h i p p o p o t a m u s a i p ï ï ;i b i ï ï s
' (Maatotialiat __ Plate <&)
H IP PO PO T AM U S AM PH IB IU S .— L in .
Mammalia.—P late VI. (Female, and Young.) jj
H. capite, colli partibus superioribus, dorsoque bruimeo-rtibris; corporis lateribus artibusque pallide
brunnco-purpureo-rubris; abdomine, labiorum lateribus, palpebrisque pallide flavo-brunneis; caudse
auriumque pilis nigris; nasi pilis flavo-brunneis. OcUlis aurantio-brunneis.
L okgitudo 11 ped. 4 unc.
H ippopotamus Qapensis, Desmoulins.
Behemoth of the Hebrews.
Colour, &c.—The anterior and lateral parts of the head, and the upper
parts of the neck and body brownish red, the former rather lightest. The
brownish red of the back passes insensibly into a light brownish purple red,
which is the colour of the sides and limbs; the belly, the sides of the lips,
and the eyelids light wood-brown, with a faint flesh-coloured blush; the hinder
parts of the body and the belly are freely freckled with small spots of the
same hue as the ground colours, only of darker tints ; hairs of tail and ears
black ; pencils of hairs on lips, &c., yellowish brown ; eyes a clear orange-
coloured brown : hoofs dark horn-colour.
F orm, &c.—-Figure massive and very heavy, and the entire contour of the
animal suggests to the observer the idea of a form intermediate between an
overgrown pig and a high-fed bull, without horns and with cropped ears.
The head appears broad, compared with its length, and the expression of the
face is singular and unlike that of any other animal, arising principally from the
high position of the eyes. The lips, especially the upper one, are thick and bulging,
particularly their sides, so that when the mouth is shut even the longest of
the teeth are concealed; the nose is broad, and inclined to truncated, and the
gape is very wide; the head immediately behind the angles of the mouth is
considerably contracted, and the forehead is broad, flat and high ; the eyes
and ears are very small, and the former are placed before, and but little
below the level of the latter; the ears are extremely short, and their tips
rounded, appearances which insensibly lead to the idea that some portion of
them must have been cut off; their edges are fringed with fine hair, and their
inner surface is thinly coated with a similar material; the eyelids are prominent
and pulpy, which makes the eyes appear as if they were deeply seated,
though, as regards the orbit, they are not in reality so. The neck is short,
thick, and rounded; the line of the back is slightly arched and rather undu