Family II. Moschidæ.
(Musks.)
The little group which constitutes this Family is named from the circumstance of one species of it producing the well-known perfume called musk. They differ but slightly from the Deer in general form, but their limbs are much more taper, and their hind quarters considerably elevated; their face also is narrow and lengthened, and they are destitute of horns. Their dentition is peculiar; they have eight incisors below, and a vacant space answering to them above, as in most Ruminantia; there are also six molars on each side both above and below, but their crowns bear distinct tubercles, and the first in the upper, and the first and second in the lower jaw present cutting edges and points, similar to those of the Carnivora. In each upper jaw there is a canine, which is so lengthened as to project from the mouth in the form of tusks, slightly curved backwards. Those of the true Musk (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.) are three inches in length. None of the species possess cavities beneath the inner angles of the eyes, common in the Deer and Antelopes, nor tufts of bushy hair on the legs. The eyes are large and full; the ears rather small; the tail short. There are accessory hoofs behind the two principal ones, but these are for the most part very small, straight, and placed high above the ground.
The species are almost confined to Eastern Asia, and the adjacent islands; but one has re cently been discovered in Western Africa, whose habits are more aquatic than those of its fellows.
Genus Tracuzus. (Gray).
We select this genus for illustration because it contains the most elegant and, with one exception, the smallest of all the Ruminantia. It is distinguished by having the hinder edge of the foot (metatarsus) nearly destitute of hair, and slightly callous, a character peculiar to this genus. The fur is soft and pressed close to the body, never spotted even in youth. Beneath the throat is a somewhat naked, concave, callous disk, from which a band extends to the chin. There is no musk-bag. Most of the species have three diverging bands of white on the chest. They inhabit the islands of Java and Sumatra.
The Kanchil (Tragulus kanchil, Raff.) is about the size of a hare, but stands much higher on the legs, which are exceedingly slender. It inhabits the deep and mighty forests of Java, where it feeds principally on berries. It seems among the inhabitants of the island to possess a similar reputation for strategy, to that of the Fox in Europe. It is a common Malay proverb to describe a great rogue as being "as cunning as a kanchil," and Sir Stamford Raffles relates some of the reported instances of this cleverness. "If taken in a noose laid for it, the Kanchil, when the hunter arrives, will stretch itself out motionless, and feign to be dead; and if, deceived by this manoeuvre, he disengage the animal, it seizes the moment to start on its legs, and disappears in an instant. A still more singular expedient is mentioned, viz., that when closely pursued by dogs, the Kanchil will sometimes make a bound upwards, hook itself on the branch of a tree by
KANCHIL.
means of its bent tusks, and there remain suspended, till the dogs have passed beneath."