1905.1 



IN A CASTRATED PRONGBUCK. 



195 



sheath IS about i of an inch thick, and allows of but little move- 

 jnent oetween the two. The remaining portions of the composite 

 sheath are unmovably welded together both by the solidity and 

 thickness of the central core and by the unbroken continuity of 

 the cortical tissues on the convex side of the horn-sheath. 



The approximate length in inches of the sheaths (excluding the 

 distal) IS as follows :— No. 6, 2i ; nos. 5, 4, and 3, 2^ ; no. 2, 21 

 In the proximal sheath the length of the hollow that fits over 

 the bony core is 11; in the distal sheath it is 1^ inches. 

 _ The horn that has just been described was not, I believe, shed 

 m the ordinary Avay. It was picked up in the paddock adjoining 

 that m which the Prongbuck was kept. The paddocks are sepa- 

 rated by iron bars, and it seems probable that the horn, becoming 

 entangled, was wrenched off by the animal in its efforts to get 

 free. This is an explanation of its being on the wrong side of the 

 fence, and also_ of the fact that the horn-core was naked and 

 bleeding. ^ In the case of normally-shed horn- sheaths, the core is 

 covered Avith the new sheath before the old one comes away. 



Text-fie-. 29. 



Section of llie left compound lioni-sheath of a castrated Prongbuck, slightly 

 diagrammatic, showing the five component sheaths (1-5) and the extremity 

 of the central strand (A) by which the fifth sheath (5) was fixed to the tip 

 of the sheath left covering the horn-core. 



The left horn-sheath (text-fig. 29) resembles the right in essential 

 features. It appears, however, to consist of five, instead of six, 



