228 Zoological Society. 



horns nearly twice as large as those of the female ; the expanded 

 bases of the horns also in the former, meet in the middle line of the 

 skull, but in the female the bases of the horns are at least two inches 

 apart. 



The nasal bone was bifurcate at its anterior extremity as in the 

 Deer, not simply pointed as in most of the Antelopes. 



With respect to the cervical vertebra of the Giraffe, Mr. Owen 

 observes, that they are not only remarkable for their great length, 

 but also, as has been recently shown by Dr. Blainville, for the ball and 

 socket form of the articulations of their bodies ; the convexity being 

 on the anterior extremity, and the concavity posteriorly, agreeing 

 in this particular with the vertebra of the Camel. 



Processes, analogous to the inferior transverse processes in the 

 Crocodile, extended downwards and outwards from the lower part of 

 the anterior extremity of each of the cervical vertebra (except the 

 atlas and de?itata), but of much smaller size than the corresponding 

 processes in the Camel. 



The perforations for the vertebral arteries were large, and present 

 in the seventh as well as in the rest of the cervical vertebra; they were 

 situated above the transverse processes in the side of the bodies of 

 the vertebra at the base of the superior lamina. Mr. Owen observes, 

 that although this position of the arterial foramina is somewhat pe- 

 culiar, yet, in this respect, the Giraffe comes nearer the horned 

 Ruminants than the long-necked Camelida. 



In viewing the vertebral column of the Giraffe from above, the 

 cervical vertebra are seen to present the broadest bodies ; of these 

 the third and fourth are the narrowest and longest, the rest gradually 

 increasing in breadth and diminishing in length to the seventh : the 

 dorsal vertebra thence grow narrower to the ninth, after which the 

 vertebra increase in breadth chiefly by the progressive development 

 of the transverse processes. 



Mr. Owen remarks, in conclusion, that the order Ruminantia, 

 perhaps the most natural in the mammiferous class, if we look to the 

 condition of the organs of nutrition, presents, however, more variety 

 than any of the carnivorous orders, in the local development of the 

 organs of relation, and the consequent modification of external form : 

 the most remarkable of these modifications is undoubtedly that which 

 we admire in the Giraffe, and the anatomical peculiarities, which its 

 internal organization presents, are principally confined to the skeleton 

 in respect to the proportions of its different parts ; and to those parts 

 of the muscular and nervous systems immediately relating to the local 

 peculiarities in the development of the osseous framework. 



