22 



The number of ribs was fourteen pairs, seven true and seven falše. 

 The first pair was straight, the ręst became gradually more and 

 more cun'ed to the lašt. They increased in length to the eighth, and 

 then gradually became shorter : in length the increase Tvas to the 

 fifth, from which they gradually became narrower. 



The sternum consisted of a single senes of six bones, and an ensi- 

 form cartilage ; it was chiefly remarkable for its great curvature. 

 The first stemal bene Tvas the narrowest and longest ; the succeed- 

 ing ones progressively diminished in length, and increased in thick- 

 ness. 



As the osteology of the Giraffe has been illustrated by Pander 

 and D'Alton, and also described with more detail in the second edi- 

 tion of Cuvier's Lerons d'Anatomie Comparee, Mr. Owen considers it 

 unnecessary to treat at large of the ręst of the skeleton, merely gi- 

 ving a brief notice of the several bones of the extremitie3 : in con- 

 clusion, he remarks that the order Ruminantia, perhaps the most na- 

 tūrai 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 rela- 

 tion, and the conseąuent modification of external form : the most 

 remarkable of these modifications is undoubtedly that which we ad- 

 mire in the Giraffe, and the anatomical peculiarities, which its intemal 

 organization presents, are principally confined to the skeleton in re- 

 spect 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. 



