RUMINANTS WITH HORNS. 111 



all belong to central or southern Asia ; they have no incisors in 

 the upper jaw, nor canines in the lower, but are distinguished by 

 a long canine on each side of the upper jaw which, in the male, 

 descends upon the lower lip and protrudes from the mouth. To 

 this genus belongs the species named, the Musk, Mosc/ius Mos- 

 cliiferus, which is found in Thibet ; it is the size of a goat : it 

 furnishes musk, which substance is found with the male in a 

 pouch beneath the belly. 



Ruminants with Horns. 



22. All the animals comprised in this section, of the male sex 

 at least, have two horns the centre of which is formed by pro- 

 jections of greater or less length of the frontal bone. Three kinds 

 of horns are distinguished in Ruminants. 



23. Sometimes, as in the Giraffe, they are enveloped in a hairy 

 skin, which is continuous with that of the head, and do not perish 

 or shed. 



24. At other times, as is seen in the genus of STAGS,. the above 

 mentioned projections or processes, covered for a time by hairy 

 skin like that of the rest of the head, have at their base a ring of 

 bony tubercles which, by enlarging, compress and obliterate the 

 nutritious vessels of this skin. It dries, and is removed : the bony 

 prominence, thus laid bare , separates at the end of a certain time 

 from the cranium, and falls, leaving the animal without horns : 

 but he replaces them with new ones, which become still more 

 developed than those they have replaced, and in their turn they 

 also fall, from the influence of the same causes. Those bony 

 horns which are liable to periodical changes, bear the name of 

 deciduous horns, (antlers.) 



25. Again, the bony part of the horns is covered in a case of 

 elastic substance which grows by layers through the whole period 

 of life ; the horns of the ox are of this kind ; they never fall. 

 Those Ruminants which have similar prominences or projections 

 are named, Ruminants with hollow horns. 



26. In the family of Ruminants with horns, the incisor teeth 

 of the lower jaw are always eight in number, and the total num- 

 ber of molars is twenty-four : the feet are cleft or cloven. 



22. How are Ruminants with horns distinguished ? How many kinds of 

 horns are possessed by Ruminants ? 



23. What kinds of horns have Giraffes ? 



24. By what process do Stags shed their horns ? What are those horns 

 called which are shed periodically ? 



25. v What kind of horns have Oxen ? 



26. What is the number of incisor teeth in Ruminants with horns ? What 

 is the number of their molars ? 



10* 



