177 
son agree with my own in this respect; the latter gentleman, who far 
exceeds Mr. Gray in the number of generic divisions, even separates 
O. nahura and O. barhel as a distinct genus under the name Pseudovis, 
on account of the absence of “eye-pits.” 
OviBOS. 
A small depression in front of the orbit; no fissure; the masse¬ 
teric ridge ascending before the orbit; the auditory bulla of moderate 
size; the basioccipital hone broad and flat, with a ridge and a fossa 
on each side; the anterior part of which is rough; the fossa at the 
side of the occipital condyle filled up and produced into a blunt pro¬ 
cess, upon which the articulating surface is continued; the molars 
without supplemental lobes. 
Horns broad at the base, tapering, pressed downwards against the 
sides of the head, and the points bent upwards. 
Hah. The North Polar Regions. 
O. moschatus. —This animal, which derives its name from its gene¬ 
ral aspect being intermediate between that of the Ox and that of the 
Sheep, has generally been placed among the Bovine forms. Taking 
the aggregate of its characters, it appears to me to be at least as 
nearly, if not more, allied to the Sheep, but should most properly 
stand alone. 
The remaining genera constitute the true Bovine type, and agree 
among themselves in most characters of the skull. I fear that Mr. 
Gray’s distinctions, in the extent of the intermaxillary bones upon the 
sides of the nasal aperture, will not always hold good. Their general 
cranial character may be given first;— 
No suborhital fissure, nor fossa; the masseteric ridge ascending 
rather high before the orbit; the auditory bulla moderate, com¬ 
pressed ; the basioccipital hone with its tubercles well-developed, 
and a deep groove between them; the incisors nearly equal-sized, 
slightly bending outwards, and the molars with well-developed sup¬ 
plemental lobes. 
Bos. 
Horns placed upon the extremities of the ridge terminating the 
occipital plane, directed outwards. 
Hab. Europe and Asia. 
B. taurus. B. gaurus. 
B. frontalis. B. bantiger. 
Bison. 
Horns round, situated in a plane anterior to that of the occiput, 
directed outwards and curved upwards. 
Hab. The Northern Temperate regions. 
B. urus. B. grunniens. 
B. Americanus. 
The last-named species is a true Bison, as the position of the horns. 
No. CCXII.— Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 
