362 THE EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 



tusks, which project externally some way below the lip, though 

 not so far as in the musk, forming efficient instruments of attack. 



The Reindeer, which differs from all its allies in that the 

 females carry antlers as well as the males, is found distributed 

 throughout the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America. 

 In Spitsbergen, Finland, and Lapland it attains the greatest size, 

 being inferior in stature and strength in Norway and Sweden. 

 In the New World it is known as the Cariboo, and extends through 

 Greenland, Canada, and Newfoundland. The Reindeer is a power- 

 fully-built animal, with short limbs and a hairy neck, the feet 

 being specially adapted so that the hoofs spread out when pressed 

 upon the ground, and thus increase the surface for support upon 

 yielding snow, which forms the most frequent foothold. The 

 antlers are remarkably large and well developed, while the fur 

 consists of an outer covering of longer harsh, brittle hair, and an 

 undercoat of close, finer and wool-like texture. 



We have seen that in the Cervidce, or Deer Tribe, the horns, or 

 antlers, are cast off each year, and soon replaced by others, which, 

 in turn, share the fate of their predecessors ; and that these antlers 

 are entirely made of bone, and when fully grown are not covered 

 with any less dense investment. We have now to consider another 

 group of horned ruminants, which, from the fact that the Oxen 

 are included with them, are called the Bovida, or Hollow-Horned 

 Ruminants. The males of this group are characterised by the 

 possession of permanent bone-cores on the forehead ; these are 

 covered with a dark horny coating, which is not shed during the 

 whole life of their owners (with the exception of the North American 

 Pronghorn Antelope, whose hollow horns are shed from their 

 supporting bony cores annually), and in which, as the horns 

 continue to grow until adult life at least, the tips are the oldest parts. 

 The females in some species have horns like their mates, but smaller, 

 as in the Ox and the Eland ; while in others the males alone are 

 horned. The group includes the Oxen, Sheep, Goats, Bush-bucks, 

 Antelopes, Koodoos ; while the Musk and Giraffes hold a some- 

 what isolated position. 



The Musk Deer (Mosckus moschiferus) is more nearly related 

 to the true Deer than to any other ruminants, and was considered 

 by Sir W. Flower to be " an undeveloped deer an animal which 

 in most points (absence of horns, smooth brain, retention of gall- 



