282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and attains a characteristic development in the genera Bos and 

 Cervus, the cranial weapons diverge laterally from the skull, are 

 set transversely to the cranio -facial axis, and usually assume a 

 crescentic form, of which the terminal points may be directed 

 upwards, as in most antlers and some horns, or inclined forwards, 

 as in most horns and some antlers. The Sheep and Goats, which 

 are of comparatively late appearance in geological time, exhibit 

 a gradual and complete transition from one type to the other.* 



That weapons of both types are an efficient means of defence 

 against carnivorous attack, is a fact generally recognised, and 

 sufficiently established by the constant experience of hunters; 

 but the marked structural difference between the more specialised 

 examples in either case, suggests a functional importance, and 

 favours the conclusion that each type commands a relatively 

 greater efficiency in dealing with a particular form of attack. 

 Weapons that rise vertically and diverge but slightly from the 

 line of the facial axis present a resisting force to a direct impact 

 which seems peculiarly adapted to meet the attack of carnivores 

 that creep on their prey by stealth and seize with a spring 

 (Felidce) ; while weapons that spread laterally and diverge widely, 

 give a sweeping reach to the swing of the armed head which 

 seems peculiarly adapted to meet the attacks of carnivores 

 that hunt their prey in packs and kill by mobbing (Canidce). It 

 is therefore a significant fact that from Pliocene times the 

 Antelopes have been associated mainly with a fauna of deserts 

 and plains and with a predominant feline carnivora ; while the 

 Deer and Oxen for the same period have been associated mainly 

 with a fauna of forests and hills and with a predominant canine 

 carnivora. Illustration of this particular defensive use of either 

 type may be found, on the one hand, in the lowered head of the 

 kneeling Gemsbok, who thus awaits and averts the threatened 

 attack of the Lion ; and, on the other hand, in the familiar 

 spectacle of the hunted stag at bay swinging his antlered head 

 before a pack of hounds. That the complex branching of 

 antlers is a further and formidable adjustment for a defensive 

 purpose, will be questioned by no one who endeavours to come 

 to terms with a wounded Deer so long as he can use his head ; 



* Transverse types occur among the Antelopes, and vertical types among 

 the Deer and Oxen, but the general fades of the frontal weapons in both 

 cases is the other way, as may be seen from any extensive series of either. 



