202 RUMINANTIA. 



what medicinal use has it been applied? Give some account of the Me- 

 minna? What peculiarity has it in common with the remaining species of 

 this genus? Where is the Napu found ? What does Sir Stamford Raffles say 

 of it? Where is the Kanchil found? What is its size? What reputation 

 has it among the Javanese? What Malay proverb is mentioned? How is 

 its cunning illustrated? Where did Linnaeus and Swainson place Musk 

 Deer? Where are they placed on the Chart? 



SECTION XXVI. 



SOLID-HORNED RUMINANTS. 



CERVIDAE. (Lat. Cervus, a stag.) The DEER FAMILY. 



We come now to a group of animals which have been ever 

 greatly admired. They seem, many of them, to have been 

 formed to embellish the forest, and impart animation to the sol- 

 itudes of nature. In their internal structure, they closely 

 resemble the ox, but they are " without the gall-bladder; the 

 kidneys are formed differently; and the spleen is larger in pro- 

 portion to the size of the animals." Of the genus Cervus, the 

 general characters are simple. Incisor teeth are found, eight in 

 number, in the lower jaw alone ; the grinders are six on each 

 side above and below; the canine teeth are generally wanting. 

 The pupils of the eye are elongated, and below the inner angle 

 of the eye, there is a deep fossa, or opening, generally known as 

 the lachrymal sinus. In some, this opening, called by the 

 French, larmiers, (from Fr. larme, a tear,) is of considerable 

 size. It has been supposed "to communicate with the nostrils, 

 and assist them in maintaining respiration, during great exertion 

 or swiftness; " but its use is not fully ascertained. The cavity 

 secretes a wax-like substance, which sends forth a strong odor. 

 The ears are large and pointed; the tail short; the legs slender; 

 and the feet bisulcated. The horns, or antlers, excepting in the 

 case of the Rein Deer, found alone in the males, are solid, and 

 in a large part of these animals, annually shed and renewed. 

 "The form of the horns is various. Sometimes they spread into 

 broad palms, which send out sharp snags around their outer 

 edges ; sometimes they divide fantastically into branches, some 

 \ of which project over the forehead, whilst others are reared up- 

 ward in the air, or they may be so reclined backwards, that the 

 animal seems almost forced to carry its head in a stiff, erect 

 posture ; yet, in whatever way they grow, they appear to give 

 an air of grandeur to the animal." The geographical range of 

 the Deer includes the entire globe, with the exception of Austra- 

 lia and Southern Africa. The species found in the colder 



