RUMINANTIA. 



Ill 



Fig. 6£. — Prong-horned Antelope. 



Near It, we conceive, should be placed the Addax, together with the A. tylvatiea, decula, scrlpta, and one 



or two others. The A. scripfa, or Harnessed Antelope, is an 

 elegant small species, the Guib of Buffon, of a lively fulvous 

 colour, marked with harnest-Mke white stripes and spots. 

 The A. zebra has dark regular stripes across the crupper.] 

 »'. Horns bifurcated, (Antilocapra, Ord ; Dicrano\ 

 Smith). 



Of all Che forms of hollow horns, this is the most singular : 

 a compressed branch is given oft" from their base or trunk, 

 almost like the antler of a Stag; the pointed tips curve back- 

 ward. The best known species is 



The Cabril of the Canadians (A. furrifera, II. Smith), which 

 inhabits the extensive plains of the centre and west of North 

 America in vast herds : its size is nearly that of the Roe ; hair 

 thick, waved, and reddish ; the ar.tlcr of its horns situate 

 near the middle of their height. [Nearly allied is the A. pat~ 

 mata, Smith, decidedly a distinct species, which has palmated 

 forked horns, that it employs in scooping away the snow : it is 

 a mountain animal, the range of which appears to be more southward than that of the other.] 

 k. Four horns (Tetraceros, Leach). 



This subdivision, recently discovered in India, was not unknown to the ancients. JElian speaks of it, xv. c. 14, 

 by the name of the Four-horned Oryx * : the anterior pair are before the eyes, the posterior completely behind the 

 frontal. [As the position of the horns varies in some groups of two-horned Antelopes, it may be that the anterior 

 pair of the four- horned species are represented in the greater number, and the posterior pair in the Bush Ante- 

 lopes (Philar.tomba).'] 



The Tchicarra (A. chicarra, Hardw.). — Size of a Roe, and nearly uniform fulvous : no horns in the female sex. 

 It is found in the forests of Hindostan. The A. quadricornit, Blainv., is only known to me by a cranium, the 

 anterior horns of which are proportionally larger ; perhaps it may only differ in age. 

 /. Two smooth horns. 



The Nylghau (A. pieta, and Irago-camehts, Gm.).— As large as a Stag, and larger : horns short, and recurved for- 

 ward, peculiar to the male sex ; a beard under the middle of the neck. Inhabits India. 



The Chamois (A. rupricapra, Lin.).— -The only ruminant of western Europe that can be compared with the 

 Antelopes, but presenting peculiar characters. Its smooth horns are curved abruptly backward like a hook : behind 

 each ear, is a sac beneath the skin, which opens externally by a small orifice.f Its size is that of a large Goat. 

 Hair deep brown, with a black band descending from the eye towards the middle. This species traverses rocks and 

 precipices with extreme agility, inhabiting in small troops the middle region of the highest mountains. [The 

 A. thar, nmatrenti*, ghorral, and other goat-like species, seem to be allied to this group and to that of 

 A. slrepsiceros.] 



Col. Smith separates from the Antelopes, under the generic title of 



The Gnus (Cafoblepas),— 



The Antilope gnu, Gm. ; a very extraordinary species, which, at first sight, seems to be a monstrous being, 

 compounded of parts of different animals. It has the body and crupper of a small Horse, covered with brow l 

 hair; the tail furnished with long white hairs, like that of a Horse; and on the neck a beautiful Sowing mane, 

 white at base, and black at the tip of the hairs. Its horns, approximated and enlarged at the base, like tho 

 the Cape Buffalo, descend outwardly, and turn up at the point; the muzzle is large, flat, and surrounded by a 

 circle of projecting hairs: under the throat and dewlap is another black mace; and the legs arc a^ slender 

 and light as those of a Stag. Both sexes have horns. 



This animal inhabits the mountains northward of the Cape; where it does not appear common, although the 

 ancients seem to have had some knowledge of it. [There arc two other very distinct species, the Brindled Gnu 

 (C. gorgoti), and the Taurine Gnu (C laurina), both also from the interior of South Africa.] 



The three remaining genera have the bony eore of the horns occupied, to a considerable 

 extent, with cells, that communicate with the frontal sinuses. The direction of their horns 

 characterizes the several divisions. 



The Goats (Cnpra, I. in.) — 



Have the horns directed upwards ami backwards : their chin is generally furnished with a long beard, 

 and the clianfrin almost always concave. 



• Tire fin-iil rrnnimn Mirl ininr oilier hones of ft figmntlc four-homed 

 ramlnut, hive Intl r.-d in ilic [ --iioliU 



depniltiol Northern India, the BivmUtrlum, Cut, >\nd r«lc. Iwtci 

 the »izc of ft Urge <>\. ho. 



t rturi, p-rhap* ;\ miscomprehension of thr nature of thin ape rtare, 

 which led the indent* to »\r, ■fu-r BnpcdoclM, Ihnl tlmti breathed 

 through their ears. 



