great tusks and some other points. In Europe and in India he leads a
solitary life, except during the breeding-season; but as is believed by
Sir W. Elliot, who has had many opportunities in India of observing
this animal, he consorts at this season with several females. Whether
this holds good in Europe is doubtful, but it is supported by some
evidence. The adult male Indian elephant, like the boar, passes much of
his time in solitude; but as Dr. Campbell states, when with others, It
is rare to find more than one male with a whole herd of females ; the
larger males expelling or killing the smaller and weaker ones. The male
differs from the female in his immense tusks, greater size, strength,
and endurance; so great is the difference in these respects that the
males when caught are valued at one-fifth more than the females. (12.
Dr. Campbell, in Proc. Zoolog. Soc. 1869, p. 138. See also an
interesting paper by Lieut. Johnstone, in Proceedings, Asiatic Society
of Bengal, May 1868.) The sexes of other pachydermatous animals differ
very little or not at all, and, as far as known, they are not
polygamists. Nor have I heard of any species in the Orders of
Cheiroptera, Edentata, Insectivora and Rodents being polygamous,
excepting that amongst the Rodents, the common rat, according to some
rat-catchers, lives with several females. Nevertheless the two sexes of
some sloths (Edentata) differ in the character and colour of certain
patches of hair on their shoulders. (13. Dr. Gray, in Annals and
Magazine of Natural History, 1871, p. 302.) And many kinds of bats
(Cheiroptera) present well-marked sexual differences, chiefly in the
males possessing odoriferous glands and pouches, and by their being of
a lighter colour. (14. See Dr. Dobson s excellent paper in Proceedings
of the Zoological Society, 1873, p. 241.) In the great order of
Rodents, as far as I can learn, the sexes rarely differ, and when they
do so, it is but slightly in the tint of the fur.
As I hear from Sir Andrew Smith, the lion in South Africa sometimes
lives with a single female, but generally with more, and, in one case,
was found with as many as five females; so that he is polygamous. As
far as I can discover, he is the only polygamist amongst all the
terrestrial Carnivora, and he alone presents well-marked sexual
characters. If, however, we turn to the marine Carnivora, as we shall
hereafter see, the case is widely different; for many species of seals
offer extraordinary sexual differences, and they are eminently
polygamous. Thus, according to Peron, the male sea-elephant of the
Southern Ocean always possesses several females, and the sea-lion of
242