11 IK DliER FAMILY. 



77 



project beyond the mouth; but in respect of 

 all the other characters of the dentition, the 

 limbs, the whole skeleton, anil the- stomach 

 and intestines, are in no way different from 

 the true deer. On these grounds Alph. 

 Milne Kdwards has separated the musk-deer 

 from the chevrotains, with which they were 

 formerly united in the same group. 



Fig. 158. The Musk-deer (Moschus mosckiferus). 



What distinguishes this species, which is 

 distributed over an enormous range in all the 

 mountainous parts of Central Asia, from 

 Siberia to Cochin-China, and from Kamchatka 

 to the Ural Mountains, is the pouch, which 

 stands in close relation to the sexual organs 

 of the male, and yields the musk, which was 

 formerly highly esteemed in medicine, but at 

 the present day is used almost exclusively in 

 perfumery. The musk-pouch is a fold of the 

 skin as large as the fist which opens in the 

 middle line of the abdomen behind the navel, 

 and contains numerous glands which excrete 

 an oily substance of a yellowish-red colour, 

 becoming brown on drying. The pouch of 

 an adult male may contain as much as two 

 ounces of the precious substance, or even 



more, and it is chiefly for the' sake of this 

 product that the very shy and agile; animal 

 is hunted. The musk-deer is of the size of 

 a roebuck, and like this animal has a stiff 

 coarse hair-covering, which is very variable 

 in colour. Reddish-gray is, however, the 

 prevailing hue, but white-spotted and even 

 quite white varieties are found. The musk- 

 deer hides itself by day and goes out in 

 search of pasture at sunset. It jumps and 

 climbs about on the mountains as cleverly as 

 a chamois; but since it is much attached to 

 its own retreats, and always returns thither 

 after an excursion, it is easily caught in snares 

 or shot with bullets. The Siberian musk is 

 the least highly prized; nevertheless this 

 country yields about 9000 pouches every 

 year. 



THE DEER FAMILY 



I RVIDA). 



By the exclusion of the musk-deer from 

 the deer family this group is restricted to 

 those ruminants which possess antlers, which 

 are always developed in the males, but seldom 

 in the females. The males almost always 

 have canines also, which in some species 

 even grow to a considerable size, but in most 

 cases remain small and insignificant. The 

 eight lower incisors form a close-set series, 

 and are almost alike in form and size. The 

 premolars are very little different either in 

 form or size from the true molars. Deer 

 have large ears, prominent eyes, and always 

 have under the eye lachrymal glands or 

 tear-pits exuding an oily fluid which in the 

 breeding season acquires a peculiar smell. 

 The tail is very short, the body usually long, 

 and covered with coarse, stiff, thickset hair. 

 The long slender legs carry small accessory 

 hoofs at a considerable height above the 

 ground. Between the hoofs of the hind-feet 

 there is a brush of stiff hairs. Polygamy 

 appears to be the rule in the deer family; 

 they seldom live in pairs, almost always in 



