254 AKISTOTLE S ENAIMA, 



one of the first, if not the first, to give a reliable description 

 of the gnu. Cuvier attempted to identify the Hippelaphos 

 with the sambhur or black rusa of Bengal, called by him 

 Cervus Aristotelis.* 



Probably this animal was unknown to Aristotle, and, in 

 other respects, the identification is unsatisfactory, e.g., 

 Aristotle says that the horns of Hippelaphos are like those 

 of Dorkas. Now, the horns of Dorkas, or the gazelle, 

 are unbranched, but the sambhur has branched horns. 

 Again, the erectile ridges of hair, on the throats of the few 

 male sambhurs I have been able to inspect, were not very 

 conspicuous. 



Wiegmann s suggestion that Hippelaphos is the nilgai 

 (Antilope picta, Pallas) I seems to give the best identification. 

 The nilgai, called by sportsmen the blue bull, has a mane, 

 and a very conspicuous tuft of black hair on its throat. Its 

 horns are similar in colour, size, and general form to those 

 of many gazelles. On closer comparison, the resemblance 

 fails, for the horns of the nilgai are fairly smooth, and their 

 basal parts are nearly triangular in cross-section, while the 

 horns of the gazelle are more or less oval in cross-section, 

 and are corrugated transversely. However, Aristotle s com 

 parison, if not taken too strictly, applies to these animals. 

 Further, the female nilgai, like the female Hippelaphos, is 

 hornless. 



Finally, the nilgai occurs chiefly in central and northern 

 India, its habitat extending towards, though, apparently, not 

 including, Arachosia, where the Hippelaphos was found. 



The only information given by Aristotle about Dorkas is 

 that its horns and those of Hippelaphos are similar, I and 

 that it was the smallest horned animal with which he was 

 acquainted. 



Aristotle s Dorkas, like the Dorkas of Xenophon and 

 .^Elian, was a gazelle. Some gazelles, e.g., the Arabian 

 gazelle and the Dorcas gazelle, are small, but horned animals 

 much smaller than these are now known, such as, for 

 instance, the royal antelope (Neotragus pygmceus), of the Gold 

 Coast, which is about ten inches high at the shoulders. 



The well-known belief in the existence of a unicorn is 

 very ancient and widespread. The Kylin of China, Aristotle s 

 Oryx, and so called &quot;Indian ass,&quot; to be referred to again 



* Le Eegn. Anim. 1836-7, volume on &quot; Mammals,&quot; p. 308. 

 | Observ. Zool. Critic. 1826, p. 26. J H. A. ii. c. 2, s. 4. 



P. A. iii. c. 2, 6686. 



