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Show 676 DR. WALTER KIDD O N T H E [June 19, Height at shoulder 36| inches; from nose to root of tail over curves of body 58 inches; tail 4| inches. Length of horns 6 inches. Named after Sir Frank Swettenham, Besident-General of the Federated Malay States, whose specimen appears to be the first ever shot by a European. Mr. L. Wray, of the Perak Museum, has seen an adult male in the flesh, too decomposed to be preserved, but of which he kept the skeleton. I once had an opportunity of watching one in jungle for a minute or so not more than fifteen paces distant; and quite recently a kid was captured alive by coolies on the Larut Hills, having strayed into a wired-in tennis-court. All these were similar in colour to the one described, which may therefore be taken as a typical specimen of the Malayan species. The kid differed from the adult only in having a very narrow ring of rufous round the top of the hoof. This youngster M r . W r a y and I were particularly anxious to send home alive to the Society's Gardens under the charge of Mr. Keilich, of the Perak Museum, who was shortly proceeding to England, but unfortunately it died after five or six days' captivity. The specimen is now in the Museum along with the adult. Although this Serow is so little known to Europeans the horns are occasionally obtained from the Sakai tribes of the hills, and I have notes of a dozen pairs as follows : - 8 ^ inches, 8, 7^, 7|, 6%, 6f, 6|, 6§, 6|, 6g, 6, 6. Eight inches appears to be a good head. The Malay name for this animal is " Kambing grun," i. e. " Cave- Goat." It is found on the mountains of the Peninsula from 2000 ft. to 4000 ft. altitude, and is said also to occur on various isolated limestone hills of much lower elevation The peculiar circumstances under which Sir Frank shot his specimen were narrated in the ' Sketch' of April 26, 1899, p. 22, the article being illustrated with a photo of the mounted animal. Sir Frank was taking a photograph one afternoon when the Serow was noticed on the hill beneath him, apparently quite fascinated by the appearance of the cloth-covered camera on its tripod. It remained motionless, still gazing intently at the camera, while a rifle was sent for, when an accurate shot brought it to bag. 3. The Significance of the Hair-Slope in certain M a m m a l s. By WALTER KIDD, M.D., F.Z.S. [Received March 27, 1900.] The following observations were suggested by a study of tbe well-known peculiarity as to the direction in which the hairs slope on the extensor surface of the human fore-arm. In' Nature,' vol. Iv. p. 236, I drew attention to certain considerations affecting the " vestigial" character of this hair-slope, and pointed out that most hair-clad mammals, except Ungulates, present much the |
