NATURAL HISTORY 



Alabaster. A name applied to a granular are gregarious, and unite in large flocks or herds. 



variety of gypsum or hydrated sulphate of lime. Africa may be considered the headquarters of 



It was much used by the ancients lor the manu- the antelope. The species are numerous, and 



;re of ointment and perfume boxes, vases, include the spring bok, hartbeest, gnu, eland, 



ami the like. It has a fine granular texture, is and gazelle, among others. There are two Ku- 



usually of :t pure white color, and is so soft that ropean antelopes, the chamois which inhabits the 

 it ean be scratched with the nail. It is found in j Alps, and the saiga from Eastern Russia. 



many parts of Europe; in great abundance and Ape. A name somewhat loosely employed, 



nf peculiarly excellent quality in Tuscany, in common language, as a synonym for monkey, 



excellent quality in 

 From the finer and more compact 



nds. statuettes, and other ornamental 



articles are made, and from inferior kinds the 



but, in its more restricted sense, applicable only 

 to the highest section of the oro!er Quadrumana, 

 or four-handed mammals; those which make a 



cement known as plaster of pans. A variety \ nearer approach, in anatomical structure, to the 

 of carbonate of lime, closely resembling alabaster human species than do any other animals. The 

 in appearance, is used for similar purposes under , group o f apes includes the gibbons, orangou- 

 the name of Oriental olobaafar. It is usually tangs, chimpanzees, and gorillas. They are all 

 talagmitic or stalact.tic m origin and is often | devoid of tails and cheek-pouches ; the arms are 



of a yellowish color. It may be distinguished 

 from true alabaster by being too hard to be 



lied with the nail. 



Alligator. A genus of saurian reptiles. 

 They differ from the true crocodiles in having 

 a shorter and flatter head, cavities or pits in the 

 upper jaw, into which the long canine teeth of 



remarkable for their extreme length, and the 

 hind limbs for their comparative shortness. On 

 the ground these animals are awkward and 

 waddling; they tread rather on the outer edge 

 of the sole than on the sole itself, which imparts 

 to their hind-limbs a bowed appearance; while 

 their long fore-limbs are employed somewhat 



the under jaw fit. and feet much less webbed, after the mariner of crutches, on the half-closed 

 Their habits are less perfectly aquatic. The larg-t fata of which, planted firmly on the ground. 

 est grows to the length of seventeen or eighteen | they rest their bodies. The great length of their 

 The female lays her eggs in the sand, to j arms, on the other hand, gives these animals 

 be hatched by the heat of the sun. They are peculiar advantages in their native forests, and 

 found only in tropical America. Among the they climb to the topmost branches, or pass from 



fossils of the south of England, however, are 



remains of a true alligator. 



Ant. An insect belonging to the same order 

 as the bees and wasps. Like bees the ants form 

 communities. consisting of males female-, and 

 neuters. The males and females are winired. 

 and are produced in great numbers at a particular 

 the year: they then quit the nest and 

 pair, after which the male- die, while the females, 

 'heir wings, become the queens of fresh 

 68. The -neuters are divided into two 

 fin mm, workers and soldiers, the former doing 

 necessary work, except defending the 



tree to tree, with surprising facility. They do 

 not repose, like ordinary monkeys, on their hams, 

 but stretch themselves on their sides, like human 

 beings. The apes in general appear to be more 

 grave, and less petulant and mischievous, than 

 the ordinary monkey. 



Baboon. The name applied in popular 

 language to a genus of the zoological order 

 Quadrumana (four-handed mammals), or mon- 

 keys. The baboons rank next to the apes in 

 the ascending series of animals, and are di- 

 tinguished externally by a short tail (which in 

 some species is quite rudimentary) and by tin- 



nest, which devolves upon the latter. Many large head, which has a muzzle resembling that 



;lar habits and instincts of ants have been o f a dog, the nostrils being situated at its ex- 



rved. Two of the most interest ing are t he tremity. They are large. strong animals, ex- 



in-tinrt of making slaves, and that of milking, nvmefy unat t'ract ive in outward appeara 



K> to speak, the little plant-lice. As regards the ;1Il d of great ferocity. More than any oil.. 



r. n is found that certain ants capture the t | l( . monkeys, they' employ the fore-limbs in 



of other species of ants (t. r.. \\lien they trrrestn.d progression, running tijxm all : 



an in the quiescent or chrysalis stage), and bring \\nii the greatest ease; and. though they climb 



them up as slaves. trees \\ith taeiliiy. they prefer, as a rule, to 



VntHop<>. In /oology, a genus of rumi- dwell among craggy rocks an. 1 precip ice- 



nat ing mammals, belonging to the hollou horned are all inhabitants of Africa, and one of il 



iisi.rd by the round, annu- the Mandrill, attains very nearly the heig! 



I form of thru- horns, which are unbranched. a man. I 



.nd symmetry of their pro Mft, -Ken brought .. and is 



Much resemble that most usually seen m menagerie* and 



i n , m \\hich. neums. I uniform reddish brown color, 



tinguished by variolU points of' st met ure. s,,ch with black face and wlr. 



the horns, which in the deer are solid and it is gentle, curious, gluttonous, and incessantly 



branched, and by I .-,. of front teeth in in motion, but as it grows older it ceases to be 



the upper jaw. Generally spwikinp. antelopes familiar, and awimen all the morose look and 



