Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/836

 820 GIRAFFE and terminating in a ring of bristly hairs at the summit, surrounding a bare apex. These bris- tles, according to some naturalists, want only the gluten to cement them into true horns, and embody the animal in the systematic arrange- ment of the camcornia. The giraffe is assimi- lated to the camel by the length of its neck, by the callosities on its chest and knees, and by its having no false hoofs ; to the other rumi- nants by the structure of its stomach and di- gestive organs generally, and by its non-pos- session of the reticulated water bag. To the antelopes it is assimilated by the fact that the coils of its colon are spiral, and that its caecum is simple. With the solid-horned deer, which shed and renew those appendages annually, it is connected by the assumed fact of its having no gall bladder. In its dental system, the gi- raffe offers the same formula with the deer, goat, antelope, sheep, and ox, namely: inci- sors - canines molars i = 32. The nos- Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). trils are provided with cutaneous sphincter muscles, and can be shut at will like the eyes. The eyes are beautiful, extremely large, soft and brilliant, and are so placed that the animal can see much of what is passing on all sides and even behind it. Thus it is approached with the great- est difficulty ; and if surprised or run down, it can direct the rapid storm of kicks by which it defends itself in the most accurate manner. Its horny hoofs are divided, and it wants the two small lateral toes generally seen in the true ruminants, from which this again distinguishes it. The immense length of its legs and height at the withers, raising the insertion of the neck so far from the ground that the animal can graze on an even surface only with difficulty and by straddling the fore legs wide apart, enables it to feed on what it prefers as food, the delicate and succulent leaves and twigs of the tallest trees, particularly those of a spe- cies of acacia peculiar to the districts which it inhabits. The peculiar conformation of the tongue, which is furnished with rough papillse capable of voluntary erection, enables it to gather and collect into little bundles the soft leaves which it likes. Its speed, which is far from contemptible, is shown by the statement of hunters who have pursued it, particularly Oapt. Gordon Gumming ; all of whom testify that, being timid and wary, and always secu- ring a good start, it is not easily overtaken, except by a swift horse. Its paces are a trot, a pace with both legs moved on the same side, and a regular gallop, by changing from one to the other of which, with no apparent diminu- tion of its speed, it can keep up a considerable rate of going for a long continued time and distance. Le Yaillant, the first well informed modern zoologist who saw it in a state of na- ture, asserts that he " knows beyond a doubt that by its kicking it often tires out, discourages, and even beats off the lion." The same fact is shown by Capt. Gumming. Of the adaptation of the giraffe to the country and scenery he inhabits, this observant naturalist and sports- man speaks as follows : " I have often traced a remarkable resemblance between the animal and the general appearance of the locality in which it is found. . . . And as the giraffe is invariably met with among venerable forests, where innumerable blasted and weather-beaten trunks and stems occur, I have been repeatedly in doubt as to the presence of a troop of them, until I had recourse to my spy -glass ; and on referring the case to my savage attendants, I have known even their optics to fail at one time mistaking the dilapidated trunks for cam- elopards, and again confounding real camelo- pards with those aged veterans of the forest." This animal when full-grown sometimes attains a height of 15, 16, and even 17 ft. It was for- merly believed almost universally that the fore legs are much longer than the hinder ones, but in fact, taking the legs only from the setting on, the hind legs are the longer by about one inch. The great development and height of the withers, to give a proper base to the long neck and towering head, have been the cause of this error. The color of the giraffe varies, both in its intensity and in the mode of its variegation. The head is generally of a uniform reddish brown ; the neck, back, and sides, outside of the shoulders and thighs, are varied with large tessellated, dull, rust-colored marks of a square form, with white narrow divisions; on the sides the marks are less regular ; the belly and legs are whitish, faintly spotted ; the part of the tail next to the body is covered with short, smooth hair; its trunk is very slender, and toward the end the hairs are very long, black, and coarse, and form a great tuft hanging far beyond the tip of the tail. The coloring of the female is less vivid than that of the male ; she is somewhat smaller, and has the peculiar protuberance of the frontal bone between the eyes, which by some writers has been called a