258 Tlie Progress of Zoology. 



tiful lyrate horns of the Kobus maria (Gray), a new antelope 

 from Central Africa, afford a fair sample of the beautiful pro- 

 portions and graceful outlines common to all horned animals in 

 a wild state ; and though no antelope from Central Africa 

 could be expected to prosper hi our climate, so as to form an 

 addition to the embellishments of an English park, the southern 

 regions of the same continent offer numerous species equally 

 beautiful for economic as well as decorative uses in this country. 

 (Fig. 1.) 



Another equally beautiful example is that of the Sable 

 Antelope, Aigocerus niger, recently added to the collection of 

 the Zoological Society from the mountainous region lying to 

 the north and east of Southern Africa. The graceful crescent- 

 like sweep of these horns, upwards of three feet in length, 

 would, doubtless, soon undergo such modifications as would 

 make an end of their beauty if the animals were reduced to 

 domestication, and a breed secured for market purposes. 

 (Kg. 2.) 



That we are not giving undue importance to this subject 

 may be determined any day in Smithfield market. The ten- 

 dency of breeding is to destroy horns altogether. Our best 

 breeds of sheep are now hornless. Many of the most esteemed 

 breeds of cattle are also hornless, and of those that still possess 

 those appendages, the slwvt horns are the most prized. In the 

 few forests that still shelter the deer in Britain, fine specimens 

 of horns are rare, and the " muckle Hart of Benniore," stalked 

 by the late Mr. Charles St. John, was probably the last of its 

 race for magnitude of frame and antlers. So the goat having 

 altered less than any of the animals of the homestead, because 

 less cared for than all the rest, retains his " crescented cornua" 

 in all the breeds except the Spanish, which is the most fertile, 

 the most improved according to agricultural standard, and the 

 most easily managed, because by loss of horns rendered harm- 

 less. Bucks of this breed do occasionally wear the proper sign 

 of Capricornus, but they are becoming more rare every day. 

 But Nature defends her types with some obstinacy, and rather 

 than part with them when the current of her aims is turned 

 aside by the inventions of man, she sometimes pursues an oppo- 

 site course, and in the case of horns the development is then 

 such as to indicate a stronger probability of extinction than 

 when horns are obliterated altogether. A curious example of 

 this is the Galla, or Sanga Ox of Abyssinia, of which Bruce 

 gave the first account, alleging that " the extraordinary size of 

 the horns proceeds from a disease that the cattle have in these 

 countries, of which they die, and is probably derived from 

 their pasture and climate. * * * * His value then lies 

 in his horns, for his body becomes emaciated and lank in 



