1775- this latter is. in a ftanding pofition, two feet and a half. ‘It confifted o f Three ‘larger perfeAly diftinA globes, almoft equal in fize, and o f a fmall lobe befides, which projeAed to about a foot from the concave fide of the liver, at the middle of its upper edge. No gall-bladder, or any traces o f it, was to he obferved. In this the rhinoceros refem- bles the h o r f e .— Juft before I finiihed the diffeAion of this animal, I opened its ftomach,- which was very much dif- tended, in order to examine what it ufually fed upon. The contents of the ftomach were entirely without fmell, and perfeAly freih and fweet, confifting of roots and fmall branches of trees mafticated, feme o f which were found, as big as the end o f a man’s finger. This creature, as it appeared, had likewife eaten a great quantity p f fuccqlent plants, among which I thought I recognized two or three that were .harih and prickly. The whole of this mafs dif- fufed around a very ftrong and not difagreeable aromatic odour, which in a great meafure took off the ftench which arofe from the putrid vifcera. Might it not be feme peculiar herb, or, perhaps, the root only .of -„an herb, with which-I was entirely unacquainted, which produced the greateft part o f the aromatic flavour ? In the excrements o f this animal, which were four inches „in diameter, and in other refpeAs referable thofe o f a horfe, though they are o f a much drier nature, there is ufually feen a quantity o f bark and fibres o f trees, a Gircuraftance that, the hunters pay attention to; and by ¡that means are able to diftinguiih it from the dung of the hippopotamus, an animal that feeds only on grafs. I thru ft my hand into this creature’s mouth, which was half open, and found the tongue perfeAly foft, which which is in direA contradiAion to the common notion, viz. e>uod lanibendo trucidat, (that he kills by licking with his yyJ tongue.) I was likewife not a little aftoniihed to find no fore-teeth in any of the three carcaffes of the rhinoceros, although one o f thefe bèafts feemed to he old ; and, in faA, this animal has little room for fore-teeth, as the mouth goes off fo iharp at the fore part, that in that place it is only an inch and a half broad. Befides, it has no occafion for any teeth there, as the lips, like the ikin, are of that extreme hardnefs, that it is able to clip off the tops of plants and ihruhs with them ; and that with fo much the greater eafe, as the under jaw goes within the upper ; fo that this fpecies of rhinoceros is probably capable qf laying hold of its food with its lips, and conyeying it into its mouth, with the fame eafe and dexterity as Dr. P a r s o n s obferved in the common rhinoceros on a fimilar occafion. At that time I could not poifibly feparate the flefh from the other bones, for-the purpofe -of examining them. ;I was in hopes, however, that, by .the time I returned, the eagles and wolves would fave me that trouble. And this, indeed, was fo far the cafe, that I had it in my power to carry home with me the cranium o f the leaft rhinoceros, which I difleAed, very nearly in a compleat ftate. It is from this ikull that I had the annexed drawing made ; and this part of the animal is of too much importance, for thé defeription of it to be omitted here. Both jaws being clapped together in their proper joint, give nineteen inches for the height of it in the back part ; and, meafured at the fore part from the tip of the nofe, V o l . II. P fifteen;
27f 72-2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above