SHrttcwarp of 



^ature. 261 



whole length of the back. It feeds on 

 : various kinds of Crustacea and mollusca ; 

 and chiefly inhabits deep waters and bold 

 rocky shores. 



j GIRAFFE, or CAMELOPARD. (Camelo- 



pardalis Giraffa.) This most remarkable Ru- 



' minant, which in its general structure most 



; nearly approaches the Deer, has points of 



affinity, also, with the Antelopes and Camels, 



besides very striking peculiarities of its 



I own. If height alone constituted precedency 



\ among quadrupeds, the Giraife, as Le Vail- 



i lant justly observes, must hold the first rank. 



I The enormous apparent length of the fore 



legs and its long tapering neck must strike 



! every one at the first glance : while its small 



and elevated head, its large and brilliant 



eyes, its mild aspect, and the whole contour 



of the animal, differing from all others, can- 



not fail to excite admiration ; for, notwith- 



standing the unusual proportions of the 



limbs, its general form is not merely elegant 



but highly picturesque. The horns of the 



\ Giraffe differ both in t 



both in texture and shape from 



*K.OLr., OF OIBAFFI 



those of all other horned quadrupeds ; form- 

 ing, as it were, a part of the skull, and con- 

 sisting of two porous bony substances, about 

 three inches long, with which the top of the 

 head is armed, and which are placed just 

 above the ears, and crowned with a thick 



tuft of stiff upright hairs : a considerable . - 



protuberance also rises on the middle of the times makes a successful defence by striking 



darker hue, less regularly shaped on the 

 sides than on the neck and shoulders. The 

 vertebrae of the neck are slightly curved ; 

 but although nothing can exceed the grace- 

 fulness of form which this part sometimes 

 presents, the fewness of the joints prevents 

 the neck from being generally l>ent or arched 

 with swan-like elegance. The peculiarities 

 of conformation which this animal displays 

 are all adapted to the mode of life which is 

 natural to it ; for it is destined to browse 

 upon the foliage and young shoots of trees, 

 at a height far greater than that which any 

 other animal can reach, whilst standing on 

 the ground. For this purpose it is furnished 

 with an elongated prehensile tongue, with 

 which it lays hold of the tender branches, 

 and draws them into its mouth ; being as- 

 sisted by its projecting upper lip, which is 

 at once flexible and very muscular. In 

 order to bring its mouth to the ground, 

 which it seldom does except to drink, or to 

 pick up some unusual delicacy, the Giraffe 

 is obliged to stretch its fore legs widely 

 apart, and to bend its neck into a semicir- 

 cular form. " The head of the Giraffe re- 

 sembles that of the camel in the absence of 

 a naked muzzle, and in the shape and or- 

 ganization of the nostrils, which are oblique 

 and narrow apertures, defended by the hair 

 which grows from their margins, and sur- 

 rounded by cutaneous muscular fibres by 

 which the animal can close them at will. 

 This is a beautiful provision for the defence 

 of the air passages, and the irritable mem- 

 brane lining the olfactory cavities, against 

 the fine particles of sand which the storms 

 of the desert raise in almost suffocating 

 clouds. The large, dark, and lustrous eyes 

 of the Giraffe, which beam with a peculiarly 

 mild but fearless expression, are so placed 

 as to take in a wider range of the horizon 

 than is subject to the vision of any other 

 quadruped. While browsing on his favour- 

 ite acacia, the Giraffe, by means of his late- 

 rally projecting orbits, can direct Ms sight 

 so as to anticipate a threatened attack in the 

 rear from the stealthy lion, or any other foe 

 of the desert. To an open attack he some- 



forehead between the eyes, which appears to 

 be an enlargement of the bony substance, 

 similar to the two horns just mentioned. 

 The neck ia furnished with a very short stiff 

 mane. The tail is of moderate length, gra- 

 dually tapering towards the end, and termi- 

 nating in a tuft of long hair. The fore part 

 of the body is very thick and muscular ; the 

 hind part thin and meagre. The Giraffe, in 

 its wild state, when full grown, measures 

 seventeen feet from the top of the head to 

 the fore feet ; the female, however, is not so 

 high ; and it must be understood that this 

 measurement is taken at the maximum 

 height, none of those brought to or bred in 

 Europe^ having reached more than fourteen 

 feet. At first view the fore legs seem twice 

 the length of the hind : but this difference, 

 on accurate examination, appears to result 

 chiefly from the extraordinary height of the 

 shoulders. 



The colour of the Giraffe is a light fawn, 

 marked with numerous large spots of a 



out his powerful and well-armed feet ; and 

 the king of beasts is said to be frequently 

 repelled and disabled by the wounds which 

 the Giraffe has thus inflicted with his hoofs. 

 The horns of the Giraffe, small as they are, 

 and muffled with skin and hair, are by no 

 means the insignificant weapons they have 

 been supposed to be. We have seen them 

 wielded by the males against each other with 

 fearful and reckless force ; and we know 

 that they are the natural arms of the Giraffe 

 most dreaded by the keeper of the present 

 living Giraffes in the Zoological Gardens, 

 because they are most commonly and sud- 

 denly put in use. The Giraffe does not butt 

 by depressing and suddenly elevating the 

 head, like the deer, ox, or sheep ; but strikes 

 the callous obtuse extremity of the horns 

 against the object of his attack with a side- 

 long sweep of the neck. One blow thus de- 

 livered at full swing against the head of an 

 unlucky attendant would be fatal : the fe- 

 male once drove her horns in sport through 



