1D04.] ON THE fJROWTII OF THE ANTLERS IN THE WAPITT. 131 



geographical species oi- races of the Short-horned African BufFaloes 

 may render interesfcing tlie accompanying photographs, taken by 

 myself, of a pair of iShoiiliorned Ijuffiiloes which have lived for 

 many yeai-s in the Antwerp Zoological Gardens. 8een sideways, 

 the horns of hoth specimens sloped back almost in the plane of the 

 forehead. Seen from the front, the horns of the bnll were broad 

 and flattened, withcjut transveise markings, and with hut a small 

 development of the boss, which forms a ring-like projection where 

 tlie horn springs from the skull. Tlie hoiiis boj-e considerable 

 resemblance to those of the Senegambian Buffalo {Jios caffer 

 planiceros), and perhaps the animal is refeiuble to this subspecies. 

 The horns of the cow, however, were more curved at the tips, and 

 recalled those of the Lake Tchad Buftalo {Bos caffer hrachyceros). 

 Both aniirjals were in the prime of life, of a deep dai-k blackish- 

 brown colour ; the edges of the ears were heavily fringed with 

 hair, but there was no hair inside the pinna. A veiy sparse line 

 of hair (the individual haii's being about 4 inches long) extended 

 from the occiput to the I'oot of the tail. The tail was very dark 

 bi'own ; tail-tuft black. The dorsal line of hair was hairlly 

 noticeable in the cow. The animals wei'e labelled ' Bahalus 

 pumilus, Afr. Australe et Centrale (Buffle nain du Senegal).' 

 However, they do not agi-ee at all with JJos caffer nanus (Bush- 

 Cow of the West Coast sportsmen)." 



Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S., exhibited and made remarks upon 

 the skull of the Cape Ci'owned Ci'ane, Balearica chrysopelarcjus, 

 showing paired lateral and single median bony Ijosses suggestive 

 of those of horn-beaiing vertebiutes. 



Mr. R. E. Holding exhibited and made remarks uj)on a series 

 of 12 platinotype photographs, three of which ai-e here repro- 

 duced (text-fig. 24, p. 132), taken by Mr. Henry Irving, of Horley, 

 showing the growth and development of the horns in the Wapiti 

 Stag {Gervus canadensis) bi-ed by the Society and now living in 

 the Gardens. The first of the series was taken on Mar'cli 20th, 

 1903, the date on which the horns were shed, and photographs 

 were taken at fortnightly intervals until the following September, 

 when the horns were fully adult and almost free from the velvet 

 covering. 



The photographs showed in an interesting manner the rapid 

 gi-owth of the antlei'S in the Cervidse, the time occupied being 

 six months. On March 20th, 1904, these horns were in the usual 

 course shed, the weight of the pair being 21 lbs. and length of 

 beam 45 1 inches. 



Simultaneously with the development of the horns, the photo- 

 graphs showed the rapid seasonal change in the coat of the 

 animal, the winter coat beginning to fall off shortly after the 



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