1867.] DR. J. MURIE ON AN A! RICAN ANTKl-Ol'K. t) 



skin appears as if drenched with water, or, rather, huruishcd with 

 oil. 



Its being wanting in the skins from the Nile, if it did originally 

 exist, might be accounted for by the manner of their preparation 

 (namely, partial drying in the scorching smi), or by the intermixture 

 of sand}' particles among the hairs. 



Again, in regard to colour, the West-African specimens (horned 

 male and hornless female) in the British Museum, the head from 

 Uganda, and the animal alive in Antwerp all have more or less of a 

 yelloioish brown or russet tinge, considerably lighter in shade than 

 either of the two skins which Dr. Kaup has provisionally named 

 Antilope harnieri, and which exhibit a kind of dark umber tint. 



The short hair of the skin of these Nilotic animals, also, shows a 

 contrast with the comparatively shaggy coat of the Senegal speci- 

 mens. But this variety in colour and length of hair only bears out 

 what Dr. Gray has remarked upon this point, in his description of 

 the species (P. Z. S. I80O, p. 131). The mounted specimen in 

 Darmstadt (that here figured) is said to be in the dress of the rainy 

 season ; the other dried skin, with even still shorter hairs, is consi- 

 dered to bear the coat of the dry season ; but neither have the abun- 

 dance or length of hair of the Senegal specimen^; of the Sing-sing. 



Notwithstanding the differences mentioned above, which may either 

 be attributed to variety, season, or geographical distribution, the 

 proportions of body, head, and horns are such that no distinct line 

 of demarcation can be drawn between the Antelopes obtained from 

 the White Nile by Baron Harnier and the Sing-Sing inhabiting the 

 more westerly part of the same continent. 



The following table illustrates in inches some of the approximate 

 measurements of the stuffed animals: — ^ . j. ^i . m c i„. 



Darmstadt Brit. Mus. Speke s 

 specimen, specimen, spec. 



Height at the shoulder 4.i| 4.V| 



Length of body, rump to front of shoulder. ... 52 



of head, from between the horns to tip 



of muzzle 1 3g 13 



of tail l(i 11 



Horns, in length 23| 22 24 



, girth at their roots 7h 8 7| 



, number of rings on each 8 



Length of ears 20 24 



The figures of the horns and skull of Baron Harnier's specimen 

 now exhibited (see figs. 1 & 2, pp. 6 & 7) are also copied from the 

 pencil drawings of Herr Kerz, and are reduced to about a seventh of 

 their natural size. 



In the man ner in which the horns branch outwards and backwards, 

 and with only a slight tendency to return forwards at the tips, they 

 agree with Capt. Speke's animal. They at the same time have a 

 nearer resemblance to those of A. Smith's typical South-African spe- 

 cimen of Kobus elHpsij)rymnus, now in the British Museum, than to 

 the Kobus sing -sing in the same collection. The latter male animal. 



