102 
one the upper border of the nasal passage is on a line with the inner 
or vitreous table of the fronto-parietal walls of the cranium, but in 
the other the same limiting border of the nasal inlet is almost level 
with the floor of the cerebral cavity. In the young animal the 
cavity of the frontal sinus extends somewhat further backwards at 
the sides than it does in the median plane; nevertheless, the accom- 
panying illustration affords a tolerably fair estimate of its capacity. 
The sphenoidal sinus exhibits comparatively limited dimensions. 
In the present communication I do not enter into details respect- 
ing the form and relations of the separate cranial elements, reserving 
these (as well as considerations affecting the dentition, and also cer- 
tain skeletal peculiarities) for future observation, when I shall have 
had an opportunity of more minutely examining the dried bones. 
In the meantime, however, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass 
without distinctly expressing my adhesion to the early opinion and 
carefully recorded observations of Riippell, as to the existence of a 
third epiphysial horn in the male Nubian Giraffe. I have satisfied 
myself as to the substantial accuracy of Riippell’s views, not merely 
from the dissection of two young males, but from a close inspection 
of several adult crania contained in the Museum of the Royal College 
of Surgeons; and I have been even more persuaded as to the cer- 
tainty of the presence of a third so-called horn in this animal by an 
examination of the admirably prepared skeleton of a male giraffe 
preserved in Dr. Harrison’s Museum at Trinity College, Dublin*, 
together with the skull of another specimen which died in the 
Society’s Menagerie about two years ago. I have recently been 
informed that the animal last mentioned was a female, which, if 
true, renders the argument still more interesting. At all events, I 
agree with those who, with Riippell and Cuvier, insist upon the 
recognition of a third horn in the male, and, although opposed in 
this persuasion by the opinion of Prof. Owen, I am nevertheless 
glad to observe its existence fully corroborated by the independent 
researches of Jager. 
* The Dublin specimen (also bred in the Zoological Society’s Menagerie) was a 
remarkably fine animal. The late Dr. Ball informed me that it died during 
sexual excitement, while in the act of assaulting a sheep which had been placed 
in the same paddock. 
+ Dr. Jager makes the following statement in a foot note to his Memoir pre- 
viously quoted :—‘ In the skull of a young male in the collection at Munich, 
whose horns are scarcely two inches long, and likewise separated, there is, in the 
place of the third central horn, a rather strongly marked elevation of the frontal 
bone, but no trace of an epiphysis. In the skull (19 inches long) of a male 
received a short time ago froth the north of Africa, through Dr. Heuglin, which 
skull we believe to be mature, the suture of the hind horns (14 inches high) is 
still perceptible, but the serrated borders are almost firmly united to the frontal 
and parietal bones. The mesial horn, however, is still quite separated by the 
epiphysial cartilage from the frontal and nasal bones, whose sutures are not yet 
obliterated, as also obtains in the other cranial bones. The anterior margin of 
the central horn-bone projects about one inch over the posterior limit of the 
nasal bone. From thence the anterior part of the horn rises to the tip, forming 
a very gradual slope, while the posterior inclination is comparatively steep and 
short. It results from this that the central horn unites with the bones much 
later than the hinder horns, which are common to both sexes.” 
