VOL. LXr.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. - 117 



pretence to be indigenous. I will suppose, however, that a wood of any given 

 number of acres, with beech in it, was found in the central part of the 

 principality; and that these trees were not planted in rows (as at Newington and 

 Sittingbourne) ; but dispersed, as happens in other indigenous woods. Could it 

 possibly be contended, that such' beech trees had not been introduced by some 

 planter; notwithstanding it might be proved to be a wood of great antiquity? 

 If this was insisted on, it must at the same time be conceived, that when the 

 beech mast was wafted by the wind to such a most selected spot, some preter- 

 natural cause must have prevented its being sown in any intermediate place. 



XXI. An Account of the Nyl-ghau,* an Indian Animal, not hitherto described. 

 By Wm. Hunter, M. D., F.R.S. p. 170. 



Among tiie riches which of late years have been imported from India, may be 

 reckoned a fine animal, the nyl-ghau ; which it is to be hoped will now be pro • 

 pagated in this country, so as to become one of the most useful, or at least one 

 of the most "ornamental beasts of the field. It is larger than any ruminant of 

 this countr)', except the ox; its flesh probably will be found to be delicious; and 

 if it should prove docile enough to be easily trained to labour, its great swiftness, 

 with considerable strength, might be applial probably to valuable purposes. 



Good paintings of animals give much clearer ideas than descriptions. Who- 

 ever looks at the picture, which was done under Dr. H.'s eye, by Mr. Stubbs, 

 that excellent painter of animals, (see fig. 2, pi. 3) can never be at a loss to know 

 the nyl-ghau, wherever he may happen to meet with it. 



At first sight, the male nyl-ghau appeared to be of a middle nature, between 

 black cattle and deer ; such an animal as we might suppose a mule would be, that 

 was the produce of those two species of beasts. In size, it is as much smaller 

 than the one, as it is larger than the other : and in its form there is a very ap- 

 parent mixture of resemblance to both. Its body, horns, and tail, are not 

 unlike those of a bull ; and the head, neck, and legs, are very like those of deer. 



Colour. The colour in general is ash, or grey, from a mixture of black hairs 

 and white: most of the hairs are half white and half black ; the white part is to- 

 wards the root. The colour of its legs is darker than that of its body ; the same 

 thing may be said of its head, with this peculiarity, that there the darker colour 

 is not general and uniform, but some parts are almost quite black. In some 

 parts, to be mentioned hereafter, the hair is of a beautiful white colour. 



Trunk. The height of the back, where there is a slight eminence over the 



• This animal is the Ant Hope picta of the Gmelinian edition of the Systema Naturae, and the White' 

 footed Antilope of Pennant. It has been often imported into Europe of late years, and has bred in 

 England. The figure here given is very good. A good representation both of male and female maj 

 also be found in the sixth supplemental volume of the Natural History of the Count de BufTon. 



