THE RUMINANT OEDEE. 245 



portraits and drawings of it were made, and the outbursts of 

 curiosity and admiration for it were endless. This Giraife from 

 Sennaar passed a long and peaceful existence in the Jardin des 

 Plantes, and died in 1845. 



Tribe of Hollow-horned Ruminants. — Ruminants with horns 

 which are covered with an elastic sheath, something like aggluti- 

 nated hair, may be divided into two groups. In the first, the 

 bony nucleus of the frontal prolongations has neither pores nor 

 cellules in texture ; whilst in the animals belonging to the second 

 group, the nucleus is pierced with cellules which communicate 

 with the frontal sinus. 



To the first group belong the Chamois, Gazelle, Saiga, Nyl-ghau, 

 Gnu, and Bubale. To the second group belong the Common 

 Goat, the Mouflon or Wild Sheep, the Sheep, and the Ox. 



Let us here consider the most remarkable species belonging to 

 the first division. These all come under the natural and homo- 

 geneous group formerly known by the name of Antelopes. It 

 comprehends about a hundred species, which live, for the most 

 part, in Africa. Thej^ are generally slender and lightly-made, 

 fleet in rimning, of a gentle and timid disposition ; they are 

 gregarious, and are particularly distinguishable by the different 

 shapes of their horns. 



We shall cursorily glance at the most remarkable genera 

 resulting from the division of the old general group of Ante- 

 lopes. 



Chamois {Rupicapra). — The chief characteristic of the Chamois 

 genus is constituted by the smooth horns which are placed 

 immediately above the orbits. These horns are almost upright, 

 with a backward tendency, and curved like a hook at the end. 

 The horns exist in both sexes, and are nearly the same size in 

 each. The Chamois has but two teats ; its tail is short, and it 

 has no beard. 



The European Chamois {R. Tragus) is about the size of a small 

 Goat. It is covered with two sorts of hair — one wooUy, very 

 abundant, and of a brownish colour ; the other silky, spare, and 

 brittle. Its coat is dark brown in winter and fawn-colour in 

 summer; its fine and intelligent head is of a pale yeUow, with 

 a brown stripe down the muzzle and round the eyes. Its horns 

 are black, small, short, smooth, and not quite rounded. 



