906 MR. R. I. POCOCK ON THE [Juue 14, 



Genus Gorgon Gray. 



Gorgon taurinus Buich. 



(The Brindled Gnu or Blue Wildebeest.) 



Living examples of this species have the preorbital gland like 

 that of Connochcetes gnu ; and in a dried skin, lent to me by 

 Mr. E. Gerrard, 1 found the front and hind feet constructed 

 exactly as in that species. One pair of teats only is visible in a 

 pregnant female now living in the Gardens. 



Gi-ay long ago placed the White-tailed and the Brindled Gnus 

 in distinct genera ; and it was evidently the opinion of 

 Messrs. Sclater and Thomas that thei-e was a gi'eat deal to be 

 said in favour of this view, although they did not give it 

 practical expression in their ' Book of Antelopes.' Judged by 

 modern standai-ds it appears to ine that the well-known dif- 

 ferences between the two are quite worthy of geneiic recognition. 

 There can be no evasion of this conclusion if specific value be 

 given, as is commonly done, to the dii3ex-ences between the 

 Brindled and White-bearded Gnus. The White-tailed Gnu is a 

 veiy difterently built animal from the two just mentioned. The 

 back is not sloped as in the rest of the Bubalina?, but horizontal, 

 and the hind-quarters are markedly elevated on account of the 

 prominence of the summits of the iliac bones. Other external 

 features separating this species from the Brindled Gnu and from 

 its ally, the White-bearded Gnu {G. albo-jubains), are well known, 

 and are in my opinion equivalent to those separating Buhalis 

 and Damaliscus. 



Using the preorbital glands as a basis, the genera of Bubalinaj 

 may be distinguished as follows : — 



a. Pveorbit.tl gland marked with a central orifice leading into a 

 hair-lined tube, which dips into the substance of the gland. 

 h. Sur.'"ace of the preorbital gland naked or nearlj- so. 



Damaliscus and Subalis Uchtensteini. 

 h'. Surface of the preorbital gland thickly and uniformly covered 



with long hair BubaJis. 



a'. Preorbital ghvnd without any central orifice and tube, its free 

 surface consisting of an area of skin sparsely covered with 

 hairs Connoch(etes and Gordon. 



Since Lichtenstein's Hartebeest, hitherto referred to the genus 

 Buhalis, is known to depart from the other species of that genus 

 in the structure of its lioriis aiul also in the nakeilness of the 

 preorbital gland, it should perhaps be referretl to a distinct genus. 

 In diagnosing the genera, in this table, no use has been made 

 of the diflVrences recorded in the structui-e of the pedal glands 

 of Connochcetes gnu, Buhalis caama, and Damaliscus korrigicm, 

 striking tliough they be, because they have only been noted in a 

 single species of each of the genera. 



The structure of the feet and the presence of pedal glands 

 only on those of the anterior pair l)ear out the evidence from 

 other .sources that the Gnus and Hartebeests form a natur a 



