598 Asiatic Society. [No. 126. 



development of the antler of that side; and a very curious circumstance is related 

 (Lin. Trans. II, 356,^ of a female Cervus Elaphus, " which had one horn perfectly 

 similar to that of a Stag three years old. It never had a horn on the other side of its 

 head, for there the corresponding place was covered over by the skin, and quite 

 smooth. It did not seem to have ever produced a fawn, and upon dissection, the ova- 

 rium on the same side with the horn, was found to be schirrous." The true facts 

 relative to the development of antlers in castrated Deer, as observed in a number annu- 

 ally gelded in the Royal demesne of Richmond Park, do not appear to be generally 

 known : the antlers which the animal had borne at the time of the operation are shed 

 in due season, though later than in the perfect animals, and they are regularly suc- 

 ceeded by others which never fall, nor cease growing from time to time, slowly and 

 weakly, and shooting forth most irregularly with regard to shape, the velvet, or hairy 

 skin investing them, being, under these circumstances, of course permanent ; though 

 (at least in some groups) it appears that where this animal is emasculated while young, 

 the antlers do not appear at all, as instanced by a " heaver" or ox Sambur (C. Hippe- 

 laphus,) whose skeleton is in the Museum of this Society. The currently received 

 doctrine on this subject is still that of Buffon (Hist. Nat. VI, 81), who asserts " Si 

 Ton fait cette operation dans le temps qui'l a mis bas sa tete, il ne s'en forme pas une 

 nouvelle ; et si on ne la fait au contraire que dans le temps qu'il a refait sa tete, elle 

 ne tombe plus, l'animal en un mot reste pour tout la vie dans 1' etat on il etoit lors- 

 qu'il a subi la castration," which appears to be taken for granted by all subsequent 

 writers.* I may take this opportunity, too, to remark that in the park surrounding 

 Government House, at Madras, there is a very large herd of Indian Antelopes, being 

 the posterity of a single tame pair. The gentleness and familiarity of these beautiful 

 creatures surprised me considerably, knowing how dangerous a solitary tame one is 

 apt to be, particularly when its range is limited ; but I learned that not a single acci- 

 dent had ever happened in the present instance, though the bucks are commonly heard 

 groaning and righting at nights. As I drove past them, they were lying and grazing on 

 each side as quietly as Sheep, and now and then two or three would be seen skipping 

 after each other, more lightly than Fallow Deer, which latter they much resembled in 

 their trot. Among the whole large herd, I observed but a single coal-black male, 

 though very many had fully developed horns ; nor is more than one such ever seen, I 

 believe, in the wild herds, however extensive, the rest being driven off as they attain 

 complete maturity. 



Gazella cora, H. Smith (vide page 452, ante) ; seven heads, including two of 

 females. 



Cervus Axis : two heads. 



Gavius Gangeticus : a large stuffed specimen, and the head of a smaller one. 



From Hamilton, Esq. C. S., of Mirzapore, 



Hycena vulgaris v. virgata : skin and skeleton. The former has, with considerable 

 patience and difficulty, been mounted, and now forms a very tolerable stuffed speci- 

 men. 



From G. Hugon, Esq. two frontlets of Deer, from the Mauritius. "What this Deer 

 is, if described at all, I do not know, though I have long been acquainted with the 



* For the above interesting piece of information relative to the heavers of Richmond Park, I am 

 indebted to the celebrated animal painter, Mr. Hill, who shewed me a number of specimens illus- 

 trative of the fact — E. B. 



