45 
no dark stripe along the middle of the back and nape of the neck, and 
only a faint longitudinal stripe on each side between the flanks and belly ; 
mane of neck brown. Legs whitish in tint, clouded in front with brown, 
which spreads downwards from the shoulders and thighs. Hairs along 
the spine reversed from rump. 
Horns long, with a bold crescentic backward curvature ; attaining a length 
of nearly 40 inches. 
A skull offers the following measurements :—Basal length 13 inches, 
muzzle to orbit 9, greatest width 5°75. 
Female similar to the male, but horns thinner. 
Hab. Interior of North Africa from Dongola to Senegal. 
Whatever the Oryx of Aristotle, Pliny, and other ancient writers may 
have been (which has been a subject of much discussion), there can be little 
doubt that the Oryx of Oppian, commemorated in his celebrated poem on 
the Chase, was based on an Antelope of this group. In the Latin translation 
of Oppian’s work it is described as a beast much dreaded by its fellow 
creatures :— 
“In densis etiam szevissima bestia sylvis 
Trux stabulatur Oryx, odium commune ferarum 
Precipuusque timor. Cornu gerit acre, colorem 
Lactis habet verni: facies est candida, sole 
In vultu male picea caligine nigrant : 
Turgescit duplex crassa pinguedine dorsum. 
Cornua sublimes excelsa feruntur in auras, 
In quibus est mucro fuscus, lethalis et acer.” 
The classical term ‘“‘ Oryx” was first introduced into scientific literature by 
Pallas in his memoir on the genus Antilope published in 1767. But here 
he grossly misapplied the: term “ Oryx” to the Eland, which he called 
Antilope oryz. In his second memoir on the same subject, however (1777), 
Pallas corrected this unfortunate error, and transferred Oryx to the Gemsbok 
of the Cape, to which it was certainly much better applicable. 
In 1816 De Blainville, when subdividing the Auntelopes, first adopted 
Oryx as a-generic term, and made the Antilope oryx of Pallas (that is, Oryx 
gazella) its type. The generic name of the present species was thus settled, 
but before we can arrive at its proper specific name some further explanation 
is necessary. 
