The Descent of Man

[Fig. 63. Oryx leucoryx, male (from the Knowsley
Menagerie).]
With antelopes it is sometimes difficult to imagine
how they can possibly use their curiouslyshaped
horns; thus the springboc (Ant. euchore)
has rather short upright horns, with the
sharp points bent inwards almost at right angles,
so as to face each 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 slightlycurved
horns of the Oryx leucoryx (Fig. 63) are
directed backwards, 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 seem singularly ill-fitted for
fighting; but Mr. Bartlett informs me that when
two of these animals prepare for battle, they
kneel down, with their beads between their
fore legs, and in this attitude the horns stand
nearly parallel and close to the ground, with