388 



QUADRUPEDS. 



breast. It inhabits the Andes of Chili and Peru, near the line of perpetual snow, and is 

 actively hunted on account of its wool, which is manufactured into valuable stuffs and hats. 



The Musks (Moschus} differ from ordinary Ruminants in the 

 absence of horns, and in having long canine teeth in .the upper 

 jaw. They are beautiful animals, equally remarkable for their 

 elegance and their activity. 



The Musk (Moschus moschiferns} is about the size of a goat. It has no tail, and is 

 entirely covered with hairs so thick and brittle that they might be almost called spines. 



The musks are, however, more especially remarkable for the possession of a pouch, situ- 

 ated beneath the abdomen, which is filled with that odoriferous substance so well known 

 in medicine and perfumery by the name of musk. This species appears to be proper to 

 that rocky country extending between China and Thibet. It is a nocturnal and soli- 

 tary animal, and its timidity is extreme. 



The other musks have no musk-pouch. They all inhabit the hot countries of the 

 old continent, and are the smallest and most elegant of the Ruminants (Fig. 429). 



RUMINANTS WITH HORNS. 



All the other Ruminants are provided (at least, the male sex) 

 with two horns; that is to say, with projections of greater or less 

 length, derived from the frontal bones, and which do not exist in 

 any other animals. These horns are of three kinds. 



FIG. 430. STAG'S HORN IN SUCCESSIVE YEARS. 



Sometimes, as in the giraffe, they are enveloped in a hairy skin, 

 continuous with that of the head, and are never shed. 



