Dr. N. SevcrtzofT on the Mammals of Turkestan. 379 



that at that portion the points arc much closer to each other 

 than tliey are on tlic hasal part of tlie horns. 



Consccpiently I will make use of lilasius's description of C. 

 eJaj>/ii(s for comparison with 0. maral, although I have com- 

 pared the horns of the two species myself. 



The beam of the horns of C. elaphus rises perpendicularly 

 up to the brow-antler ; then it inclines outwards as far as 

 the next branch, continuing to do so until the third antler ; 

 this outward inclination gets less vertical at every antler, so 

 that the angles formed by the chord of this arc and the axis 

 of the skull become gradually less, and thus the horn forms 

 one broken line bent to the outside. 



The horns soon begin to incline backwards and their extre- 

 mities a little inwards, this backward inclination becoming 

 more considerable at the root of each successive antler, so that 

 the angles formed by the chord of this arc to the cross axis 

 of the skull become gradually wider, and the branches, when 

 looked at from the front, are situated in pairs, or point irregu- 

 larly to the outside, forming the crown of the lioras. The 

 whole crown forms a very acute angle with the beam. The 

 biow-antler is directed forwards parallel to the cranial axis ; the 

 next three antlers are directed outwards with a slight inclina- 

 tion towards the front ; but those of the final curve point up- 

 w^ards, inclining a little to either side, the ends of all the 

 branches rising a little, as does also the beam after its final 

 branch. 



The horns usually do not increase after having developed 

 sixteen to eighteen points, the two basal antlers included ; but 

 sometimes horns with even as many as twenty-two points are 

 to be found, and on old specimens a branch does occasionally 

 grow out of the brow-point of the horns. The branches on 

 the final curve of the horns are closer to each other than on 

 any other part of it, and form the crown ; consequently on 

 each complete horn there is one biow-antlcr, two side branches, 

 and four to seven crown-points, all together from seven to ten 

 points. 



The shape of these horns is somewhat similar to that of 

 the honis of C. niaral, with the difFerence, however, that the 

 crown of the latter does not differ so much from the other ])arts 

 of the horn as it does in C. elaphuf. The branches of the 

 crown in the present species form a single row, being placed 

 })ai-allel to each other, and not branching ofif in diflerent 

 directions ; sometimes they even i"un parallel with the lower 

 antlers, in which latter case the anterior edge of each crown- 

 jioiiit and that of the terminal portion of the beam are shaqi, 

 but the posterior angle very blunt, of course in diflerent spcci- 



20* 



