410 Zoological Society. 



sideration only of the horns has led to very unnatural approximations. 

 For example, Cuvier associates the Addax with the Indian Antelope ; 

 and Mr. Blyth, his translator, inserts his belief that it is more allied 

 to the Coudou, which I think modern naturalists will allow to be 

 equally wide of the truth. Again, the species forming the genera 

 JEgocerus and Nemorhcedus of Major Smith are placed together in 

 the * Regne Animal,' and Mr. Blyth hints that the Anoa may be allied 

 to the Oryx. 



It is certainly remarkable, that while the teeth have contributed so 

 important a shave in the characters by which the mammalia have 

 been arranged by various authors, they should have been so entirely 

 overlooked in the members of the present division ; for notwithstand- 

 ing the great uniformity and strongly-marked character pervading 

 the Ruminant dentition, very decided characters may frequently be 

 found in the form and direction of the incisors, and in the presence 

 or absence of the supplemental lobe in the molars; and it is the 

 more to be wondered at when we consider that the incisors, from 

 their position, may often easily be seen in dried specimens, and that 

 the character alluded to in the molars has been found of considerable 

 value in the interpretation of fossil remains. The remaining cha- 

 racters I shall have to bring forward consist of certain little details of 

 structure in the skull, which are very easy to be perceived, and 

 which, as I have found them constant in those groups which I have 

 characterized by their means, I trust may meet with due consideration 

 from naturalists. 



Of late years, while some zoologists have remained content to call 

 all hollow-horned Ruminants that are neither oxen, sheep, nor goats, 

 by the generic name Autilojie, another class have run into the extreme 

 of the modern fashion by using every trifling external difference 

 visible in dried skins, or recorded in books (sometimes not even ex- 

 cepting size and colour), to divide them so extensively, that the cha- 

 racters of the genera become move difficult to remember than those 

 of the species. Considering the difficulty of observing many of these 

 characters in dry specimens, and of bearing such trivial details in the 

 memory, it is not to be wondered at that many errors of observation 

 have crept in, a few of which I will point out as I proceed, limiting 

 myself in my own diagnoses to the characters of the skull and horns. 

 There is no doubt that the suborbital sinus, improperly called "lacry- 

 mal sinus" (translated into "tear-pit" by some authors, "tear-bag" by 

 Mr. Gray), will form a valuable means of distinction when its structure 

 in all the genera has been sufficiently observed upon fresh individuals, 

 or on the parts preserved in fluid, provided that we do not attach too 

 much importance to its relative dimensions ; but although its dried 

 appearance may assist discrimination, we cannot venture to describe it. 

 As to inguinal pores and interdigital pits, it must always be difficult, 

 and frequently impossible to determine their presence or absence in 

 specimens that are dried and mounted. Tufts upon the joints of the 

 limbs, and the extent of bare space upon the muzzle, are certainly 

 much too trivial to warrant generic distinction, and never mark out 

 any particular natural group. 



