MY SOMALI BOOK 221 



There remains the belief that many conspicuous 

 markings and some other characteristics of animals are 

 due to a necessity for mutual recognition by members 

 of the same species. I find it impossible not to agree 

 with Mr. Selous that this idea has been pushed to 

 extremes. One of the most far-fetched suggestions, 

 to my mind, is that of Dr. Wallace, regarding the 

 horns of some antelopes, when he writes, " The sable- 

 antelope, the gemsbok, the oryx, the hartebeest and 

 the addax are characterised by horns so remarkably 

 different in each species and so conspicuous, that it 

 seems probable that the peculiarities in length, twist 

 and curvature have been di£ferentiated for the purpose 

 of recognition rather than for any speciality of defence 

 in species whose general habits are so similar." 



Which of these animals could, apart from its horns, 

 be mistaken for any of the others, except the oryx and 

 gemsbok ? In the two latter the average difference 

 in length of horns would not distinguish them at a 

 distance, while the difference in face-markings when 

 near enough to be noticeable should, according to Dr. 

 Wallace himself, sufficiently serve the purpose. And 

 surely few things in Nature are more certain than that 

 it is by scent as much as if not more than by sight 

 that most animals recognise their friends ? 



And in the majority of cases it is difficult to see 

 that elaborate recognition marks can possess anything 

 like the value attributed to them. It is by no means 

 generally a fact, as Dr. Wallace appears to believe, 

 that " animals of this kind will not usually receive a 

 stranger into their midst." On the contrary, a most 

 notable feature in animal life in Africa is the manner 



