OF THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS. 63 



others. Being superficial, these glands are not equally under the control of the animals, 

 but I have repeatedly observed them protruding their long slender tongues, and licking 

 oft" the secretion. 



Other sinuses, of equally partial occurrence, but remarkable for their situation, and 

 of which the functions are Ukewise unknown, occur on the foreheads of the Muntjacs. 

 They are situated between the orbits, one on each side, close to the projecting ribs 

 formed by the elongated pedestals which support the horns, and another smaller in the 

 centre of the forehead, and consist of a reduplication of the skin, forming a longitu- 

 dinal fold, with soft naked parietes, which are moistened by a glandular secretion, and 

 opened or closed at the will of the animal. These glands are found only in the Munt- 

 jacs, and unless they have relation to the irregular shedding of the horns already noticed 

 in these animals, which is countenanced by their minute development in the hornless 

 females, I cannot form any conjecture as to their use. In the former case they might 

 equally be expected to occur in the Prickets of South America, which are said to be 

 subject to the same irregularity in shedding the horns ; but I have never myself had an 

 opportunity of examining these Deer, and Azara and other authors are silent on the 

 point. At all events it is certain that their function must be different from that of the 

 crumens, since these are very largely developed in the Muntjacs. 



The membranous sac which opens behind the ear of the Chamois, and the large 

 gland which Mr. Hodgson describes in the nose of the Chiru, are of too partial occur- 

 rence to be made available as generic characters ; nor am I aware of the existence of 

 any other glands in the head of ruminating animals. There are, however, two large 

 and deep sacs, situated one on each side of the udder and scrotum in many of the ani- 

 mals heretofore called Antelopes, which are of pretty general occurrence, and appear 

 designed to carry off the superabundant secretions which at particular times go to supply 

 the milk and seminal fluids, if indeed they be not analogous to the glands found in the 

 groins of all animals. Their function, however, does not appear to me to exercise sutii- 

 cient influence over the animal oeconomy to entitle them to be considered among the 

 generic characters of a natural classification ; and therefore, though I have noticed them 

 among other subsidiary attributes, I have never included them among my generic di- 

 stinctions. The same observation may be applied to the odoriferous bags attached to 

 the prepuce of the Musk and Antilope gutturosa, as well as to the subcaudal gland of 

 the Goats, which opens immediately at the root of the tail, and secretes a viscous 

 humour that communicates the rank hircine smell so well known in these animals ; so 

 that upon the whole the crumens and facial glands are the only organs of this nature 

 which appear entitled to the rank of generic characters. At the same time it must be 

 observed, that even these are of less importance, as principles of classification, than 

 most of the other essential characters which I have employed. The obscurity of this 

 function would alone suffice to depreciate their value as philosophical characters, were 

 it not a fact that the crumens become actually evanescent in genera otherwise perfectly 



