156 



ANTENNA. 



The entire length of the klipspringer is rather more 

 than three feet ; the height at the shoulder, twenty- 

 one inches, and rather more than two and twenty at 

 the croup. The head is small, narrow or compressed 

 laterally, and the front is depressed immediately 

 below the orbits, and terminates in a very slender 

 naked muzzle of a black colour. The body is very 

 compact and round, and the muscles of the shoulders, 

 and especially of the haunches, are very vigorous 

 and strongly marked. The legs are clean made, but 

 much more robust than those of the majority of an- 

 telopes of the same size. The hoofs aresingular, unlike 

 those of any other animal. They are perfect cylin- 

 ders, and the pastern joints are so rigid, that cannons, 

 pasterns, and hoofs appear as if they were one con- 

 tinued straight line. There is thus no sort of lateral 

 strain upon any of the joints of the feet, and wherever 

 the foot catches, it holds on the point of the hoof, 

 like a spiked pole. The prints of the hoofs on the 

 ground, when it does walk on surfaces so soft as to 

 receive that impression, are unlike those of any other 

 cloven-footed animal. But it seldom quits its native 

 rocks, as its powers of walking are very inferior to its 

 powers of leaping. 



The general colour of the upper part is yellow and 

 green, each fibre partaking of the two colours in dif- 

 ferent portions of its length. On the sides the hair 

 is long, thick, and standing out, so as to defend the 

 animal from the collision of hard points. On the 

 upper part of the head and neck it is very singular, 

 each hair being a hollow tube, and the whole so 

 fragile, that it breaks with a very slight touch. The 

 general colour of the under part is brownish-yellow 

 or yellowish-red, and that on the legs and head is 

 brownish and short and smooth. The horns of the 

 male are about three inches and a half in length, with 

 small annuli at the base, and smooth for the rest of 

 their lengths. The haunts of klipspringers neces- 

 sarily expose them to the depredations of the larger 

 birds of prey, though for the same reason they are 

 safe from beasts of prey. Its flesh is much esteemed, 

 and also its hair for stuffing cushions of various kinds. 

 For these reasons it is much hunted ; and though it 

 sets dogs at defiance, it forms a conspicuous mark for 

 the musket. It was once abundant in the rocky wilds 

 of the colony, but it is now comparatively rare. 



Such is a short outline of the principal species of 

 antelopes, of which satisfactory accounts are to be met 

 with ; many more have been mentioned by authors, 

 some upon questionable, and all upon rather imperfect 

 authority. These have in general been omitted as 

 /)f little use for popular purposes ; arid it may be 

 added, that it is by no means probable that all the 

 antelopes of central Asia and of Africa have been 

 discovered, or that all which are now described as 

 separate species deserve to retain that character. 



As the article has extended to considerable length, 

 some advantage in the way of reference may be de- 

 rived from the following 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



ABU-HARB (A . leucoryx), J42 



ADDAX (A. uddax), 141 



AHU (A. subgutluroao), 130 



BEKR-EL-VVASH.(^ bubulun), 142 



BLAUBOK (A. leucophcna), 145 



BLISSBOK or BLAESBOK (A. pi/gar gu~), 147 



BOSHBOK (A. sylvatica), 153 



BUSH ANTELOPE (A. sylvicu'.trix), 144 



CAAMA (A, caama), 149 



CAMBINO OITTANG (A. Siimatrensis), 140 



CANNA (A. areas), 148 



CHAMOIS (A. rupicnpra), 136 



CHICKARA (/<. yuadricornis), 139 



CHIRU (A. Hodffsonii), 137 



COMMON ANTELOPE or SASIN (A. cervicapra), 137 



DA MA (A. dama), 143 ' 



DUIKERBOK (A. mergens), 154 



DZEREN (A. gutturoso), 138 



EQUINE ANTELOPE (A. equina), 145 



GAZELLE (A. dorcas), 141 



GEMSBOK (A. oryx), 148 



GNU (A. Gnu), 150 



GRYSBOK (A. melanotis), 152 



GUIB (A. scripta), 144 



KALSEEPEE. 



KLEENEBOK (A. perpusilla), 154 



KLIPSPRINGER (A. Qreotragus), 155 



KOBA or KOB (A. Koba), 144 



KOKOON (A. taurira), 151 



KOODOO (A. strepsiceros), 153 



MADOQUA (A. Salliana), 143 



MHORR. 



NYL-GHAU (A. picta), 139 



OUREBI (A. scoparia), 149 



PALLAH (A. melampus), 151 



PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE (A. furcifer), 135 



REITBOK (A. eleotragus), 155 



RHEEBOK(^. capreolus), 155 



SAIGA (A. coins,) 137 



SCEMMERING'S ANTELOPE (A. Scemmeringii), 143 



SPRINGBOK (A. eucfiore), 146 



STEEDMAN'S ANTELOPE (A. ellipsiprymnus), 145 



STEENBOK (A. tragulus), 152 



TAKHAITZE (A. barbata), 145 



THAR (A. Thar), 138 



ANTENNAE (literally what is borne in advance 

 and crosswise). Certain appendages attached to the 

 heads of many articulated animals, especially the 

 insects and Crustacea. In insects they are generally 

 two in number ; but the Crustacea often have four. 

 They vary much in their forms, and also in the pro- 

 portions which they bear to the size of the animals; 

 but they are symmetrical, that is to say, those on the 

 one side of the head are always counterparts of those 

 on the other ; and when there are more than two, 

 each pair is symmetrical ; and wherever they are 

 situated, they are equally distant from the mesial 

 plane of the animal. They often differ in the two 

 sexes ; but among insects, at least, their form is 

 pretty constant in the same species, so that they are 

 much employed as a means of specific distinction ; 

 and some naturalists have proposed to make them 

 the basis of larger divisions. As characteristic of 

 species they are very convenient, because they are 

 easily seen, and scarcely two species have them 

 exactly alike. But the characters founded on them 

 are purely artificial ; the uses of the antennae being 

 very little known, or rather not known at all with 

 anything like certainty. Still, from their universality 

 among animals so very numerous, and their always 

 being in a state of repose when the animal reposes, 

 and of excitement when the animal is excited, they 

 must answer some very important purpose in the 

 economy of those creatures to which they belong. 



In general they are susceptible of a considerable 

 degree of motion, and of motion which is peculiar to 

 themselves, and internally they are furnished with a 

 considerable portion both of muscular fibres and 

 of nervous tissue. In some insects they are flexible 

 in their general external covering ; but they more 

 frequently are jointed, or consist of a number of 

 pieces, stiff throughout their length, but moving 



