ngs; the common and
fatal disease which attacks almost all tropical animals in this climate.

GIRAFFES.

Some years ago, giraffes were thought to be fabulous animals; and the
ill-treated Le Vaillant was supposed to have _invented_ them, in spite
of the description which the Romans left of them. He was a little
poetical in his style of writing, which John Bull is not fond of when
facts are narrated, so John Bull begged to doubt his assertions. He
lived, however, to see his veracity established, which the kind old man,
a year or two before his death, assured me was a great happiness to him.
Lord Caledon brought a skin home from the Cape, and badly as it was
stuffed, it began to dawn on the minds of the Europeans, that such an
animal really existed. Then a live one was brought to Paris, and another
to His Majesty George the Fourth, who petted his till it died. Now there
are several living in our Zoological Gardens; some of whom were born in
the Menagerie.

The great peculiarity of the giraffes lies in possessing a very short
body, and very long legs; which formation involves a multitude of
awkward movements; for instance, when they walk fast there is a jerking
in the pace, as if it were not easy to them; and when they gallop, the
hind feet often project beyond the fore feet. Their very long neck is
not arched, but bends obliquely from the shoulders, so that when they
wish to drink from the ground, they are obliged to hold their fore legs
very widely apart. They look best when going slowly, at which time their
step is very stately, and their beautiful head is borne loftily above
other animals; they have two short, bony horns covered with skin, and a
prominence of bone on the top of the forehead; they have large, full
eyes, with which, owing to their convex form, they can see immense
distances in all directions; their ears are long and flexible, and they
have a long, black, prehensile tongue; with this they drag down the
branches of the trees on which they browse. Their upper lip is very
flexible and projects over the under, which greatly assists them in
procuring their food; their tail is long, and has a tuft at the end;
their skin is very glossy, is covered with large angular spots, and is
often an inch and a half thick. Their great enemy is the lion, who
springs upon them when they are drinking, and the affrighted giraffes
start with all the speed of a swift courser, their enemy on their back,
nor stop till the