The neck of the Giraffe is longer than that of any other living animal, notwithstanding which it conforms to what, on account of its almost constant applicability, may be termed a law, namely, that there are but seven vertebræ which go to form the neck of a mammalian animal. In this animal, such being the case, each vertebra is very long, which makes the neck correspondingly awkward and inflexible; so that when the head is much carried to the side, the conformation and enumeration of the bones in the cervical region is not a matter of any difficulty. The Giraffe is a native of Africa south of the Sahara. Most of the specimens which reach Europe in a living state are brought from Nubia and the north-east of the continent generally. The adult male attains a height of sixteen feet, the female rarely exceeding fourteen feet. They live and have bred well in captivity, although, as may be readily imagined, they are most delicate, and require much special care, particularly to prevent the joints of their lengthy limbs from being injured. M. Thibaut, who, in 1836, obtained the first specimen of the Giraffe alive for the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, tells us that “the first run of the Giraffe is exceedingly rapid. The swiftest Horse, if unaccustomed to the desert, could not come up with it unless with extreme difficulty. The Arabs accustom their coursers to hunger and to fatigue; milk generally serves them for food, and gives them power to continue their exertions during a very long run. If a Giraffe reaches a mountain, it passes the height with rapidity; its feet, which are like [not exactly in structure] those of the Goat, endow it with the dexterity of that animal; it bounds over ravines with incredible power; Horses cannot, in such situations, compete with it.” “The Giraffe eats with great delicacy, and takes its food leaf by leaf, collecting them from the trees by means of its long tongue. It rejects the thorns, and in this respect differs from the Camel.... It is extremely fond of society, and is very sensible. I have observed one of them shed tears when it no longer saw its companions or the persons who were in the habit of attending it.”