134 



ANTELOPES. 



The dimensions of this species are small compared 

 with those even of ; he tamandna. Its length is only about 

 thirteen inches and a half, of which the head occupies 

 less than two inches and the tail above seven. The 

 tail is very thick and strong at its insertion, and tapers 

 gradually to the tip. The colours are either bright 

 yellow with the back brown, or silver gray with the 

 back darker. The hair is soft and silky, but in some 

 parts curled or matted at the points. The tail is 

 slightly arinulated with the prevailing colours of the 

 body, except a portion of the under side near the 

 point, which is naked, as is usual in that organ when 

 prehensile. The hind feet are squat and flat, with 

 the phalanges of the toes united and covered with 

 hair. They have four small claws on each. The 

 tore-feet (which the animal can use like hands, 

 resting on the hind feet, and holding on with the 

 tail if necessary) have only two claws on each, an 

 outer and very large one, and an inner and smaller, 

 which lies in the curve of the former. 



Like the last-mentioned species, these animals live 

 in the trees, and feed chiefly upon wasps and 

 other insects in the larva state, which they are 

 very dexterous in capturing with their nippers. It 

 is probable that they also use the tongue in feed- 

 ing, though certainly not so habitually as the ant- 

 eater properly so called. As is the case with 

 many of the other inhabitants of the dense forests 

 in the hnrnid parts of South America, they repose 

 during the day, at least in the dry season, when 

 the larvae are unable to bear the heat of the sun. 

 They partially roll themselves in balls, remaining 

 anchored by the prehensile tail, and sometimes 

 suspended by it. The females of this species are 

 described as having four mammae, two on the breast 

 and two on the belly, and yet thoy are said to have 

 only one young one at a birth. The details of their 

 economy and habits are not, however, very well known. 



They, as well as the tamanduas, are, strictly speak- 

 ing, tree animals at home only among the twigs and 

 branches ; and though the absence of teeth and the 

 protrusile tongue show that their food must be of so 

 soft a nature as not to require any process at all 

 analogous to mastication ; yet they differ so much 

 from, the great ant-eater, as hardly to admit of a 

 common description. Neither is there any other 

 known species in the same forests with which they 

 can, even with as much propriety, be classed. They 

 are very peculiar animals, and belong to a quarter 

 of the world which has many peculiarities both in its 

 climate and its productions. 



ANTELOPES (Antiloput). A very numerous 

 and highly interesting genus, or rather, perhaps, 

 family or tribe of animals belonging to the order Ru- 

 minantia, or those which chew the cud. For the 

 general characters of the order, the most valuable to 

 man in the whole animal kingdom, see " Ruminant 'ia." 



The species of antelopes are so numerous, and 

 they differ so much from each other, that no popular 

 description could be so framed as equally to apply to 

 and express them all.; and yet the family likeness 

 among them is so strong, that no one who has care- 

 fully studied even a few of the species can find much 

 difficulty in pronouncing, the very first time that he 

 sees it, whether any new species is or is not an ante- 

 lope. The other animals to which they have most 

 resemblance, both in structure and in habits, are the 

 goats, though in the shape and covering of their 

 bodies, some of them more resemble deer; but still 



there is not much danger ot mistaking them either 

 for the one or the other. 



Yet when we come to state in words what the dif- 

 ference is, we are at a loss. Where both deer and 

 antelopes have horns, the distinction between these is 

 abundantly clear, as the horns of deer are not true 

 horns, but annual appendages to the head, growing 

 at the surface under a skin which remains till they 

 attain their full size, after which it begins to shrivel 

 and they to harden, so as to be in the top of their 

 strength during the pairing season, .after which they 

 fall off, sooner or later, according to the climate and 

 the habit of the animal. In all cases they are deci- 

 duous ; and like the leaves of deciduous plants which 

 drop when mature, they leave a new skin upon the 

 places to which they were attached, or rather it is 

 the formation of that skin which interrupts their 

 connexion and causes them to fall off. 



The horns of the antelopes are, on the other hand, 

 true horns ; their cores are permanent elongations of 

 the cranial bones, sheathed with real horn, which 

 grows at its inner surface where it is in contact with 

 the core of bone ; and although it probably in all ' 

 cases receives an inner layer of new substance 

 every season, it is in all cases persistent, or re- 

 mains during the life of the animal, unless destroyed 

 by accident. 



The distinction between the antelopes and goats 

 is by no means so clear ; as not the goats only, but 

 the sheep and ox tribes have horns of the same gene- 

 ral structure, so that in attempting to found a distinc- 

 tion upon the horns of these, we are reduced to some 

 mere difference of form ; and though, when we see 

 them together, it is not very difficult to say, either- 

 from the shape or the texture, which animals the 

 horns belong to, it is by no means easy to express 

 in words in what the difference consists. 



The other characters are not more easily expressed, 

 whether we take the size, the general shape and air 

 of the body, the form of the muzzle, the presence or 

 absence of lachrymal sinuses under the orbits, of 

 secreting pores or follicles in the groin, or any other 

 character. The most general popular character is, 

 that every antelope is in its form the type of agility ; 

 and in their motions they are as agile as they look. 



The period of gestation in many of the species is 

 imperfectly known, but there are some reasons for 

 thinking that it varies considerably, being about 

 eight months in some of the larger species, and not 

 more than five or six in the smaller. Their young 

 are never understood to be more than two at a 

 birth, and seldom more than one ; but the females 

 are generally, though not invariably, furnished with 

 four teats, which are inguinal, or in the groin. 

 The number of teats, however, proves nothing as 

 to the number of young ; for the cow, which has 

 four, has twins less frequently than the ewe, which 

 has only two. 



In general, the limbs of the antelope are very 

 clean in their make, firm in their joints, elastic in 

 their tendons, and powerful in their muscles. The 

 hoofs, of which there are two walking ones on 

 each foot, are neat in their form and very firm in 

 their texture. The general covering of the body 

 is hair, short and smooth, but not silky or woolly. 

 In some, however, there is harder and more pro- 

 duced hair in the form of manes, beards, elongations 

 on the throat, scopes, or knee tufts on the fore-legs, 

 just below the carpal joints, and other appendages. 



