522 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



b. Moschida. The second group is that of the Musk-deer, 

 characterised by the total absence of horns in both sexes, and 

 by the presence of canines in both jaws, those in the upper 

 jaw being in the form of tusks in the males, but being much 

 smaller in the females. 



The true Musk-deer (Moschns moschiferus) is an elegant 

 little animal, which inhabits the elevated plains of central 

 Asia. It is remarkable for the fact that the male has a glan- 

 dular sac on the abdomen, by which the well-known perfume, 

 musk, is secreted. 



c. Cervidce. This family is of much greater importance than 

 that of the Moschidce, including as it does all the true Deer. 

 They are distinguished from the other Ruminants chiefly by 

 the nature of the horns. With the single exception of the 

 Reindeer, these appendages are confined to the males amongst 

 the Cervidtz, and do not occur in the females. They do not 

 consist, as in the succeeding group, of a hollow sheath of horn 

 surrounding a central bony core, nor are they permanently re- 

 tained by the animal. On the other hand, the horns, or, as 

 they are more properly called, the antlers, of the Cervidce are 

 deciduous, and are solid. They are bony throughout, and are 

 usually more or less branched, and they are annually shed and 

 annually reproduced at the breeding season. They increase 

 in size and in the number of branches every time they are 

 reproduced, until in the old males they may attain an enormous 

 size. The antlers are carried upon the frontal bone, and are 

 produced by a process not at all unlike that by which injuries 

 of osseous structures are made good in man. At first the 

 antlers are covered with a sensitive hairy skin ; but as develop- 

 ment proceeds, the vessels of the skin are gradually obliter- 

 ated, and the skin dies and peels off. In all the Deer there is 

 a sebaceous gland, called the "lachrymal sinus," or " larmier," 

 which is placed beneath each eye, and secretes a strongly- 

 smelling waxy substance. 



The Cervidcs are very generally distributed, but no member 

 of the group has hitherto been discovered in either Australia 

 or South Africa, their place in the latter continent seeming to 

 be taken by the nearly-allied Antelopes (distinguished by their 

 hollow horns). 



Very many species of Cervidcs are known, and it is not pos- 

 sible to allude to more than two or three of the more familiar 

 and important forms. Three species occur in Britain namely, 

 the Roebuck, Red -deer, and Fallow-deer, the last being a 

 doubtful native. The Roebuck (Capreolus caprcea) was once 

 very generally distributed over Britain, but is almost confined 



