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ribbed, and generally of medium length, about the length of the head, but 
occasionally considerably longer. With the exception of their tips they are 
curved backwards, so as to be convex forwards below, while their ends are 
commonly more or less recurved forwards or upwards. ‘The degrees of 
curvature seem to be fairly constant within the species, and to afford very 
fair specific characters. On the other hand, in the female the horns are 
slender, straighter, and shorter than in the male, very variable in direction, 
and as a rule showing little of the characteristic curvature peculiar to the 
male of each species, although there is a certain correspondence between the 
lengths of the horns in the two sexes. 
Range of the Genus. Northern and Eastern Africa, and Western and 
Central Asia to Mongolia and British India. 
The genus Gazella contains the great majority of the members of the 
present subfamily, and forms a very natural and easily defined group. All 
the species are lightly built and delicate animals, and are among the best 
known of all the Antelopes, on account of their beauty and the fact that they 
are common in confinement, so that every zoological garden is always well 
provided with examples of them. In the Zoological Society’s Gardens at the 
present time no less than ten species are represented. 
The genus Gazella was always a favourite one with Sir Victor Brooke, who 
devoted much time to its elucidation, and published in 1873 a monograph of 
it, which up to the present time has been the standard work on the subject. 
From this monograph we venture to quote the following paragraphs which 
explain the nomenclature of the characteristic markings of the Gazelles: 
they also give an indication of the difficulties to be met with in working out 
a genus which, while the largest contained in the present work, is remarkable 
for the close resemblance of the different species to one another and for the 
absence of characters which will enable them to be readily separated :— 
“For the sake of convenience, and the avoidance of constant repetition, and also to 
throw into relief the traces of genetic affinity afforded by coloration, I will describe the 
typical ground-plan which may be seen underlying each variation, the uniformity of the 
arrangement of the more salient and characteristic markings (where they appear) 
throughout the group clearly showing the existence of such a plan. ‘To each of these 
more prominent features, indicating what may be provisionally called generic coloration, 
I will apply a definite name, which I shall make use of in the following descriptions. 
