996 



-Mil. K. LYDEKKKIt ON 



[June 14^ 



3. Bos CAFFER COTTOXI (?) Lydekkei'. 



So far as my information goes, tlie small-horned Bos caffer 

 hrachyceros is at the present time known only hy the two type 

 skulls l)rou«fht home by Messrs. Denhum and Cla^jperton after their 

 journey through the Lake Chad distriet, and named and described 

 by Dr. Gray in the ' Annals it Miigazine of Natuial History ' for 

 1837, vol. i. p. 587. As to the precise locality where tliis .so-called 

 Lake Chad Buftalo wjis obtaineil, there is no definite information, 

 the original de.scription merely mentioning " Central Africa " : 

 accordingly, the spot may well have been scores of miles distant 

 from the Lake. In 'Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats' I have 

 tentatively regarded the two type skidls as respectively repre- 

 senting the bull and cow of the Lake Chad race ; and I am now 

 more convinced than ever of the correctness of this interpretation. 

 A figure of the skull of the bull, which is fully adult, will ])e found 

 on page 11 4 of the volume cited 



IVxt-tiir. US. 



lins cajfer cotloni (?). Heiul of young mule. 

 From the specimen in the British Museum. 



This .skidl is characterised by the shortness and generally 

 small size of the horns, which are separated by a wide gap 

 in the middle line of the forehead, and show no marked 

 expan.sion or jirominence at the ba.se. Their basal portion, which 

 presents a nearlv tlat front surface, ascends ujjwards and outwards 



