The book of antelopes, vol. 2 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 2 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
Gray, who likewise adopted the specific name “_sing-sing_” for
this Antelope, appears first to have published a description of it
under that name in the letterpress of the ‘Knowsley Menagerie’ in
1850, and in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society for the same
year. In the meanwhile, however, the name _Antilope unctuosa_
had been bestowed upon it by Laurillard, in the first volume of the
‘Dictionnaire Universelle d’Histoire Naturelle,’ published in 1847,
from a specimen living in the Menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes.
There seems no doubt, therefore, that we ought to adopt Laurillard’s
name for this Antelope, bestowed upon it because of its somewhat greasy
fur.
Further confusion in its synonymy was caused from its being supposed by
Gray and by many subsequent authors, nearly up to the present time, to
be identical with the Defassa Antelope of Eastern Africa.
Gray, who probably derived his information from Whitfield, Lord Derby’s
collector, tells us that this animal is called “Sing-sing” by the
negroes of the Gambia, who do not think their flocks of cattle will be
healthy or fruitful unless they have a tame Sing-sing in their company.
The English on the Gambia are said to call it the “Jackass Deer,”
and its flesh, we are told, is very strong, unpleasant, and scarcely
palatable. Little, we regret to say, if anything, has been added to
our knowledge of the habits of the Sing-sing in a state of nature and
its range since the publication of Gray’s notes. None of the recent
explorers of the western districts of Africa appear to have met with
it, so that we may presume that its proper home is Senegal and the
Gambia.
In captivity, however, singularly enough, the Sing-sing, as it is
habitually called, is by no means scarce, and specimens of it may
usually be found in the larger Zoological Gardens of the Continent. In
several of these, for example at Antwerp and Berlin, and we believe in
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, the Sing-sing has bred and produced
young. In our own Zoological Gardens, as has been already stated, the
first specimen of the Sing-sing was received in 1831 or 1832, but, so
far as we can ascertain from reference to the Society’s books, no other
examples were obtained until 1867 and 1868, in which years two females
of this species were added to the collection. In December 1885 an adult
male was obtained, and in November 1886 an adult pair was received in
exchange from the Jardin des Plantes, Paris.
Our illustration of the Sing-sing (Plate XXXIII.) has been prepared by
Mr. Smit from the last-named pair, the female of which is still living
in the Menagerie.
_August, 1896._
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. XXXIV.
_J. Smith del & lith._ _Hanhart imp._
Crawshay’s Waterbuck
COBUS CRAWSHAYI
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
60. CRAWSHAY’S WATERBUCK.
COBUS CRAWSHAYI, SCL.
[PLATE XXXIV.]
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