Comparative Size of Animals.
This engraving represents several well-known animals, and exhibits them in just proportion to one another. The elephant is the largest, and the rat is the smallest, in the picture. The camelopard, or giraffe, is the tallest—for while the elephant is only about nine or ten feet high, the giraffe is seventeen.
It is well to be able to carry in the memory an accurate idea of the comparative size of quadrupeds; and, therefore, I ask my young reader to run over the picture with me. The elephant, with his curling trunk and long tusks, takes the lead; and he is six times as large as a horse. Next comes the rhinoceros, with a horn on his nose, and a skin that makes him look as if he had a harness on.
Next comes the hippopotamus—a fellow that loves the mud—and a stupid creature he seems to be. Then comes the tall giraffe, with ears resembling horns, and standing up very straight for a four-legged creature. The horse, one of the most graceful of animals, is next. Then comes the lion—then the tiger—then the stag—then the sheep—then the deer—then the antelope—then the wolf—then the dog—then the jackal—then the fox—then the wild-cat—then the rabbit—then, last and least, the rat.