Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/760

 742 HIPPOPOTAMUS of motion, and may be protruded or retracted to adapt its vision to an air or water medium ; the last two contrivances are admirably adapt- ed for the protection of an aquatic animal so vary and sluggish as the hippopotamus. The head is contracted behind the angles of the mouth, and the forehead is broad and flat ; the ears are only 3 or 4 in. long, fringed and lined internally with a fine hair, just behind and but little above the eyes; the eyebrows are tumid, which makes the eyes appear deeply seated; the neck is short, thick, and hog-like, the back slightly arched, the body cylindrical, the nates full, the pendent abdomen almost touching the ground, the tail short, robust, and edged with wiry hairs, the mammae two in number and ventral, and the skin nearly naked. The color, when the skin is dry, is reddish gray, brown- ish on the back, lighter beneath ; under water the colors are various shades of blue. Prof. Owen, in the " Annals and Magazine of Natu- ral History," vol. v., 1850, gives some interesting particulars from a young living specimen re- ceived at the zoological gardens of London in 1850, the first seen alive in Europe since the time of the emperor Gordian III. in Rome in the 3d century. This animal was captured on the banks of the Nile in August, 1849, and was supposed to have been recently brought forth, as it was not much larger than a new-born calf, though stouter and shorter legged ; it ar- rived in London in May, 1850, and was accord- ingly then about ten months old, yet it was 7 ft. long and of 6 ft. girth in the middle of the body. The hind limb was buried in the skin of the flank nearly to the prominence of the heel ; there was no trace of a glandular orifice, as in the rhinoceros, behind each foot; the naked skin, of a dark India-rubber color, and with fine transverse wrinkles, glistened with a sebaceous secretion as the animal emerged from the water; the eyes had a thick nicti- gating membrane, and the mouth a peculiar upward curve of its angles toward the eyes, which gave a comical expression to the massive countenance. Apparently in perfect health, it breathed three or four times in a minute, slowly and regularly ; its food consisted of a kind of porridge of milk and maize meal, though it was more than half weaned from its baby diet. Other specimens have since been re- ceived at the zoological gardens, and also at the Paris jardin des plantes, and one has been exhibited in the United States. Several spe- cies are described, but the best known and most extensively distributed is the H. amphi- l)ius (Linn.), which was formerly found from Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope in all the large rivers, though now it is rare except in the lonely regions explored by Livingstone and Gumming. Of whatever species, they spend most of their time in the water, lolling about in a dreamy manner, frolicking like a porpoise, or wallow- ing in the mud like a hog ; they leave the rivers chiefly at night to crop the succulent grasses on their banks, especially in localities where brushwood abounds; they are also fond of passing the day in the ocean, near the mouths of rivers. Though clumsy upon the land, their movements in the water are graceful and rapid ; they are gregarious, and both sexes delight to congregate at all seasons of the year in small Hippopotamus amphibius. herds ; they can remain under water for about 15 minutes, walking upon the bottom, and prob- ably longer if necessary ; but it is not known whether this ability to sustain prolonged im- mersion is owing to an apparatus like the ve- nous reservoirs of the seals, the arterial plexi- form receptacles of the whales, or some other equivalent structure. They are playful, peace- able, and inoffensive when undisturbed ; but if wounded, and especially if in company with their young, they are savage and eager to as- sail any enemy ; the males in the love season are quarrelsome, and both sexes are often seen covered with scars ; it is said that the young males are often killed by the older ones. The males are darker colored than the females. The period of gestation is about nine months, and a single young one is brought forth on land, taking to the water instantly when alarmed ; the very young ones are carried in the water on the neck of the mother, and when they grow older on the withers. When they blow, they puff up the water about 3 ft. high, according to Livingstone. The sagacity of the hippopotamus, though inferior to that of the elephant, is considerable, as evinced by its adroitness in avoiding its enemies on land or in the water, its escaping from pitfalls ahd other stratagems of the natives, its going with its young to distant localities when annoyed by man, and its caution in exposing itself even in its watery abode when it has been once as^ sailed. They are hunted for their flesh, which resembles pork; for the specie or layer of fat just under the skin, a bonne louche for the Cape Town epicure ; for their teeth, which are val- uable articles of trade, and were formerly much