HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 101 



THE GEMSE-BOK. 



(Capra Gazclla, Linn. Lc /'nsa/t, BufF.) 



IT is called by Mr. Pennant, the Egyptian Ante- 

 lope. The horns are straight, slender, of a black 

 colour, about three feet long, with above twenty 

 rings, reaching half to the points, which are smooth 

 and taper; it is of an ash colour, inclining to red; 

 the belly, legs, and face are white; a black line ex- 

 tends from the neck to the loins; the tail is about 

 two feet long, terminated with black hairs. 



This animal is famous for a concretion in its 

 stomach or intestines, called the oriental bczoar, 

 which was much esteemed in former times for its 

 great virtue in expelling poison from the human 

 frame, and was sold at enormous prices, its value 

 increasing in proportion to its size. There was a 

 time, when a stone of four ounces sold in Europe 

 for above 2oo/. ; at present, however, its estimation 

 and price are greatly decreased. The virtues which 

 ignorance and inexperience attributed to it, are 

 now found no longer to exist; and this once-cele- 

 brated medicine is now only consumed in countries 

 where the knowledge of nature has been but little 

 advanced. Similar concretions are likewise found 

 in a variety of animals of the Gazelle and Goat 

 kind: even Apes, Serpents, and Hogs are said to 

 have their bezoars. In short, there is scarcely 

 an animal, except of the carnivorous kind, that 

 does not produce some of these concretions in the 

 stomach, intestines, kidnies, and even the heart. 



