^ 



^- €. 



^ ^Jd^"^ 



PRE FACE. 



Tlic preparation of tlic ' JMoiiograpli of tlic Okaiii,' on wliicli 8ir Kay liaiike.ster 

 was engaged wlien lu' I'eliicil tVoni the I)ii'eet()rslii|) of tlic Xatuial History Departments 

 of the Britisli Mnsenni, lias taken longer than was ex|)eete(l. As the lithographic plates 

 Avere printed off and the bloeks originally intended for nse as text-fignrcs were 

 made two years ago, it was suggested that all the illustrations should be published 

 forthwith in the form of an Atlas of Plates without waiting for the text. Sir Ray 

 Lankester concurred cordially in this proposal, and the plates have accordingly been 

 arranged for publication liy Dr. W. (x. Ridewood, who has also wi'itten ajipropriate 

 legends. 



The material on which the Atlas is based consists in the first place of the series of 

 skins, skulls and other l)ones in the British Museum, and in the second place of 

 specimens which have been lent for the purpose of illustration and of photographs 

 given by museums or private owners. Special thanks are due to Sir 11. H. Johnston, 

 G.C.M.G., the late Mr. Boyd Alexander and Major Powell-Cotton for the presentation 

 of specimens of the Okapi, and to the lion. Walter Rothschild, Mr. Rowland Ward, 

 Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, and the directors of numerous foreign museums for the loan of 

 specimefis or for the gift of photographs. The figures which it has thus l)een ])0ssible 

 to put together in Plates 1 and "1\) — l(i illustrate the variability of the skin-markings, 

 while those of skulls shown in I'lates 2 — 18 constitute an important contribution to the 

 discus.sion of the problem as to the existence of two races of Okapi, with '• broad " and 

 " narrow " skulls respectively. 



It is doubtful whether the Atlas will be followed by a volume of text at a later 

 date. The necessity for publishing the text is less great than it was when the 

 work was originall_y ])rojected, in consequence of the appearance of Fraipont's large 

 monograph in P.I07, of the paper by M. de Rothschild and 11. Xeuville in the ])resent 

 year, and of other publications on the same subject. It is lio])ed, however, that the 

 illuf tiatitiis will sjitak fcr thtm^elvcs, and that they will be of service as a contrilnition 

 to om- knowledge of the rare animal which forms the subject of this Monograph. 



SIDNEY ¥. HARMER, 



Kwinr of Zimln.jij. 



British Museum (Natural History), 

 May, 1910. 



