. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . country. The horn of the female is, however, much longer and moreslender than that of the male, being three and a half feet long. Being astrong, ponderous, and elastic substance, it is much prized by the natives,for handles to their battle-axes. The secondary horn is, in many instances,so small as to be scarcely perceptible at a little distance. MAMMALIA-TAPIR. 309 THE TAPIR, OR THE The tapir is of the size of a small cow, but without horns, and witha sho
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . country. The horn of the female is, however, much longer and moreslender than that of the male, being three and a half feet long. Being astrong, ponderous, and elastic substance, it is much prized by the natives,for handles to their battle-axes. The secondary horn is, in many instances,so small as to be scarcely perceptible at a little distance. MAMMALIA-TAPIR. 309 THE TAPIR, OR THE The tapir is of the size of a small cow, but without horns, and witha short, naked tail; the legs are short and thick, and the feet have smallblack hoofs. The body is thick and clumsy, and the back somewhat arched,and the hair is of a dusky or brownish color. On the short thick neck isa kind of bristly mane, which, near the head, is an inch and a half inlength. His head is of a tolerable size, with roundish erect ears, and smal1. eyes, and the muzzle terminates in a kind of proboscis, which can be ex-tended or contracted, at the will of the animal. The latter it uses in feed-ing, to grasp its food and convey it to the mouth, in the same way that therhinoceros applies its upper lip; and in this are also contained the organsof smell. He has ten incisive teeth, and ten grinders, in each jaw; acharacter which separates him entirely from the ox, and other ruminatinganimals. His skin is so thick and hard as to be almost impenetrable to abullet; for which reason the Indians make shields of it. The tapir seldom stirs out but in the night, and delights in the water,where he oftener lives than upon land. He is chiefly to be found in marshes, 1 Tapirus Americanus. The genus Tapirus has six upper and six lower incisors;two upper and two lower canines; fourteen upper and fourteen lower molars. Interme-diate incisors shorter than the exterior; nose terminating in a moveable little proboscis,but not by a kind of finger, like
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidnaturalistsl, bookyear1851
