122 Animal Life 
probably obtained further south; and in the 
female of the Cape form now living in the 
Society's Gardens the departure from the 
true blotched type is more decidedly marked. 
This may be taken to indicate a transition 
towards the eastern races of the species as 
we pass from the Cape Colony (the typical 
habitat of the southern race) to the more 
northern districts where G. c. capensis now 
alone survives. Comparing Mr. de Winton’s 
figure of the Kalahari giraffe with the one 
here given, it will be seen that in the former 
the spotted area of the face is confined to 
a small area above and in front of the ear 
and does not extend in advance of the anterior 
border of the eye. 
“ Accordingly it appears that the Angola 
eiraffe differs from the typical form of 
G. c. capensis by its lighter ground-colour, 
the more net-like type of coloration, the 
browner spots, and the greater extent to 
which the spots extend on to the sides of 
the face. Although it is quite probable that 
future researches may indicate the existence 
of a more or less complete transition between 
them, these differences justify, I think, the 
racial separation of the Angola from the 
Cape giraffe, and I accordingly propose 
to designate the former by the name of 
Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis, making 
Mr. Rothschild’s specimen the type. 
“Tt is somewhat curious to reflect that it is 
but a few years ago since only. one form of 
civaffe was recognised by naturalists. Now 
we have two well-defined species, and some 
half-dozen local races of the second of the 
two, while if can scarcely be doubted that 
others remain to be discovered. I may add 
that I am informed by his Excellency the 
Secretary of the Interior for the Congo Free 
State that the giraffe in the Tervueren 
Museum was forwarded from the neighbour- 
hood of Lake Tanganyika, but is believed 
to have been obtained from the plains of 
Katanga, in the southern extremity of the 
Congo State. 
~“T have recently been informed by Mr. 
Oscar Neumann that the male giraffe in the 
British Museum cannot be either schillingsi 
or tippelskirchi, in the latter of which the 
spots are very strongly stellate; I therefore 
propose to call it G. camelopardalis rothschilds. 
Its distinctive features are pointed out in the 
original article, but it may be added that the 
spots of the bulls are blackish at an early 
age. The female, Mr. Neumann thinks, may 
be schillingsi, tippelskircht being at present 
unrepresented in this country.” 
07D 
A very distinct advance in our knowledge of 
The White the object and meaning of the 
Rump-Patch coloration of maminals has been 
of Mammals. yode in an article communi- 
cated by Mr. R. J. Pocock, of the British 
Museum, to “Nature” of August 13th. It is 
now well ascertained, as has been already 
explained in our columns, that the light 
colour of the under-parts of so many 
mammals is developed for the purpose of 
counteracting the dark shade thrown by the 
body when standing in full sunlight. On 
the other hand, the white or light-coloured 
patches which appear on the hind-quarters 
of so many ungulates have been almost 
universally regarded as ‘“ recognition-marks,” 
designed to aid the members of a herd in 
following their leaders when in flight. And 
that these rump-patches do actually serve 
for this purpose, at any rate in the case 
of species, like the Japanese deer and the 
American prongbuck, in which the hairs 
are capable of expansion and erection into 
large chrysanthemuim-lke bunches, is _per- 
fectly evident. But Mr. Pocock has shown 
that when animals like the true quagga, 
and Burchell’s race of the bonte-quagga, 
or the kiang, are lyimg in the character- 
istic ungulate manner, the white of the 
rump comes into line with that of the 
under-parts, and thus evidently aids in 
rendering them inconspicuous while in this 
posture. The fact is so simple and so 
evident when pointed out that it seems a 
marvel if was never noticed before. Nor is 
this all. In his chapter on protective 
coloration published in ‘“‘ Mostly Mammals,” 
Mr. Lydekker stated that it was difficult 
to discover the reason why the quagga 
and Burchell’s race of the bonte-quagega 
showed a tendency to lose the stripes on 
the hind-quarters, especially the lower part 
of the same, and to develop a light area 
