1900.] SOFT ANATOMY OF THE MFSK-OX. 161 



a part of the winter coat, which extends even on to the interior 

 surface of the prseputium, for in the bull killed 29th August it is 

 absent and the corresponding surface naked. The next preputial 

 region, about 7 cm. in length, is also thrown into strong longi- 

 tudinal folds. In the bull killed in July it is beset with fine 

 woolly-looking hairs about 1^ or 2 cm. in length. This portion 

 is evidently richly provided with glands, for in the specimen 

 killed at the end of August, at a time when the rutting-season 

 is approaching, this region is quite covered by a hardened secretion. 

 This is a yellowish-looking mass consisting partly of small roundish 

 nodules like hardened drops and emitting a strong odour of musk. 

 The third and most interior portion, which includes the distal 

 end of the penis, is about 6 cm. in length. Its surface is thrown 

 into a still greater number (16-18) of undulating folds. But the 

 surface is smooth, and there is no secretion conspicuous in this 

 part. There seems to be a rather powerful sphincter at the centre 

 of the middle preputial portion, although it is damaged on the 

 preparations. 



The length of the two penes preserved in the retracted state 

 is, measured along the curves, respectively 55 and 62 cm. 



The end of the penis (fig. 13) is blunt, and the urethra ends as a 

 truncate tube (u), which on the left side is curved upward close 

 to the tip of the penis. The urethral tube accordingly does not 



Penis of the Musk-oy. 



extend beyond the penis, and the portion which is not fused 

 together with the end of the latter is very short. On my speci- 

 mens the free margin on the left lateral side is about 9 mm. and 

 on the median side hardly 4 mm. This condition differs widely 

 from that in the Ovine group. But there is still another difference : 

 the apex of the penis of the Sheep is provided with an expansion 

 like a cushion, forming a kind of glans, but in the Musk-ox 

 nothing of that sort can be seen. The shape of the penis of 

 Ovihos is most similar to that of Damaliscus pygnrgus as figured 

 by Gar rod (I. c. p. 11). From the fact that forms so widely 

 different as Giraffa, Moschus, Elaphodus, Addax, Gazella, Capra, 

 and Ovis have the urethra prolonged to a more or less setiform 

 appendix beyond the tip of the penis, it may be concluded that 

 this is an ancient characteristic ' of the .Ruminants, and the ancestors 



1 It is very difficult to understand such a feature as a parallelism, and tertiurn 

 non datwr. 



Pboo. Zool. Soc.— 1900, No. XT. 11 



