1897.] EXISTING FOBMS OF GIRAFFE. 275 



and capens'is in the Paris Museum, as these names have been 

 attributed to Greoffroy, but no published diagnoses of them can be 

 discovered. 



Swainson (1835, Greogr. Class. Anim. part i. p. 95) calls the 

 Northern Griraffe Camelopardalis antiquoruyn, and refers to the 

 characters given hy Eiippell as a foundation for this name. The 

 Griraffe of Southern Africa is referred to as 0. australis, but no 

 description is given, nor is there any reference to the published 

 plates, so that the name is a nomen nudum. A. Smith in his 

 'Report on the Expedition into the Interior of Africa 18.34,' 

 published in 1836, refers to the Griraffe of South Africa between 

 the Eiver Ka Grariep (Orange R.) and the Tropic of Capricorn as 

 Camelopardalis australis, S\v. ; but this cannot be called a diagnosis, 

 so this name also falls as a nomen nudum. 



Ogilbj, in his paper on the " Grenera of Euuiinantia" (P. Z. S. 

 1836, p. 134), under Camelopardalis, says ^- Duo species sunt C.cethio- 

 picus et C. capensis." Whence the former of these two names was 

 derived I am unable to make out, but there was ample excuse for the 

 author finding it necessary to provide fresh specific names for both 

 species, as almost all authors since Gmeliu had used LinniBus's 

 specific name as the generic name, and Giraffa, which was given 

 in the first place to the genus by Brisson (Regn. Anim., Dist. Quad, 

 et Cetac. 1762, p. 37), could not be used specifically. Unfortu- 

 nately Ogilby gives no diagnosis, and mentions no types for his 

 species, so his names again must fall as nomina nuda. In the 

 Transactions of this Society, 1838, Owen points out certain 

 characters in the cranium of the " Cape Giraffe " as distinguishing 

 it from the " Nubian Giraffe," and, although he had only young 

 specimens of the latter form, seems thoroughly to have recognized 

 the validity of the two species, but introduces no Latin names. 

 Lesson (Nouv. Tabl. Regne Animal, 1842, p. 168) gives " 1278, 

 Camelopardalis giraffa, Gmel., Xubie et Sennaar"; and " 1279. 

 Camelopardalis capensis. Cap de Bonne Esperance, la Giraffe Levaill. 

 Voy. pi. 8 & 9 " ; and so, in thus referring to a figure, must take the 

 credit of having first proposed a tenable name for the Cape form. 



Gray, in the ' List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collec- 

 tion of the British Museum,' 1843, p. 170, acknowledging but one 

 species, under Camelopardalis giraffa, Gmel., gives as synonyms 

 C. sennaarensis and C. capensis, Geoffr. : but, as shown above, these 

 names had never been published or the forms described by 

 Geoffroy. 



Sundevall in 1844, K. Vet.-Akad. Handl. Stockh. p. 174, gives : — 

 " Camelopardalis giraffa, Schreb., unica species, a,, in Africa 

 meridionali, extra tropicum, colore paulo ohscurior. — /3. JEthiopica, 

 e Senruiar, alba, fulvo-maeulata, pilis hrevissimis." 



Gray, 1852, Cat. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 180, gives one species, 

 " Giraffa camelopardalis, L., with one variety ('paler'), C. giraffa 

 j3. cethiopica, Sundevall." It will be noticed that Gray here 

 revives the original generic name and also uses the proper specific 

 name given by Linnaeus ; and it seems quite unaccountable how 



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