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Show 80 DR. W. KIDD ON THE [Feb. 3, trunk it passes from cephalic to caudal, and on the limbs from proximal to distal extremities in a perfectly uniform manner. This arrangement obtains in a great number of long-bodied or primitrv e forms, such as rodents, smaller carnivores, insectivores, marsupials, lemurs and lower monkeys. As to the hair-slope in the Otter, nothing further requires notice, and the type may be looked upon as that of the primitive hairy mammal. (2) When a Carnivore of a different form, such as a short-bodied close-haired Domestic Dog, is investigated, a few departures from the primitive type of hair-slope are found. The Dog is taken as representing a more highly developed carnivore form, and it presents, as do all Canidse possessing sufficiently short hair :- (i) A whorl situated at the extremity of the snout with a feathered arrangement proceeding from it towards the orbits. (ii) Reversed bilateral area of hair on the pectoral region. (iii) Reversed bilateral area of hair on the ventral surface of the abdomen in the inguinal region. (iv) Bilateral symmetrical whorl in the gluteal region lying exactly over the tubera ischii, and, proceeding towards this spot, a reversed area of hair on the extensor aspect of the thigh. (v) Reversed area of hair on the extensor surface of the ulna. These have been fully described, and explanations of their aetiology put forward, in our Proceedings '. The Domestic Dog thus presents an advance in several directions upon the primitive arrangement of hair in the Otter. (3) The Domestic Ox shows certain peculiarities and departures, both from the primitive and specialized Carnivore type:- (i) In the frontal region a whorl and a feathering which proceeds from it towards the level of the external ears, terminating here in a crest. (ii) Short longitudinal crest or mane, commencing as a tuft at the level of the horns. (iii) This crest or mane is interrupted abruptly in its normal backward course at about the middle of the neck by a ridge. At this point there is produced a meeting of two streams of hair proceeding in opposite directions, and the forward or " abnormal " stream is found to commence at a whorl which lies in the median plane at about the middle of the dorsal region. (iv) From the whorl situated on the dorsal region the slope of hair resumes its normal direction and passes to the tail, on which it is so arranged that a central longitudinal crest is usually found, and it terminates in a scanty tuft of hair. 1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1902, vol. ii. pp. 118, 119, 150. |
