112 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



which belong to the mammalian class, seven of the vertebrs, or 

 small bones of which the spine is made up, are found in the neck. 

 To judge by appearances, one would imagine that in the neck of 

 the giraffe there must be many more than this. Yet such is not 

 the case, for there are still seven vertebrae only. But these are all 

 greatly prolonged, and so the length of the neck is attained. 



The height of the giraffe is of great assistance to it in pro- 

 curing food, for it feeds almost entirely upon the leaves of certain 

 trees, very few of ^\■hich put forth foliage near the ground. In 

 order to enable it to pluck the leaves, its tongue is formed in 

 a very singular manner. It has great prehensile power, like the 

 tail of a spider monkey, and can be coiled round the stem of a 

 branch wliich its owner desires to strip; and it can be lengthened 

 at will. So greatly, indeed, can a giraffe attenuate its tongue, 

 that it is said that it could pass that organ into the barrel of 

 an ordinary latch-key. 



The girafie, as might be expected, does not find it at all easy 

 to graze upon low-growing herbage, and only does so when it 

 cannot obtain its ordinary food. In order to bring its head down 

 to the level of the ground, it is obliged to separate its forelegs as 

 widely as possible, and to bend down its long neck between them. 



On the head of the giraffe are two prominences, which are often 

 mistaken for horns. They remind one comically of common hat- 

 pegs. No one has suggested that they are of any service to the 

 animal. These are situated between the ears. They are not in 

 reality horns, however, but simply bony projections from the skull, 

 not unlike those upon which the hollow horns of cattle and ante- 

 lopes are set. They are covered with skin, and are ornamented by 

 a tuft of long hair. 



The giraffe is not quite so swift of foot as one might imagine from 

 the length of its legs. It can travel, however, with no little speed, 

 and on rocky and broken ground can easily outdistance a horse. 



The traveller who first brought examples of the animal to 

 England from Africa, in which continent it is alone found, speaks 

 of it in these words: — "The first run of the giraffe is exceedingly 

 rapid. The swiftest horse, if unaccustomed to the desert, could not 

 come up with it except with extreme difficulty. If the giraffe 



