396 



UNGULATES. 



in height at the shoulder, and clothed with peculiarly coarse, brittle, and rather 

 long hair, somewhat resembling pith in structure. In addition to the absence of 

 antlers, the skull is characterised by the presence of tusks, which in the males may 

 be as much as 3 inches in length, and project considerably below the mouth. 

 All the limbs are of considerable length, and the hinder pair are longer than the 

 front ones ; the hoofs are narrow and pointed, and the lateral pair unusually large. 

 The ears are very large and the tail is short, terminating in the male in a tuft, but 



MALE AND FEMALE MUSK DEER (A nat. size). 



hairy throughout in the female. The male has a peculiar sac-like gland in the 

 skin of the abdomen, which yields the musk of commerce. The general colour of 

 the fur is a rich dark brown, more or less speckled and mottled with grey and 

 tawny ; the individual hairs having black tips, beneath which is a ring of white, 

 while for three-quarters of their length they are white at the base. The chin, the 

 inner borders of the ears and the inside of the thighs, and not unfrequently a spot 

 on each side of the throat, are whitish, while the under-parts and the inner surface! 

 of the limbs are paler than the body. Some individuals are, however, considerably 

 paler than ordinary, while in others there is a more or less marked yellowish tint; 

 and others, again, are blacker. The young are spotted. 



The musk-deer is found throughout the Himalaya as far west as 

 Gilgit, and thence extends through Central Asia into Siberia. In 



