WEAPONS OF ANIMALS 165 



In a similar manner to the oxen, both sexes of 

 the wild sheep possess horns, whereas in domestic 

 species they are sometimes absent or may be present 

 in the rams only. Those of wild sheep, however, 

 are much smaller in the females than in the males ; 

 but very httle difference is to be noted in the dimen- 

 sions between those of the two sexes in the oxen. 

 Moreover, in the majority of the latter the horns are 

 cylindrical in form, possess a smooth surface, and, 

 as previously mentioned, generally take an outward 

 and upward sweep from their bases ; but in the 

 males of the former they are more or less of a tri- 

 angular shape when viewed in section, are trans- 

 versely wrinkled throughout their length, and fre- 

 quently grow in a bold, downward and outward- 

 sweeping spiral curve which may almost, if not quite, 

 form a complete circle. 



The most remarkable horns are those possessed 

 by the male Himalayan markhoors, in which those 

 appendages take numerous corkscrew-Hke twists, 

 the actual number of complete turns varying con- 

 siderably in different individuals ; while in the 

 chamois, one of those creatures which forms a con- 

 necting link between the goats and the antelopes, 

 the horns tiu^n over backwards at their tips and 

 resemble button-hooks with their business-ends 

 poised uppermost. 



Many varied forms of horns are to be found amongst 

 the numerous types of antelopes. Sometimes they 

 are present in both sexes, and at other times it is 

 only the males which possess them. They are 

 supported by bony cores which are almost solid 



