45o 



The Museum Gazette 



The skull is that of an ibex. The animal was found dead 

 in a mass of avalanche rubbish. The photograph was 

 obtained by Major St. G. Gore, R.E. Death had probably 

 been brought about by slow starvation. The normal horn 

 was somewhat shorter than the injured one, but the latter at 

 its base measured in girth two inches less than its fellow. In 

 the figure it is shown to be much smaller, which gives 

 support to the suggestion of injury. 



In order to understand the manner in which this condition 

 of things has been produced, and to gain its full lesson, we must 

 begin by a brief explanation. The hollow horns of an Ibex, 

 like those of other cavicorns, grow during the first part of the 

 animal's life by deposition of new material at their bases. 

 They are placed upon bony cores which spring from the skull, 

 and which give the horn support. The tip of the horn is, 

 of course, always the oldest and hardest part. It has been 

 pushed forwards by layers of new material at the base. Now 

 if any injury is received by the skull at the base of the horn- 

 core, it may interfere with and prevent the formation of the 



