Classification 



oval ; tarsal and metatarsal glands wanting ; ectocuneiform bone of tarsus 

 united with the naviculo-cuboid. Neotropical region. 

 B. Sub-Family Moschin/E. — Antlers wanting in both sexes; liver furnished with 

 a gall-bladder; no face-gland or gland-pit. 

 XIV. Genus Moschus. — Hair coarse and brittle ; upper canines of male very 

 long ; no tarsal or metatarsal glands or tufts ; lateral metacarpals repre- 

 sented by their lower extremities ; lateral hoofs very large ; tail very short ; 

 naked portion of muzzle extensive ; male with a large abdominal gland. 



It will be seen from this table that the number of generic groups 

 adopted is comparatively small, but that many of these are divided into 

 sub-genera. The possession of one important common feature, such as the 

 presence of a brow-tine to the antlers in the members of Cervus, and of the 

 division of the hinder aperture of the nostrils in the skull of the American 

 deer by the vertical plate of bone known as the vomer into two chambers, 

 is regarded as entitling most or all of the forms in which it occurs to be in- 

 cluded in one genus. Minor differences, on the other hand, constitute the 

 basis of division into sub-generic groups. 



Very similar considerations govern the grouping into species and sub- 

 species, or races. For instance, when we have two members of a genus as 

 distinct from one another as is the red deer from the wapiti, they are 

 regarded as forming separate species. But the wapitis of Asia differ from 

 the American forms, and if these were regarded as species, a distinction 

 higher than specific would be required between the red deer and the 

 wapiti. Consequently the Asiatic and American wapitis are regarded as 

 sub-species, or races, of a single widely spread and variable species. In like 

 manner, the various deer more or less nearly resembling the Indian sambar 

 are classed as races of one species ; as are those akin to the Virginian deer 

 of another. Should the system here adopted not be found acceptable to 

 any students of the group, it can readily be modified into a more complex 

 one. For instance, the Cervina and Moschincz may be raised to the rank of 

 families, when several of the generic groups will form the types of sub- 

 families. The sub-genera will then stand as genera ; and the larger sub- 

 genera, such as Cervus proper, will have to be divided into groups which 

 will then possess sub-generic value. The red deer will then represent one 

 sub-genus and the wapitis a second ; while the Asiatic and American forms 

 of the latter will represent as many species. 



