August 1, 1892.] 



KNOWI^EDGE 



155 



among other forms, occurs tlie gigantic sivatbere, ri%-alling 

 the elephant in bulk, and characterized by its two pairs of 

 horns (Fig. 5i, of ■which the hindmost were branching and 

 antler-like, although apparently never shed, and were 

 probably covered during life with skin and hair. 



If our attention has been turned to Africa as the head- 

 quarters of antelopes and giraffes, it must be directed to 

 other regions when we come to the deer, since, with the 

 exception of the Barbary stag, there is no representative of 

 the group in all that continent. With few exceptions, deer 

 are characterized by the antlers of the males, the reindeer 

 alone having these appendages in both sexes. They are 

 the only true ruminants found in South America, where 

 most of the species have comparatively simple antlers, and 

 thus show affinity with the early fossil types, some of 

 which were antlerless. Allied species range through North 

 America, but it is not till the north of that continent that 

 we find in the wapiti a representative of our own red deer. 

 The red deer group extends through Europe and a large 

 part of Central Asia, but in India and the Malayan region 

 it is replaced by the rusine deer, like the sambar, in which 

 the antlers (Fig. 6, a) lack the bez-tine of the red deer 



Fiff. 6. — Antlers of rod (A) and sambar (B) 

 deer, a brow, b bez, c trez-tinn. tJ e surroyals. 

 (After Blanford). 



(}/;/(/., /(). Other marked varieties of antler are exhibited by 

 the elk, the fallow deer, and the reindeer ; but none of 

 these approach those of the extinct Irish deer, which may 

 have an eleven feet span from tip to tip. It is noteworthy 

 that in a few small deer in which the males have no 

 antlers, they are compensated by having long tusks in the 

 upper jaw. 



The tiny oriental che^Totains, and the larger African 

 water-chevrotain, form a group quite distinct from all the 

 above, and are in some respects related to the swine. 

 None of them have antlers, and the African species is 

 the only li\"ing ruminant in which tlie two elements of 

 the front cannon-bone remain separate, thus affording 

 another instance of the survival of primitive forms in 

 Africa. 



Lastly, we have the group of camels and llamas, which 

 differ from other ruminants in that their feet form cushion- 

 like pads, while their upper jaws possess front teeth. 

 According to the latest researches it is considered probable 

 that this group has diverged from primitive swine-like 

 animals quite independently of the true ruminants, an 

 inference which, if confirmed, is very remarkable, showing 



that selenodont teeth, a complex stomach, the function of 

 rumination, and the single cannon bone, have been acquired 

 quite independently in the two groups. The present 

 distribution of camels and llamas is remarkable, the former 

 being confined to Africa and Asia, and the latter to South 

 America. Here, however, geology comes to our aid, for in 

 former times camel-like ruminants were abundant in 

 North America, while the fossil camels of India show 

 certain resemblances to the llamas, and we can thus 

 understand how the present distribution of the two 

 sections of the group has come about. With the possible 

 exception of some herds of the Bactrian species in Central 

 Asia, wild camels are now unknown, and we cannot even 

 determine the original habitat of the single-humped 

 species. 



Thus ends our brief survey of tlie chief groups of living 

 ruminants and their distribution. Did space permit, we 

 might go on to refer to their extreme importance to man. 

 both as sources of food and of clothing, and as beasts of 

 draught and burden, but having reached our limits, we 

 trust that we may have aroused in our readers an interest 

 in these highly specialized animals which may induce 

 some of them to devote further consideration to the 

 subject. 



THE CURRENTS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. 



By Richard Beyxox, F.E.G.S. 



THE development of our over-sea trade, especially 

 the Transatlantic section of it, has, during the 

 present century, been phenomenal. Oceanic 

 knowledge has, however, quite failed to keep pace 

 with it. It is matter for regret that our informa- 

 tion respecting the Atlantic, its currents, ice limits, and 

 the meteorological conditions obtaining in the atmosphere 

 superincumbent to its surface is far from satisfactory, and 

 greatly behind what the importance of Transatlantic 

 commerce leads one to expect. 



We do not intend, in the present paper, to discuss the 

 theories which best account for the formation of the great 

 equatorial current of the Atlantic, but to deal with the 

 oceanic circulation which lies north of its point of bifurca- 

 tion off' Cape San Roque. In passing, it may be stated 

 that the western drift of the ocean in tropical regions has 

 been known ever since Columbus made his memorable 

 voyages across the Atlantic. That adventurous navigator 

 states, " I regard it as proved that the waters of the sea 

 move from east to west as do the heavens (apparently), 

 ro7i los ceilns." 



The i^rogress of the north-westerly mo%-ing section of 

 the equatorial current of the Atlantic is so well known 

 that it needs but the briefest allusion. It skirts the shores 

 of Brazil, and then follows the trend of the shores of the 

 Caribbean Sea, and so reaches the most easterly point of 

 Yucatan. Here a di\'ision takes place, one part of its 

 waters making the tour of the Gulf of Mexico, while the 

 other section tiows along a more direct route by the 

 western extremity of Cuba to Florida, where a reunion 

 takes place, and the tinited current, its impetus increased 

 by north-westerly drifts, the portion of the current which 

 has been entangled among the West Indian Archipelago, 

 flows forth to carry vast stores of heat to the north-west 

 of Europe. 



From Florida to Cape Hatteras the shores experience 

 the full benefits of a stream of warm water, whose tempera- 

 ture approximates to 80° F., and whose rate of flow is 

 some 70 or SO miles per day. At this point, however, the 

 easteriug influence of the cold water flowing equatorwards 



