268 



UNGULATES. 



regions are the black -buck, four-horned antelope, and nilgai of India, the saiga of 

 Tartary, and the chiru of Tibet. It was not, however, always so, since in early 

 times antelopes of African types were distributed over a large portion of India and 

 Southern Europe ; and it is still one of the problems of zoology to account satis- 

 factorily for the disappearance of these animals from the latter regions. The 

 introduction of antelopes into Africa appears to have been comparatively recent ; 

 but having once made good their footing on that continent they multiplied, both 

 as regards individuals and species, in a manner quite unparalleled in any other 

 region, the total number of African antelopes exceeding ninety. Unfortunately, 



SKELETON OF THE ADDAX. 



Eland. 



this profusion and exuberance of ruminant life, which, but a few decades back, 

 characterised the dark continent, is rapidly disappearing before the advance of 

 civilisation. 



The eland belongs to a group of large and almost exclusively 

 African antelopes, characterised by the general absence of horns in 

 the females, and by those of the male being devoid of rings, angulated in front, 

 and usually spirally twisted. There is a small gland below the eye, the muzzle is 

 naked, the tail long, and the upper molar teeth generally have short crowns. 



Eland are the largest of all antelopes, and differ from the other members of 

 the group in having horns in both sexes ; these being spirally twisted on their own 

 axis and directed upwards and outwards. The horns have a sharp ridge both in 



