b 



KONGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND. 35. N:0 3. 35 



The horns of the wild species of Capra are, on the whole, as it seems constructed 

 on the same plan as those of the common goat, because they are used in a similar manner, 

 striking blows in the sagittal plane. They are usually more or less compressed from the 

 sides. In C. caucasica they are quadrangular in section with broad anterior surface with 

 transverse ribs and knobs; in C. i^yrenaica triangulär with the front surface irregulai"ly 

 knobbed; in C. nubiana strongly compressed with transverse ridges on their rather narrow 

 anterior surface; in C. ibex strongly compressed, quadrangular in section, with trans- 

 versal ribs and knobs on the comparatively broad anterior surface; in C. sibirica similar 

 to the foregoing, but the knobs stronger and »the section is completely triangulär, with 

 hinder angle compressed» (Lydekker); in C. falconeri »much compressed» — — — »in 

 young individuals sharply angulated both in front and behind, but the front of the base 

 becoming rounded with increasing age» (Lydekker). — The horns of this last wild goat 

 are interesting, because they are twisted into a spiral in a direction opposite to that of the 

 horns in the common goat. In the one last mentioned the spiral of each horn turns 

 mesially at first, but in the former it turns outwards. — The shape of the horns in all 

 these cases makes them adapted to withstand great violence in the sagittal plane. ^ The 

 great thickness or width of the horns makes them also able to successfully endure great 

 force. The armature with ribs and knobs serves to make the blows more powerful. The 

 interiör structure of the core of the ibex-forms is only knoMai to me by the figure in 

 Barkow's work, quoted above. In this work (Tab. XV, Fig. I and II) there are some 

 good figures of the core of Capra ibex. From these there may be seen that the sinus 

 extends through two thirds of the core, more or less. In this large sinus several lameliar 

 trabeculaä are developed. Among these the same general arrangement can be discerned 

 as that described above from the core of the common goat. There are thus several 

 trabeculas at the front-wall of the core representing the ends of the trajectories of pressure 

 and some others at the hind-wall representing the ends of the trajectories of stretching. 



If we now pass över to the last subfamily Bovincc, it is only suitable to make the 

 most primitive of now living »oxen» Anoa, the tirst object of investigation.^ It needs not 

 then be repeated, that the horns of the young Anoa have a solid structure of the core, 

 almost identical with that found in Ceplialophus, as has been stated above. The exteriör 

 shape of the horns of this animal has been described many times before, and I refer 

 concerning this to Heller's paper quoted above. They are broadly triangulär at the 

 base with the lateral surface narrowest, then the anterior and the postero-mesial broadest. 

 This basal portion is transversally and irregularly ringed. The distal three fifths, more 

 or less, are smooth and almost conical. The greatest thickness of the sheath is found 

 along the mesial angle, which is also the sharpest. In an adult specimen with the horns 

 measuring 288 mm. in length the core extends through 68 % of the entire length of the 

 horn. Not quite half of the core (more exactly about 44 %) is occupied by a large sinus. 



^) The horns of C. cylindricornis are nearly cylindrical in section and form thus an exception from 

 the general rule in this genus. 



-) Material for such an investigation I have received from Amsterdam through an exchange between 

 Upsala Zool. Mus. and the Zool. Mus, of the Kon. Zool. Genootskap »Natura artis magistra», which has been 

 made possihle through the kindness of Professor Max Weber. 



