ASSF.T 
found in Europe. The form of its body re- 
sembles the domestic goat, but its horns 
are those of an antelope, being marked by 
very prominent rings, with furrows be- 
tween; they are a foot long, the ends 
smooth, of a pale-yellow colour, almost 
transparent. The male is covered with 
rough hair, like the he-goat, and has a 
strong scent ; the female is smoother, horn- 
less, and timid. The general colour is a 
dirty white. When they are attacked by 
wolves or dogs, the males stand round the 
females, forming a circle, with their heads 
towards the enemy, in which posture they 
defend their charge. Their common pace 
is a trot, when they go faster, it is by leaps ; 
and are swifter than roe-bucks. When they 
feed, they are obliged to go backward, ow- 
ing to the length of the upper lip, which 
they lift up. Their skin is soft, and excel- 
lent for gloves, belts, &c. They are found 
in flocks from six to ten thousand, on the 
banks of the Tanais and Boristhenes. The 
young are easily tamed, and will readily re- 
turn to their master, when turned out on 
the desert. 
The Nilgau, or White footed Antelope, — 
is a large and beautiful species, known only 
within the space of a few years past. Its 
height is four feet one inch to the top of the 
shoulders, and its length, from the bottom 
of the neck to the base of the tail, four feet. 
The colour of the nilgau is a tine dark -grey 
or slate-colour, with a large spot of white 
beneath the throat, and two white bands 
or marks above each foot: the ears are 
large, white within, and edged with the 
same colour, and marked internally by two 
black stripes : along the top of the neck 
runs a slight mane of black hair, which is 
continued to some distance down the back, 
and on the breast is a much longer mane or 
hanging tuft of a similar colour : the tail is 
moderately long, and terminated by a tuft 
of black hair : the horns are short, pointed, 
smooth, triangular at their base, distant from 
each other, bent very slightly forwards, and 
of a blackish colour. The female resem- 
bles the male in general appearance, but is 
considerably smaller, of a pale brown co- 
lour, and is destitute of horns : the mane, 
pectoral tuft, and ears, resemble those of 
the male, and the feet are marked above 
the hoofs by three transverse bars of black 
and two of white. The nilgau is a native 
of the interior parts of India. According 
to Mr. Pennant, it abounded in the days of 
Aurengzebe between Delli and Labor, on 
the way to Cashmire, and was called nyl- 
ANT 
gau, or the blue or grey bull. It was one 
of the objects of the chace with that mighty 
monarch during his journey : they were in- 
closed by bis army of hunters within nets, 
which being drawn closer and closer, at 
length formed a small precinct, into which 
the king and his omratas and hunters enter- 
ed, and killed the nilgaus with arrows, 
spears, and musquets ; and that sometimes 
in such numbers, that Aurengzebe used to 
send quarters as presents to all his great 
people. The nilgau has of late years been 
often imported into Europe, and has bred 
in England. In confinement, it is generally 
pretty gentle, but is sometimes seized with 
tits of sudden caprice, when it will attack 
with great violence the objects of its dis- 
pleasure. When the males fight, they drop 
on their knees at some distance from each 
other, and gradually advance in that atti- 
tude, and at length make a spring at each 
other with their heads bent low. This ac- 
tion, however, is not peculiar to the nilgau, 
but is observed in many others of the ante- 
lope tribe. The nilgau is said to go with 
young about nine months, and to produce 
sometimes two at a birth : the young is of 
the colour of a fawn. 
Antelope Leueoryx, orWhite Antelope, — . 
is entirely milk-white, except the markings 
on the face and limbs. It is an inhabitant 
of an island in the Gulf of Bassora. See 
Plate Mammalia, fig. 1—6. 
ANTHEM, a church-song performed in 
cathedral service by choristers, who sing 
alternately. It was formerly used to denote 
both psalms and hymns, when sung in this 
manner. But at present, anthem is used 
in a more confined sense, being applied to 
certain passages taken out of the scrip- 
tures, and adapted to a particular solemnity. 
ANTHEMIS, in botany, chamomile, a 
genus of the Syngenesia Superfiua class and 
order. Receptacle chaffy ; seeds generally 
crowned with a slight border ; calyx he- 
mispherical, nearly equal ; florets of the 
ray more than five, oblong. There are two 
divisions of this genus, namely A. with a 
differently coloured or white ray ; and B. 
ray the colour of the disk or yellow : there 
are about forty species. 
ANTHER/E, among botanists, denote 
the little roundish or oblong bodies, on the 
tops of the stamina of plants. 
The anthera is the principal part of the 
male organ of generation in plants, an- 
swering to the glans penis in animals. It 
is tumid and hollow, containing a fine pow- 
der, called farina foecundans. 
