6516 



Notice of the various 



skull of an old (though not large) bull from Pegu, the horn of another 

 from the Arakan side of the mountains which separate the two pro- 

 vinces, with the admirable figures of the skulls of both sexes, at dif- 

 ferent ages, of the Javanese banteng, published by Dr. Salomon Muller, 

 as also with two superb frontlets of bulls from Java, we can come to no 

 other conclusion than that the}' are one and the same species, and upon 

 present evidence we doubt if they can even be ranged as distinguishable 

 varieties. It is true that in the specimens before us, the continental 

 have more slender horns than the insular ; but the peculiar flexure is 

 absolutely the same, and we can discern no difference whatever in the 

 configuration of the skulls. The truth is, as we suspect, that our con- 

 tinental specimens are ordinary, whilst the insular are extraordinarily 

 fine.* It has indeed been suggested to us, that the horns of the ban- 

 teng are more approximated at base ; but an appearance of this in one 

 of the Japanese frontlets under examination is found to be deceptive 

 on inspection. One very remarkable feature in an old bull banteng is 

 the excessive development of bony substance on the forehead, rising 

 up into coral-like asperities three-fourths of an inch above the plane 

 of the frontal bones, above which the cuticle is enormously thickened 

 into a rugged horn-like mass, which is hard and solid enough to turn 

 a musket-ball. This is well shown in the finer of two frontlets before 

 us ; while in the other a portion of the same thickened cuticle, con- 

 tinuous with the base of each horn, has not been detached from the 

 latter, which nevertheless is sufficiently well marked, — and hence the 

 deceptive appearance of the horns being more approximated at base. 

 In the Peguan skull before us, the horns are remarkably pale (even 

 whitish), with black tips ; and it is worthy of remark that Pennant in 

 his ' Hindustan ' notices the existence of white-horned wild cattle in 

 the Indo-Chinese territories ; but the Arakan horn under examination 

 is darker, being much the same in hue as the larger Javanese pair. 

 The frontal bones in our Peguan skull are smooth, and they are equally 

 so in the smaller Javanese frontlet before us ; though both are heads 

 of old animals, with the frontal suture nearly obliterated : nevertheless, 



* In a skull from the " Keddah" or Quedda Coast, referred to in our notice of the 

 gaour as being in the United Service Museum, London, and which is divested of the 

 horns, it can nevertheless he seen that the latter must have heen of full dimensions. — 

 Vide figures in 'Journal of the Asiatic Society,' vol. xi. p. 470. In the same plate is 

 figured the smaller Javanese frontlet hereinafter described, with portions of the in- 

 durated skin of the forehead continuous with the horns, occasioning the latter to appear 

 more approximated at base than is truly the case, as noticed above. We have seen, 

 indeed, much greater difference of size in old bull gaour-skulls. 



