Mountain-Ooat (Capra caiicasica, Giild.). 453 



diverge slightly and bend backwards, and are flat at the sides ; 

 the rib formed by the intersection of the outer and inner sur- 

 faces is sharper than the others. The back surface is rounded : 

 at the base are more or less deep wrinkles encircling the horn ; 

 towards the tip these become less and less marked, and at 

 length disappear altogether. 



I^he colour of the fur of Capra caucasica is not uniform ; 

 quite young specimens have hair of an ashy grey over the 

 whole body, only along the ridge of the spine and on the 

 front of both pairs of extremities is there a dark stripe, while 

 the groins, throat, and belly are almost white. The head of 

 old specimens is covered with an ashy-grey or yellowish-grey 

 fur, darker in front than at the sides. The membrane covering 

 the iris is cinnamon-yellow or cinnamon-black in colour ; the 

 bare part of the nose is black, the lips covered with short 

 hairs of a dirty grey colour. The fur on the head is long and 

 forms a tuft. The male has no regular beard, but instead of 

 it hairs 3i inches long — not pendent, however, but sloping 

 backwards ; the outside of the ear is reddish grey, and white 

 inside ; the whole body is covered with grey fur also, with 

 a yellowish or brownish tinge. Along the front of the 

 legs and the ridge of the spine there is a dark stripe, but 

 this does not occur in all specimens. The fur on the belly 

 is light, the tail covered only above with dark brown hairs ; 

 the hoofs almost black. 



All the incisors of the lower jaw are about equal in size, 

 thick, and round ; their niasticating-surface is also round, but 

 much less concave than those of other ruminants (e. g. the 

 antelope and reindeer). There are six molar teeth in the upper 

 and lower jaws, increasing in size from first to last. The first 

 four teeth of the upper jaw have almost a square masticating- 

 surface, the fifth is somewhat elongated, and the sixth is 

 twice as long as it is wide. Thick coats of enamel are only 

 formed on the last tooth. In the lower jaw the first three 

 teeth have nearly a square masticating-surface, and the length 

 of the last of these is three times its width ; the fifth tooth 

 has one, and the sixth two thick coats of enamel. The young 

 have fewer molar teeth. Thus, a two- or three-year-old 

 male had only four teeth in the upper jaw on either side, 

 and a fifth not fully developed was concealed in the bones of 

 the jaw. The skull has the following peculiarities : — high 

 forehead, strongly developed about the eyes ; small occipital 

 bones ; on the scale of the temporal bone are big nodules 

 to attach the powerful muscles of the neck necessary for 

 raising a head furnished with such massive horns. The 

 Irontal suture entirely disappears in early life, and in old 



