Page 789. 
Page 790. 
422 ‘ON THE ANATOMY OF 
68. NOTES ON THE ANATOMY OF THE CHINESE 
WATER-DEER (HYDROPOTES INERMIS).* 
Stvce the discovery by Mr. Swinhoe of the Chinese Water-Deer, 
which in the “ Proceedings” of this Societyt he named Hydropotes 
inermis, naturalists have been anxious to obtain information upon its 
visceral anatomy, together with other features not ascertainable from 
adult skins or from the skeleton. At Tours our Corresponding 
Member M. J. Cornély has succeeded in breeding the species,t the 
Society having allowed him the loan of its male specimen, and his 
example being of the opposite sex. One of the three young ones, a 
female, having died shortly after its birth, M. Cornély forwarded it to 
Mr. Sclater, who has kindly placed it in my hands for description ; 
and it is my notes upon this specimen which I take an opportunity of 
laying before the Society. 
From the tip of the nose to the base of the tail the specimen is 
16 inches, the tail being an inch long. From the top of the shoulder 
to the tip of the hoof of the fore limb it measures 12 inches. The 
colour of the hair, after being in spirit for some days and then dried, 
is a dark greyish brown, which is redder along the back than at the 
sides. The abdomen, as well as the throat, is a dirty white, as are the 
hairy inner surfaces of the ears. 
The fawn is spotted with white.§ The spots are not numerous or 
pronounced, They run in longitudinal lines from the neck to the 
tail, with a median area about 1°5 inch broad unspotted. There is 
one line, the upper, fairly defined and uninterrupted ; two others, 
lower down, are irregular and shorter. The spots are not distinct, 
because they are not produced by the presence of hairs which are 
white throughout, but by dark reddish hairs tipped with white for not 
more than one-sixth of their length. 
The nipples are four in number. The crumenal glands are quite 
small. No supraorbital glands were recognizable. In the fore limb 
the interdigital skin is inflected but slightly, and there is no special 
* “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1877, pp. 789-792. Read, Nov. 20, 
1877. 
+ “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’”’ 1870, p. 89. 
ft See M. Cornély’s article in “ Bull. Soc. d’Acclim.” 3¢ sér, t. iv. p. 417; and 
note, “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1877, p. 583 
§ In the Society’s “ Proceedings,” 1872, p. 817, Mr. Swinhoe remarks, “TI learn 
from Mr. Russell that the fawn is spotted with dark brown spots all over the hind 
quarters.”” I could not detect any trace of these. 
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