HORNS AND HOOFS OF RUMINANTS.

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sought refuge, beat about the bushes, and tear up the ground with their horns. Their rage became at length so ungovernable, that they began to fight among each other, to the great despair of the herdsman.

The bison of the North American prairies is equally dangerous when excited, and the aurochs of Lithuania defies every carnivorous animal of his native forest. The long, twisted, and pointed horns of the eland (Damalis orcas) are sufficient to pierce a man through-and-through by one thrust, and even the horns of the goat can inflict severe wounds.

It may be observed as a general rule among the cervine and antelopine races, that in proportion to the smallness of their horns they seem endowed with an additional degree of speed. The roebuck and the chamois are proofs of this: the horns of both are but ill-calculated for vigorous defence, yet both are proverbial for their swiftness, and thus avoid many dangers with which they would be unable to cope. The graceful darkeyed gazelle, the favourite of the poets of the East, whose weak horns can hardly afford the slightest resistance to attack, bounds across the desert with such amazing fleetness, that it seems to skim over the surface like a bird.

The horses, to whom a horned front has been denied, find compensation in their hard and solid hoofs, with which they deal out such blows as to make many an enemy repent having approached them too nearly. Moreover, in the wild state the various species of this noble animal live in wide-extended plains, avoiding forests and steep places; so that, with the aid of their acute senses and wonderful speed, they can both perceive danger at a considerable distance, and avoid it by a rapid flight.

The giraffe seems at the first glance a rather helpless animal, ill-provided with the means of escaping the crafty attacks of the lion or the panther, particularly as in the vast arid plains through which he roams his towering height makes him conspicuous from an immense distance. His colossal stature, however, is far less frequently a source of danger than of security; for his large, dark, and lustrous eyes are able, by their lateral projection, to take in a wider range of the horizon than is subject to the vision of any other quadruped; and their efficacy must naturally be much increased by their sweeping

over the plain from a height of seventeen feet or more. During the hours of darkness, the large, erect, and pointed ears of the giraffe no doubt render him as trusty services as the keenness of his vision by day. When flight becomes necessary, he bounds away in a graceful undulating canter; or, when driven to battle, strikes out so powerfully with his well-armed feet, as to defeat even the lion. His horns, small as they are, and muffled with skin and hair, are likewise no contemptible weapons, when, with a sidelong sweep of the neck, he levels them at full swing against his adversary's head.

Of all the quadrupeds the sloth was supposed to be the most helpless; but modern travellers, who have had occasion to observe him in his native haunts, have fully corrected this erroneous opinion. The colour of his hair so strongly resembles the hue of the moss which grows on the trees, that even the falconeyed Indian, accustomed from his earliest infancy to note the slightest signs of forest-life, is hardly able to distinguish him from the branches to which he clings. This no doubt serves him as a protection against many enemies, and when discovered he defends himself most vigorously with his formidable claws; and woe to the tiger-cat or tree-snake that comes within their reach!

The great ant-eater, to whom Nature has denied sharp teeth and a rapid flight, who is unable to burrow or to roll himself up in a ball, still ranges through the wilderness in perfect safety, and fears no hostile encounter, for he has full reliance on his powerful forelegs and their tremendous claws. Dr. Richard Schomburgk had an opportunity of witnessing how a young ant-eater made use of these formidable weapons. On the enemy's approach it assumed the defensive, but in such a manner as to make even the boldest aggressor quail; for, resting on its left forefoot, it struck out desperately with its right paw. Assailed from behind, it wheeled round with the rapidity of lightning; and on being attacked from several quarters at once, threw itself on its back, and fought with both its forepaws, uttering at the same time an angry growl of defiance. In fact, the great anteater is so formidable an opponent, that he is said not unfrequently to vanquish even the jaguar; for the latter is often found weltering in his blood, with ripped-up bowels—a wound which the claws of the ant-eater alone are able to inflict.

DEFENSIVE ARMOUR OF QUADRUPEDS.

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The monstrous pachydermata or thick-skinned quadrupedsthe elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus-are gifted with other means of defence. Relying on his enormous weight, the elephant first strikes down his assailant with his trunk, and then crushes him into a shapeless mass by the pressure of his foot.

Though naturally of a quiet and inoffensive disposition, the rhinoceros when provoked or attacked charges with great impetuosity, and either tramples

his adversary underfoot, or rips him up with his horn, which, though short and blunt, is a most effective weapon. To all these means of preservation may be added an extraordinary acuteness of smell and hearing, and that remarkably thick skin which furnishes a name to this order. In the rhinoceros particularly this characteristic is so highly developed that its hide is musketproof, and becomes as effectual for defence as if the animal were encased in a coat-of-mail.

The Rhinoceros.

The hippopotamus, on the other hand, although possessed of a very thick skin, is destitute either of proboscis, tusks, or horns. His habits are aquatic, and he retreats into deep water in the moment of danger, and bids defiance to all enemies of the land. To add to his security, his ears, nostrils, and eyes are all on the same plane, on the upper level of the head; so that the unwieldy monster, when immersed in his favourite element, is able to draw breath, and to use three senses at once for hours together, without exposing more than his snout.

The rodents, the smallest and the weakest of the quadrupeds, have indeed but feeble arms to oppose to the larger animals of which they are the prey; yet their caution, agility, and nocturnal habits preserve them from many perils. The hare is probably, for its size, the most defenceless quadruped yet discovered. It has neither tooth nor claw to repel an enemy; it can neither climb the trees nor burrow in the earth, nor dive into the water nor fly into the air, like the squirrel or the mole, the beaver or the bat; yet how admirably has Nature provided for its safety! Its