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Show 1900.] HAIR-SLOPE IN CERTAIN MAMMALS. 681 relative size of the head of the Ass may be noted.) In the Mule it is not quite so far towards the muzzle as in the case of the Ass. In the Tapirs the snout is elongated and curved gently towards the ventral surface in a very uncommon form. It thus differs from other elongated snouts, which are not only elongated but straight as a rule. In Tapirs the direction of the hair-slope is uniformly towards the muzzle. Among the Suidce, the only exception observed was the Phaco-chcerus or Wart-Hog, which presents a notable bristling whorl of hair, unusually far from the snout for a pointed head, such as this form shares with other Suidae. This whorl is nearly midway between the nares and the level of the orbit. The Giraffidce and Camelidce show the Ordinary Type of slope in the nasal and frontal regions, but on the broad thick upper lip the hair is arranged in a fan-shaped way, diverging from the level of the nares to the margin of the upper lip. Primates.-In the case of the Primates, the whorl from which the hair of the frontal, nasal, orbital, and facial regions diverges is situated in most forms at the level of the orbits ; and thus this great group, including Man, conforms to the exceptional type. It is not claimed that these observations are exhaustive for all hair-covered mammals, but they are certainly quite representative. It comes then to this, that from the great majority of mammals there stand out in marked contrast to them, in respect to this character, seven Felidae, one of the Procyonidae, one of tbe Ursidae, seven Antelopes, all Tapirs and Equidae examined, thirteen Bovidae, and one of the Suidae, and Primates except Lemuridae. It appears desirable to ascertain, if possible, what characteristics are common to these rather divergent types of animal life, or what is common to them in the wray of habits or environments. In the first place, it may be suggested that this exceptional slope of hair is correlated with a deep, massive, somewhat truncated muzzle. It is clear that the more ordinary type is found in animals with pointed muzzles. It is equally clear that the larger Felidae and the Domestic Cat have the exceptional form of hair-slope, correlated with the different types of muzzle referred to. This is also found in the Panda (Auluropus melanoleucus). But among the Antelopidae and Bovidae specified, the Tapirs, and Equidae, this type of snout is not marked enough to enable one to generalize as to this correlation. It is relatively not nearly so massive or deep as in Felidae. It can, then, hardly be maintained that the exceptional slope is merely correlated with a certain type of snout. Again, tbe pose of the head in rest, or its carriage when in motion, may have a bearing on the point. It cannot be that the pose of the head can effect the " set" of the hair in many cases by the action of gravity, for most of these are short-haired. But it is a fact that the larger Felidae, the Panda, the specified Antelopes, e.g. the Gnus, the Bovidae, Tapirs, and Equidae carry their heads more set at an obtuse, or some at a right, angle to the longitudinal |
