OF THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS. 4!) 



brought over by my friend Dr. Smith ; Dr. Burchell's ; and numerous smaller collections 

 and single species, besides a vast number of skulls, horns, and other fragments ; so that 

 upon the whole I have minutely and repeatedly observed and compared together upwards 

 of sixty distinct species of Antelopes, of the greater number of which I have seen nume- 

 rous individuals, of all ages and sexes, upon every new specimen of which I took care to 

 verify the characters previously observed ; nor is there a single authentically described 

 species, with the exception of the Aiitilope gutturosa, of which I have not personally 

 ascertained the essential characters. 



When I first began to apply the principles which I observed to influence and control 

 the habits and relations of the few species 1 was then thoroughly acquainted with, to the 

 generic distribution of the hollow-horned Ruminants in general, or in other words to 

 extend my inductions from the species I knew to those which I had not had an opportu- 

 nity of studying, I found the results very different from what I had reason to expect, 

 and that they had the aj)parent effect of associating together in the same group animals 

 which differed materially in habits and oeconomy, as well as in external form. This 

 certainly surprised me, but it did not shake my confidence in the value and importance 

 of the characters I employed, and which were founded upon those modifications of or- 

 ganic structure which I knew to influence the oeconomy of the animals I was acquainted 

 with ; I rather suspected the fidelity of the specific characters given by Desmarest and 

 Hamilton Smith, upon whom I was chiefly obliged to rely for my facts ; and subsequent 

 observations fully confirmed the justice of my suspicions and the correctness of my 

 principles, by proving that the inductions in question, when applied with correct data, 

 led to a generic distribution of the hollow-horned Ruminants in strict accordance with 

 the natural habits and relations of the animals. In fact I found, as I proceeded, that 

 between vagueness of expression, omissions, and actual errors, there was scarcely a spe- 

 cific description of these authors which could be implicitly relied on even for the most 

 marked and prominent characters ; whilst one of the most important and influential 

 organs, the interdigital pores, had been entirely neglected, and other modifications attri- 

 buted to the animals which I knew to be at variance with their habits and oeconomy. 

 The necessity of an extensive and minute study of specific characters was thus Ibrced 

 upon me ; but I had the satisfaction to find that the laborious researches and oft-repeated 

 observations which I undertook in consequence, confirmed, in the amplest manner, the 

 value of the inductions I had previously made from more limited facts, and reconciled 

 the inconsistencies and anomahes which their general application had apparently pro- 

 duced in the first instance. 



Whilst this process of generic construction and specific verification was going on, I 

 pursued a simultaneous course of extensive and unwearied research, for the purpose of 

 ascertaining the peculiar or appropriate habits and oeconomy of the animals themselves. 

 The works of all African and Eastern travellers, which appeared likely to contain infor- 

 mation on this subject, — more especially those of our own language, so rich in this de- 



VOL. III. PART I. H 



