Page 121 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

120 THIRD BOOK OF
be chewed again. F. ruminant, om I. and L. ruminare, to chew
again :-rumen, the cud, the gullet, &c.
G&EGA1Rious, a., going in herds like deer. See "Gregarious," p. 69.
NocTUR1NAL, a., nightly; roaming in the night. "L. nocturnus, om nox, the night.
Suc'cuLENT, a., juicy, sappy. F. succulent, om suctum, L., and this, probably, om sugerc, to suck.
DEVASTA1TION, n., waste, havoc. F. devastation. From vastus, L., waste, desolate.
NEXT to the elephant, the hippopotamus is the largest of quadrupeds, being sometimes above seven­ teen feet long from the extremity of the snout to the insertion of the tail, about sixteen round the body; and although its legs are so short that its belly nearly touches the ground, yet it stands not less than seven et high. The head is large, the muzzle swollen, and surrounded with bristles; the eyes and ears are small, and the mouth extremely wide. The canine teeth are of enormous size, and of texture like ivory ; they are ur in number, and protrude like tusks. On each ot there are ur toes, terminated by small hoofs. The stomach bears some resemblance to that of a ruminating animal, being divided into several sacks. The skin is slack, of a mouse-colour, and almost impenetrable to a musket-ball. This huge animal is gregarious, and nocturnal in its land habits, lurking during t day in the swamps, or among the reeds, and during night wandering in search of its od, which consists of roots, succulent grasses, rice, or whatever grain it can nd growing. The devasta­ tion it commits is immense, not only in the quantity that it devours, but in what it tramples down and destroys. But, rtunately, these ravages do not ex­ tend widely, as the hippopotamus seldom ventures r om the river, to which it immediately betakes itself on the approach of danger, and, plunging in head remost, walks securely on the bottom, only