A HOME IN A HORN. 235 



They are hollow and, though stout and elastic, and 

 buttressed and strengthened wonderfully by a series 

 of ridges or horny rings set close together, are often 

 badly bruised, battered, and broken in the fierce com- 

 bats waged by rival rams fighting for the leader- 

 ship of the flock. This has given rise to a story told 

 of the ibex, and the Kocky Mountain sheep as well, 

 that the animals use their horns as buffers. " A ram,'' 

 we are told, "leaping from a great height, alights 

 upon them, and their strength and elasticity, breaking 

 his fall, saves him from a shock that would otherwise 

 prove fatal." If this were really the case, it would 

 be a pity that the female sheep, whose horns are com- 

 paratively light and small, are deprived of so useful a 

 safeguard. 



The fact is, however, that no living mammal, 

 especially no mountain sheep, whose necks are not 

 especially large or strong in proportion to the size 

 and weight of their bodies, could survive such a man- 

 ner of alighting. 



Though the horns of the argali are larger than 

 those of his American cousin, it would seem that they 

 are not as strong, for, firmly set as they appear to be 

 upon his forehead, they are sometimes broken com- 

 pletely off. 



When the native hunters kill one of these animals 

 they either use the horns — which are capacious enough 

 to contain several gallons of liquid — as vessels in 

 which to carry a supply of water, or convert them into 

 various articles of domestic economy. Nor are those 

 broken off in the shock of battle allowed to lie un- 



