which is thus entitled to rank as _the_
antelope. It follows that the subfamily typified by this species, in
which are included the gazelles, is the one to which alone the term
antelopes should be applied if it were employed in a restricted and
definable sense.

Although most people have a general vague idea of what constitutes an
"antelope," yet the group of animals thus designated is one that does
not admit of accurate limitations or definition. Some, for instance, may
consider that the chamois and the so-called white goat of the Rocky
Mountains are entitled to be included in the group; but this is not the
view held by the authors of the _Book of Antelopes_ referred to below;
and, as a matter of fact, the term is only a vague designation for a
number of more or less distinct groups of hollow-horned ruminants which
do not come under the designation of cattle, sheep or goats; and in
reality there ought to be a distinct English group-name for each
subfamily into which "antelopes" are subdivided.

The great majority of antelopes, exclusive of the doubtful chamois group
(which, however, will be included in the present article), are African,
although the gazelles are to a considerable extent an Asiatic group.
They include ruminants varying in size from a hare to an ox; and
comprise about 150 species, although this number is subject to
considerable variation according to personal views as to the limitations
of species and races. No true antelopes are American, the prongbuck
(_Antilocapra_), which is commonly called "antelope" in the United
States, representing a distinct group; while, as already mentioned, the
Rocky Mountain or white goat stands on the borderland between antelopes
and goats.

The first group, or _Tragelaphinae_, is represented by the African
elands (_Taurotragus_), bongo (_Boocercus_), kudus (_Strepsiceros_) and
bushbucks or harnessed antelopes (_Tragelaphus_), and the Indian nilgai
(_Boselaphus_). Except in the bongo and elands, horns are present only
in the males, and these are angulated and generally spirally twisted,
and without rings. The muzzle is naked, small glands are present on the
face below the eyes, and the tail is comparatively long. The colours are
often brilliant; white spots and stripes being prevalent. The harnessed
antelopes, or bushbucks, are closely allied to the kudus, from which
they chiefly differ by the spiral formed by the horns generally having
fewer turns. They include some of