352 MAMMALIA — CAMELOPARD. 



excrescence, but an enkrgeraent of the bony part, the same as the two little 

 bosses, or ■protuberances, with which its occiput is armed, and which rise as 

 large as a hen's egg, one on each side of the mane, at its commencement. 

 Its tongue is rough and terminates in a point. Each jaw has six grinders 

 on each side, but the lower jaw only, has eight cutting teeth in front, while 

 the upper jaw has none. 



" The hoof is cloven, has no heel, and much resembles that of the ox. It 

 may be observed, however, at the first sight, that the hoof of the fore foot is 

 larger than that of the hind foot. The leg is very slender; but the knee is 

 swelled like that of a stumbling horse, because the animal kneels down to 

 sleep. It has also a large callosity in the middle of the sternum, owing to 

 its usually reposing on it. 



"If I had never killed a giraffe, I should have thought, with many other 

 naturalists, that its hind legs were much shorter than the fore ones. This 

 is a mistake ; they bear the same proportion to each other as is usual in 

 quadrupeds. I say the same proportion as is usual, because in this respect 

 there are variations, even in animals of the same species. Every one knows, 

 for instance, that mares are lower before than stallions. What deceives us 

 in the giraffe, and occasions this apparent difference between the legs, is the 

 height of the withers, which may exceed that of the cruppei from sixteen to 

 twenty inches, according to the age of the animal ; and which, when it is 

 seen at a distance in motion, gives the appearance of much greater length 

 to the fore legs. 



" If the giraffe stand still, and you view it in the front, the effect is very 

 different. As the fore part of its body is much larger than the hind part, it 

 completely conceals the latter. 



"Its gait, when it walks, is neither awkward nor unpleasing; but it is 

 ridiculous enough Avhen it trots ; for you would then take it for a limping 

 beast, seeing its head perched at the extremity of a long neck which never 

 bends, swaying backwards and forwards, the neck and head playing in one 

 piece between the shoulders as on an axis. However, as the length of the 

 neck exceeds that of the legs at least four inches, it is evident that the 

 length of the head too taken into the account, it can feed without difficulty, 

 and of course is not obliged either to kneel down or to straddle with his feet, 

 as some authors have asserted. It is, besides, unnecessary for the animal 

 to kneel, as it feeds principally on the boughs of a species of acacia, which 

 it draws down to its mouth with its long and flexible tongue. 



" Its mode of defence, like that of the horse and other solidungulous 

 animals, consists in kicking with the heels. But its hind parts are so light, 

 and its jerks so rapid, that the eye cannot follow them. They are even 

 sufficient to defend it against the lion, though they are unable to protect it 

 from the impetuous attack of the tiger. 



" Its horns are never employed in fight. I did not perceive it to use them 

 against my dogs ; and these weak and useless weapons would seem but an 



