1910.] CUTAXKOUS SCEXT-GLANDS OF RUMINAXTS. 843 



be made coiiiprelierisive in its scope. I therefore applied to 

 Mr. Eowlaud Ward, F.Z.S., and to Mr. Edward Gerrard for 

 skins, feet, or masks of specimens that might be discarded in their 

 stores as useless duplicates. To the generous response my appeal 

 elicited, I owe the opportunity of examining these glands in many 

 species I could not otherwise have seen ; and I gladly take this 

 opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to Mr. Rowland Ward, 

 to his manager, Mr. J. B. Burlace, and to Mr. Gerrar<l for the kind 

 help they afforded me. I also applied to Mr. Herbei't Bolton, 

 F.R.S.E., Y.Z.H., the Curator of the Bristol Museum, for the 

 use of discarded stuffed specimens, and with the sanction of the 

 Committee of the Museum he kindly sent me from time to time 

 matei'ial which has been of great use for my work. Finally, I have 

 to thank Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., for allowing me free access 

 to the collection of skins under his charge at the Natural History 

 Museum, when I wished to examine representatives of species I 

 had no chance of seeing elsewhere. 



But apart from the verification of previously observed facts, 

 very little satisfactory work can be done upon dried skins if left 

 intact. It is true that the absence of glands can in many cases 

 be inferred by superficial scrutiny ; but their structure, when they 

 are present, cannot be ascertained without maceration and dissec- 

 tion. It was here that the use of the matei'ial lent or given to 

 me by Messrs. Rowland Ward and Gerrard came in. I found that 

 softening the feet or the preorbital glands, Avhen preserved, and 

 cutting them with a razor or sharp knife, I'evealed surprisingly 

 well the main features of the glands, especially those of the feet, 

 due allowance being made for shrinkage when, as was too 

 commonly the case, the back of the pasterns had been opened and 

 the connective tissue that normally holds the gland in place had 

 been cut away. 



In no case did I attempt to ascertain the mici'oscopical strnctui-e 

 of the glands themselves, this aspect of the subject having been 

 already worked out by Max Weber, Tempel, and other authors. 



On the fresh specimens I generally made a practice of recording 

 and describing the scent of the secretions — that is to say, of com- 

 paring the smell to that of other and familiar objects whenever 

 the one reminded me of the other. In some cases this was a 

 simple task. There was, for instance, no mistaking the resemblance 

 between the scent of the secretion of the inguinal glands of Ovis 

 vignei and of Gazella suhgutturosa to the urine of Mus muscidus, 

 nor of that of the pedal glands of Lama to the same substance. 

 But in other cases no such compai-ison was possible, owing to the 

 fact that the scents were sui generis and wei-e thei-efore not com- 

 parable to any substance known to me. 



I noted incidentally in most cases the number of mammae, but 

 I was disappointed in the hope of getting useful taxonomic features 

 fi-om these organs. The typical number in the Ruminants is two 

 pairs, although the occasional presence of three pairs in domestic 

 cattle suggests that six may have been the original total. Two 



