AFRICA. 401 
The account given by Hellodorus Is far 
from being fo corre£l. If we believe that he 
fpeaks of a giraffe, v^^hen he fays its head 
is only double the fize of that of the oftrlch, 
we muft conclude that things have changed 
much fince, and that, in the lapfe of time. 
Nature has made either the one or the other 
of thefe animals fuffer great variations. 
The horns forming part of the cranium, as 
I have already faid, can never fall off. They 
are not folid like thofe of the ftag, nor com- 
pofed of any fubftance analogous to thofe of 
the ox ; much lefs do they confift of hair 
united, as Buiion fuppofes. They are fimply 
of a bony calcareous fubftance, divided by a 
multitude of fmall pores like all bones, and 
are covered throughout their whole length 
with fhort coarfe hair, which has no refem- 
blance to the foft down that covers the young 
horns of roe-bucks or ftags. 
The figures of this animal, given in the 
works of BufFon and Vofmar, are in general 
defedive. Thefe authors have made the horns 
terminate in a point, which is contrary to the 
truth. Inftead of bringing the mane only to 
the fhoulders, they have prolonged it to the 
root of the tail i a miftake which, added to 
Vol, II. D d many 
