. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Heredity; Human beings; Natural selection. CHAP. XVII.] MAMMALS—LAW OF BATTLE. 531 he swings his head to either side, ahnost upside down, with mch force, that I have seen a hard plank deeply indented by a single blow. With antelopes it is sometimes difficult to imagine how they can possibly use their curiously shaped horns ; thus the spring- boc {Ant. euchore) has rather short upright horns, with the ")harp points bent inward almost at right angles, so as to face jach other ; Mr. Bartlett does not know how they are used, b
. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. Evolution; Heredity; Human beings; Natural selection. CHAP. XVII.] MAMMALS—LAW OF BATTLE. 531 he swings his head to either side, ahnost upside down, with mch force, that I have seen a hard plank deeply indented by a single blow. With antelopes it is sometimes difficult to imagine how they can possibly use their curiously shaped horns ; thus the spring- boc {Ant. euchore) has rather short upright horns, with the ")harp points bent inward almost at right angles, so as to face jach other ; Mr. Bartlett does not know how they are used, but suggests that they would inflict a fearful wound down each side of the face of an antagonist. The slightly curved horns of the Oryx leucoryx (fig. 63) are directed backward, and are of such length that their points reach beyond the middle of the back, over which they extend in almost parallel lines. Thus they. Fig. 63. —Oryx leucoryx, male (from the Knowsley Menagerie). ieem singularly ill-fitted for fighting; but Mr. Bartlett informs me that when two of these animals prepare for battle, they kneel down, with their heads between their forelegs, and in this attitude the horns stand nearly parallel and close to the ground, with the points directed forward and a little upward. The combatants then gradually approach each other, and each endeavors to get the upturned points under the body of the other ; if one succeeds in doing this, he suddenly springs up, throwing up his head at the same time, and can thus wound or perhaps even transfix his antagonist. ^ Both animals always kneel down, so as to guard as far as possible against this manoeuvre. It has been recorded that one of these antelopes has used his horns with effect even against a lion ; yet from being forced to place his head between the forelegs ia order. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjecthumanbeings, bookyear
