1900.] HAIR-SLOPE IN CERTAIN MAMMALS. 681 



relative size of the head of the Ass may be noted.) In the Mule 

 it is not quite so far towards the muzzle as in the case of the Ass. 



Iu the Tapirs the snout is elongated and curved gently towards 

 the ventral surface in a very uncommon form. It tlms differs from 

 other elongated snouts, which are not only elongated but straight 

 as a rule. In Tapirs the direction of the hair-slope is uniformly 

 towards the muzzle. 



Among the Saidce, the only exception observed was the Phaco- 

 choerus or Wart-Hog, which presents a notable bristling whorl of 

 hair, unusually far from the snout for a pointed head, such as this 

 form shares with other Suidae. This whorl is nearly midway 

 between the nares and the level of the orbit. 



The Oiraffidae and Camelidce show the Ordinary Type of slope 

 in the nasal and frontal regions, but on the broad thick upper 

 lip the hair is arranged in a fan-shaped way, diverging from the 

 level of the nares to the margin of the upper lip. 



Primates. — Iu the case of the Primates, the whorl from which 

 the hair of the frontal, nasal, orbital, and facial regions diverges 

 is situated iu most forms at the level of the orbits ; and thus this 

 great group, including Man, conforms to the exceptional type. 



It is not claimed that these observations are exhaustive for all 

 hair-covered mammals, but they are certainly quite representative. 

 It comes then to this, that from the great majority of mammals there 

 stand out in marked contrast to them, in respect to this character, 

 seven Felidae, one of the Procyonidae, one of the Ursidae, seven 

 Antelopes, all Tapirs and Equidae examined, thirteen Bovidae, and 

 one of the Suidae, and Primates except Lemuridae. 



It appears desirable to ascertain, if possible, what characteristics 

 are common to these rather divergent types of animal life, or 

 what is common to them in the way of habits or environments. 



In the first place, it may be suggested that this exceptional 

 slope of hair is correlated with a deep, massive, somewhat trun- 

 cated muzzle. It is clear that the more ordinary type is found in 

 animals with pointed muzzles. It is equally clear that the larger 

 Pelidae and the Domestic Cat have the exceptional form of hair- 

 slops, correlated with the different types of muzzle referred to. 

 This is also found in the Panda (Auluropm melanoleucus). But 

 among the Antelopidae and Bovidae specified, the Tapirs, and 

 Equidae, this type of snout is not marked enough to enable one 

 to generalize as to this correlation. It is relatively not nearly so 

 massive or deep as in Felidae. It can, then, hardly be maintained 

 that the exceptional slope is merely correlated with a certain type 

 of snout. 



Again, the pose of the head in rest, or its carriage when in 

 motion, may have a bearing on the point. It cannot be that the 

 pose of the head can effect the " set " of the hair in many cases by 

 the action of gravity, for most of these are short-haired. But it is 

 a fact that the larger Felidte, the Panda, the specified Antelopes, 

 e.g. the Gnus, the Bovidas, Tapirs, and Equidae carry their heads 

 more set at an obtuse, or some at a right, angle to the longitudinal 



