332 



UNGULATES. 



remarkable for its great length, and the distance it can be protruded beyond the 

 lips ; thus acting as a grasping organ of considerable power. From the nape of 

 the neck to the withers runs a relatively short and erect mane ; and the tail is of 

 considerable length, and terminates in a large tuft of long hair. The feet of the 

 giraffe are large and heavy, and have no trace of lateral hoofs. 



The coloration of the South- 

 African giraffe takes the form of a 

 number of large blotches or patches 

 of some shade of chestnut or brown, 

 irregularly distributed over a paler 

 tawny ground-colour ; the face being 

 uniformly brownish, while the under- 

 parts, the inner surfaces of the limbs, 

 and the lower portion of the liml?s, are 

 whitish and devoid of darker blotches. 

 The mane is chestnut-coloured, but 

 the tuft at the end of the tail is 

 blackish. It is this variety which is 

 represented in our coloured Plate, and 

 in the woodcut on p. 334. On the 

 other hand, the North- African giraffe 

 may be described as a chestnut- 

 coloured animal, marked by a net- 

 work of fine tawny lines. A 

 full-grown bull giraffe may measure 

 as much as 18 or even 19 feet from 

 the soles of the feet to the summit 

 of the head, while females are a foot 

 or two lower. We must not omit 

 to mention that, as a general rule, the 

 liver of the giraffe is unprovided with 

 a gall-bladder; the animal agreeing 

 in this respect with the deer, and 

 differing from the prongbuck and 

 the hollow-horned Ruminants. 



The giraffe is con- 

 fined to Africa south of 

 the Sahara, and was formerly dis- 

 tributed in open districts throughout 

 the greater portion of that continent, 



although absent from the thickly-wooded regions of the West Coast, its range 

 extending from the Cape in the south to Abyssinia and Nubia in the north. Like 

 the gemsbok and eland, the giraffe frequents more or less desert-like regions ; 

 but of late years its range has been greatly restricted, more especially in South 

 and Central Africa, where Mr. Bryden considers that it will be almost exterminated 

 within the next twenty years. 



Distribution. 



SKELETON OF GIRAFFE. 



