29 SEPTEMBER 1877, Page 17

THE CAMELOPARD.

[To TRH EDITOR OF l'aa "SPEOTATOE.1 Sin,—The ladies of my family are rejoicing to-day in my dis- comfiture on a question of philology. They point triumphantly to the Spectator on "Africa Translated,'" and tell me that a giraffe is a "camel-leopard," after all. But I am unconvinced ; I believe still that ancient natural history described one animal as a " lion-pard " and another as a " camel-pard," and that a giraffe is a "camelo-pard" (xat.too-TrIcp&oxrc), and not either a " cameleopard" or a "camel-leopard." (Cf. Spectator, p.1172, [No doubt our correspondent is right, but ussge has popular- ised the mistake till it is no longer regarded as being testimony to a false etymology.—En. Spectator.]