546 Zoological Society. 



Murem Rattum ratione hahitd) crebre ohsitd : colore nigrescenti- 

 fusco sordidefiavo lavato, subtus pallidiore ; caudd nigrescente ; 

 pilis longioribus in capite et dorso nigris. unc. lin. 



Longitude capitis corporisque 19 



Cauda 13 



antepedis (unguibus exclusis) 1 8^ 



tarsi 2 10 



auris 1 



cranii ossei 2 4 



Latitude ejusdem 1 8^ 



Hab. apud insulam Luzon. 



Some notes on the birth of the Giraffe at the Society's Menagerie 

 were communicated by Professor Owen. 

 Of this paper the following is an abstract. 



Connexion took place between the female Giraffe and the lighter- 

 coloured male on the 18th March, 1838, and again on the 1st of 

 April. 



The young animal was a male, and was born June 9, 1839, being 

 444 days, or fifteen lunar months, three weeks, and three days, since 

 the last observed, and, in all probability, the last coitus. 



The new-born animal came into the world, like other Ruminants, 

 with the eyes open, and the hoofs disproportionately large. The 

 skin was marked as distinctly as in the adult, with large angular 

 spots, which were somewhat darker than those of the mother ; and 

 the hair of the legs was of a deeper fawn colour. It sucked some 

 warm cow's-milk from a bottle with avidity, and once or twice uttered 

 a low, gentle grunt or bleat, something between that of a fawn 

 and a calf. The young creature made several efforts to stand, raising 

 itself on the fore knees ; and was able to support itself on its va- 

 cillating and outstretched legs, about two hours after its birth. 



" No one could have seen the young Giraffe," says Professor 

 Owen, " without being struck with its large size, compact figure, 

 and strength of limb. The condition or purpose of the long gesta- 

 tion is, evidently, to bring into the world the young Giraffe of a 

 stature and strength suitable to the exigencies of a denizen of the 

 desert — the birthplace, likewise, of the Lion and other destructives." 

 The length of the animal, measuring from the muzzle to the root of 

 the tail, was six feet ten inches ; the girth of the trunk was two 

 feet nine inches ; from the tuber ischii to the patella was one foot 

 four inches ; from the patella to the apex of the hind hoof three 

 feet ; from the olecranon to the carpus was one foot ten inches ; 

 from the carpus to the end of the fore hoof was one foot eleven 

 inches. These segments of the fore leg were thus nine inches 

 longer than the corresponding ones of the hind leg ; and as this dis- 

 proportion does not exist in the adult, it offers another instance of 

 the precocious developement of the anterior extremities in the mam- 

 miferous foetus. 



She would not yield her milk to, or even suffer her offspring to 

 come near her. The young Giraffe was nourished by warm cow's 

 milk. It gamboled actively about when one day old, and continued, 



