186 PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE MUSK-DEER. [ Mar. 16, 
that his rule is even more absolute than he himself supposed it 
to be*. 
Hydropotes exactly follows the other Deer in this respect, while 
Moschus entirely differs from them and agrees with the Bovide. But 
it is not only the Bovide but also the Tragulina, the Tylopoda, and 
probably all the primitive Artiodactyles + that Moschus resembles in 
this character ; wherefore it is only evidence of generalization or the 
retention of an original character, not of special affinity to either one 
of the other groups which possess it. It is a very singular circum- 
stance, and not easily explained, that the conformation of the lachry- 
mal canals, which has just been mentioned as a special character of 
the typical Cervida, also appears in the modern Pigs. 
V. The presence of a gall-bladder. This, like the last, is obviously 
the retention of a general character, as the presence of this organ is 
the rule in all Artiodactyles excepting the Deer, the Giraffe (where 
it has occasionally been found), the Camels, and the Peccaries. More 
accurate and extended observations, however, are required as to its 
presence or absence ; for, at least in those orders (as the Artiodactyles 
and the Rodents) in which it may or may not be present in nearly 
allied forms, it seems to be a somewhat variable character even in 
the same speciest. 
The presence of a pedunculated Spigelian lobule to the liver must 
* Speaking of Moschus, Milne-Edwards says:—‘ Le trou lacrymal est 
unique, situé 4 la partie inférieure de l’os du méme nom en dedans du bord 
orbitaire, disposition qui ne se voit qu’exceptionnellement chez les Cerfs, mais 
qui existe d’ordinaire dans le groupe des Antilopes,” adding in a note “Chez le 
Cerf Duyaucel, on ne compte également qu'un seul trou lacrymal, mais chez 
presque toutes les autres espéces du méme genre, il en existe deux, l’un au-dessus 
de l'autre sur le bord méme de I’orbite ou plutét en dehors. Chez le Muntijac, 
on trouve trois trous lacrymaux. Le Gnou et le Guib [as mentioned in the 
‘Lecons d’Anatomie Comparée, 2nd edit. t. ii. p. 495] sont des exceptions a 
cette régle, leurs trous lacrymaux sont au nombre de deux de chaque coté.” 
( Op. cit. p. 17.) 
With reference to the first exception, in a series of skulls of Cervus duvau- 
cellé in the British Museum I find the lachrymal canal double and conforming 
in every way to the ordinary Cervine type. In the Muntjak the third or lowest 
foramen on the anterior margin of the orbit is not an opening into the lachrymal 
canal but an antero-posterior perforation of the wall of the orbit, passing from 
the orbit into the antorbital fossa, and probably for the passage of a vessel or 
nerve. The true lachrymal orifices are like those of other Deer. In the Gnu 
the second or lower foramen, as the lowest in the Muntjak, has nothing to do 
with the lachrymal canal, but is cnly a perforation of the prominent anterior 
edge of the orbit, represented by a notch in many other allied forms, The Guib 
(Tragelaphus scriptus) and its immediate allies 7. decula and T. sylvaticus, and 
the Eland ( Oreas canna), however, are real exceptions ; and there is another in the 
curiously aberrant Prongbuck (An¢ilocapra), which possesses the Cervine cha- 
racter of a double orifice to the lachrymal canal (though not placed quite so 
externally asin the Deer), in addition to others pointed out by Dr. Murie (P. Z.8. 
1870, p. 334); yet this animal has most strongly marked hypsodont molars. 
+ This is certainly the case with Cenotherium, Xiphodon, Hyopotamus, and 
all the Kocene Artiodactyles which I have examined. 
{ As is well known, Dr. Crisp (P. Z. 8. 1862, p. 136) has recorded the pre- 
sence of a gall-bladder in three specimens of the Axis and in one of the American 
Deer (Cervus superciliaris) and its absence in eight species of the Bouede ex- 
amined by him. 
