120 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

or camelopard, as the chamois is not met with so far south
as Egypt and Palestine, and the Jews had probably many
opportunities of becoming acquainted with the giraffe while
in Egypt, as had also the writers of the Septuagint version,
for they resided also in that country.

This remarkable animal, which in general structure is
very nearly allied to the deer tribe, has also points of resem-
blance with the antelope and camel. “ If height alone con-
stituted precedency among quadrupeds, the giraffe, as Le
Vaillant justly observes, must hold the first rank. The
enormous apparent length of the fore legs, and its long
tapering neck, must strike every one at the first glance;
while its small and elevated head, its large and brilliant
eye, its mild aspect, and the whole conéour of the animal,
differing from all others, cannot fail to excite admiration ;
for notwithstanding the unusual proportions of the limbs,
its general form is not merely elegant, but highly pic-
turesque*.””

The giraffe measures from fourteen to seventeen feet to
the top of the head, the females being smaller; at first sight
the fore legs appear nearly twice the length of the hind, but
this arises from the great height of the shoulders; the tail

* Maunder’s Treasury.