUND CAVE-ANIMALS
True cave-animals — that is, those which arc blind and more
or less completely colourless, and spend their whole time
in utter darkness— must be sharply distinguished from
creatures like bats and owls, which take advantage of such
situations as a temporary shelter, from which they issue
forth at -light to the outer world. And as most of these
are more or less closely allied to animals which enjoy the
full light of day, one of the first things that strikes one
is why they have given up the joys of an ordinary exist-
ence, to pass what appears to us to be a miserable life
in total darkness. Whatever be the true explanation of
this, it is of course easy to understand why they should
have lost their eyes, and also the coloration characteristic
of their outer-world relatives.
A curious parallel exists between the inhabitants of caves
and those creatures dwelling in the dark abysses of the
ocean depths; both dwelling in situations entirely cut oft'
from the smallest trace of daylight, and both being descended
from animals living either in the air or water under the
ordinary conditions. In one point, however, a remarkable
difference exists between the two. Cave-animals, as already
said, are content to crawl or swim in Cimmerian darkness,
whereas the finny and other denizens of the depths of tin
ocean possess organs giving forth a brilliant phosphorescent
light, and likewise other organs by which they can perceive
3ai
BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 3^3
such light, and a« thus able to see and capture their prey
w«h ease In the absence of such artificial light and special
modes of vs,on, cave-animals are of course compelled to
rely solely on their organs of touch, hearing, and perhaps
of smell; and, to our thinking at least, their life must be
far more dreary and devoid of pleasure than is that of the
mhabttants of the deep sea. Possibly, however, there may
be other compensatint; advantages unknown to us- and
u. any case, they lead a life of peace unmolested by the
various carnivorous tyrants of the outer world It is
however, very noteworthy that there is one blind fish
.nhabmng the ocean at great depths, and that a member
of the same family is also found in the caves of Cuba-
and .h,s mstance seems to indicate that certain families'
of fishes are better suited than others for taking to a
subterranean existence.
Caves or subterranean channels containing the typical
bund fauna are met with in many countries, apparently
."variably ,n lin.estone rocks, and mostly in those belong-
.ng to the Carboniferous epoch; the latter, :,om their
mass,veness, being especially adapted for the formation of
such chan,bers by the action of water. Needless to say
.be formation of a cavern of any size m sohd limestone
rock ,s a process involving an enormous length of time
for .ts accomplishment, and it is therefore essenfal that
he rock should be of very considerable geological age.
..deed, ,t .s believed that the formation of the celebrated
Mammoth Cave was commenced at a comparatively early
date ,n the Secondary era, although it was not complied
.1 the Pleistocene. The reader must not, howev-r, be
ed to suppose that cavc-anin.als belong to an older epoch
than those of the outside world, as it is probable that
...any of then, have not taken to their present mode of
3J4
MOSTLY MAMMALS
^
existence before the later Pliocene or early IMeistoccne
period.
Cavfs of sufTrcient dimensions to have developed a special
fauna of Iheir own are met with in so many parts of the
world, that it would be tedious to give a list even of those
which are most generally known. Among those that have
attained the widest degree of celebrity is the Mammoth
Cave, situated in a hill of limestone in Edmonston County,
a little to the soutii-wcst of the centre of Kentucky. This
enormous cave is adorned with the most beautiful stalactitir
and other deposits, which, when lit by the magnesium or
the electric light, form an enchanting sight. Messrs.
Packard and Putman write that " in the drier localities,
where the floors are dusty and everything indicates the
prolonged absence of moisture, the ceiling is covered with
a white efflorescence, that displays itself in all manner of
beautiful shapes. It requires no stretch of the imagination
to discover among these the perfect form of many flowers.
The liiy-form prevails, and the ceilings of many of the-
chambers are covered with this beautiful stucco-work,
surpassing in delicacy and purity the most beautiful work-
manship of man. These are not produced by tht dripping
of water, and the gradual deposit of sulphate of lime upmi
the outer portions. The stalactite is formed in this manner;
but these are neither stalnctitiform nor are they produced
in .1 similar way. The efilorescence in the drier portions of
the cave cannot lake place where there is much moisture.
The growth of these beautiful forms is from within, and the
outer extremities are produced first. They are the result
of a sweating pn>ces<* in the limestone, that forces llie
delicate filaments of which they are composed through
ttw pores upon the surface of the rock, their beautiful
curved forms resulting from unequal pressure at the base,
BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 3^5
forJd"""" '" ""^ ^'^'""'■^ "''°"^^ "■'"'^'' "''^y ••"■^
Another well-known American example is the Wyandotte
Cave, traversing the Carboniferous limestone of CrawC
County m south-western Indiana. Of this cave Prof Cone
wrote in ,8;. that he was not aware whether its leng^
s.y that they have explored its galleries for twenty-two
n>.les, and ,. ,s probable that its extent is equal to' that
of the Mammoth Cave. Numerous galleries which diverge
from us known courses i„ all directions have been left
-explored" The fact that the blind cave-fish appears to
occur ,n all the subterranean waters flowing through the
rea Ca.bon,ferousl,mesto„e reg,on of the central Strict
of the Un,ted States, suggests that the Mammoth and
Wyandotte Caves are in communication. Almost equally
ce ebra ed are certain caves in the island of Cuba, Ihich
are Jso traversed by subterranean streams. In Europe
perhaps the most interesting cave is that of Adelsberg in'
Carn,o a, as being, together with certain other caves in
Carmth,a and Dalma.ia, the sole habitat of that strange
-a ure, the oI„, or pro.eus, so graphically described
many years ago by Sir Hun.phry Davy. Although the
Cannh,a„ and Dalmatian form, of this aeature difler
th'af h K "' ^""'°'^" '^P-^' '"^^^ "" '^- li'"^' doubt
at the subterranean waters of all the three countries
are, or were at a comparatively recent date, i„ free con,-
w .h m Western Europe, some of the most notable being
'hose ,n various parts of the South of France ; but the
only one ,n the British Islands is Mi.chelstown Cave, near
KTmoy, m Ireland, wh^h is excavated in the Carboniferous
3i6
MOSTLY MAMMALS
IS
I
i
St
'■^teff^' 'i^^'^-i
The animal of the highest zoologiol position occurring
among the true cave-fauna is the aforesaid olm, which «s
the sole representative of the genus Proteus, and is allwJ
to the ordinary salamanders and newts. The i>hn is a
somewhat cel-like creature measuring about eleven inches
in length, and with a un orinly flesh-coloured sUn. save
that the branching extei/ial gills are brilliant scai^. The
limbs are very short ant. v'eak, the front pair being provided
with three and the hinder with two toes, ami the eyes are
completely hidden. Now it is a most remarkable fact that
the only other salamander referred to the same family
(ProttHhe) as the olm is a peculiar North American species
with well-developed ' yes, four toes to each foot, and a dark
brown skin, which constitutes the genus Neciiints. From
this it may be inferred that the ancestral type of the two
genera formerly inhabited the northern hemisphere, and
that while its transatlantic descendant has preserved the
primitive nuinbir of toes and adhered to an ordinary mode
of life, the Europeaii species has become more specialised
in regard to its limbs, and has taken to a completely
subterranean existence. According to Sir Humphry Davy
the olm only makes its appearance in the Adelsbirg grotto
when the waters lisc to an unusual height, remaining at
other periods in the streams flowing bcjicath its floor.
The only other vertebrate animals belonging to the true
cave-fauna are fish of several species. By far the most
celebrated among these is the well-known blind-fish
{Amblyopsis spclaea), which has been taken in both the
Mammoth and the Wyandotte Caves, as well as in the
intervening subterranean waters. This fish is the typical
representative of a small family allied to the cyprinodonts,
which are themselves relatives of the carps. It is quite
destitute of external eyes, and its body is completely
mrm
r^wwYi^.
BLIND CAVE-ANIMALS 3,,
colourle.s; bu, its sense of hearing is extraordinarily
developed. In the typical form this fish has a small pair
of pelvic Hns, but in some e^mples (which have been
referred to a distinct genus under the name of Typhlichlhys)
these are wanting. The ma;timum length is five inches
Prof Cope writes that if these fish "be not alarmed
they come to the surface to feed, and swim in full sight
like white aquatic ghosts. They are then easily taken by
hand or net, if perfect silence .s observed, for they are
unconscious of the presence of an enemy except through
the medium of hearing. This sense is, however, evidently
very acute, for at any noise they turn suddenly downward
a.id hide beneath stones, etc., at the bottom. They must
take much of their food near the surface, as the life of the
depths IS apparently very sparse."
The only other genus in the family is known as Choto-
gaskr. and differs from the last in the retention of small
external eyes, and likewise in the skin being coloured
Pelvic fins arc absent, and the front of the head is provided
with two horn-like appendages. These small fish were first
known from throe examples taken in the ditches of the South
(-.•u.'lina rice-fields ; but another specimen was caught in a
well in Lebanon County, Tennessee, in the year 1854. They
appear to have taken to a partially subterranean life com-
paratively recently, and therefore retain their eyes and dark
coloration.
•Mthough these cave-fish are clearly allies of the cyprino-
■i'JiUs, there is no evidence to show that they are directly
descended from any member of that family. A clear descent
IS, however, indicated by a very remarkable family of fishes
known as the Ophidiulae, which are near relatives of the
eod tribe. With the single exception of the cave-fish of
the caves of Cuba (Luci/uga dmtata), all the members of
W\ "»«
3»8
MOSTLY MAMMALS
^
I
the family are marine forms, some inhabiting shallow water,
while others are found only at great depths. Now the
Cuban blind fish, in which the eyes are totally wanting
or rudimentary, is a very close ally of a marine form
named Brolula, in which the eyes are fully developed, and
has evidently been specially modified from the former for
a subterranean existence. The barbels, which are present
in the marine fish, arc replaced in the cave form by minute
tubercles. This, however, is not the only point connected
with this curious fnniily, as there are two species, belonging
to as many genira (TypMomis and A/thyonus), found at great
depths in the southern oceans, which are also completely
blind, and apparently have no phosphorescent organs. ,\ni
it would appear from these examples that the fish of this
family have some special disposition towards a life of
darkness.
The only other fish that can be said to belong to the
cave-fauna is a member of the great fresh-water family of
cat-fishes (Siliiridae), and has been named by Prof. Cope
Gronias nigrilabris. This fish, which attains a length of
about ten inches, is closely allied to an ordinary fresh-
water An;erican form, and occurs in the Conestoga River
in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where it is stated to
be occasionally taken by the fishermen, and is believed
to issue from a subterranean streani said to traverse the
limestone of that district, and to discharge into the Conestoga
River. Although blind, the fish has a rudimentary eye, and
is therefore in process of modification for a completely sub-
terranean life.
To lefer in detail to the invcitebrate inhabitants of caves
would far exceed my allotted limits, and only a few words
can be said on this part of the subject. Among the most
interesting are the blind cray-fish, in the ordinary form of
•-^'-."-J—
MMTm
BLIND CAVE-ANIMM.S jj,
which {Camhirm) the eye. are rudimentary in the adult,
but larger in Ih, young, thus affording conclusive evid, nee'
of their desce.u from forms fully endowed with vision.
Prof Cope ha., however, described one cray-fish from the
Wyandotte Cave in wlii, „ the eyes are complct. ly wanting.
Among the insects, there is a totally blind beetle (A ho-
phlkalmus) belonging to the family of Car„/„;i,„-^ or gr.jund-
beetles, from the American caves; while those of France
and Ireland have yielded a blind and colourless spring-ta,l
(Lipura). Wingless siasshoppers are abundant, but these
at least generally, can «e. Ceni,,Kdes and ,piders arJ
also common, one of the former fron, the .Mammoth Cave
being totally blind, while others ret,-.,n their eyes. In the
European species of cave-spiders (P,„ hom,,) the eyes are
excessively minute, and tend to become ol.s„lt„ but t
is noteworthy that these crratures belong to a genus ,„
which the eyes are small even in the open-air kinds
It is thus apparent that all cave -animals are descended
from allied forms Uving in the outer world, and that in
many cases they belong to families which appc^ar specially
adapted for modification to a subterranean existence.
One of the most interesting discoveries is the close
alliance between creatures inhabiting caves widely remote
from one another. Writing of the animals of the Mitchels-
town Cave, Mr. G. H. Carpenter observes that the spring-
tail " IS hardly to be separated from a species found in the
caves of Carniola, and the &«//« (another blind and bleached
■nsect) IS almost identical with one inhabiting the . ,ves of
North America ; while the spider is apparently the same as
a cave-dweller from the Mediterranean district of Southern
France, which probably occurs in the North American
caverns also. ... Any possible geographical connection
which would permit the migration of subterranean animals
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I.I
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330
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
between Southern Europe or Ireland, or between Ireland
and North America, seems altogether out of the question
within any period during which the fauna' can have been
specifically identical with that of the present day. The
only conclusion is that from ancestors, presumably of the
same genus, which took to an underground life in such
widely separated localities, the similar conditions of the
caves have evolved descendants so similar that when com-
pared they cannot, or can hardly, be specifically distinguished
from each other."
Should these identifications be confirmed, it Vt'ili be evident
that the same, or closely allied species, have originated inde-
pendently in different aves, and although the author cite<l
is of opinion that this phenomenon may only hold good with
regard to cave-animals, it is possible that it may be fountl
also to exist in the outer world, since it has been suggested
that the horses {Eqmis) have originated independently in
the Old and New Worlds from different ancestral stocks.
GIANT LANDTORTOISES
In the long-past days when the plains of India were the
home of the mighty sivatherium and of still more gigantic
elephants and mastodons, while its rivers were tenanted
by hippopotamuses and huge long-snouted gharial-like
crocodiles, that country was likewise inhabited by the
most gigantic land-tortoise of which we at present have
any knowledge. When fragments of its fossilised shell
and more or less nearly complete specimens of its limb-
bones came under the notice of its original describers, it
was thought, indeed, that they indicated a creature of
truly colossal proportions, the length of the shell in a
straight line being estimated at no less than 12 ft. 3 in.
In a restoration of the shell made under the superintend-
ence of the discoverers of the species, and still exhibited
in the geological department of the Natural History
Museum, the length was reduced to a little over eight
feet. But even these reduced dimensions appear to be
considerably in excess of the reality, and it is probable
that the maximum length did not much exceed six feet.
A shell of this size considerably exceeds, however, that of
any modern land-tortoise, so that the Siwalik tortoise, or
Tcsludo alias, as it is scientifically called, is fully entitled
to rank as the real giant of its kind.
But the Siwalik tortoise was by no means the only
giant species inhabiting India during the Pliocene epoch.
33«
MOSTLY MAMMALS
as remains of other, although smaller, forms have been
discovered in the same deposits. The nearest hving ally
of the Siwalik species appears to be Tesluih rmys, of the
countries east of the Bay of Bengal, in which the shell
does not much exceed a foot in length. Both kinds have
the front end of the lower shell produced and notched,
although the produeuon and notching are much more
pronounced in the extinct form. Doth also have the horny
shield immediately above the tail double, instead of (as is
usually the case) single ; and in both the skin of the legs
contained embedded nodules of bone.
The Pliocene deposits of the South of France have also
yielded remains of a giant land-tortoise (7". perpiniam),
with a shell about four feet in length, and likewise furnished
with bony nodules in the skin of the limbs. And from
the caves of Malta have been obtained bones of yet
another very large species (7". robiista), apparently allied
to the recently extinct T. inepta of Mauritius.
Going farther afield, we find evidence of the existence,
during late Tertiary times, of giant land-tortoises in North
America, while some imperfect shells attest the former
occurrence of another species in Patagonia. It may be,
therefore, assemed that during the Pliocene, and perhaps
a portion of the Miocene epoch, land-tortoises of huge
size were spread over the greater portion of the warmer
countries of the globe.
With, or before, the close of the Pliocene division of
geological time, these great reptiles seem, however, to have
utterly vanished from all the continents of the world, and
to have continued to exist only in certain islands, from
some of which they likewise disappeared before or during
the early portion of the historic period, while others have
become extinct quite recently. Whether these island giant
i
OIANT I.AND-TORTOISr.S 333
tortoises are the direct descendants of the species which
once inhabited tlie nearest continents, or whether they
have been independently developed from smaller forms in
or near their own habitats, is a question by no means easy
to answer. Neither is it any less difficult to account for
the complete disappearance (apparently without human
intervention) of all the continental forms. Although the
.Siwalik mastodons, elephants, sivatheres, giraffes, hippo-
potamuses, and other large mammals all died off, yet
many of them left descendants (collateral or direct) in
cither India or Africa ; and this makes it the more strange
that not a single descendant of any of the Pliocene
giant land-tortoises should have survived in any one of
the five continents. Such, however, is the case, explain it
how we may.
Since the Pliocene epoch giant tortoises have been re-
stricted to two widely sundered groups of islands. In
modern times the islands most famous for these tortoises
are those of the Galapagos group, which take their title
from one of the Spanish names (ga/dpago) for a tortoise,
and are situated on the equator, a comparatively short
distance off the western coast of So' '' America. All the
other "tortoise-islands" are in the ■ .Jian Ocean, where
they lie (with the exception of the lower extremity of
Madagascar) within the southern tropic, off the African
roast. By far the largest of these islands is Madagascar,
which has long been inhabited by mar, and from which
the tortoises (perhaps in consequence of his occupation)
disappeared ages before the historic period, being known
to us only by their sub-fossilised remains. Between the
northern point of Madagascar and Afiica lie the islands of
the Comoro group, which had also native inhabitants of
their own; and from these islands the tortoises likewise
334
MOSTLY MAMMALS
r l'i>l
disappeared at an early date. All the other tortoise-island
in the Indian Ocean were inhabited. They include th
Aldabra group, north-west of Madagascar, where the k\
tortoises now remaining in the south island are unde
Government protection, the Mascarenhas, or Mascaren
group (Reunion, or Bourbon, Mauritius, and Rodriguez^
the Amirantes, and the Se, les. None of the Mascaren
species survive in their proper home, and all were though
to be extinct, although a specimen has turned up fror
a distant i.,land, to which it had been carried. Much th
same may be said with regard to the Seychelle tortoises
which were exterminated long ago in their proper habitai
There seems, however, to be good reason for believini
that a few survivors of the species have been preserved ii
islands to which they had been transported in ships. Thi
transportation of tortoises from one island to another ha
indeed added considerably to the difficulty of unravelli.n;
the complicated history of the group, a specimen of th
South Aldabra tortoise having been carried to one of th
islands of the Chagos group, to the souili of the Maldivei
whence it was subsequently transported to Mauritius.
The accounts left by the early voyagers show that in th
Mascarene and other islands of the Indian Ocean, as we
as in those of the Galapagos group, the tortoises former!
existed in enormous numbers. As regards the Galapago
islands, it is remarkable that there are no small-size
species; and the same holds good for the islands of th
Indian Ocean, with the exception of Madagascar, wher
there is one comparatively small form (7^ radiala). 1
should be added that, if we except Madagascar (wher
there is one moderate-sized carnivore), none of the tortoise
islands were ever the home of large and predator
piammals. This naturally suggests the idea that thi
1 iiii
GIANT LAND-TORTOISES
335
survival in .he« i„a„d, of .he reptiles under consideration
the other hand, it has to be borne in mind that the In"
S.wahk tortoise lived in a land wh. e large mala^Z
boO, carn.vorous and herbivorous-absolu.ely sTa^ed
and the sa^e was also the case with the o.h e^c'
contmenul species referred to above. Moreover we ;«
no evidence of the existence of large tortoises o„ th!
connnents of the world at an epoch'before T'ad „t o
large mammals. Still, the absence of the latter 1°
pracucally all the tortoise-isiands is a fact . a clotT
.sregarded, and must almost certainly have had a ve^
.• Tirtr °" '^^ '-'"^--^ °^ ^^-^ ^-e-on.-:
In regard to the numbers in which giant tortoises
formerly ex,s.ed on the islands of the India^ Oce „ «"
raveller Franco,, Leguat stated that in Rodriguez the
tor^o-ses covered the ground so thickly that in places you
n..ght walk a hundred paces or more by stepping from 'he
back of one on to that of another. ,„ Mauritius, though
apparently less abundant, they were still very numerous
own to ,740; and there is ample testimony 'that dulg
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they also swarmed
on Reunion, although not a single specimen'of theTpe™^
.ndjgenous to that island has been preserved. The eaL
w..h which these reptiles could be captured and arr^et
off, and the facility with which they could be kept a, on
board coupled wi.h the large amount of excellent La"
■elded by each -endered them a valuable food.supp,r.o
tLl'7 "' 'T "" •' "'' f- f- uncommon fo:
vessels leavng Mauritius to carry off a cargo of fou
•.undred at a time, while in ,75, „„, „, ,^„ J°
33«
MOSTLY MAMMA15
i:
t
specially engaged in carrying tortoises from Rodriguez to
Mauritius took six thousand at once. Such a drain could
not but tell rapidly on the supply, and by the early part
of the l.st century the Mascarenes were denuded of their
tortoise-fauna.
The Malagasy tortoise (Teshido graitdiiiieri) appears, as
already said, to have been exterminated before Eutopeans
had any knowledge of the islands, but beautifully ore-
served shells (wanting the horny shields) have been I'is-
covered, three of which are exhibited in the Natural
History Museum. Among the Mascarene tortoises, most
of which are distinguished from those of /'.Idabra by their
long thick necks and the absence of a nuchal shield* to
the shell, five or six species are knov/n in a sub-fossil
state from Mauritius. To one of these (7". itidica) special
interest attaches from the circumstance that till about 1871
all the tortoises from the islands of the Indian Ocean were
referred to by that name. Of equal interest, although
from a totally different point of view, is the Rodriguez
tortoise ( T. vosmaeri), on account of the extreme tenuity
of its bony shell — a feature shared by certain of the
Galapagos species, and indicative that the thick shell
characteristic of tortoises generally is not required by the
island forms which have no enemies.
A tortoise received in company with two others from the
Seychelles in 1894 by Mr. Rothschild, and now living at
Tring, is believed to be one of the Mascarene species, with
which it agrees in the characters referred to above. It
may have come from one of the ~)maller islands, and thus
be different from any of the named forms, although it
is difficult to determine this during its life. Very little
* The nuchal shield is the single symmetrical horny pi .e found
in the middle tine of the front margin of the shell of most tortoises.
CilANT LAND-TORTOISKS
337
ms to b. known of ,he Rc^union, Comoro and
T.r:: ::T' T '"''''-' '^ '^^- ''^^'^-^^
a the on. from Reunion differed from all the other
Masearene forms, and resembled tl,ose fron. Aldabra
Spcca. mterest attaches to the history of the su v^
epresentat,ves of the presumed Seyche.le tortoise, w h
s been na„,ed T. »„,„.., ,. .pp,,,, .,^^ ,„ J
;C0 five g,ant tortoises from the Seychelles were tak-n
o Maur,t,us by the Chevalier Marion de Fresne, and Ll
heen s,nce known as Marion's tortoises. ,n S33 one
V .ch d.ed soon after, was brought to the Londo'n'z o-'
■ g cal Gardens, where a second arrived some years la er
. th,rd was receded in ,898, but did not long survive
.3 journey. The other two are still living in Mauritius
the R r r°n "'''"'^'^ "' '""^ '""- - 'he one in
the Royal Art.llery Barracks at Port Louis. „ ^s now
n-ly b„„d, although otherwise in good health. The
shell measures about forty inches in a straight line and
.reported to have been of that size so Ing go a'
S.o. Probably this tortoise was at least a ce„tu^
and forty years ago. In its long thick neck, and the
sence of a nuchal shield, Tes>.,o .,„w ,g,ees w ih
Aldabra";"" T""' ""' ^^ '■' '^ ""■■"' ""f"-' f™™ ">e
Aldabra forms, Mr. Rothschild considers that its original
omc was the Seychelles, whence Marion brough ' h
^.mens-probably some of the last survivors of th
.nd-to Maur,fus as curiosities. Possibly the tortoise
-ught ,n ,798 from the Seychelles to Colombo, wh e
U urvved td .897, may have been of the same specie"
on :' H J ''''" " "'"'^■"'^^'^ ^"^ ■-' ''^'f '-»-, or
" y an ,„ch and a half less than that of the great South
Aldabra tortoise noticed below.
338
MOSTI-Y MAMMALS
f:
Passing on to the Aldabra tortoisei,, distinguished b
their sliort neclis and the pristnce of a nuchal shield, w
have first to notice tli ■ the only mcml r of the grou
surviving in a wild state in its native habitat i? the Sout
Aldabra Tfsludo daudini. Very remarkable is the histor
of a male of this species received by Mr. Rothschild i
1897, which is the largest known example of modern giar
tortoises, the length of the ca.apace in a straight lir
being no less than fifty-five inches, or only nineteen inchf
short of the length assigned to that of the cxtinc T. alia
This monster, whose ori-'inal home was South Aldabr;
lived for many ;*ars on Egmont Island, in the Chagc
group, whence it was taken by its owner, M. L. Antelm
to Mauritius, and thence sent to England. It is current!
reported to have lived in Egn-ont for a century and a hai
but since the Chagos group was only colonised froi
Mauritius in the early part of the last century, there
some doubt as to the correctness of the statement. An;
way, this tortoise must have been of a prodigious age ;
the time of its d'-ath. Duiing its sojourn on Egmoi
Island this tortoise used to bury itself and become dormai
for half the year— a most remarkable fact in a tropic
island. South Aldabra is a coral island very difficult 1
trnverse, so that it is no easy matter to obtain a sight
the tortoises. Seven wer^, however, captured and exporli
in 1895, of which six reached Europe alive.
The secono species of Aldabra tortoise (7". giganlti
formerly inhabited the north and central islands in gf;
abundance, but is now known solely by individuals iiitii
duced by the planters into the Seychelles, where they ai
kept in a state of semi-domestication, and by a sing
specimen in St. Helena. There appear to be two races '
this species— namely, the typical form, in which the she
!^
'< i
CIANT LAND TORTOISES 33,
is depre.«d. with the horny riiieldi nearly imoolh, and
r. giganlta tUfhmlma, m which (he si II i. highly convex
with the .hield, on the bKlc .narked by con.i,..uous con^
centric striation.. In ,ome instances the shield immediately
above the tail is divided, as in the extinct Siwahk tortoise.
The shell of a male of this apecies received by Mr. Roth-
schild in 1893 measured forty and a quartet inches in length
(m a straight line) four years later. The St. Helena exa pie
IS said to have lived in that island for more than a century.
It is not a little remarkable that the aurvivors of the
North Aldabra tortoise should have been preserved in the
Seychelles, while those of the species lieved to be
indigenous to the latter islands have been kept in captivity
in Mauritius.
In 1894 Mr. Rothschild's specimen of the North
Aldabra tortoise weighed 327 lb., but by 1897 its weigh
had increased to 358 lb. These weights are, howev.
vastly exceeded by that of the great South AldaLa
tortoise, which scaled no less than 560 lb.; tliis was
however, immediately after its journey to England, during
which it had become much emaciated, so that these figures
afford no real criterion of Hi proper weigh;. Of the habits
of the North Aldabra tortoise at Tring, its owner wrote
as follow.: "Whenever the temperature is over sixty
(60° Fahr.), this tortoise has a fine run of 350 acres of
grass park, but on the temperature falling to sixty, it is
kept in a shed, and when once the temperature shows
permanently below 58" Fahr., it is put in an orchid-house
-i.(., from September to June. When at liberty in the
park it lives entirely on grass, but in the hothouse feeds
on carrots, cabbages, lettuce, and several other vegetables.
It is very fond of rotten fruit."
Of the habits of the giant tortoises of the islands of
340
MOSTLY MAMMAI5
f
i
the Indian Ocean in a state of nature we know practical!;
nothing, owing to the fact that in South Aldabra alon
are any members of the group living in a wild condition
and that accurate observation is there practically impos
sible. Of the mode of life of the Galapagos species w
have comparatively full accounts; but limitations of spac
render it impossible on the present occasion to refe
further to these species, either as regards their distinctiv
characteristics or their history and habits. I have onl
to add that readers of this volume are indebted to M
Rothschild for the loan of the photograph illustratin
this article.
I
SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS
W„ac .he instinct of taking care of .heir progeny, whe.h.r
these are born ,n .he living s.age or firs. co™e in.o .he
word .„ ,he form of eggs, is more or less deeply
.mplamed m .he higher vertebra.es, among .he lower
members of tha. grea. group the eggs and young are
very frequently left to shift for themselves. Stilf this
M.te of chmgs .s by no means universally .he case; and
I shall show m .he course of .he presen. ar.icle .hat
cerutm amph.b.ans and fishes e.xhibi. s.ruc.ural modifica-
..ons for .he purpose of pro.ec.ing .heir eggs and young,
which are almost or quite unparalleled elsewhere Cele'
brated as .hey mos.ly are on aecoun. of .heir highly
whet'th r;""" /"^"•-"=- "irds exhibi. no ins.ances
wee .he body of ei.her paren. is specially modified
or .he purpose of carrying abou. either the young or
It,. T ''"™^""- ^""^ ' •'^■-- 'ha. .he
^me holds good with regard to reptiles, although in.o
he d>spu.ed question whether vipers afford protection .o
h..r young by allowing .hem .o run down fheir .hroa.s
am no. going to enter here, beyond confessing that I
am mchned to trust the numerous observers who state
«ha. .hey have seen .he phenomenon wi.h .heir own eyes
W, h cer.am groups of mammals-no.ably .he marsupials
-the case ,s, however, diff-eren., many of .hem, like .he
kangaroos, carrying .heir imperfec.ly developed young in
34»
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
a special pouch borne on the body of the female until
sufficiently advanced to take care of themselves. In the
females of certain other members of the same order-
namely, some of the American opossums — the young are
carried on the parental back, with their own tails tightly
twisted round that of their mother. In another group, the
female spiny ant-eater, or echidna, carries about her egg in 8
pouch developed in the breeding season on the under-surfact
of her body. Most bats carry their helpless offspring tightlj
clinging to their breasts, and the females of many lemur;
bear them clinging transversely across the under-surface o
the lower part of their bodies. There is, however, one bat-
namely, the naked Cliiromeles lorqiiala—m which both sexe;
are provided with a pouch on the chest. In this pouch thi
female carries her offspring ; and it is thought probable tha
when there are two, the male may assist his partner b;
relieving her of one. Among mammals, such instances an
rare, but among amphibians there are numerous instance
where the eggs or young are carried about, either attachec
to the skin or borne in special receptacles.
Commencing with that group of amphibians representee
by the frogs and toads, we find among these variou
instances of abnormal ways of protecting their yourij
during the early stages of development, one of which ha
been known for neariy a couple of centuries, while man
of the others have but recently been described. So fa
back as the year 1705, Fraulcin Sibylla von Merian, in
work on the reptiles of Surinam, described a remarkahl
toad-like creature, in which the young are carried in
series of cells in the thick skin of the back of the femali
which at this period has a honeycomb-like appearand
Till a few years ago, when a living example was receive
by the London Zoological Society, the Surinam toad (Pip'
SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 343
americana), as the animal in question is called was I
believe, only known in Europe by means of specimen,
preserved in spirit; and we have, therefore, been obliged
to depend upon foreign observers for an account of its
niarvellous life-history. As it differs from other members
of Its order with regard to its method of bringing up its
family, so the Surinam toad is structurally more or less
unlike all its kindred, constituting not only a genus, but
likewise a family group by itself. Externally it is charac-
terised by its short and triangular head, which is furnished
with a large nap of skin at each corner of the mouth, and
has very minute eyes. The four front toes are quite free
and terminate in expanded star-like tips ; but a large web
unites the whole five toes of the hind-foot. In any state
the creature is by no means a beauty, but when the female
IS carrying her nursery about with her she is absolutely
repulsive in appearance. It would seem that soon after
the eggs are laid, they are taken up by the male and
pressed, one by one, into the cells in the thickened skin
of his partner's back ; there they grow till they fit closely
to the hexagonal form of their prisons, each of which is
closed above by a kind of trap-door. After a period of
some eighty-two days, the eggs reach their full develop-
ment and produce, not tadpoles, but actually perfect little
toads. The reason of this is that tadpoles, which require
to breathe the air dissolved in water by means of their
external gills, could not exist in the cells, and, conse-
quently, this stage of the development is passed through
very rapidly within the egg. When ready to come forth
the young toads, which are usually from sixty to seventy
in number, although there may sometimes be over a
hundred, burst epen the lids of their cells, and, after
stretching forth their heads or a limb, make their debut
344
MOSTLY MAMMALS
^
in the woild. Doubtless glad to be free from her charge,
the mother-toad thereupon rubs off what remains of the
cells against any convenient stone or plant-stem, and
comes out in all the glory of a brand-new skin, only,
before long, to undergo the whole process over again,
The Surinam toad is, however, by no means the only
South American representative of its order whose nursery
arrangements are peculiar, a considerable number of frogs
and toads from the warmer regions of the New World
having ideas of their own as to the proper method of
bringing up a young family. Among these are certain
species nearly allied to the familiar tree-frogs of Europe,
but differing in that the females have a large pouch for
the reception of the eggs. Unlike the kangaroos and
other mammalian marsupials, in which the female has her
nursing-pouch on the under-side of the bojy, these mar-
supial frogs {Nolo/reiiia) have this receptacle placed on the
back, at the hinder end of which it forms a half-open
tunnel, with its aperture directed backwards, although the
pouch extends beneath the skin of the whole of the upper
surface of the body. In this capacious nursery arc deposited
some fifteen or sixteen large eggs, which in due course
develop into complete little frogs, without living tadpoles
being produced, although at a certain stage the large eyes
and long tail of a veritable tadpole are visible through the
clear covering of the egg.
According to a communication made by Dr. Goeldi, of
Rio de Janeiro, to the Zoological Society, the tree-frog-
of the genus Hyla inhabiting that part of Brazil show
considerable diversity in regard to nursing habits, although
none of them have any part of their - ..ii body modifii.d
into a nursery. One species, for instance, builds nests of
mud on the shallow borders of pools, wherein the eggs
SOME STRANCE NURSING HABITS 345
and tadpoles arc protectrd from enemies ; while another
kind lays its eggs in a slimy mass attached to withered
banana-leaves, the young ren.aining in this nest until they
have passed through the tadpole stage. I„ a third species
on the other hand, the larval stages arc hurried through
before hatching, the female carrying a load of eggs on
her back, where they remain until developed into perfect
frogs. Some years ago a female of this species was
exhibited alive at a meeting of the Zoological Society thus
loaded.
It will be observed that in all the foregoing instances
the female parent takes charge of the eggs, either on or
in her own body, or in a specially prepared nest, as soon
as they arc laid ; but there are two genera of South
American frogs in which it appears that, while the eggs
are left to themselves, the tadpoles r:e carried about by
their mother. The members of the one genus {Dendrobaks)
are tree-frogs from Surinam and Brazil, while the other
species is from Venezuela, and belongs to the genus
Phylkbates. Here the tadpoles, which may be from a
dozen to eighteen in number, affix themselves to the body
of their mother by their sucking mouths, and are thus
carried about. In the case of one species of the genus
first named, it appears that this mode of locomotion is
nly resorted to when the water is drying up and the
mother desires to convey her oiTspring to other pools; but
in the other forms the attachment seems to be more
enduring.
The female of Darwin's frog (Rhimdcrma da,^i„i), from
Chih, has, however, "gone one better" than all her allies
for not only does she get her eggs and young safely carried
about until they are fit to take care of themselves, but she
has actually shifted the onerous Usk of taking care of
346
MOSTLY MAMMALS
.1
4
them to her consort. Whereas there is nothing remarkable
about the structure of the female of this frog, the male
has a capacious pouch underlying the whole of the lowei
surface of the body, which communicates with the exterioi
by means of a pair of apertures opening into the mouth
on each side of the tongue. As soon as his partner has
deposited her eggs, the male frog takes them in his froni
paws and transfers them to his mouth, ^ cnce they pass
into the great nursing-pouch, where they remain in perfecl
security till hatched into young frogs, which make theii
way into the world by the same passage.
Peculiar ar is this method of taking care of the eggs, ii
is by no means altogether without a parallel in the anima
kingdom, although we have to go to the class of fishes tc
find anything approaching a similar example. Among th<
so-called cat-fishes {Sihiridae), the males of sevcal specie;
ol the large tropical genus Arius take the eggs into theii
mouth, whence they are transferred to the capaciou;
pharynx, where they remain until hatched. It is also saic
that among the fresh-water fishes of the chrc'.iid family
the males of the typical genus inhabiting the Sea o
Galilee take charge of the eggs in a similar manner
Indeed, among the comparatively few fishes that take anj
care at all of their uvo, the charge almost invariably falls
to the share of the long-suffering male, whose partner
having laid the eggs, appears to think that she has dont
quite enough in family matters, and is at full liberty tc
enjoy herself as she pleases.
Of the two definitely known instances in which femali
fish take care of their eggs, one occurs among the aforesaid
family of the cat-fishes, in the genus Aspredo, representee
by some half-dozen species from the Guianas. In thcFi
fish, none of which exceed a foot and a half in length, thi
SOME STRANGE NURSINC, HABITS 347
large eggs are carried on the under-surface of the body of
the female, where they form a shield-like mass extending
from a short distance behind the mouth on to the pelvic
fins. In some respects the position of the ova recalls a
female A .sh-water cray-fish in the breeding season ; but
a closer resemblance exists between the fish in question
and the Surinam toad already described, although in one
case the female bears her load upon her back, and in the
other upon her abdomen. In both instances the eggs are,
however, pressed into the soft spongy skin, the female
cat-fish effecting Ih^^i operation by lying closely upon the
newly deposited spawn. Instead of being completely
buried in closed cells, the eggs of the fish remain partly
exposed, and are thus carried about till they are hatched;
the rugosities then oisappear from tne skin of the abdomen
of the parent, which resumes its normal smoothness.
Everybody who has been in the habit of partaking of
whitebait will probably have occasionally observed among
the contents of his plate a long, slender, bony fish, with
a pipe-like nose, which has evidently no claim to kindred
with its neighbours. This fish is a young representative
of the pipe-fishes, which, together with the so-called sea-
horses, so well known for their habit of curling their tails
round the stems of seaweed, constitute a family especially
remarkable for the variety and curious nature of their
nursery arrangements. Among these an Oriental genus of
small pipe-fishes (Sokmsloma) agrees with the fish last
mentioned in that the female takes charge of the eggs.
For this purpose she is provided on the iower surface of
her body with a roomy pouch, formed by the coalescence
of the pelvic fins with the skin of the abdomen. The
inner walls of this pouch are furnished with long filaments,
which aid in keeping the egg in position; and it is highly
■ .m
348
MOSTLY MAMMALS
I
probable that after the young lish are hatched they are
retained for some time by attachment to the \. 'lis of the
chamber. In the true pipe-fishes (Syngnathus), on the
other hand, the task of looking after the nursery falls to
the males, which are provided with a long pouch on the
under-surface of the tail, formed by a fold of skin arising
on each side, and the two meeting in the middle line.
How the eggs are conveyed into this pouch I am totally
unaware, but when once there, they are completely enclosed
by the junction of the edges of the two folds of skin, and
thus remain till they arc hatched into minute eel-like pipe-
fish, which soon make their way into the world by thrusting
open the folds of the pouch. In the sea-horses the
development is carried one stage farther, the nursing-
nouch being completely closed along the middle line, and
only communicating with the exterior by means of a small
aperture at the anterior end, through which the eggs are
by some means or other introduced, and by which in due
course the young make their escape. Certain pipe-fishes
(Doryichthys) difler from the ordinary forms in that the
males have the pouch situated beneath the abdomen instead
of under the tail ; and it is not a little remarkable that in
certain allied genera {Nerophis, etc.) the eggs are simply
attached to the lower surface of the abdomen of the male
without the development of a pouch. We have thus an
excellent instance of the evolution of a special organ, so
far as the abdominal pouch is concerned ; but it woulc! seem
highly probable th«t the caudal pouch of the allied forms
must have been independently evolved, in which event
we should have a remarkable example of parallelism in
development.
Although many fishes retain their eggs within their
bodies until the young are hatched and attain a consider-
SOME STRANGE KURSING HABITS 34,
able size, I am not aware that any others have special
arrangements for carrying about their egg, after extrusion,
w.th the exception of the aberrant lung-fish (P,o,oN,ru.)
of tropical Africa. In thi. genus the numerous egg, and
embryo, are reported to be nursed in a long ^..^tinou,
pouch attached to the side, of the back ol one of the
parent,, although which of the two i, cha.-ged with thi,
offic doe, not appear to be ascertained. Several kind, of
fish are, however, in the habit of constructing nests for the
reception of their egg,, while a few take advantage of other
animals for their protection. For instance, the females
of the small roach-like fishes of which the continental
bnterhng (Rhodeus amatus) is the only European example
have the oviduct periodically prolonged into a tube rf
considerable length, by means of which the eggs are
introduced within the shells of living fresh-water bivalve
mollu. ,, where they remain secure from foes until hatched
Among the nest-building species the most familiar are the
bullheads {Coitus), sticklebacks (Gaslrosteua), and lump-
suckers {Cychpterus), in all of which, as in the other
insunces, the nest is formed and guarded by the male
fish. In the sea-stickleback the nest is a large structure
composed of pendent seaweeds, tightly bound together into
a pear-shaped mass by means of a silk-like thread. When
the eggs are safely deposited within its interior, the male
fish immediately mounts guard, and has been known to
continue uninterruptedly at his post for upwards of three
weeks. Should any damage happen to the nest, so that
the precious eggs lie open to the attack of any predaceous
•.vanderer, the janitor forthwith sets to work with the
greatest energy to repair the damage, poking his nose into
tne structure, and rearranging the materials till all is made
nght. Nests are also made by the fresh-water species and
J50
MOSTLY MAMMALS
guarded with the ume care ; the male not unftrquently
stirring up the eggi with hia tnout, and often keeping up
a fan-like movement of hit fins for the apparent purpose
of ensuring a continual change of the water.
As nest-building fislies are comparatively rare, much
interest attached to an account in the American Naluralisl,
by Messrs. Young & Cole, of the m.-nner in which the
brook-lamprey {Lampeira wilderi) makes a structure of this
nature. It is believed that the males precede the females
at spawning time and commence nest-building before the
arrival of the latter. The nest is made among pebbles, but
it does not seem that the lampreys follow any definite plan
in its construction. They affix themselves to such pebbles
as require removing from the nest, and then endeavc.ir to
swim straight away with them. In the case of a heavy stone
two lampreys may join forces. The number of fish in a
neat may var_ from one to thirty or forty; but there are
generally between three and twenty-five.
Even v.'l: n no nest is built, the males of some fishes mount
guard over the eggs ; this being the case with the bow-fin
{Amia calva), so abundant in the lakes of North America.
Such are some of the chief instances among amphibians
and fishes where special arrangements — either of structure
or of habit — are made for the protection of the eggs and
young; and although these bear but a small proportion to
the cases where the latter are left to themselves, yet they
are sufficient to show that in these respects these two
groups present peculiarities almost or quite unknown among
other vertebrates. Why such special arrangements have
been evolved in these cases, or whether the groups in which
they occur have any advantage in the struggle for existence
over their fellows, are questions which, for the present at
least, must remain unanswered
THE COLOURS OF COWRIES
Among all the treasure, of the shell-cabinet few are more
generally attractive than the cowries, or kauris cO/««)
which fo,m the type of a family by them«lves. Rivalling
the ohves in the brilliancy of their polished enamel, they
exceed those shells in the beauty and diversitj- of their
coloration, while the.r form in the adult state is so peculiar
as to attract the attention of even the most unobservant.
Possibly the very fact that many of th,-, are so common
as, like the tigjr and Surinam-toad cowry, to be employed
as decorative objects for our chimney-pieces, has to a
certain extent, detracted in popular estimation from their
many striking peculiarities. But even if this be so a
moment's comparison with any other shell will at once
show how different they really are. And if rarity be an
additional attraction, some among the couple of hundred or
so of living species are worthy of attention, even from
this not very elevated standpoint. Take, for instance,
the prince cowry (C. princps) and the spotted cowry
(6. g„tMa\ examples of which have sold respectively for
forty and forty-two pounds ; while the beautiful orange
TOwry, used as a head ornament by the chiefs of the Friendly
Islands, formerly fetched about twenty pounds, although
good specimens can now be bought at from three to five
pounds. Other species claim attention on account of
their commercial uses, the ring cowry being employed by
35"
35«
MOSTLY MAMMAI-S
P.
ii
I
the iilandcra of Eutern Asia for personal adornment, for
weighting their fiihing nets, and as a means of exchange ;
while in the latter respict the well-known money cowry has
a still more extensive use over a large part of Asia.
But it is from the peculiarir'es of their structure and
coloration that these beautiful shells claim our attention in
he present article. Taking any common species, it will be
aeen that the upper surface of the shell approaches more
or less to an egg-shape, with a notch at each ( xlnmity
forming the terminations of the mouth below. Somewhat
to the right of the ..liddle line in most species runs a
straight or slightly sinuous line over which the pattern of
the rest of the upper surface does not extend, this lino
marking in the living animal the limits of the right and
left lobes of the to-called mantle, which durng activity
extmds upwards from the foot on which the creature
crawls to develop the rest of the shell. Compared with
an ol ve, in which the spire is relatively small, the shell of
an adjit cowry differs by the rudimentary condition or
even absence of a sf ire ; while on the under-surface the
narrow mouth of the shell (not, be it understood, of the
animal; is reirarkable for the scries ^f vertii. i ridges, or
teeth," with which its edges are armed.
Nciv, since almost all other univalve shells related, ever
remotely, to the cowries, have a more or less elongated
spire at the hinder or upper end, the inquirer naturally
seeks to find out the reason for the disappearance of tliib
part in the members of the present grouo. In a fully
adult specimen of the common black-spotted tiger cowry
no trace at all of the spire can be detected, but in the
equally common Surinam-toad cowry a more i r less distinet
remnant, partly buried in the abundant cement, is observable
even in the adult. In Scott's cowry the spire is much
THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 353
more pronounc«i, a„d i„ , h^f „
^yond the hinder «tremity of the .hell. Moreover in
mm.,ure e„™p,e. of .hi, .pecie, .he hinder .Z^Z
.he righ. margin of .he .hell ,. expanded i„.„ . "^1^
n bo.h ,he .dul. and the young of Seo..'. cowry .^e
coloration ., very .imilar; but in the young of the Surin.r
'".d cowry .here i, a difference both fn f r™ . d Tn"
colour fron, the adult. I„ forn, .he ,hell ha a "..i„c"
thse cbaracer. are mor* exaggera.ed, .he mouth beine
sharp. Again, whereas the upper surface of .he adul.
. ha. a broad dark brown margin, and .he cen.ra
a sro..ed With light brown on a ground of d Tk
I wn, the young exhibits dark and light transver«. bands
w 'a certain amount of mottling.
Young cowries, then, are much mo,* like ordinary .hell,
"^an are the adults, and clearly indicate .ha. .h' la.Ver
belong .0 a highly modified or specialised type The
aUeration is produced by the expansion of the man le!
^^» of the adul., which deposit a shining enamel over
Pl tely the spire, and thus totally modifying the original
form. A young cowry is, indeed, much more like an olive
or a melon-shell; but, as a matter of fact, neither of .he
u™ la,.er arche neares. relatives of the CypraMae, among
«h.ch are .he StrciiJae. or wing-shells. And in .hi!
cnnection the near resemblance of the young of Scotf
™wry ,0 a wing-shell is decidedly worthy of note as
^^^g„^of a direct affinity be.ween the wing-shells 'and
'S
354
MOSTLY MAMMALS
Turning now to the interesting problem of colorati(
the first feature that must strilce the observer is that t
pattern developed on the shells of most cowries is r
seen by the animals themselves, for the reason that
the time the creature is fully protruded from its shf
the upper surface of the latter is more or less completi
concealed by the fleshy lobes of the mantle. According
it would seem to be apparent that the colouring of the
molluscs is developed for the purpose of protection, a
not for tl 5 admiration of the different individuals
sexes of tue same species. It might, indeed, be urg
that as the lobes of the mantle are coloured similarly
the shell, or even more intensely, the colours are visit
to the animals, and are therefore designed for muti
admiration. But had this been the object, it would sure
have sufficed to restrict the coloration to the outer surfa
of the mantle-lobes, and not to have extended it on
their inner surfaces, from .vhich it is deposited on t
shell. As regards the utility of the cowry type of color
tion for protective purposes, I have never had tl
opportunity of seeing the living molluscs in their nati
haunts, nor have I come across any description from tho
who have. Cowries, which are mostly tropical or su
tropical molluscs, are, however, described as living
shallow water not far from the shore, and feeding <
zoophytes; and so far as one can judge, their colou
ought to harmonise well with the hues of the denizens
a coral-bank, or a mass of sea-anemones, many of whii
are more or less similariy spotted. If this explanatic
prove to be the true one, we can readily see why both tf
shells and ''• hard parts of cowries partake of the sari
striking types of coloration.
Turning now to the consideration of the various types i
-^sm^^r
THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 355
coloration met with among cowries, it has been shown in
an earher article that among mammals spots and stripes are
frequently met with in the young which disappear in the
adult. Many species of deer and swine, for instance, which
are spotted or striped with white in youth become more or
less completely uniform in mature age; while the lion and
the puma frequently exhibit traces of dark spotting in the
cub stage. In these animals, therefore, i, is evident that
a spotted or striped coat is the original type, and a uniform
tmt the more advanced form. In cowries, on the other
hand. It seems that transverse dark banding was the original
type of coloration, and that from such banded type two
later modifications have taken place. In the one of these
spotting of various kinds has resulted, while in the other
a more or less uniform colour has been the final result.
The primitive banded type serves to connect the cowries
with less specialised shells, a young Surinam-toad cowry
bemg strikingly like a melon-shell, both in form and
colouring, while the faint banding observable in young
specimens of Scotfs cowry recalls the colours of many of
the wing-shells, to which, as already mentioned, the former
approximates in form.
The proof that banding was the original type of cowry
coloratton is easy, seeing that it prevails in the young of
the great majority of species. In its young condition, for
mstance, the Surinam-toad cowry is striped, while in the
adult, as already said, it has chestnut spots on a dark
ground m the central area of the upper surface. Take
again, the adult and immature conditions of the common
lynx cowry, the former of which is variously spotted while
the latter still retains distinct transverse dark and light
Hands. Still more striking is the difference between the
■mmature and adult conditions of the lesser false Argus
35fi
MOSTLY MAMMALS
J:
I
cowry ; the latter exhibiting small white spots on a
ground, while the former is banded with dark and 1
without the slightest trace of spotting. It may be i
tioned that this species of cowry is of a long na
shape, and it would seem, for two reasons, probable
that is the primitive form of cowries, the short and b
shape being a later modification. One of the reason
favour of this view is that .'most all cowries which n
the primitive banding in the adult condition are of the
form. Among such may be mentioned the little i
cowry, the mole cowry (C. ia/fia), remarkable for its ta
back and dark brown base, and one variety of the carni
cowry (C carneola), as well as the orange-tipped c(
(C isabella). Again, in the true Argus cowry, w
develops peculiar ringed spots in the adult condition,
primitive bands are still more or less distinctly trace
at all ages.
To exemplify the second reason for the same view
may take the serpent's-head cowry. Here we see
short round type in its full development, the colors
being chocolate-brown above and below, with the cei
area of the back finely spotted with white. If, how<
we take .' young individual of this species, it will be not
that the shape of the shell is comparatively long
narrow, while the colouring is in the form of ba
Many other instances might be cited, but the foregoing
sufficient for my present purpose.
I may accordingly pass on to notice briefly some of
more striking types of coloration presented by adult cow
Banded cowries have been already mentioned, but it
be added that, from the intensity of tne colours, the v
cowry is not improbably the culmination of this t;
On the other hand, in the flesh-coloured carnelian coi
ipots on a dark
dark and light,
t may be men-
a long narrow
s, probable that
short and broad
the reasons in
ies which retain
are of the long
the little wasp
le for its tawny
of the carnelian
ge-tipped cowry
i cowry, which
it condition, the
tinctly traceable
same view, we
re we see the
, the coloration
vith the central
If, however,
t will be noticed
;ively long and
Form of bands,
le foregoing are
:fly some of the |
»y adult cowries,
ned, but it may I
Jours, the wasp
of this type.
arnelian cowry,
THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 357
of which there is both a long and a short form, the bands
tend to become very indistinct ; and it may be suggested
that the short form is not far removed from the ancestral
type of the beautiful orange cowry, which is one of the few
uniformly coloured species ; such uniformly coloured forms
indicating, as already said, one line of specialisation.
Among the spotted cowries several types are noticeable.
Firstly, we have spf .is in which the back of the shell is
simply spotted with black or brown, among them being the
tiger cowry (C. tigris), the panther cowry (C. panlherina),
and th nuch smaller lynx cowry {C. lynx). As all these
have a comparatively short and wide shell, they indicate
an advanced type. Next we have white-spotted cowries,
such as the false Argus (C. cervus), the lesser false Argus,
and the fallow-deer cowry; and as the two former are
long-shaped, while the latter is comparatively short, they
seem to indicate a medium stage of evolution.
From the black- and brown-spotted forms seem to have
originated the group represented by the map and nutmeg
cowries {C. mappa and arabica), in which the spots are
retained along the margins of the back of the shell, the
central area of which is more or less finely reticulated or
vermiculated, the map cowry taking its name from the width
and sinuosity of the line between the mantle-lobes. In the
typical nutmeg cowry the reticulations are very nutmeg-like,
but in other specimens more or less distinct pale spots are
dotted all over the central area, till in the variety histrio
the spots are the dominant feature, being only separated by
these lines so as to form a kind of network, or honeycomb
arrangement. Perhaps the cullender cowry may be regarded
as an offshoot of this type.
But another modification may apparently also be traced to
the araiica-mappa stock, the members of which are inter-
.'^i* ,.l
358
MOSTLY MAMMALS
•1*
I
mediate between the long and the short types. As already
said, these cowries have the central area of the back reticu
lated or white-spotted, and lighter than the black-spottet
margin. And from such a type the transition is easy t<
the modification presented by the serpent's-head cowrj
and the Surinam-toad cowry, in which the central area ii
white or chestnut-spotted, while the margin and much of th(
under-surface is dark brown. The great w.^th and short
ness of theso cowries afford further evidence of their higt
degree of modification. Obviously the chestnut-borderct
cowry is another member of this group in which chestnu
spots have been superadded to the normal white-spottei
central area. Apparently a special development of this typ<
may be recognised in the white ring-cowry (C anmihis)
the yellow ring from which it takes its name marking the
line of division between the original spotted central arc;
and the dark area. Finally, from the ring-cowry may easilj
le derived the money cowry, in which the ring has all bu
disappeared, while the marginal area has developed a series
of rugosities, apparently connected with the filaments or
the margins of the mantle-lobes, which scarcely intrude or
the central area. Whether these two white species have i
habitat different from that of their brethren is a subject wel
worth the investigation of those who have the opportunity.
Omitting mention of certain other sub-types, this partofthf
subject may be concluded by brief reference to the true Arguj
cowry (C argus), which, from its elongated form and tht
retention of barring, is evidently an ancient type speciailj
distinguished by the ring-like form of the spots.
All the above-mentioned species (together with a hosi
of others) are members of the typical genus Cypraca,
distinguished by the smooth and shin' :g enamel, and t!ie
circumstance that the teeth of the mouth do not extend across
THE COLOURS OF COWRIKS
359
the whole of the lower surface. There are, however, other
cowries differing from these by the development of rugosities
on the back, and the extension of the teeth of the mouth
right across the lower surface. Both these features may
safely be regarded as indications of greater specialisation
than exists among any of the typical cowries. One type
is represented by the pustuled cowry, in which the orna-
mentation on the upper surface takes the form of small
spherical pustules, frequently of a bright red colour, when
they -call a fragment of wood overgrown with funguses.
In llie second, a still more advanced modification, the
ornamentation of the back assumes the lorm of transverse
ridges, which in some species are comparatively wide apart,
and separated by a considerable interval in the middle
line, whereas in othe's, hke the little European cowry
Trivia europaea), they are so closely approximated, and so
neariy meet in the middle line, as to give the idea of a
small and neatly parted head of hair.
Even these by no means exhaust the modifications which
the cowry type is capable of assuming, as witness the pure-
white " poached egg " and the " weaver's shuttle," both
members of the genus Ovuta, the latter remarkable <br the
elongation of the two extremities of the mouth into tube-
li:-e processes. Both these, as well as certain othei allied
types, depart from the ordinary cowry type by their white
or pinkish colour, and are therefore evidently specialised
modifications. In the case of the weaver's shuttle the colour
is probably produced to harmonise with the sea-fans, upon
which these molluscs are parasitic ; but further information
in regard to the reason for the absence of colour is requisite
in the case of the other kinds.
One result of this brief dissertation on cowries is to show
how short-sighted was the ide? ilent som years ago that
MOSTLY MAMMALS
3<e
shells were of no ;importanc.- in the study of molluscs, ar
that attention must be restricted to the soft parts (the s.
called " animal ") alone. A wider grasp of the subje
shows that nothing in Nature is unworthy of our be^
attention, and is sure to yield results of interest if onl
we approach the subject with unbiassed and unprejudice
minds.
BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS
Few phenomena in animated nature are more marvellous
than the development of ordinary frogs and toads, in the
course of which a creature to all intents and purposes a
vegetable-feeding fish becomes transformed into a carni
vorous reptile, in all the ordinary frogs and toads of
Europe, Asia, and North America, the process of develop,
ment may, very briefly, be described as follows : The eggs
which are enveloped in a glutinous matrix, are deposited
m large masses in water, and in due course develop into
the familiar tadpoles. Ai first the new-bora tadpole afli«s
.tself to some convenient object by means of a sucker, but
m the course of a few days takes to a free-swimming mode
0 existence. In its eariiest days it breathes by means
of external gills, but these are soon replaced by internal
g.lls covered by a gill-flap, and these again by lungs.
While these changes are going on, the hind-limbs, and
afterwards the fore-legs, bud forth from the body, the long
tail IS absorbed, the larval mouth is replaced by the per-
manent one, and the coiled intestine is shortened and
straightened. And thus in due course the aquatic, gill,
breathing, limbless, long-tailed, herbivorous Udpole blossoms
forth as the terrestrial, lung-breathing, four-limbed, tailless
and carnivorous frog or toad, as the case may be.
If this state of things were common to all the members
Of the group, it would be, as it is, sufficiently marvellous
361
3«»
MOSTLY MAMMALS
to excite our unbounded wonder and admiration. But
many frogs and toads the course of development is modifii
in various ways from this typical plan in accordance wil
the special needs of their existence, thus giving rise i
many wholly unexpected phenomena and peculiarities.
The first peculiarity is displayed by the Japanese frc
(Rhacophorus schkgcli), in which the eggs are laid in tl
muddy banks of paddy-fields or ponds above the wale
level. The egg-mass is kneaded into a froth by the lc(
of the female parent, and its exterior hardens into a kir
of crust. Within his " pudding " the tadpoles are hatche<
and eventually ti.c mass breaks up into a fluid, and burs
its crust to flow into the water, carrying with it the ta(
poles. If the eggs be removed from the "pudding" at
transferred to water, they immediately perish.
In a West African frog {C/iinmatitis gumetnsis), as we
as in a Brazilian species (Phyllomedusa ihermgi), the egg
on the other hand, are deposited in nests formed of leav(
glued together by the parent. And in both instances tl
tadpoles swim about within a frothy substance. In th
case of the latter species the nest has an opening belo
through which the tadpoles are eventually discharged inl
the water over which it is built ; but those of the fir:
species are believed to be washed off the leaves by rail
falling into water below.
The female of the little Paraguay tree-frog {Phyllomedus
hypocbondrialis) carries her partner on her back until
suitable leaf in the neighbourhood of water is found, whe
the two parents bend ba < its tip in such a manner a
to form a funnel, in which the female deposits her spawr
Two nests of this description, each containing about on
hundred eggs, may be formed by each pair of frogi
After an interval of six days the tadpoles hatch out am
nREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 363
escape into water; if ,hey fai, .0 f,„ ji^.,,^ ,„,^ „^.
auer, they are capable of wriggling during a shower a
distance of several inches along .he ground, aiding .hem-
selves by a jumping mo.ion. In .he case of .he tree-frog
of R.O de Janeiro (Hyla ueMosa) the spawn is deposi.ed
.n .he sheath of wi.hercd banana leaves far away from
wa.er; the .adpoles undergoing .he whole of their develop-
ment ,n .he frothy egg-mass, and actually dying if thev
are put into wa.er. Here, .hen, we have an instance i,"
«h.ch .he normal conditions of .adpole developmen. arc
to.ally changed.
Bu. this is by no means a solitary example. The tad-
poles of another Brazilian frog {Cyslii,„o,h,.s frag.lis,. and
probably also those of a Ceylon species (Rh<,cop,,„n.s ejues),
are su.ed .0 undergo a por.ion of .heir developmen. on
land. The eggs have been found in fro.hy masses on
«; T: !, Z"™" ^'"™^ "^"^"y '" erass near
pools, and Its tadpoles have been observed under decaying
ree t,„nks. Again, a third Brazilian frog (CysliJ^.^s
mystaceus) never goes near water, even to spawn • the
<- bemg deposited in comparatively small numbers in
..ole under s.ones or decaying wood near the edge of
a pool, bu. above the wa.er-level. The fro.hy subs.ance
■n wh,ch .hey are ha.ched probably serves the .adpoles as
food, since .. diminishes in quani.y as they develop. In
a dry season .he .adpoles often remain in .he nes. un.il
hey are of large size, bu. more generally .hey are swept
mto the pool when i.s level rises after rain above the
normal. Masses of a green fro.hy spawn of about .he
'^e of a rooks egg found adhering .0 .he walls of cis.erns
0 faces of rock o-erhanging water, and .0 moist .ree-
runks in Ceylon, are believed .0 be deposited by the frog
known as PofypedaUs maculalu.. In Brazil the tadpoles of
3«4
MOSTLY MAMMAI-S
1^
« tree-frog {/fyla aiinviata) have been observed adherinf
to rocks by means of the flat surface of the abdomen
which acts as a sucker. Nothing is, however, known wit!
regard to the eggs.
In all the foregoing instances the peculiarities of develop,
nicnt are confined to the situations in which the apawr
is deposited and the tadpoles arc developed. There is
however, another and far more remarkable class of cases
in which the bodies of cither the male or female pareni
are specially modified to act as receptacles for the eggs
and tadpoles. The best instance of this class is that ol
the well-known Surinam toad (Pifia americana'),' in which
the eggs are evenly distributed, as they are laid, over the
back of the female by the male. Around these the skin
of the back speedily thickens until each egg is enclosed in
a Separate cell, furnished with a lid. The eggs hatch in
about eighty-two days, and the young are stated to find
safety and nourishment on the parental back until their
transformation is completed. The limbs make their appear-
ance at an unusually early age, even before the extern.il
gills are shed.
Equally remarkable arc the " nursery " arrangements of
the pouched frogs {Nototrema) of South America In these
frogs the back of the female is furnished with a Ic .g tube-
like pouch, having its opening at the posterior end. In
this pouch the eggs, which are about fifteen in number,
are deposited and hatched ; and the tadpoles also undergo
the whole of their metamorphosis in the same chamber.
In some cases, at least, the pouch splits longitudinally
* The breeding habits of this and some of the following forms have
been already referred to in a previous article ; but, in order to rentier
the present one complete in itself, it has not been considered advisable
to eliminate such repetition as may exist.
BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 365
when the young frogs are ready to make their appearance
in the world.
Perhaps, however, the most peculiar kind of "nursery"
is the one found in Darwin's frog (Rhinodenm darwim)
In this extraordinary creature the males are provided in
the breeding season with an enormous pouch on the throat
in which the large eggs (generally about ten in number)
are hatched and the tadpoles protected until they become
true frogs. The tadpoles never have external gills, and
probably not internal ones either, so that they are much
more advanced at birth than is the case with their brethren
of ordinary species.
Another instance of abbreviated or accelerated develop,
ment is furnished by Goeldi's tree-frog {Hyh goeldii) of
Brazil. Here the score or so of eggs are carried on the
back of the female, in which the skin of the margins is
raised so as to form a kind of saucer. According to one
J'-ihority, the newly hatched young are in the form of
perfect frogs, which prefer not to stay in water. Another
method of carrying the eggs is displayed by a Cingalese
frog {Rhacophorus rcliculaliis), in which they adhere to the
abdomen of the female.
Some frogs, again, such as Spea hammondi of North
America, are in the habit of depositing their spawn in
rain-pools liable to rapid desiccation. And in these cases
the tadpoles acquire limbs a; an unusually early age, in
order to be enabled to seek a fresh pool when their own
shows signs of giving out. The tadpoles of an Idaho
frog {Spea bombifrons) shov' singular dislike to water,
even while in the swimming stage of existence; they
breathe air, and live on the bare ground in smooth spaces
which they (ear for themselves. Three other American
species (two of which belom .0 the genus Dendrobales
JM
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
It
I.
ft
I
and Ihe third lo Phylhlialts), to which water is essenti
wliile in the tadpole stage, adopt the plan of carrying the
young attached to their baciia (either by means of sucliei
or of a viscid secretion), and are thus enabled to transpo
them to another pool when occasion arises. In the cai
of the genus last mentioned, it is the father frog on whoi
the burden ol carting about his family falls, but in tli
other instance it is not known to which sex this duty i
entrusted. A frog (Arthi-olrpis seychtllemis) from th
Seychelles is likewise in the habit of carrying its youn
on its back, but in this case the purpose of the arrange
ment is not to transport them from one pool to anothei
but merely to protect them during development, whic
takes place on land, the tadpoles breathing by means c
lungs.
The Coqui frog (Hylodts martimcetisis) of the Wes
Indies affords, however, the best instance of the mannc
in which these reptiles can develop without resorting ti
the water at all. In this species the eggs are laid oi
the leaves of plants in damp situations, the female pareii
remaining near by on guard until they hatch. Thi:
takes place in about a fortnight after deposition, but insteat
of Udpoles, perfect little frogs make their appearance in
the world, all the transformations taking place within thi
egg. A Peruvian species of the same genus (Hylmla
lineatus) exhibits a precisely similar mode of development;
and the same is the case with the curious Solomon Island
frog {Rana opislhodon).
In conclusion, mention must be made of the udpole of
a South African frog {Daclylelhra capensis), not on account
of any peculiarity in its mode of development, nor on
account of its form (although this is strange enough),
but from the curious circumstance that it alone, among
BREEDING HABITS OF FROGS AND TOADS 3«,
•11 the numcrou. Kpre«„t,tiv« of it, tribe, f„ds on
.n.n,,| ,„.,ead of vegetable .ub.Unce,. U.e ful,.g,ow„
frog. .00, h„ peculiar way. of i„ own. never when a, r.."
".um,„g the .itting posture ch.ractcriMic of all other
frog, and to.d.. and never .howing the humped back of
il^SL'
I
SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY
To the circumstance that scorpions have their bodies pro
tected by a coat of the hard substance technically knowi
as chitin, the palaeontologist is indebted for a Itnowledg
of their past history and extreme antiquity ; and it is owin(
to the preservation of their remains in the Palaeozoic strat:
of both the Old and New Worlds that we are enabled ti
explain their present geographical distribution. There an
many other groups of invertebrates that we can have littli
doubt are fully as ancient as scorpions, but which lack ;
hard external investment, and whose past history is accord-
ingly a blank. One of the most remarkable instances o
this is afforded by the peculiar creatures termed Psripatiis,
representatives of which are found in countries as remote
from one another as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia,
South and Central America, and the West Indies. These
animals have much the appearance of caterpillars, being
furnished with a pair of simple antennae, and having a
large number of short, conical, caterpillar like feet extend-
ing along the whole length of the under-surface of the
body, and each terminating in a pair of hooked claws.
They breathe by tracheal tubes, after the manner of insects,
but instead of these tubes opening by a regular series of
apertures along each side of the body, their apertures are
scattered in an irregular manner over its whole surface.
And it has been considered probable that these animals
3M
SCORPIONS AND THEIR
'KTIQLIT'
3fi9
Zt^''!,"""'"" '° "' """'''"'' ' '"' "f --«^- spiders
and their alhes, and myriapods. This ^ ■, :, ■ T
.hat z^.^. , ^ ..;,,._,^ ^„^^^„; - ;;; ent
■sagreat probability that if their regains wefe suitabi fo
preservation we should find evidence of their existence L
some of the oldest roeks of the northern hemisphere It
has indeed, been assumed from their present geographical
d,stn ut.on that these, as weil as many oth'r fy es o
animals, have always been southern forms, and that thJr
presence ,n the great southern continents and island
ndicates a former union of all the lands of the southern
hemisphere That there was a south equatorial belt of
e tai^n t""" ""'" "'"■' '° "^ ^^^''^ "'''-' f™"
c rtam peculiarities connected with the Carboniferous floras
of the northern and southern hemispheres, and it is, there-
ore, possible that in the case of />.„>„,„, ,„,h an explana-
tion may be the true one. Since, however, palaeontology
hes us that many ancient types have migrated fron"
ar oft" ""k ™ '""^ '° ""' ' '^'"^^ ■" '"e remote
Droth, ^K r" continents and islands, it seems more
probable that such has also been the case with Penpa,.s.
And If we can show that this has been the ease with the
scorpions, which now attain their maximum development
■n he more southern portions of the globe, the argument
will be strengthened in the case of Peripalus
Belonging to the great group of Araehnida, which includes
spiders, scorpions are especially distinguished by their
onipressed bodies, and by the sharp separation of the
ephalo-thorax from the abdomen, the latter consisting of
ir "T^"''' """ """8 followed by six narrower seg-
m.s,colleet,vely forming .he post-abdomen, the last of
»hich ,s specially modified into the so-called sting The
cephalo-thorax or fore part of the body is covered by a
370
MOSTLY MAMMALS
i
shidd-Iike carapace, upon the upper surface of which ai
carried a variable number of simple eyes, one pair of whic
is larger than the others, and is placed dorsally, while th
smaller ones are marginal. The first pair of appendages ai
modified into short nipping claws, while the jaw-appendagei
technically known as maxillary palpi, are greatly enlarge
to form the huge pair of pincers carried on each side of tli
head ; and the four pairs of walking legs are supported b
the first four segments of the thorax. It is important t
add that by means of lung-sacs opening by four pairs <
apertures on the sides of the abdomen, scorpions breath
air, and it is accordingly only in rocks of fresh-watc
origin, or such as were deposited near the shore, that thci
remains are likely to be preserved.
According to the most rec. it classification, existin
scorpions are divided into four families, of which the firt
two are again divided into several sub-families. An im
portant feature in this classification are the so-called " ped;
spurs," which are found upon the articular membrane con
necting the foot, or terminal segment of the legs, with th
segment that precedes it. The Scorpionidae, or typica
scorpions, have only one such spur, whereas two are prescii
in the other three families. It will be unnecessary to Airthe
consider the classification of the group in this place; bu
it is important to notice that one of the sub-families c
the Scorpionidae is confined to Africa south of the Sahara
and the Indian and Malayan countries ; while another ha:
representatives not only in those regions, but also ii
northern South America and Australia. At the preseii
day, indeed, scorpions are found in Europe only in lh(
more southern countries, where the majority of the specie!
are of comparatively small size ; and it is in the tropica
and sub-tropical regions of the globe that the group attain!
SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 37,
its maximum developmen,, the largest forms being I
believe, South American and South African
In existing kinds of scorpions the median dorsal eye-
tubercles are as a rule, far removed from .he front margin
of the cephalo-thorax, and thus placed behind the lateral
eyes. Apparently the only fossil scorpions agreeing with
th.s group that have been hitherto discovered occur pre-
served ,n amber of late Tertiary age; scorpions being quite
unknown .n lower Tertiary or Secondary rocks. Need,"
to say that th,s is not owing to their non-existence in those
epochs, but ,s due either to such rocks being unsuited to the
preservation of their remains, or having been deposit-d far
out to sea.
When, however, we reach the Palaeozoic coal-measures
wh,ch are mainly of fresh-water op--, and, therefore, jus
where we should expect to find . atures, remains of
scorpions have been met with b.. Jurope and North
America, some of the species attaining very considerable
dtmenstons. Both in these Carboniferous scorpions and
alsom certain still older ones from the Silurian rocks the
eye-tubercles are placed either on the actual front margin
of the cephalo-thorax, or only a short distance behind It •
and they are thus regarded as forming a group apart from'
he modern scorpions. In the Carboniferous genus Clythoph-
'*«/»«., the median eye-tubercles are immense, and occupy
almost the entire front half of the cephalo-thorax ; the lateral
eyes forming a semicircle behind and to the sides of the
arger ones. The maxillary palpi form pincers proportion-
ately as large as in the modern forms, while the legs have
similar double claws. The genus Eo..orpius, which "
likewise common to the Carboniferous rocks of both halves
0 the northern hemispheres, has all the general features
the preceding, with the exception that the arrangement
37»
MOSTLY MAMMAI^
t
of the eyes is different; while Proscorpius, of the upper
Silurian rocks of North America, is also of the same general
type. With Palaeophonus of the Silurian of Scotland and
GoJand, we reach, however, a more primitive type, in which
the walking-legs gradually taper to thin extremities, termi-
nating in simple ^laws or points, although the palpi still
form large pincers.
Such is the palaeontological history of scorpions ; and
very remarkable history it is, seeing that most of the
Palaeozoic types are almost as highly specialised as their
existing descendants, and thus show that we should have
to go much farther back before we reached the ancestral
type. With the exception of certain cockroach-like insects,
which occur in the middle Silurian, the scorpions are indeed
the oldest land animals, and are therefore entitled, in spite
of their unpleasant propensities, to our utmost respect.
We have said that in Palaeozoic times there existed a
south equatorial land-girdle distinguiiihed from the lard
of the northern hemisphe' ' om which it was probably
isolated) by the peculiar character of its flora ; and as the
Palaeozoic scorpions inhabited the northern land, it is
scarcely likely that they were also found in the southern
zone. During the Secondary epoch the latter zone appears
to have been split up, and the continental areas consequently
assumed some approach to their preser.i configuration.
The descendants of the ancient Palaeozc ic scorpions began
soon after, in all probability, to migrate southwards, along
the different lines of communication ; and we thu.^ can
readily understand w'ly some of the existing sub-families
are represented in such widely separated areas as India,
Africa, South America, and Australia, without resorting
to any comparatively recent connectioi. between these
countries.
SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 373
If such an explanation holds good in the ease of the
scorpions, there is no reason why it should not be equally
valid in the instance of Peripatus. It may be objected
that whereas in the case of tl,e scorpions we have only
sub-famthes which occur over such widely sundered areas
in Peripalus we have one and the same genus." The
objection would, however, be equally valid if we assumed
that genus to have attained its present geographical dis-
tribution by the aid of a southern belt of land, seeing
that there is no evidence that such belt has existed since
the end of th.- Palaeozoic or the commencement of the
Secondary epoch. t
Ahhough not coming strictly within the scope of its title
this article may be concluded by a brief reference to some
of the habits of scorpions. All scorpions are nocturnal
and somewhat sluggish creatures ; but while some species
m which the tail is light carry it stretched nearly straight
out behind, those in which it is heavier habitually curve
It over the back; and those forms in which the appendage
is carried in the latter manner are further distinguished by
raising their bodies mu^h higher on the legs than is the
case with the others. Some kinds, again, when walking
carry their large pincers stu.k out in front of the head to
act as feelers. All scorpions are carnivorous, while many
of them, in spite of their sluggish appearance, are able to
capture and kill such alert creature-, as cockroaches. Mr
Pocock, who has kept scorpions in captivity, writes that
"as soon as a cockroach is seized, the use of the scorpion's
tail IS seen, for this organ is brought rapidly over the
latter's l,ack, and the point of the sting thrust into the
* By some writers Peripalm is split into distinct genera
t There are objtcti-ns to the theory of an Antarctic continent unitins
South America, Africa, and Australia, having existed in Tertiary times
374
MOSTLY MAMMALS
li !
^
ii
insect. The poison instilled into the wound thus mad
although not causing immediate death, has a paralysin
effect upon the muscles, and quickly deprives the insect <
struggling powers, and consequently of all chance of escapi
If the insect is a small one— one in fact that can be easil
held in the pincers and eaten without trouble while alive-
a sr irpion does net always waste poison upon it. Thus
have seen i Para/mthus (one of the gtnera of scorpions
seize a bluebottle fly, transfer it straight to its mandibles
and pick it to pieces with them while still kicking. .
An insect is literally picked to pieces by the small chelat
mandibles, these two jaws being thrust out and retractei
alternately, first one and then the other being used; th.
soft juices and tissues thus exposed being drawn into lh(
minute mouth by the sucking action of the stomach."
Old fables die hard, and none is more persistent thai
the legend that the scorpion, when surrounded by a ring
of fire, puts an end to its existence by turning its tai
over its back and stinging itself to death. No matter tha
naturalists have proved that their poison is innocuous tc
their own kind, and that scorpions are killed by a verj
moderate elevation of temperature, the old, old story is still
as firmly believed as ever by the general public.
In an article published in the ninth edition of the
" Encyclopaedia Britannica," the Rev. O. P. Cambridge
refused to believe that there was any substratum of fact in the
popular legend, but Mr. Pocock, writing in Nature for 1893,
is more merciful. He thinks, indeed, that a scorpior may
occasionally sting itself, either by a random blow for an
unseen enemy, or when it has been irritated by the contact
of any strong stimulant, such as acid or mustard, or even
that in the madness of pain it may be driven to turn
its weapon on itself; but that in any case there is an
SCORPIONS AND THEIR ANTIQUITY 375
idXtr'""'"" '" °™ "'•'"'' """"' '■"^"•"""-n' be
Although probably, many of my readers a.e acquainted
wth . , ror he benefit of tho. who are not I must conclude
w,.h a well-know.. Indian story. Where scorpions and
«nt pedes a ound it is the general custom of' servants
m Indu to turn the.r masters' boots upside down before
elp,ng to put them on. In the instance in question, where
th,sprecaut,on had been omitted, a cavalry officer had jus
sh ro'tT : "'""""" "^'' ''''" "■= felt something
hfted 1,. leg and stamped violently on the ground, in ,he
hope of destroying the supposed scorpion before it had time
touse,tss.,ng. He found that a spur, with the rowd
uppermost, had been inadvertently dropped into the boot
f:
1^
INDEX
Aard-vark, the, i\i
Aard-wolf, the, 31, 139, 143
Airobatts, 243
Addax, the, 13]
Aelurofus, 168
Ai. the. Set Sloth, Three-loed
A la. tag, , 132
Ahettroenai nilidissima, 6
Amblygpsii spelata. See Fish, Blind
Amia calva, 350
Anoa, the, 113, 304-7
Atumalttrtis, 143, 235, 238, 239, 240
Anophthalmus, 329
Am-eater, the banded, 32, 34
„ spiny, 109, 342
Ant-eaters, the, 70, 75, 97, 98, 99,
103-6, 109
Aphycnus, 328
Arathniiia, 369
Arctic animals, 58-68
ArttogaU. See Civet
Arius, 346
Armadillo, the, 70, 75, 88, 89, 91,
93. 95. 96. 308, 310
ArthroUph ieychellmsis, 366
Ami, the, 50, 51
Asprtdo, 346
Ass, the domesticated, 40, 49, 53
Asses, wild, 18, S3i S4i 259
Asteraeanthus, 163
Astrapolheriumy S5
Auk, the great, 3
Aurochs, 52, 293-302
Aye-aye, 179-87
Babinisa, the, 112
Baboon, the, 113, 139, 141, 143
Badger, the, 29, 30, 32, 37
Bandicoot, the, 32, 109
Banting, the, 19, 53
I'arasingha, the, 25. 26
. xtkytr^^ts, 143
hats, 237. 322, 342
Bear, the grizzly. 69
,, I'olar, 208, 214
Beaver, the, 244-51
iSeisa, the, 131, 133
Bichir, the, 157
Bison, the, 46, 53, 69, 295, 296, 297.
298
Blackbuck, 19
Bongo, the, 13, 15, 31, 143
Boocentis enryeeras. See Bongo
Boi banting. See Banting
„ frontalis. See CJayal
„ primi^nius. See Aurochs
„ sylvestn's, 297
,, taurus, 302
Bower-birds, the, log
Bow-fin, the, 350
Bradypus. See Sloth Three-toed
Brook-lam prey, 350
buffalo, the African, 20, 141
„ Asiatic, 20, 53, 226
Bullheads, the, 349
Bushbuck, the, II-16, 18, I40, 306
Bush-pigs, 139
Caiman, the, 72
Camel, the, 50
Camptolaemus labradoriuSy 6
Canis azarae, 202
„ dingo. See Dingo
,, familiarii, 200
» M tenggerana, 206
,, lagoptts, 211
,, lairans, 200, 202
,, lupus, 200, 202
Capivara, the, 70
Ca-'"^hin, the, 148
INDEX
Cfl'p, the. 114
Carpircho, tho Sft Capivara
Cat, 'he lay, 14, 194
„ <Iesert, j6, 193, 194, 195
„ 'lomeslicatfd, 49, 188-96
,. KKyplian, 34, i8y, 190, 192. t04.
195. 196
.. jungle, 190, i9i, 194, ,95
,, leopard, igj
,, marMt-d, 36
„ .Meilitfrranean. 190, 191, io-»
195
„ rallas'a. 194, 196
„ rusty-siK)ltL«l, 193
Lal-fish, the, 114, p^, ,,(,
Cats, the, 29, 31, ,88.^(3
Cave animat-i, 322-30
Cavy. the i'alagunian, 42
Cephalofhia dcriat, i^ee Zt-hra-ante-
lope
Ceratophryt, 72
Cercocebus. Hee Mangalwy
tWcopitkecm. Sn Guenon
Cfn'«j hortuhnim. See Deer Peking
>, j/iv7. Af Deer Japanese
» 11 ntamhuricus. See Deer
Manchurian
CeUracion, 162, 163
Cetaceans, 308-13
Chaja, the, 72
Chiromys, 179, 180, l8r
ChiUingham cattle, the, 300, 301, 102
(-himpanzee, the, 142, 154
Chipmunks, the, 30
Chiromantis guiniemis, 362
Ckiromelti ia>;/uata, 342
Chironecles, 31
Chiiu, the, 178
Chital the, 12, 14, 22. 23. 24, 26,
28,31,45 ■■ ^' '
Ckolaepm. See Sloth Two-toed
i-fiohgcuUr, 327
Chryscehloris. See Golden Mole
t-ivets, ihe, 27, 29, 30, 31, 36, HI,
Clani, the, 227
Clythophthainms, 371
Cochliodus, 163
Cockatoos, the, 109
Coelodus, 164
Coelogtnys, 31
C,^A.^ttj. .S-wGuereza
Loney. See Hyrax
Col/us, 349
Colurm'x nxvat-zealanJuie, 6
377
Courser, the. 130
Cowries, 351-60
Cowry, (he Arps. 355. 356, 357, jjs
M cirnelian, 356
M cht■^,lnul Ixmlcrcd, 35S
• > cullender, 357
.. European, 359
>> f.ill'iwrieer, 157
'• ly"^- 355. 357
■ ■ "lap, 357
„ mole, 356
„ nioiii-y. 352, 358
" 'uitmct;. 357
.. or.iny^-, 351
,. tipped. 356
II panther, 357
M " ix'achwi.cgg." 359
•' Pi-'nce, 351
M pustuled, 359
■> 'ine. 35>, J5«
" Scott's. 352. 353. 355
» serpent s head, 358
I, sjMjtted, 351
M Surinam-ioni, lei, 152 isi
. 355. 35s '^ ' •*"•
" •'£",351.352.357
" wasp, 356
I) "weaver's shuttle," 359
„ white ring, 358
Coyote, lh>\ 200
Coypu, t, .70
Crab, the cccoanut, 227
Cray-fish. 328, 329, 347
Crocodiles, the, 156
Crossanhus, 31
Cuscus, the, 109, III, 116, 123
Cj'i/i eriis, 349
(yvn, 199, 206'
Cypraea. See Cowries
M annului. See Cowry While
Ring
<< arahka. .S>c Cowry Xutnieg
I, uririis. See Cowrj- Argus
>, carneo/a. See Cowyy Car-
nelian
,, .^titi'i/a. .y« Cowry Spotted
,, tsabella. ^(•e Cowry Orange-
tipped
>. lynx. See Cowiy Lynx
). Mtippa. See Cowry Map
„ pan/henna. See Cowry
Panther
„ priiuepi. SeeQimxy Prince
M talpa. See Cowry Mole
M ti:^ris. *S>tf Cowry Tiger
J7«
INDEX
i-.
Cypriniilte. Sit Carp
Cjrt.'iffHathus fraxi/ij, jfil
II mjulactMS, 36 J
DactfUlhra cafcmit, 36A
JyatiUiUrui. Su Glyptmloi), CIuli-
ttileil.
Dauin, the, 140
Dasyurei, the, 31, 35
Daubcntonia, 179, 180
Deer, Chinese water, 4;
,, hurn])eati roc, 24, 45
,, fallow, i», 20, 21, 2J, 25, 26,
28. Ji. 27J. 284
,, ronnuNan, 23
M hog, 26, 45
„ Indian spoiled. Ste Chila!
„ Japanew, 13, 21, 44
,, Manchurian, 44
,, Pampas, 74
„ Peking, 21, 25, t . ;4, 45,
272. 273
,, Pire Davi<i's iin-!n», .74, 275,
276. 277. 378
„ Philippine spotted, 23
>i re(), 13, 25, 26, 44, 273
M rusa, 113
,1 sambar, 12, 33, 24, 36
), Siberian roe, 46
,, sika, 33
„ swamp. Ste Barasingha
,, white-tailed, 13, 34, 25, 26
Delphmopsh friytri, 310
DtndrohaUs, 345, 365
Deniirocolaptkiof. Stt Wood-hewers
Desert-chat, the, 130
Desert -finches, the, 130
Desert-lark, the, 130
Dingo, the, 197, ig8, 204, 205
Dinosaurs, 325
DistUhurus, 243
Dog, the bush, 199
,, domesticated, 49, 197-206
„ Eskimo, 197, 2cx>
„ hunting, 139, 143, igg
,, pariah, 301
Doliehotis patagonica. See Cavy
Patagonian
,, salinicoia, 43
Dolphins, the, 311, 312, 313
Domesticated animaU, 39.57, 188-206
Dormouse, the, 142
Dorcatherium, 143
Doryiehthyi, 348
Drepanii pactfiia, 6
Dromaeus attr, 4
Duck, the pied, 6
Diigong, the, 87.338
I'-nrlhworms, the, 123
Kchidna, the, 109, 343
Kland, ihv, 11, 15. ji, 41,46,327
25a
Elitphurut it.i-.h. .1 Hi. See I li-ri
Pert David"-
Klepham, the Afrkan, 41. 42, 47,
140. 144
., Indian. 41, 49, 326
I'.li'phant-seal. Ste Sca-elephant
Klcphants, 30, 69. 71, 87, 336
Elk, thf, 6«), 297, 2<>S
Emm. tht- black, 4
KHhydriotioH, 319
Kosc^rpiiis, 371
£'/uui cahallus, 54
,, ^uinix-u See 'Juaygn
Ermine, the, 60, 207, 214
Erylhrospha. See Desert-fintli
EH/-.-/aunts cineretts, 242
Fallow deer. Ste umler Deer
Ftlii henga/emis, 193
,, eaiiis. ^c/Cata
,, (audata. See Steppe-cat
,, cham. 6'« Jungle-cat
I, lybita^ 188, 190, 195
,1 maniilf 194
„ mtditei-ranea. Stt Cat, Medi-
terranean
„ cma/a. Stt Cat, Desert
„ ndhiginosa, 193
„ temmincki, 194
Fennecs, the, igg
Fish, the btiml, 325, 326
Fishes, enamel-scaled, 157, 158
,. soft-scaled, 158
Fo.\, the, 69, 199, 210, 384
,, arctic, 67, 209-15
,, blue, 207-10, 212, 213, 215,
216
,, grey, 209
,, long-cared Cape, 199
,, white, 207, 3o8, 209, 213, 216
Fox-bat. the, 142
Frtgilupms varius, 6
F'ogs. 344-6, 361-7
,, marsupial, 344, 364
,, pouched, yide supra
^.. tree, 344, 345
Frog, the Coqui, 366
„ Darwin's, 345, 346, 365
„ Goeldi' tree, 365
INDEX
Jl, 41.46. 327,
US. Sre Ilfcr
n, 41. 42, 47,
^"^og, horned, fi
t. TtpancK, 363
„ Paraguay tiee, j6a
Catagos, [he, 14J, 144, k. ,,4
CaiiJktii. Sn Mongooie
tialU ox, ehf, 5j
CatlrosUm. Sm SlickleUck-*
tiaur, the, 19. jQ4
('lytJ, the, sj
Ga«ries !hr, ijo. aj7. 373, 374
l^elaila baboon, the, 143
(icmsbuk, thf, 131, 140
(ienel, the, 10
Cemttta tii^na, 30
(leibili, the, 130
liiraffe, the Somali, ij, 16
ti South African, 8
O.raJfc., 27. as, JO, 35. 69, 129, 140.
'41. «7, J63, 264 *^
(•losKotliere, the, 102
(.lypiodon, the club-laileJ, 92. 93 94
.. P'Biny, 9'. 96
M ring-tailetl, 91, 92
I, smooth- toiled, 95
» tuberculated, 94 9;
Olyptodons the, 75. 76, 77. 78. 79.
80 (note), 88, 89. 90. 9,, gj,' J?;
*jnu, the white-tailed.
tinus, ihe, 28, 31, 3' . ,,
Jioat, the.40,49, 51. 71. 282
*joIden mole, the, 143
Gorilla, the, 14a, 337
O'OHias mgriioAtis, 328
(iuanaco, the, 70, 71, 74, 76. 78
Ouenon, the, 139
Ouerera, the. 139, 167, 169, 170
■> Abyssinian, 168
.,. East African, 167, 168
t.uinea-pig, the, 42
jjanumanmonkey, the. .?« Unpir
liw, the mountain, 61, 6a, 6j, 64
65. 66. ao7
,, variable, 63,64,65
llarneased antelope, the, ir i* w
140 J ' J • Ji.
Hartebeest, the, 252
titmi^alt, 31
Hipparion, the, 88
Hippopotamus, the, 20, 69, 71 n8
'40 141, 142, 226, 227/261!
,r- ^62, 203, 264, 265, 367, 268. 26^
"ippopolamus, the Burmese. 266, 270
Cyprian, 270
%1%
Hippopotamui, Indian. 267
I-emerlc'ii, 2(>>, 270
.• Narbada, 267
piymy, 261, 363,265.
367 ^
//■** 2' ■''iwilik, 366, 367
"'/■/■•'potamk! amphihiui, 261
hippoHtnsis, 269
ii-avatiruj. .sVc Hip-
popotamua Hurmesv
Umer/fi. Stf Hippo-
potamm I.emcrle s
liberienui. .SVr Hippo-
potamus I'iginy
miHHfut, 270
.1 numotiuMs. 267
.. P«l-itiHdum, 2O7
iivaltnsis. .SW IIip|.o-
u , , . P<»tarnu» Siwalik
^^ma/oitumtotkettum, 84, 87
/A'//.»/*^/i./. ^WCJlyptodon.Smwth-
lulied
jjorse. [he domtsticated, 40, 44
urn-, WiH 54, 55, 56^ jy/^
lliimming-birds, 71 "' ' ^" ''
Humpeil cattle, 52, 53
jlunling-dog, the, IJ9, 143. ,Qo
untmg.leopard. llie, 27, lo Vq
"yaena, the, 29
>* spotted, 30, 140
It striped, 11. iiQ
Hybrid dogr2TO
.. zebras, 42, 43
Hy^r^hoerui. Set Capivara
"y^<', 344
i. ahireviata, 364
>, f:of/Ju. .V« Frog, (;ocldi's Tree
,1 >uf>u!osa, 363
Hylodts lineatus, 366
.. martiniitmis. See Froc
Coqui. ^
Hypotooiidiapaciftca, c
Hyrax, the, 81.82
Ibex, the, 139
Ichthyosaurs, 225
/ctonyx, 30, 170
Jdiunts, 142, 240
Igiianas, the, 72
Jackal, the, 199, 200, 202
u black-backed, 202
Jaguar, the, 27, 31
■> black, 211
Jerboas, thv, 130. 132
Jungle-cat, the, 190
3«o
INDEX
I »
^
K«nE*roo, the, 46, 47, 34I
„ tree, 109
Kob, Mri. (iray't, 19
,, whilu-careil, 19
Kuilu, the, II, 13, 13, 14, 15. 31,
LamMra wiidtri. Stt Brook -lam prey
Lan<l Hlugv, 1 33
I*ngurt, the, 167, 173, 173, 174, 175
Letiimini;. the, 58, 59, 60, ao7, 314
LemuroiiU, (he, 151, 184
Lemun, the, 143, 151, 153.343
flying, 337
LeofKirU, the, 37, 31, 141
„ black, 211
,t clouded, 31, 3'j
„ tnow. 31
L^iJotui, 163
Ltpus timidm. Sti Hare, Mountain
Linsang, the, 30. 153 (note).
Lion, the, 11, 31, 35, 131, 138, 141,
311.355
Ltpufa, 329
Lizards, 130, 153, 156
Llama, th«, 70
Loris, the, 137, 151
Lu(i/uf,'a dentata, 337, 328
Lumpsuckers, the, 349
Lycaon. See nuniint;-dog
Lynx, the, 30
Macaque, the moor, 1 13
Matrauchtnta, 76, 79, 86, 88, 226
Matrorhinus, 230, 331
Macr*sctlides. Ste Shrew, Jumping
Mammoth, 325, 226, 296
Mamo, the, 6
Manatis, the, 22S
Mangab(:y, the, 143
Marbled cat, the, 31
Markhor, 52
Marmoset, the, 70, 148
Marmot, 70
Marsupials, no, 113, 121, 123
Marten, the, 191, 3i8
Mastodon, the, 75, 76, 79, 225
Meerkat, the, 143
Megalotherium, the, 75, 76, 77, 97,
100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 107
Mi-lou. See Deer, Pere David's
Moa, the, 327
Mongoose, the 30, 31, 36, 139
Monkeys, New-world, yo, 148
„ Old-world, no, n3, 115,
144, 148, 167
Mouuuri, 335
Muflon, the, 51
Mule -deer, (he, 133
MuleA. 34, 40
Mulita, the, 95
Muntjac. the. 25. 36, 45
Mukk-oN, the, 287-93
Musttla, 191
Mfliobtttidae, 159, |6o
Myloditn, the, 75. 76, 77, 7<y, 9;
101, I03, 103, 105
Afyotastor. See Coypu
Mjrrmetgiiiii, 33
Netturm, 326
JNe^phoeatna pkocaentida. See I'm
poise, Jaiianrst:
Nttophh, 348
NciodoH, 79, 82
Nttttr Horfo/tetuis, 6
,, protiuctu'!, 6
Nilgai, the, 14. 45
Notarnii alhus, 5
NoMrenia. See Frog^, Marsupial
Nyala, 18
Ocelot, the, 31
Oestre/tUa haesitafa, 7
Okapi, the, 16, 17. 69, 140, 143
OIni, the, 335, 32O
OphidiiJat, 327
Opossum, the, 70, ill, 342
„ single- striped, 34
„ three-strii«d, 30, 34
,, water, 31, 34
Orang, the, 108, 114, 143, 148. 303
Orytteropus. See Aard-vark
Oryj-, the, 131
,, beatrix, 132
„ Itucoryx, 131
Ostrich, the, 69, 141, 227
Otoeyon, 199
Otter, the, 143, 317, 219
,, sea, 218-24
Oven-bird, the, 71
Ovibos moschalus, Aee Musk-ox
Ovis, 50
Ovu/a, 359
Owls, 322
Oxen, domesticated, 39, 49
„ wild, 52, 71, 293-302
Paca, the, 31
Fachyruius, 84
Palaeornis exsui, 6
Palaeotherinm, 88
INDEX
Jo
76, 77. 1% 97.
I'M
Wilfi. See Tor-
g^, Mitrsu|ji.it
'.345
e'l, 30. 34
34
'43. 148- 303
Lrd-vark
«7
219
39.49
E93-302
Palm-civfl, the, 1 16
finds. Ilicffrent, I68, 160
rnngolina, the, 104
J\»M^Aihm. i>r (;iyi,tud«n Tuhcr
cuUred
I'aradiM', Ihc UnU uf, loo
" I'arallflism,*' 337
Ptiu-Iu, tlic, 93
Perifatm, j6S, 369. 37 j
Pitaurista, 341, 343
IVtrcI, the l»urrowiiij;, 7
Phnhuroiorax ptnpinU.U,,,, 5
I'haUnyer, (he ftMlhirUJIed, 14]
'. !'«">>' rtyin^-, 243
Mialangcrs, tlir, 109, 111, j,, 24J
/«-« Uonina, ajo
rhotatna s/iiHi/>i»mt, log
I'fiy/Matti, 345, 366
Phyl/omttiusa hyp^hoHdriaHs, 362
.• Hurini;i, 362
Pichiciago. the. 88
'* PifitoH holiatu/ats." 6
''igs. a8, 34. 35. 39. 81, no, iir,
263. 264, 355
I ikc, rlie bony. 157
/'//fl amtrifana. See Toad, Surinam
I Irtish, 347.348
I IcsKisaurs, 225
PotcilogaUy 30
.. albtHutha. :7o
foiana, 30
I'_"lccat, theTip^., ^^_ ^-_ , ^^
I'oly/vdattt mafu/atus, H)^
I'crcupine, the, 115
.1 brush-tailed, 143
IVpoise, the, 308-13
)t Croatian, 310
Pottos, the, 142, 151
F'rolxBcis monkey, thf, 173
Proforia, 1 40
Fronghuck, the, 14
rropalaeohoplophenis. See CWp-
todon Pigmy
Protective coloration. See pp 8-i8
167.170, .-ind 259, 316,' 319!
/•^.jWw. See Aard-wolf
Prefeiis, 326
Protopterus, 349
Pricwalski's horse, the, 54
Ptarmigan, the, 136
Pteromyj, 34 1
j«i
Ptyhodnu 161
Puma, the, 11, 30, 15, 355
• '.'"area. the. 4. 18. 140. 143, 35, Aq
'.'imll, the New /cakn.l, 6
/'(iiVi liava/a, i6i
^iay, ihi- Iwakc.i, 160
.. raKlf. 159
.. mifilf, 159, 160, 162
KayV the, 157-61
*'Kot<.gniti<,n t,i.-irks.- to. 13. 31. 24
Ktti i;r.>iiv, [he. 136 J -• ••
Reindeer, ihf, 69, 268
Rkatopho ui /'/uei, 363
>• rettiulatm, 365
^•hltxtli. Set Frog
J,. . Japanehc
Hhea, the, 71, 74
khinohati.iae, t6o
A'him>f>ati', 160
Rhinoceros, the, 20. fig, 71, 81, 94,
140. 144' 226, 263
.. woolly, 236, 396
hhmoiUrma datwim. See Froe
I>arwin's *'
RKitrnpttfa^ 159
Hkodem amains, 349
River-hog, 3'« Capivat.i
Rocky Mountain sheep, the, 6q
Roebutk, Ihc, 60, 61
Roniual, the blue. See midtr Whale
Rusadcer, ihe, iij
Sable anielopc, the, 19, 20
Sabre-homed oryx, the, 111
Saiga, the. 133, 178
Sambar, the. See under Oeor
S.-indgrous(;, the, 130, 131
Sand-mole, the, 143
Sandpiper, the Tahiti white-winced ?
Saurodelpkis, 313 <» < j
Scelidothere, the, 79, 102, loi 106
Smtropterus Z'olans, 241
.. voltueUa, 241
Sdurui, 340
_ .• "ladagasfanensist 179
Scorpions, 368-75
Screamer, the homed, 73
Sea-bear, the, 228, 332, 2J ■
Sea-cow, the Northern, 32^
Sea-elephant, the, 328-34
Sea-horses, the, J48
Scalion, iIm;, ii6, 330, 332, 233
38»
INDEX
s
Seals, the eared, 228, 230, 233
I, fur, 220
„ true or earless, 228, 2J2
Seriema, the, 72, 79
Serval, 30
Shark, the tusking, 228
„ great while, 228
„ Port Jackson, 157, 162, 163
Sheep, the Barbary, 50, 51
„ domesticatei), 39, 40, 41
„ fat-tailed, 283
„ four-horned, 283, 283, 284, 285
„ Rocky Mountain, 69
„ unicorn, 285, 286
„ wild. 50, 71,280,381
Shorthorn, the, 5a
Shrew, the jumping, 139
Sika, the. See under Deer
SilMtidae. See Cat-fish
Simlia, 329
Sing-sing waterbuck, the, 46
Skates, the, 157, 158
Skink. the, 130
Skunks, the, 30, 36, 169, 170
Sloth, the, 70, 75, 98, 100, 106 ,
„ giant ground. See Megalothe-
rium
„ ground, 75, 78, 79, 80 (note),
loi, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106,
107,225, 226, 315,318,320
„ pigmy ground, 97, 103, 104,
105, 106
„ three-toed, 08, 314-21
„ two-toed, 98, 99, 314-21
Slow-lemurs, the, 314
Slugs, 122, 133
SnAes, 130
Snow-monkey, the. See Snub-nosed
Monkey Slaty
Snub-nosed monkey, the orange, 174,
» » sUty, 176
Sciiticstema^ 347
Spea bombifroHS, 365
„ hammondi, 365
Spetthos, 199
Spider-monkeys, 150
Springbck, the, 129
St/uaiodoH, 312, 313
Squirrel, the African flying. Vide
infra
», African scaly- tailed, 335,
2361 »37. 238, 239, 240,
,, palm, 30
>» pigmy flying, 341
Squirrel, true flying, 336-43
■ I woolly flytng, 343
Starling, the crested pied, 6
Sticklebacks, the, 349
Stoat, the. See Ermine
S/rom6idae, 353, 355
Suruata. See Meerkat
Surinam toad, 343, 364
Synsnathus, 348
Tamarau, the, ti3, 305, 306
Tamias. the, 30
Tapir, the, li, 2G, 38, 31, 34, 71, 87
Tarpan. the, 54, 56
Tarsier, the. 113, 114, 151, 152
" Tchru-tchra. See Snub-nosed
Monkey Sl.tty
Testiuio abingdoni^ 4
., atlas, 331, 338
>. (iaudiMt, 338
„ elephantina, 339
„ emyi. See Tortoise, Siwalik
„ gigantta, 338
„ grandidieri. See Tortoise,
Malgasy
indi,a, 4, 336
., inefita, 4, 333
.. perpiniana, 332
radiata, 334
„ rebusta, 332
„ iumeirei. See Tortoise,
Seychelles
„ iriserrata, 4
„ vcsmaeri, 4, 336
Thtropithecus. See Gelada Baboon
Thomback, the, i6r
Thylacine, the, 31, 34
Tiger, the, 8, 31. 35. 175
Tiger-cat, the, 30
Tinamous, the, 71
Toad, the Surinam, 342, 343, 344,
347. 364
Toad cowry, the Surinam. .Sw under
Cowry
Toads, 342, 361
Tortoise, the, 90, 131, 132, 331-40
„ atlas. 327
rt giant land, 4, 332
„ Malagasy, 336
„ North Aldabra, 339
„ Rodriguez, 336
„ Seychelles, 337
SiwaUk, 331.332, 334,339
„ South Aldabra, 334. 337,
33^1 339
Toxodon,the,76,79. 81,82,83,84, 226
INDEX
383
Traselaphus s(riptus, 32
Tree-mouse, the. 142
Tsetse-fly, the, 40
Turtle, the, 90
Typhliithys, 327
lyphhiiust 328
Typolherium, the, 83. 84
Uinlatheres, the. 85
Unau, the. See Sloth, Two-toed
Vicunas, the, 70
Vipers, 341
Viscacha, the, 70, 74
Viverm mesaspUa, 30
yitlpes, 199
Wallaby, the, 46, 47
Walrus, the, 228
Wapiti, the, 13, 44, 69
"W'.-irning colours," 10, 19, 37, 169.
170
Wart-hogs, the, 139
Water-chevrotain, the, 142, 143
Water-hen, the great white, 5
Water-vole, the black, 211
Weasel, the, 218
Weasel, South African. 10, 17, i^o
Whale, the, 8g '
t, blue rorrjual. 228
„ Greenland white, 228
I. Iciller. 311
., sperm, 228
tnothcd. 311, 313
Whalebone, 311
Wildebeest, the, 25?
Wolf, the. 69, 199, 200, 201, 202
., prairie. See Coyote
Wood-hewers, the, 71
Worms, 123
Zebra, Burchell's, 16, 18.31, 253, 258,
. ^5?
.. l.rant's, i8, 258
.. Grevy's, 15, 16, 31, 44
„ mountain, 31
Zchra-antelope, the, 28. xi, -ic nt
Zebra-hybrids. 42. 43
Zebras.9, 28,31,35.43.44.47, 140
.< ', .''*'.' 'f -J- ''*4. 168. 237, 259
/ebroids," 43
Zenkerella, 142, 239, 240, 243
Zeugl9don, 310, 311, 312
PrinUd b, HomU, IVais^ Ji^'^in.,, Ld., L^n and AyU.i^ry.
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