130 SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS: Chap. V. 



patient horse, for when the soil is loose, he throws up 

 clouds of dust. I believe that bulls act in this manner 

 when irritated by flies, for the sake of driving them 

 away. The wilder breeds of sheep and the chamois 

 when startled stamp on the ground, and whistle through 

 their noses; and this serves as a danger-signal to their 

 comrades. The musk-ox of the Arctic regions, when 

 encountered, likewise stamps on the ground. 9 How this 

 stamping action arose I cannot conjecture; for from in- 

 quiries which I have made it does not appear that any 

 of these animals fight with their fore-legs. 



Some species of deer, when savage, display far more 

 expression than do cattle, sheep, or goats, for, as has 

 already been stated, they draw back their ears, grind 

 their teeth, erect their hair, squeal, stamp on the ground, 

 and brandish their horns. One day in the Zoological 

 Gardens, the Formosan deer (Cervus pseudaxis) ap- 

 proached me in a curious attitude, with his muzzle 

 raised high up, so that the horns were pressed back on 

 his neck; the head being held rather obliquely. From 

 the expression of his eye I felt sure that he was savage; 

 he approached slowly, and as soon as he came close to 

 the iron bars, he did not lower his head to butt at me, 

 but suddenly bent it inwards, and struck his horns with 

 great force against the railings. Mr. Bartlett informs 

 me that some other species of deer place themselves in 

 the same attitude when enraged. 



Monkeys. — The various species and genera of mon- 

 keys express their feelings in many different ways; and 

 this fact is interesting, as in some degree bearing on the 

 question, whether the so-called races of man should be 

 ranked as distinct species or varieties; for, as we shall 



9 < 



Land and Water,' 1869, p. 152, 



