80 



it terminated in a bifurcating crown, precisely as in the Cervus Elaphm 

 of the Sal forest of Nepal, figured by Mr. Hodgson, and supposed 

 by Mr. Ogilby to be C. Wallichii, an opinion in which Mr. Blyth 

 coincided. The general character of this horn was intermediate to 

 that of the Wapiti and European Stag, but agreeing more nearly 

 with the latter in its kind of granulated surface. 



There were also three pairs of horns of the Markbur of Kabul, or 

 Rawacki of Little Thibet, a race of feral common Goats (in the opinion 

 of Mr. Blyth), remarkable for their large size, and also that of the 

 horns, which last are more or less twisted, varying from the curva- 

 ture of those of the Koodoo, only in an opposite direction, to the 

 tense spiral of the Caffrarian Impoof's horns, as shown by the speci- 

 mens then exhibited. It was remarkable that no tame Goats ob- 

 served by Mr. Vigne in the same countries at all approached this 

 feral race in stature, nor was it known to occur in Persia, or in Ne- 

 pal. From the circumstance of the twist alone of the horns of this 

 animal, Mr. Blyth argued that it was not an aboriginal species ; for 

 ■whereas an inward spirature, or at least a tendency to it at the tips, 

 ■was all but invariably observable throughout the endlessly diversified 

 races of domestic Goats, neither the wild Capra JEgagrus, nor any 

 other of the numerous distinct species of wild Caprce known to Mr. 

 Blyth, exhibited this spirature in the least degree ; besides which, it 

 appeared to be alike in no two specimens of the Markbur. This animal, 

 however, as he was informed, did not vary in colour, which resem- 

 bles that of an ordinary brown domestic Goat. A description and 

 figure of it have been published in Mr. Vigne's narrative of his tra- 

 vels in Kabul. 



Finally, were exhibited the skull and horns of a magnificent spe- 

 cimen of the Himalayan Ibex, being the second skull and third pair of 

 horns of this species examined by Mr. Blyth, all of which accorded 

 ■with each other in the several particulars in which they differed from 

 the Swiss Ibex. The animal is very closely allied to the latter, having 

 a similar rudimental beard, and colouring, so far as he could learn ; 

 but the horns are much longer, considerably less divergent (a constant 

 distinction in both species), and resemble those of the Egyptian Ibex 

 in curvature : excepting towards the base, they are less massive than 

 the horns of the Swiss Ibex, the middle part being narrower ; and 

 the tips, which incline more abruptly somewhat forward and inward, 

 are much more attenuated, or drawn out. The splendid pair ex- 

 hibited, which were in their twelfth year of growth, and all but fully 

 developed, measured 4^ feet over the curvature, and 10^ inches round 

 at base ; diverging to 23 inches asunder, measuiing outside, at nearly 

 three-fourths of their length from the base, and the tips returning 

 to 16 inches apart, at a distance of 20 inches from the base inside. 

 They are 4 inches deep at base, 21 inches broad anteriorly, and 2 

 inches at a foot distance from the base, bearing 26 prominences, and 

 numbering, as before remarked, 12 years of growth, whicli success- 

 ively give 16, 7, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3|, 2|, 2, 1^, and the last (incomplete) 

 i, inches. The extreme length of skull is 12 inches, or 1S§ inches 

 over the curves, from tip of intermaxillary to occipital foramen ; 



