Professor Huxley established the order Hyracoidea for their reception. They are small, rabbit-like creatures, the largest not exceeding 18 inches in length, covered with a thick soft fur with numerous bristles interspersed. Their ears and legs are short; the tail is represented only by a small tubercle; and their toes, of which they have four on each foot in front and three behind, are, with the exception of the inner one on each hind foot, provided with flat hoof-like nails. They have twenty-one pairs of ribs—a larger number than is possessed by any other mammals except the sloths, which have twenty-three pairs. They are gregarious animals, dwelling in colonies in the crevices of rocks and in the caverns which abound in the hilly regions they frequent, and feeding on grass and other herbage, on roots, fruits, and the tender shoots of plants. There are, according to Dr Gray, thirteen species of Hyrax, many of which are, however, regarded by other authorities as merely varieties. They are all confined to the African continent with the exception of the Syrian hyrax or daman (Hyrax syriaeus), whose range extends from Abyssinia into Arabia, Syria, and Palestine. This species is generally regarded as the “shaphan,” rendered “conies” in the English Bible, which “are but a feeble folk, yet make their houses in the rocks” (Prov. xxx. 26). They measure about a foot in length and 11 inches in height, and are of a greyish-brown colour above, fulvous on the flanks, and white beneath. They are active little creatures, darting in and out of their rocky shelters with remarkable agility. Bruce, who observed their habits in Abyssinia, states that large numbers of them were frequently to be seen sitting on great stones at the mouths of caves, basking in the sunshine, or enjoying the coolness of the summer evening. Of timid and gentle disposition, they can be readily tamed, although when roughly handled at first they are said to bite severely. The Cape hyrax {Hyrax capensis) or “badger” (dasse; Dutch, Das; German, Dachs) is the largest known species, measuring about 18 inches in length. It frequents situations similar to those occupied by the Syrian form, and is exceedingly shy, peeping out of its rocky hiding places with a circumspection which is by no means uncalled for, as it forms a favourite food of lions, hyaenas, and the larger birds of prey. The latter, it is said, may often be seen perched, for hours, like statues on the rocks, watching their opportunity to dart upon the luckless “badger.” To guard against such surprises, they are said, when feeding, to place one of their number, usually an old male, as a sentinel, whose shrill prolonged cry gives timely notice of approaching danger. Like the “conies,” they are readily tamed, and seem capable of considerable attachment, although their natural timidity and suspicion cause them to hide themselves on the appearance of a stranger. There are two species of hyrax, one in the south and the other in the west of Africa, which are said to be arboreal in their habits, making their abode in the holes of trees. Dr Gray has placed these in a separate genus— Dendrohyrax. The island of Fernando Po possesses a species peculiar to itself, while the genus is entirely wanting in Madagascar. No fossil remains of the hyrax have yet been found.