404 ON GEORGE THE FOURTH'S GIRAFFE. [Apr. 28, 



inches in less than two years"*. In 1854 the true date Avas 

 again indicated : 



" The giraffe sent to the French menagerie did well ; that presented at the same 

 time to George IV. was the shortest and weakest. [The Consuls of each nation drew 

 lots for the choice. | She was never in good health, and had been ronghly treated, 

 and though she had grown eighteen inches up to June 1829, she sank gradually and 

 died in the autumn of that year" f. 



By 1879 the correct date was given by Dr. Wilhelm Strieker : 



" Ein zweites nach London bestimmtes Exemplar traf im August 1827 anderthalb 

 Jahre alt, daselbst ein, verendete aber schon im Oktober 1829 ebenfalls an Geleuk- 

 krankheit wahrscheinlich, weil es in Afrika auf weite Strecken geknebelt auf deni 

 Rucken von Kameelen transportiert worden war " J. 



Major Fortune Nott stated that the Giraffe " died in 1829 " § ; 

 and while collecting material for my book on the history of the 

 Society I was so fortunate as to meet with evidence that enabled 

 me to fix the exact date of the animal's death. 



A paragraph in the ' Times' of Oct. 19, 1829, taken from the 

 ' Windsor Express ' of Oct, 17, puts the actual date beyond doubt. 

 It runs thus : — 



" Messrs. Gould and Tomkins, of the Zoological Gardens, are now dissecting the 

 giraffe which expired on Sunday last [Oct. 11]. We understand that when the skin 

 is stuffed His Majesty intends making it a present to the Zoological Society." 



So that the Giraffe lived exactly two }-ears and two months in 

 this comitry, having been landed in London on August 11, 1827. 



At the meeting of Council held on August 28, 1830, Lord 

 Aiickland, President of the Society, submitted " an ofier by 

 Sir William Freemantle of the skin and skeleton of the girafi'e 

 that lately died at Windsor." It was resolved that the Secretary 

 be requested to infoi'm Sir W. Freemantle that they thankfully 

 accept the same, and will also bear the charges of preserving and 

 setting np the animal. In the second edition (1838) of the 

 'Catalogue of Mammalia in the Society's Museum,' the animal is 

 entered as being " presented by His Majesty William lY." 



Another erroi- with regard to the animal is that it was 

 well known to the people of the metropolis — a popular favourite. 

 The writer of the article in the ' Zoological Magazine,' previously 

 i-ef erred to, stated that, owing to the distance from town at 

 which this animal Avas kept and the state of confinement which 

 its weakly condition rendered indispensable during the latter part, 

 of its existence, the living Girafte was seen in this country by 

 comparatively few individuals. 



In the paper by Mr. Lydekker already cited, the author, in 

 describing a painting by R. B. Davis, then in the Royal Collection 

 at Windsor, having on the back the note " Portrait of Girafie 

 belonging to His Majesty "||, suggested that the artist took "a. 



* ' Zoological Magazine,' i. p. 3. 



t ' English Cyclopedia ' (Nat. Hist.), ii. col. 1028. 



X 'Geschichte der Menagerien,' S. 25. 



§ ' Wild Animals Photog-raphed and Described,' p. 225. 



II P. Z.S. 1904, ii. p. 342'" (text-figure). 



