474 



THE GIRAFFE, OR CAMELOPARD. 



(Camelopardalis giraffa, Linn.) 



It has been supposed that the giraffes found in Abyssinia, 

 are a different species from those of the southern extremity 

 of Africa ; and that a third species or variety, without spots, 

 was seen by Mungo Park in Central Africa. But it is now 

 unanimously considered that these differences are ascribable 

 merely to the age and sexes of the individuals observed, and 

 that there is only one species. 



A giraffe, killed by M. Thibaut, in Kordofan, measured twenty- 

 one French feet from the ears to the hoof. The male, which 

 is the largest sex, is generally said to be about twenty feet high 

 from the summit of the head to the sole of the feet. The 

 highest specimen in the British Museum (a fine, but badly 



