70 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



however, they are entirely separated off from the Deer and Ox tribes, to constitute an independent 

 family, because of the peculiarities of many of their parts. They have a complex stomach composed 

 of paunch, honeycomb-bag, and reed, the manyplies being so much reduced in size, that it may prac- 

 tically be said not to be present. 



From the bones of their feet it is evident, too, that they cannot be correctly classed with the 

 more ordinary Ruminants, and that they tend towards the other family of the Cloven-hoofed Ungu- 

 lata, namely, the Swine. Each foot of the common Pig possesses four toes, that corresponding to 

 our thumb in the fore-limb, and to our great toe in the hind being absent, as has been previously 

 explained. The bones of all these toes are quite separate from one another, as in those of man, at 

 the same time that those of the outer and inner digits in each limb are smaller than those which bear 

 the larger hoofs. In the true Ruminants and in the Camel tribe these larger toes are partly fused 

 together, the bones of digit three and digit four corresponding to those situated in the human palm 

 and sole, being joined from end to end to form the "cannon-bone;" whilst those of digit two and 



JAVAN DEERLET. 



digit five are reduced to mere imperfect splinters, or are sometimes altogether lost, as in the Gii'affe 

 and in the Camel. Now, in the Deerlets, these bones are not blended at all in the fore-limbs of the 

 "Water Deerlet of West Africa, in which, as in all the other species, digit two and digit five are 

 perfect from end to end. They therefore stand, in this respect, as in othei-s easily explained, inter- 

 mediate between the Swine and the true Ruminants. 



All the Deerlets are particularly delicate, diminutive, and graceful animals, the slendemess and 

 clear-cut outline of their limbs being exceedingly striking. With bodies as big as that of a Hare or 

 Rabbit, their legs are not so thick as a cedar pen-holder or a clay pipe-stem. Their proportions 

 are very much those of the small Water Bucks of Africa, and of many of the kinds of Deer, espe- 

 cially the Hog Deer of India, in which the body, as in them, is not carried very high above the 

 ground. The want of antlers in both sexes makes them resemble Hinds rather than Stags at first 

 sight, whilst their elegantly-pointed noses, and large dark eyes, add to their general interesting 

 appearance. 



Of the Deerlets there are five species the Meminna, the Kanchil, the Javan, the Stanleyan, 

 .and the Water Deerlets. The first four are confined to India, Ceylon, Malacca, Java, and Sumatra, 

 the last being found in Sierra Leone and the Gambia district. These differ slightly in their size and 

 markings, the MEMINNA, or INDIAN DEERLET, being nearly eighteen inches long, and about eight 

 inches high at the shoulder, the tail being very short. As in its allies, the white spotting of the 

 surface is disturbed by two or more streaks of the same which run along the flanks. 



The JAVAN DEERLET, known sometimes as the Napu, is smaller than the preceding. It is of 



