THE MUSK OX. 29 



Species II.— The Mash Ox. 

 Bos Moschatus GmeL 



Musk Ox: Peitn. Quad. i. 31. Ibid, Arct. Zool. 3 vol. i. 8. 



Musk Ox: Hearste, Journey &c. 8vo. 135. 



BcBuf Masque: Buff. Hist. Naturelle Suppl. vi. 



Ovibos* Musque: Blainv. Nouv. Bullet, de la Soc. Philom. 



Musk Ox: Parry's Voyage, i. 202. 



[Called Mathek-Mongsoo, or Ugly Moose, by the Crees, 

 Timing Mak, by the Esquimaux.'] 



To civilized man, the extreme northern regions 

 may appear cheerless and uninviting, because they 

 are subjected to the almost unrelenting influ- 



* Mr. De Blainville proposed to establish a new genus, to 

 be called Ovibos. or Sheep-ox, of which the Musk-ox is the 

 first species. His generic distinctions are drawn from the 

 resemblance between the outline of the front of the musk-ox 

 and that of the sheep, and from the absence of the muzzle or 

 smooth naked surface, between the nostrils, and upon the 

 upper lip. This division, though as well founded as that 

 which separates Capra from Ovis, we conceive to be alto- 

 gether unnecessary, as the characters are not more than 

 sufficient to establish a specific difference. In regard to the 

 muzzle, nothing is said in the text of Parry's work, though 

 it is very distinctly represented in the plate, which is said to 

 be very accurate, and which we have copied; as the com- 

 mon descriptions of the musk-ox, have mostly been taken 

 from dried skins, it is possible, that the absence of the muz- 

 zle has been stated too hastily. 



