1841.] A Moiiograph of the species of Wild Sheep. 863 



from the ground with a considerable effort ;" but it is necessary to ob- 

 serve, that the description which he gives in the volume adverted to, of 

 the mutilated skin of a young wild Ram, procured in mid-winter, refers 

 evidently to the Nahoor, and not to the species with horns having a 

 triangular section, which is the subject of the present notice. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Hodgson, the horns of this young specimen are '^ equilater- 

 ally triangular," as the figure likewise represents ; whereas the Rocky 

 Mountain species would at the same age have much compressed horns, 

 far from attaining to an equilateral triangle. Should a true species be 

 here indicated, as is not improbable, distinct from O. Ammo7i, I pro- 

 pose that it be dedicated to that assiduous investigator of Nepalese 

 Zoology, and be accordingly termed O. Hodgsonii.* 



* This animal has since been more elaborately described and figured by Mr. 

 Hodgson, under the appellation Ovis Ammonoides, {vide "Journal," ante, p. 230,) 

 but except that no notice is taken of the pale disk surrounding the tail, as 

 in the true Stags, which is a very conspicuous feature in the Argalis of Siberia 

 and North America, and that the ears and tail would appear to be rather longer 

 at least than my notes specify of the Ilocky Mountain animal, (for, unfortunately, 

 I have not Pallas's Spicilegia now to refer to, for the very complete description of 

 O. Ammon furnished by that able naturalist,) I cannot perceive in what Mr. Hodgson's 

 alleged species differs from the latter, and very much incline to the opinion that it 

 will prove to be no other. The O, Ammon is described to be common in the Mon- 

 golian, Songarian, and Tartarian solitudes, inhabiting chiefly the lower ranges of 

 the mountains, and it may be that Mr. Hodgson's specimens are trans- Himalayan, 

 and were perhaps brought from a very considerable distance to the North-eastward. 

 I mean to supply, however, some representations of (at least) the Rocky Mountain 

 animal, which, together with the following description, will probably enable Mr. 

 Hodgson to arrive at a more decided opinion on the subject. 



The Argali of either continent approaches the European Stag in the size of its 

 body, but is lower on the legs ; having a pale disk, as large as in the Wapiti, 

 surrounding its very short tail ; and truly enormous horns (as described in the 

 text,) attaining to a circumference of sometimes more than 1^ foot at base, with 

 a length of 4 feet over the spire. (The American pair to be figured is the same as 

 that described in the text.) Its colour is pale greyish fawn, or light chocolate-brown 

 in younger individuals which have their coat newly renovated ; with the generic 

 dark markings on the face, chest, and front of the limbs, more or less developed : 

 there is a ridge of lengthened hair on the back of its neck; and the chaffron of the 

 male becomes excessively bombed with age, contrary to what has been asserted. 



A recent American specimen, with horns 3^ feet long, measured 6 feet from nose 

 to tail, and was 3 feet 8 inches high at the back ; from nose to base of horns 9| 

 inches, ears 4| inches, and tail 4 inches. A large Asiatic Argali, with horns 4 feet 

 (Russian) in length, and one of which weighed 16 Russian or 15 English pounds, 

 was 6i feet (English measure,) from nose to base of tail, and weighed 310 medical 

 pounds ; the female is a third smaller, and a fine Asiatic individual weighed 209* 

 medical pounds. The horns of a large American male have already been described, and 



