Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/167

Rh mol. $7—7⁄7—7$; = 36; but the African species are destitute of incisors as well as canines. The skull is remarkable for the pointed elevation of the summit, and for the enlargement of the bones of the nose, which are of an unexampled size and thickness; they are united into a kind of arch, overhanging the front of the jaw, and intended to give support to a solid horn, which forms the most obvious characteristic of this genus, being seated on the nose. In all the African species, and in one of the Oriental, there is a second horn; but, totally unlike what prevails universally in other horned quadrupeds, they are not arranged transversely, but longitudinally ; the second, which is for the most part very inferior in length, being placed immediately behind its fellow. The horn, or horns, are as peculiar in their structure as in their position. They are not, as in the Ruminants, bony projections, parts of the skeleton, surrounded by skin or by a corneous case; but are solid appurtenances to the skin, composed of parallel fibres, of the nature of hairs, glued together, as it were, into a dense and compact mass. This fibrous texture is very manifest at the base, but at the tip it is less apparent, this part being always worn down by continual rubbing, and bearing a considerable polish.

The skin is excessively thick and coarse, and destitute of hair; and in the Asiatic species, falls in massive folds round the neck, behind and across the shoulders, and before and across the thighs; in these also, it is studded with rounded tubercles; both these peculiarities are wanting in the African species, which might indeed, on many accounts, constitute a separate genus. The Su-