22 PROF. OWEN ON THE BIRTH OF THE GIRAFFE 



spasmodic inspiration, accompanied by a general shudder, took place, and regular 

 breathing followed. The inspirations were now forty-three in a minute, and attended 

 with a marked expansion of the nostrils. Expiration was accompanied a few times by 

 a low bleat like that of a Fawn. In half an hour the young Giraffe began to make 

 efforts to rise, supporting itself on its fore-knees : in one hour it stood upright, on 

 outstretched vacillating legs, and tried to totter towards the parent. 



She, however, would not permit her offspring to come near her ; the only indication 

 of maternal instinct was an occasional lowering of the muzzle with a fixed gaze, as if 

 trying to recognise the young intrader. 



I took the following admeasurements of the young Giraffe a few minutes after its 



birth : 



Feet. Inches. Lines. 

 From the muzzle to the root of the tail, following the line of 



the back 6 10 



interspace of the horns 10 



termination of the mane at the base 



of the neck .3 2 



Length of the back, from the mane to the root of the tail . . 3 S 



Girth of the trunk 2 9 



From the base of the scapula to the end of the fore-hoof . . 5 



to olecranon 1 3 



olecranon to the carpus, or fore-knee 1 10 



carpus to the end of the hoof 1 11 



anterior spine of the ilium to the end of the hind- 

 hoof 4 7 



to the patella ... 1 7 



patella to the calcaneum or hock 1 4 



hock to the end of the hoof 1 8 



Length of each horn to the end of the terminal tuft of black 



hairs 3 



Length of the ear 6 6 



tail to the end of the terminal tuft .... I 5 



For the accompanying figures of the female Gira.fe, and of her offspring when one 

 day old, zoology is indebted to Robert Hills, Esq., F.L.S. This justly celebrated de- 

 lineator of the Ruminant tribe, when made acquainted with the expected advent of a 

 young Giraffe, kindly volunteered his services, and devoted much of his valuable time 

 to secure a faithful representation of its peculiar proportions and external characters. 



The characteristic markings and colour of the skin were as conspicuous in the newly- 

 born Giraffe as is represented in the figure ; the hoofs were, however, soft and tumid, 

 as in new-born Ungulates generally. The scops or knee-tufts were not developed. 



