ORDER Tin. THE RUJIINANTIA. 301 



" The eyes of the giraffe are singularly large, full, and clear, soft and rich 

 as the faincd gazelle's, and fringed with very long lashes. They are situated 

 so prouiinently on the sides of the head as to excel, in advantage of [>osition, 

 those of the hare ; and it is supjjoscd that tlie giraffe can command a wider 

 view of the horizon tiian any other creature. Tlic surface of its skin is 

 smooth, the hair being sjiort, close, and llatlv laid. The ground color is a 

 dull white, warming to a rich cream lint, and dcc[icning with age to a very 

 faintly-red brown. The spots are of a much darker brown, and of so gen- 

 erally regular a form and arrangement as to give the hide the appearance of 

 being cross-barred with whitish stripes. 



"It has no incisors in the u[)[icr jaw, but twelve grinders; in the lower 

 jaw it has twelve grinders and eight incisors. Tlie female has fiur mamma:, 

 situated in the groin, and she gestates twelve months with foal. But the 

 most instructive singularity in the physiology of the giraffe, and the one 

 which, above all others, determines its geographical insulation and scarcity, 

 is tlie remarkable adaptation of its tongue to the food wliicii it chieHy prefers 

 and seeks. Tiie organ, in these specimens, is aliout thirty inches in length, 

 tapering nearly to a sharp point, and endowed with greater contractility, 

 extensibleness and flexibility than the tongue of any creature but the ant- 

 cater. It is coated on the upper surface, and round its point, with a skin so 

 hard and impervious, that it cannot l)e cut or pierced even with a sharp 

 knife, without great pressure. Tlie food on wiiich the giraffe principally 

 subsists, in its natural state, is the foliage and juicy branches of a species of 

 the iiiiinosu or acacia, called iiy the nati\cs kaiiiccl-dooni, which is said to be 

 peculiar to the valleys in which the animal is only known to have been seen, 

 and to constitute their almost exclusive vegetation. This variety of the 

 acacia abounds witli very long and exceedingly sharp spines, whose puncture 

 is as subtile as that of a needle. Yet, protected by its wonderfully imper- 

 meable covering, the flexile tongue of the giraffe securely threads its way 

 through the foliaged danger, winds around the branches amid the spines, cull- 

 ing each particular leaf with more than manual dexterity, and incurring 

 neither puncture nor laceration." 



AxTiLorJXA. This great genus embraces more species tiian all the other 

 ruminants taken together. The beautifid and graceful antelopes whicii sport 

 in the luxuriant groves of South Africa, and the bright-eyed gazelles, cel- 

 ebrated in the poetry and songs of the Arabs, are among the most interesting 

 members of the f uiiily. 



Sub-genus Oi;yx. In this group we have the gemsbok — an elegant 

 animal, of the size of a cow, somewhat deer-shaped, with upright and straight 

 horns. This animal was known to tlie ancients, and has been well de- 

 scribed by Pliny. It exists not only in that part of xifrica whicli lies 



