1902.] MR. R. LYDEKKER OX THE MARKHOR OF CABUL, 323 



1 ft. 10 in. ; circumference of fore foot 1 ft. 8 in. The calf was 

 a female, and the most noticeable external characteristic was the 

 large amount of hair upon the body, particularly upon the limbs. 

 The macroscopic features of the Elephant's placenta are known ; 

 but the following notes with which Dr. Stevens has furnished mo 

 are of value, since the opportunities of studying this organ have 

 not been many : — 



1. It is typically zonary, consisting of a belt of placental 

 structure, approximately 10 inches in breadth on an avei^xge. 

 Some parts were wider than others, and in places, being torn, 

 there was a difficulty of estimation. The belt was divided into 

 three chief masses as shown in the rough diagram (see text- 

 fig. 61, A, p. 322). The greatest thickness of the placental tissue 

 was 1| inches. 



2. The placental tissue was somewhat broken up into cotyledons, 

 as one finds in the human placenta. 



3. The cord, 40 inches long, was inserted mainly into one 

 placental mass, and from this point large vessels radiated under 

 the amnion to the other placental masses. 



4. There were two arteries and one vein in the umbilical cord. 

 No obvious Wharton's jelly was present, only a dense connective 

 tissue around the vessels and not mvich of that. 



5. The membranes were torn at one end, where the foetus 

 escaped, but the other end of the amniotic cylinder was intact. 



6. Scattered all over the membranes and in the substance of 

 the amnion were the "subcircular bodies" {Owen) (text-fig. 61, B, 

 p. 322)— most numerous near the placenta, least so at the 

 extremities of the amniotic cylinder. These bodies are somewhat 

 like buttons in appearance, with an elevated rim and a depressed 

 centre. Microscopically they consist of fibrous tissue devoid of 

 structure, and showing no nuclei or cellular contents. 



The following paper's were read : — 

 1. Note on the Markhor of Cabul. By R. Lydekker. 



[Received October 10, 1902.1 



(Plate XXYII.) 



In my work entitled the ' Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of 

 All Lands,' I was unable to give any description of the Cabul 

 race of the Markhor {Copra falconeri megaceros), save such as 

 may be gathered from the skull and horns, for the very sufficient 

 reason that I had never seen any other part of the animal. 

 Recently the British Museum has acquired the skin, in the 

 winter coat, of a remarkably fine male of this race, shot by a 

 British officer in Chitral. The horns are essentially those of the 

 Oabul race, being intermediate in form between the Pir-Panial 



31* 



