Bharal 235 



Externally, the bharal is distinguished from the goats by the absence 

 of any strong odour or of any trace of a beard in the males. There are 

 glands between the hoofs of all tour teet in the bharal ; and in this respect 

 the animal agrees with the sheep and differs from the goats, in which 

 these are either present in the tore-ieet alone or are wanting altogether. 

 The black markings on the head, body, and limbs are very like those 

 found in some of the goats. 



In concluding the paper from which the above extracts have been 

 paraphrased, I considered that the bharal should be generically separated 

 from the sheep, and made the type of a distinct genus, for which Hodg- 

 son's name Pseiuiois should stand. The same view has been subsequently 

 urged by Dr. Matschie, who has recapitulated the foregoing observations, 

 and added that in its thick and clumsy legs and the form of the feet, the 

 bharal is decidedly more of a goat than a sheep. 



So far as the structure of the skull and form ot the horns are concerned, 

 this must, I think, be admitted ; but, on the other hand, the absence of a 

 beard, as well as of the characteristic odour of the goats, in the males, and 

 the presence ot glands in all the four feet are essentially sheep-like 

 characters. And in some undoubted sheep, like the bighorn, the tace- 

 glands are so small, that it would only be what we might expect to find 

 them wanting in another species of the same genus. As to the characters 

 ot the legs and tail, on which Dr. Matschie lays considerable stress, I fail 

 to see that they afford any decisive evidence one way or the other. It is 

 urged that the tail ot the bharal is thinner and more pointed than in the 

 sheep ; but in the larger sheep like O. po/i and O. arnmon this appendage 

 when covered with the thick winter coat looks broad and blunt, while in 

 the summer pelage it appears thin and pointed. 



That the bharal affords a connecting link between the more typical 

 sheep and the goats, must undoubtedly be admitted by all ; and if any 

 change in the generally accepted systematic arrangement were made, it 



