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Show 1875.] PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE MUSK-DEER. 159 1. On the Structure and Affinities of the Musk-Deer (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.). By WILLIAM HENRY FLOWER, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., &c. [Received March 16, 1875.] Almost all our knowledge of the visceral anatomy of the Musk- Deer is derived from Pallas*. It is nearly a century since his classical work was published ; and it does not appear that any other anatomist has had an opportunity of dissecting an animal of the species, the subject which furnished the material for the following notes having been the first which has ever been brought alive to Europe. Its arrival in the Society's Menagerie was thus announced by our Secretary in the ' Proceedings ' for M a y 13th, 1869 :- " A female Musk (Moschus moschiferus), presented by Major F. R. Pollock f, Commissioner at Peshawur, and most carefully conveyed to this country by Lieut. C. H . T. Marshall, F.Z.S., from w h o m it was received March 31st. This animal had been captured in June 1867, in the hills of Cashmere, by Major Delme Radcliffe, of the 88th Regiment, who shot both the parents, and brought it when quite a kid to Peshawur. It was now about two years old, and was believed to be the only Musk ever brought to Europe alive." A very good figure, drawn from the living animal in a characteristic attitude, appeared in the ** Illustrated London News' for April 2 1th, 1869. I call particular attention to this, as all other published figures of the Musk-Deer appear to have been taken from skins or stuffed specimens, and give but an indifferent idea of the general external appearance of the animal. It unfortunately died on October 27th of the same year, of pleuropneumonia and acute peritonitis, being then rather more than two and a half years old. All the permanent teeth were in place and the epiphyses of the long bones completely united, though those on the bodies of some of the dorsal vertebrae and on the pelvis were still separable. The animal measured from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail 33 inches, and (being in an extreme state of emaciation) weighed 14lbs. 8oz.J External Characters. Under this heading I have only thought necessary to record such characters as are not readily observed in mounted skins of the animal, which arc now tolerably abundant in museums. * Spicilegia Zoologica, fasciculus xiii (1779). t N o w Sir Richard Pollock, K.C.S.I. t Since the greater part of the following description was written, a male Pudu (Cervus humilis) died at the Society's Gardens; and Mr. Garrod has been so obliging as to forward it for m y inspection. I have thus an opportunity of adding some comparisons between the viscera of the Musk and those of another Deer of about the same bulk ; for though the former, having longer limbs and neck, has the appearance of being a considerably larger animal, there is but little difference in the size of the trunk. |
