STRUCTURE AND HEIGHT. 89 



in the preceding chapter, to the great group of ruminant 

 ungulates, among which it is the sole living representative 

 of a separate family, the giraffe owes its height mainly to 

 the enormous elongation of two of the bones of the legs, 

 coupled with a corresponding lengthening of the vertebrae 

 of the neck. As in all its kindred, the lower segment of 

 each leg of this animal forms a cannon-bone, the nature 

 of which has been explained in the same chapter ; and 

 in the fore limb it is the bone below the wrist (com- 

 monly termed the knee), and the radius above the latter, 

 which have undergone an elongation so extraordinary as 

 to make them quite unlike, as regards proportion, the 

 corresponding elements in the skeleton of a ruminant, 

 such as an ox, although retaining precisely the same 

 structure. Similarly, in the hinder limb, it is the cannon- 

 bone below the ankle joint or hock, and the tibia or shin- 

 bone above, which have been thus elongated. To anyone 

 unacquainted with their anatomy, it might well appear 

 that a giraffe and a hippopotamus would differ greatly 

 in regard to the number of vertebrae in their necks ; but, 

 nevertheless, both conform in this respect to the ordinary 

 mammalian type, possessing only seven of such segments. 

 Whereas, however, those of the latter animal are very 

 broad and short, in the giraffe they are extremely long and 

 slender, attaining in full-grown individuals a length of 

 some ten inches. This remarkable adherence to one 

 numerical type in the neck vertebrae is, indeed, a very 

 curious feature among mammals ; the extreme contrasts 

 in respect of form being exhibited by those of the Green- 

 land whale, in which each vertebra is shortened to a broad 

 disc-like shape, and the giraffe, where it is equally narrow 

 and elongated. 



As regards the height attained by the male of the tallest 

 of quadrupeds, there is, unfortunately, a lack of accurate 

 information, and since it is probable that the majority of 

 those now living are inferior in size to the largest 

 individuals which existed when the species was far more 

 numerous than at present, it is to be feared that this 

 deficiency in our knowledge is not very likely to be 

 remedied. By some writers the height of the male giraffe 



