Mr. W. B. Dawkins on Ovibos moschatus. 139 
trace a continuous gradation, from specimens in which the eozoonal 
structure was distinct, to others in which, if it ever existed, it had 
been completely obscured by subsequent metamorphism. The 
results of a very careful and complete examination of the Ophi- 
calcites of Bavaria by Dr. Giimbel himself have been communicated 
to the Royal Academy of Munich*. 
Appearances of the same character are presented by a series of 
specimens of the Serpentinous Limestones from the Primitive 
neiss of Scandinavia, kindly transmitted to me by Prof Lovén. 
Iventure to hope that the foregoing réswmé of the preseut aspect 
of this subject will be of interest to the Fellows of the Royal 
Society. I say the present aspect, because I am strongly con- 
vinced that we are at present only at the beginning of our know- 
ledge of this and other ancient types of Foraminiferal structure, 
and that careful search in promising localities will bring to light 
many wonders now lying unsuspected in the vast aggregate of 
pre-Silurian strata. 
May 23, 1867.—Lieut.-General Sabine, President, in the Chair. 
- * moschatus (Blainville).” By W. Boyp Dawxtns, M.A., 
GS. 
Ovibos moschatus, more commonly known as the musk-ox, has 
been described under different names by naturalists as their 
opinions fluctuated concerning its affinities with the ox, buffalo, 
or sheep. It is called the musk-ox by all the arctic explorers, 
Bos moschatus by Schreber, Zimmermann, Pennant, and Cuvier, 
musk-buffalo allied to the Bubalus caffir of South Africa by 
Professor Owen, Ovibos moschatus by De Blainville, Desmarest, 
Richardson, and M. Lartet.. That the latter four naturalists are 
right in the place they assign to it in the zoological scale, inter- 
mediate between Ovis and Bos, is proved both by the natural his- 
tory and the osteology of the animal. The absence of a muffle 
and dewlap, the hairiness of the nostrils, the shortness of tail and 
smallness of ear, and the possession of two teats only, separate 
the animal from Bos and connect it with Ovis, while the large size 
and long gestation of nine months differentiate it from the latter 
animal. Precisely the same evidence is afforded by its skeleton. 
In the skull, the tapering of the anterior portion, the prominence 
of the orbit, the verticality of the facial plate of the maxillary, the 
presence of a larmier, the squareness of the basisphenoid, the pre- 
- sence of the occipito-parietal suture on the coronal surface—in the 
dentition the sharpness of the coste 1, 2, and 3, and the absence 
of the accessory column from the inner interspace of the lobes 
of the upper teeth, are among the chief ovine characters; and 
throughout the skeleton the same ovine tendency is manifested. 
_* “Ueber das Vorkommen von Eozoon im ostbayerischen Urgebirge,” aus d. 
Sitzungsber. d. k, Acad. d. W. in Miinchen, 1866, i. 1. . 
