66 



Mr. Gray discusses the synonymy of the species above charac- 

 terized as belonging to the subgenus Tragulus, especially with re- 

 ference to the descriptions of Buffon, Pallas, Raffles, and M. Frederic 

 Cuvier. From the imperfect manner in which they are described 

 and figured, he is unable to identify with any of the foregoing spe- 

 cies, or to separate from them as distinct, the Pelandoc figured in 

 Marsden's Sumatra, or the Pygmy Musk of Sumatra figured in Mr. 

 Griffith's edition of Cuvier's ' Animal Kingdom,' on which Fischer 

 has established his Moschiis Griffithii. The Mosch. pygmcciis of Lin- 

 naeus Mr. Gray states to belong to the genus Antilope ; the hinder 

 part of the tarsus being covered with hair, and the false hoofs very 

 small and rudimentary, and entirely hidden under the hair of the 

 feet ; the Mosch. Americanus appears by its spotted livery to be the 

 fawn of a species of Deer : and the Mosch. del.icatulus, or Leverian 

 Musk of Shaw, is also undoubtedly the fawn of a Deer, It is curious 

 that Dr. Shaw quotes as a synonym of the last-named species the 

 figure of Seba, on which alone the Mosch. Americanus is founded, 

 while at the same time he enumerates the Mosch. Americanus as a 

 distinct species. 



Mr. Gray also made some observations " On the tufts of hair ob- 

 servable on the posterior legs of the animals of the genus Cervus, as 

 a character of that group, and a means of subdividing it into natural 

 sections." These tufts are found on the inside, or on the outside, or 

 sometimes even on both sides, of the hinder legs of all the Deer 

 which Mr. Gray has had an opportunity of examining, with the ex- 

 ception of the Muntjac, on which he has not been able to detect 

 them either in the living state or in preserved skins. This circum- 

 stance may, however, have arisen from the fact of the living animal 

 examined being confined in a cage ; for he has uniformly found them 

 much more conspicuous in animals which have a wide range than in 

 such as are confined to small inclosures. Thus the various species of 

 Deer in the magnificent parks of the Earl of Derby at Knowsley, in 

 which the Ruminant animals are allowed an extensive range, and 

 preserved in a state nearly approaching to wildness, exhibit the tufts 

 in question in a much more ample state of development than such 

 as are seen in menageries ; and one of the Axis Beer at the Gardens 

 of the Society, which has the run of a small paddock, dis])lays them 

 much more evidently than another specimen in the Gardens, which 

 is confined to a stall. This difference of development, Mr. Gray 

 suggests, may account for the little notice that has hitherto been 

 taken of them by zoologists, who have only spoken of them inci- 

 dentally, and with reference to one or two species of the group. 

 They are found at all ages and in both sexes ; and afford, therefore, 

 a valuable adjunct in the determination of the species of the hornless 

 females, as well as in distinguishing them from the females of the 

 genus Antilope, m which no indication of them is to be observed ; 

 the tufts or scoptB that occur in some of the species of that genus 

 being on the fore knees and evidently serving a very different pur- 

 pose. 



