150 MAMMALIA. RUMINANTIA. 



C. girajfa, Gmel. Desm. (C. Camelopardalis, Lin.) The Giraffe. 

 Fur variegated with brown and ferruginous angular and nume- 

 rous spots ; tail terminated by a tuft of dark long hairs. Height 

 before about 15 feet. Inhabits Central Africa. Shaw, ii. 182. 



The Giraffe seems to have been unknown to the Greeks. In the year 7^8 of 

 Rome, Julius Caesar brought one to Europe, and the Roman Emperors afterwards 

 exhibited them at Rome, either for the games in the circus, or in their triumphs 

 over the African princes. Albertus Magnus, in his Treatise de Animalibiis, is the 

 first modern author who speaks of the giraffe. In 1486 one of the Medici family 

 possessed one at Florence, where it lived for a considerable time. In its native country 

 the giraffe browses on the twigs of trees, preferring plants of the Mimosa genus ; 

 but it appears that it can without inconvenience subsist on other vegetable food. 

 The one kept at Florence fed on the fruits of the country, and chiefly on apples, 

 which it begged from the inhabitants of the first storeys of the houses. The spe- 

 cimen in Paris, from its having been accustomed in early life to the food prepared by 

 the Arabs for their camels, is fed on mixed grains bruised, such as maize, barley, &c. 

 and it is furnished with milk for drink morning and evening. It however willingly 

 accepts fruits and the branches of the acacia, which are presented to it. It seizes 

 the leaves with its long rugous and narrow tongue by rolling it about them, and 

 seems annoyed when it is obliged to take any thing from the ground, which it 

 seems to do with difficulty. To accomplish this it stretches first one, then the other 

 of its long fore-legs asunder, and it is not till after repeated attempts that it is able 

 to seize the objects with its lips and tongue. The pace of the giraffe is an amble, 

 though when pursued it flies with extreme rapidity, but the small size of its lungs 

 prevents it from supporting a lengthened chase. The giraffe defends itself against the 

 lion, its principal enemy, with its fore-feet, with which it strikes with such force as 

 often to repulse him. The name Camelo-pardalis (camel-leopard) was given by the 

 Romans to this animal, from a fancied combination of the characters of the camel 

 and leopard ; but its ancient denomination was Zurapha, from which the name Giraffe 

 has been adopted. 



3d TRIBE. ^-Prominences of the frontal bone covered with a 

 horny case. CAPRICE, Smith. 



Gen. 141. ANTILOPE, Cuv. Geoff. Desm. Capra, Moschus, 



Lin. 



Incisors , canines g-g, molars f-f = 32. Horns in both 

 sexes, or in the males only, covering a solid bony core, round, 

 compressed, variously inflected, and often marked by transverse 

 annulations, or a projecting spiral ridge, sometimes bifurca- 

 ted ; muzzle partly naked in the greater number ; often lachry- 

 mal sinuses ; ears large ; legs slender ; two or four mammae. 



A. cervicapra, Pall. Desm. The Common Antelope. Horns black, 

 round, with a triple bending, and annulated the greater part of 

 their length ; tufts on the knees ; fur fawn-coloured above,, white 

 below. About four feet long. India Pali. Spic. fas. i. 1. 1, 2. 



A. Saiga, Desm. Pall. (Capra Tatarica,Lin.) Horns of the male 

 yellow, transparent, marked by 16 or 18 rings, smooth at the 

 point, arched and lyre-shaped ; muzzle cartilaginous, gibbous ; 

 nostrils very open ; fur fulvous above, white below ; tufts on the 

 knees. Body four feet long. Inhabits sandy deserts near the 

 Caspian Sea Pall. Spic. fas. xii. t. 1 and 3. 



A. gutturosa, Pall. Desm. Horns of the male black, lyre-shaped, 



