WEAPONS OF ANIMALS 163 



do resort to breathing-holes in order to inflate their 

 lungs with air, but whether the beasts break the ice 

 on their own account is a question that still remains 

 to be solved. 



Amongst the members of the deer family which 

 are provided with large upper canine teeth or tusks 

 are to be numbered the muntjacs or barking-deer, 

 the musk-deer, and the chevrotains or mouse-deer ; 

 although, strictly speaking, the latter are not true 

 deer but are classified in a separate family. It is 

 only in the males, however, that the tusks attain 

 to a sufficient size so as to project beyond the mouth. 



As we have a somewhat wide field to survey under 

 the heading of our chapter, we must postpone to a 

 future occasion more detailed remarks concerning 

 the teeth of these and other creatures, for, in spite 

 of the general opinion that the study thereof is of a 

 ' dry-as-dust ' nature, and only of interest to the 

 advanced zoologist, yet, in reality, such is by no 

 means the case. Before we pass on to another 

 theme, however, mention must be made of the for- 

 midable dental weapons possessed by many snakes 

 in the form of poison-fangs, to which further 

 reference will be found in these pages. 



The vast majority of the hoofed animals or 

 ungulates are weU provided with the means ol 

 defence and offence. The horses, asses, and their 

 kindred, for instance, are experts in the art of kick- 

 ing with their hind legs ; the deer will make use of 

 their fore-feet for the purpose of striking out at an 

 adversary ; while the giraffe is able to inflict a hard 

 blow by swinging its head against the body of an 



