Descriptions' of Museum Specimens 65 



THE HORNS OF A GNU. 



The Gnu's horns are alike in both species and may be known 

 at a glance by their hook-like curves. They pass outwards and 

 downwards and then suddenly curve upwards and forwards. 

 They resemble those of buffaloes and perhaps most closely 

 those of the American bison. They are never very large, and 

 always black. They are of fibrous structure and of large girth 

 at their bases, emulating those of the buffaloes. The Gnu 

 in some of its features resembles a little horse, possessing a 

 mane and having its face, tail, and hindquarters much like 

 those of a pony. It has, however, a cleft hoof and a beard 

 which, as well as its horns, distinguish it from the horse family. 



One of the gnus has a brindled neck and forequarters, pale 

 streaks on a dark ground, and a black and tufted tail ; another 

 has a white tail covered with long hair from its base, and 

 shows no brindling. The latter has an almost straight back, 

 whilst the former stands higher in its forequarters like the 

 bison. The horns of the brindled black-tailed gnu do not 

 pass forwards nearly so much as those of the other. 



All the Gnus are South African and would appear to bear 

 the same relation to the buffaloes of that continent that the 

 North American bison does to the American buffalo. 



They are active but rather awkward animals, and their 

 self-important airs are sometimes amusing. 



THE SKULL OF THE DUGONG, OR HALICORE. 



This animal is allied to the Manati, both belonging to 

 the order Sivenia. They are water-living mammals. The 

 dugong occurs only in Eastern and Australian seas, the 

 manati on the coasts of South America and Africa. The 

 grotesquely misshapen aspect of the skull of the dugong is due 

 to the enormous development of the bones in its upper jaw 

 which carry the cutting teeth (premaxillary bones and incisor 

 teeth), and its clumsy lower jaw. The former bear a tusk 

 an the male, which in the female is pressnt but is never cut. 

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