MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS. 



THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS. 



MOSCHUS. A long canine on each side of the upper jaw 

 and projecting from the mouth in the males. Canines wanting 

 altogether in the females. Body slender. Ears long and point- 

 ed. Feet small, with hoofs separated and enveloping the last 

 phalanges. Tail very short. Two inguinal mammce. No 

 lachrymal apparatus. 



THE SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS. Fur of a gray brown. Hair coarse. 

 Size of the roebuck. A pouch placed under the belly and before 

 the prepuce of the male, in which is inclosed a strong, unctuous 

 musky substance. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS. The musk deer inhabits the vast 

 mountainous regions of Central Asia extending from India 

 to Siberia, and from the country of the Turcomans to China. 

 It is an active and timid animal, springing from rock to rock 

 with surprising agility, and frequenting the snowy recesses 

 and most inaccessible crags of the mountains. Concealing 

 itself during the day, it chooses the night for roaming in search 

 of food, and though said to be abundant in its native regions 

 is taken with difficulty. The length of the full-grown animal 

 scarcely ever exceeds three feet, and in its general aspect it 

 resembles the deer; the head is not very unlike that of a hog, 

 the eyes are black and full, and, projecting from the upper 

 jaw, the teeth hang pointing downwards over the lower jaw; 

 the fleece is coarser than that of the stag, but very light and 

 soft, and varying in color at different seasons of the year and 

 different periods of life, chiefly from brown to nearly black, 

 hoary underneath and sometimes, but rarely, whitish. The 

 tail is very short. Close to the skin, at the posterior part of 

 the abdomen of the animal, is an oval bag, flat on one side and 

 convex on the other. It is situated under the skin, and opens 

 exteriorly by a small aperture immediately in front of the pre- 

 putial orifice. It is an appendage only of the males. On the 

 convex side it is covered with stiff hairs, but on the flat surface, 

 which is applied to the abdomen of the animal, it is a naked 

 membrane. The bag is lined with an irregularly plaited mem- 

 brane, in depressions of which are the glands that secrete the 



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