2 Introductory 



general nature, are forked and periodically shed trom the underlying 

 persistent bony cores. 



This being so, and as only two sections of the family are treated ot 

 in the present yolume, it would be superfluous to enter into the con- 

 sideration of all the structural peculiarities of the BovUee as a whole. The 

 following points may, howeyer, be noticed. In the first place, no members 

 of the family, either liying or extinct, possess upper canine teeth, or tusks, 

 which are frequently so strongly developed in the Deer tribe (especially 

 when antlers are wanting) ; and in this respect the Hollow-horned are 

 clearly more specialised than the Antlered Ruminants. Very rarely do 

 they show those tufts and glands on the lovyer part of the liind-legs 

 which form such a characteristic feature in many of the Deer. 



Further evidence of the specialisation or high grade ot the tamily is 

 affxirded by the hict that the lower ends of the metacarpal and metatarsal 

 bones, which persist in so many of the Deer, have invariably disappeared. 

 Then, again, the lateral toes are very generally represented merely by the 

 lateral hoofs, although in certain cases some small nodules of bone within 

 them represent the skeleton of these portions of the limbs. Moreover, 

 in some members of the family (although in none ot those described 

 here) even the lateral hoofs themselves have disappeared, and the main 

 hoofs alone remain. In the liver the gall-bladder, which is tound 

 among the Deer tribe only in the Musk, is almost always present among 

 the Bovn/d". 



The geographical distribution of the Hollow-horned Ruminants is very 

 different to that of the Deer tamily. In place of being abundant in South 

 America, and unknown in Africa south of the Sahara, they are wanting 

 in the former area and extremely abundant in the latter; Ethiopian Atrica 

 and Central Asia being in tact their areas of maximum development. 

 They also extend farther north than the Deer, and the only extensive land- 

 areas from which they are absent are the Australasian region and South 



