220 MR. R. OWEN ON THE ANATOMY 
Giraffe, together with most of the external peculiarities of the body, have already been 
ably detailed in Riippel’s Reise, above quoted. Observations taken from the living 
animal have also been recorded by Geoffroy in the Annales des Sciences, xi. p. 210.; 
by Salze in the Mémoires du Museum, xiv. p. 68.; and some remarks on the tongue 
and stomach are given, with figures, in the 5th and 6th volumes of the Comparative Ana- 
tomy of Sir Everard Home. 
All the three Giraffes on which the present observations were made were young 
animals and had not shed the deciduous incisors and anterior molares; two of them (a male 
and female) were ascertained to be about three years old ; the third (a male, of which the 
skeleton is now preserved in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London,) 
might, by its size, be about four years old. 
The following admeasurements were taken from the female Giraffe, which died (De- 
cember 10th, 1836) in the Surrey Gardens :-— 
Ft. Ins 
From the nose to the hind-hoof in a spiny Line yiHh adi abs nies 
From the nose to the vent. : Bee) 
The length of the head, following the curve = iin bancheri 2.190 
Breadth of the head across the eyes ¢ O59 
Circumference of neck immediately behind the bend , lonSh 
Do. Do. near the trunk Boosh 
Greatest circumference of trunk ea 6 0 
Length of the fore-leg, from the azilla, or neha eas on, to ine ee 4 5% 
Length of the hind-leg, from the setting on at the groin . 4 8 
The apparent greater length of the fore-legs in the living animal while in the erect 
posture, arises from the remarkable depth of the chest, length of the anterior dorsal spines, 
and corresponding length and position of the scapula. 
In the Horse, as is well known, there is a central point on each flank, whence the 
hair radiates in a somewhat spiral manner: the corresponding centre in the Giraffe is a 
little behind the middle of the abdomen, towards the lower part. 
There are four nipples in the inguinal region, of which the two anterior are wider 
apart than the two posterior. 
Organs of Digestion. 
In the form of the mouth the Giraffe differs from every other Ruminant. In the non- 
division and extensibility of the hair-clad upper lip it resembles the Elk, but differs 
widely from that animal in the elegant tapering form of the muzzle. There is no trace of 
the bifid division of the upper lip which distinguishes the Camel. 
The inner surface of the lips, especially where they join to form the angles of the 
mouth, is beset with numerous, close-set, strong, retroverted and pointed papille, 
al 
