THE BO VINES 343 



inconsistent with the supposed forested nature of that country. 

 It may, however, have only existed here for a short time in 

 one of the inter-Glacial periods before the smitten forests had 

 recovered their luxuriance. 



Ovibos moschatus. The Musk Ox 



The Musk Ox is another of the puzzles which await solution 

 in the classification of the Ruminants. In size it is that of a 

 small ox, and is very ox-like in build and in the shape of the 

 head, especially in the broad forehead, short nose, and large 

 muzzle. The muzzle, however, is hairy, and not a wet, naked 

 muffle, as in the oxen. The short ears are rather more sheep-like 

 in appearance, not being the characteristic broad ears of the ox. 

 The tail is so short as to be almost non-existent. This is not an 

 •ox-like characteristic. The hoofs and the false hoofs are some- 

 what bovine in appearance. The outer hoof in each foot is 

 broader and more rounded than the inner one, which is pointed. 

 This peculiarity is derived from the characteristic habits of the 

 animal. It is as though it always turned its toes in. Unlike 

 the oxen, it has an ante-orbital pit, or tear gland, similar to that 

 which is present in so many antelopes, deer, and sheep — a feature 

 which has disappeared in the oxen. The molar teeth, though 

 long-crowned, lack the additional column which is characteristic 

 of those teeth in the oxen. The cannon bones — that is to say, 

 the fused metacarpal and metatarsal bones, which are equivalent 

 to the bones of our knuckles and instep — are short and stout as 

 in the oxen, and not long and slender as in most of the sheep 

 and antelopes. On the other hand, these cannon bones in the 

 musk ox are absolutely single, with no trace whatever of that 

 •division down the middle which makes the same bones in the 

 oxen look like (what they really are) two separate bones joined 

 in the middle. Another point in which the musk oxen differ 

 entirely from the Bovines is that they retain on the outer side 

 •of each front leg a large splint bone (a metacarpal), which, 

 beginning at the wrist joint, reaches nearly as far down as the 

 knuckle, or metacarpal joint. On the inner side of each front leg 



