THE ANTELOPE. 235 



they are but bitten by a dog, they instantly fall down; nor 

 will they even offer to rise again. They are sometimes 

 shot by the hunter ; and are also taken by the black 

 eagle, which is trained for that purpose. In summer they 

 are almost purblind, which is another cause of their de- 

 struction. This is occasioned by the heat of the sun, and 

 the splendor of the yellow deserts, where they live in a 

 wild state. They seem to have no voice, yet when 

 brought up tame, the young utter a short kind of bleating, 

 like the sheep. 



Another animal belonging to this group, has been named 

 by Major Smith, A. adenoid, from the circumstance of its 

 having a small gland or tubercle on the loins, about equi- 

 distant between the hips and the root of the tail. Major 

 Smith does not, however, surmise what purpose this 

 would serve. The specimens to which the name was ap- 

 plied, were part of the collection in Exeter Change, and 

 stood about twenty-six inches high. The general color a 

 fulvous bay. The belly and inside of the limbs white. 

 They were brought from the west coast of Africa. 



The Saiga, A. coins, Smith, is a European animal very 

 little known. The collections of Petersburg and Vienna, 

 according to Major Smith, being the only museums, in 1827, 

 where entire specimens of this animal were preserved. It 

 is a large animal, nearly equal to the size of the fallow- 

 deer, but more clumsily made ; the horns intermediate 

 between the lyrate form and the twisted appearance of 

 the common Antelope. The color in summer a gray dun 

 with a dark stripe down the back. The under parts 

 whitish. It is found on the shores of the Danube, the 

 Carpathian range, Caucasian Mountains, and the Altaic 

 Chain. It is migratory, and said to assemble in troops of 

 ten thousand (singular that our information is so scanty re- 

 garding them.) It is also said to be easily tamed, and 

 become gentle. The horns are used by the Chinese for 

 their lanterns. 



