2. The horns of the Bovidæ consist of permanent, conical, usually curved bony processes, into which air-cells continued from the frontal sinuses often extend, called “horn-cores,” ensheathed in a case of true horn, an epidermic development of fibrous structure, which grows continuously, though slowly, from the base, and wears away at the apex, but is very rarely shed entire. The only existing species in which the latter process occurs regularly and periodically is the American Prong-Buck (Antilocapra), in which the horns also differ from those of all others in being bifurcated. Horns are not present at birth, but begin to grow very soon afterwards. The males of all existing Bovidæ possess them, and they are also present (though usually not so fully developed) in the females of all except the genera Boselaphus, Strepsiceros, Tragelaphus, Antilope, Æpyceros, Saiga, Cobus, Cervicapra, Pelea, Nanotragus, Neotragus, Cephalophus, and Tetraceros; as well as in some species of Gazella, such as G. picticandata and G. walleri.

Another character by which different members of the Pecora can be distinguished among themselves is derived from the nature of the molar teeth. Although there is nothing in the general mode and arrangement of the enamel-folds, or in the accessory columns, absolutely distinctive between the two principal families, existing species may generally be distinguished, inasmuch as the true molars of the Cervidæ are more or less brachydont, and those of the Bovidæ generally hypsodont, i.e., the teeth of the former have comparatively short crowns (Fig. 122), which, as in most mammals, take their place at once with the neck (or point where the crown and root join) on a level with or a little above the alveolar border, and remain in this position throughout the animal’s life; whereas in the other forms (Fig. 123), the crown being lengthened and the root small, the neck does not come up to the alveolar level until a considerable part of the surface has worn away, and the crown of the tooth thus appears for the greater part of the animal’s life partially buried in the socket. In this form of tooth (which is almost always most developed in the posterior molars of the permanent series) the constituent columns of the crown are necessarily nearly parallel, whereas in the first-described they diverge from the neck towards the free or grinding surface of the tooth. In the completely hypsodont form the interstices of the lengthened columnar folds of enamel and dentine are filled up with cement, which gives stability to the whole organ, and is entirely or nearly wanting in the short-crowned teeth. The same modification from low to high crowns without essential alteration of pattern is seen in an even still more marked manner in some of the Perissodactyle Ungulates, the tooth of the Horse bearing to that of Anchitherium the same relation as that of an Ox does to the early selenodont Artiodactyles. A parallel modification has also taken place in the molar teeth of the Proboscidea.

As the hypsodont tooth is essentially a modification of, and, as it were, an improvement upon, the brachydont, it is but natural to expect that all intermediate forms may be met with. Even among the Deer themselves, as pointed out by Lartet, the most ancient have very short molars, and the depressions on the grinding surface are so shallow that the bottom is always visible; while in the Cervidæ of the more recent Tertiary periods, and especially the Pleistocene and living species, these same cavities are so deep that whatever be the state of the dentition the bottom cannot be seen. Some existing Deer, as the Axis, are far more hypsodont than the majority of the family; and, on the other hand, many of the Antelopes (as Tragelaphus) retain much of the brachydont character, which is, however, completely lost in the more modern and highly specialised Sheep and Oxen.

The complicated stomach of the Pecora (Fig. 124), which is necessary for the performance of the peculiar function known as “chewing the cud”—a function common also to the Tragulina and Tylopoda—is divided into four well-defined compartments, known as (1) the Rumen or Paunch, (2) the Reticulum or Honey-comb Bag, (3) the Psalterium or Manyplies, (4) the Abomasum or Reed. The paunch is a very capacious receptacle, shaped like a blunted cone bent partly upon itself. Into its broader base opens the œsophagus or gullet at a spot not far removed from its wide orifice of communication with the second stomach or honey-comb bag. Its inner walls are nearly uniformly covered with a pale mucous membrane, which is beset with innumerable close-set, short, and slender villi, resembling very much the “pile” on velvet. The honey-comb bag is very much smaller than the paunch. It is nearly globose in shape, and receives its name on account of the peculiar arrangement of its mucous membrane which forms shallow hexagonal cells all over its inner surface. Running along its upper wall there is a deep groove, coursing from the first to the third stomach. This groove plays an important part in the act of rumination. Its walls are muscular, like those of the viscus with which it is associated, which allows its calibre to be altered. Sometimes it completely closes round so as to become converted into a tube by the opposition of its edges. At others it forms an open canal. The manyplies is globular in form, and its lining membrane is raised into longitudinal folds or laminæ arranged very much like the leaves of a book, and very close together. Their surfaces are roughened by the presence of small projections or papillæ. The reed is the proper digestive stomach, corresponding with the same organ in man. Its shape is somewhat pyriform, and its walls are formed of a smooth mucous membrane, which secretes the gastric juice.

When the food is first swallowed it is conveyed into the paunch, and after undergoing a softening process there it is regurgitated into the mouth, and undergoes a further trituration by the molar teeth and mixture with the secretion of the salivary and buccal glands. It is then swallowed again, but now passes directly through the before-mentioned groove into the manyplies, and, after filtering through the numerous folds of the lining membrane of this cavity, finally reaches the fourth or digestive stomach.

The placenta of the Pecora is characterised by the fœtal villi being collected into groups or cotyledons, which may present either a convex or a concave surface to the uterus. These cotyledons are received into permanent elevations in the mucous membrane of the uterus, the surfaces of which present a curvature which is the reverse of the cotyledons.

Family Cervidæ.

Frontal appendages, when present, in the form of antlers. First molar, at least, in both jaws brachydont. Two orifices to the lachrymal duct, situated on or inside the rim of the orbit. An antorbital or lachrymal vacuity of such dimensions as to exclude the lachrymal bone from articulation with the nasal. Upper canines usually present in both sexes and sometimes attaining a very great size in the male (see Fig. 134). Lateral digits of both fore and hind feet, almost always present, and frequently the distal ends of the metapodials. Placenta with few cotyledons. Gall-bladder absent (except in Moschus). This family contains numerous species, having a wide geographical distribution, ranging in the New World from the Arctic Circle as far south as Chili, and in the Old World throughout the whole of Europe and Asia, though absent in the Ethiopian and Australian regions.

It may be divided into two subfamilies.

Subfamily Moschinæ.—This subfamily is represented solely by the Musk-Deer, which differs so remarkably from the true Deer that it is considered by several writers as the representative of a separate family. The late Professor Garrod even suggested that it should be regarded as an extremely aberrant member of the Bovidæ.

Moschus.[194]—The Musk-Deer (Fig. 125) in many respects stands by itself as an isolated zoological form, retaining characters belonging to the older and more generalised types of ruminants before they were distinctly separated into the horned and the antlered sections now dominant upon the earth. One of these characters is that both sexes are entirely devoid of any sort of frontal appendage. In this, however, it agrees with one existing genus of true Deer (Hydropotes); and, as in that animal, the upper canine teeth of the males are remarkably developed, long, slender, sharp pointed, and gently curved, projecting downwards out of the mouth with the ends turned somewhat backwards. Vertebræ: C 7, D 14, L 5, S 5, C 6. Among the anatomical peculiarities in which it differs from all true Deer and agrees with the Bovidæ is the presence of a gall-bladder. The hemispheres of the brain are but slightly convoluted, and the cotyledons of the placenta are arranged in a peculiar linear manner.[195]

Although, owing to variations of colour presented by different individuals in different localities and seasons, several nominal species have been described, zoologists are now generally agreed that there is but one, the Moschus moschiferus of Linnæus. In size it is rather less than the European Roe Deer, being about 20 inches high at the shoulder. Its limbs, especially the hinder ones, are long. The feet are remarkable for the great development of the lateral pair of hoofs, and for the freedom of motion they all present, so that they appear to have the power of grasping projecting rocky points,—a power which must be of great assistance to the animal in steadying it in its agile bounds among the crags of its native haunts. The ears are large, and the tail quite rudimentary. The hair covering the body is long, coarse, and of a peculiarly brittle and pith-like character, breaking with the application of an extremely slight force; it is generally of a grayish-brown colour, sometimes inclined to yellowish-red, and often variegated with lighter patches. The Musk-Deer has a wide distribution over the highlands of central and eastern Asia, including the greater part of southern Siberia, and extends to Kashmir on the south-west and Cochin-China on the south-east, always, however, at considerable elevations,—being rarely found in summer below 7000 feet above the sea-level, and ranging as high as the limits of the thickets of birch or pines, among which it mostly conceals itself in the daytime. It is a hardy, solitary, and retiring animal, chiefly nocturnal in its habits, and almost always found alone, rarely in pairs, and never in herds. It is exceedingly active and sure-footed, having few equals in traversing rocky and precipitous ground; and it feeds on moss, grass, and leaves of the plants which grow on the mountains among which it makes its home.

Most of the animals of the group to which the Musk-Deer belongs, in fact the large majority of mammals, have some portion of the cutaneous surface peculiarly modified and provided with glands secreting some odorous and oleaginous substance specially characteristic of the species. This, correlated with the extraordinary development of the olfactory organs, appears to offer the principal means by which animals in a state of nature become aware of the presence of other individuals of their own species, or of those inimical to them, even at very great distances, and hence it is of extreme importance both to the well-being of the individual and to the continuance of the race. The situation of this specially modified portion of skin is extremely various, sometimes between the toes, as in Sheep, sometimes on the face in front of the eyes, as in many Deer and Antelopes. Sometimes it is in the form of a simple depression or shallow recess, often very deeply involuted, and in its fullest state of development it forms a distinct pouch or sac with a narrow tubular orifice. In this sac a considerable quantity of the secretion can accumulate until discharged by the action of a compressor muscle which surrounds it. This is the form taken by the special gland of the Musk-Deer, which has made the animal so well known, and has proved the cause of an unremitting persecution to its possessor. It is found in the male only, and is a sac about the size of a very small orange, situated beneath the skin of the abdomen, the orifice being immediately in front of the preputial aperture. The secretion with which the sac is filled is of dark-brown or chocolate colour, and when fresh described as being of the consistence of “moist gingerbread,” but becoming dry and granular after keeping. It has a peculiar and very powerful scent, which when properly diluted and treated forms the basis of many of our most admired perfumes. When the animal is killed the whole gland or “pod” is cut out and dried, and in this form reaches the market of the Western World, chiefly through China.

Subfamily Cervinæ.—This subfamily includes all the true Deer. According to the arrangement proposed by Sir V. Brooke[196] the existing Cervinæ may be divided into the sections Plesiometacarpalia and Telemetacarpalia.

Plesiometacarpalia.—In this section, which is mainly characteristic of the Old World, the proximal portions of the lateral (second and fifth) metacarpals persist, and the vomer is never so ossified as to divide the posterior osseous nares into two distinct passages. The premaxillæ nearly always articulate with the nasals.

Cervulus.[197]—Antlers half the length of the head, placed on pedicles nearly equal to them in length. Brow tine short, inclined inwards and upwards; terminal extremity of beam unbranched, and curved downwards and inwards. Lachrymal fossa of skull very large, and extending into facial part of jugal; lachrymal (antorbital) vacuity moderate. Ascending portion of premaxillæ at least as long as nasals. A permanent ridge extending from each pedicle over the orbit, lachrymal fossa and vacuity. Auditory bulla much inflated. Upper canines of males very large. Ectocuneiform united with naviculo-cuboid of tarsus. No traces of the phalanges of the lateral digits.

The native name Muntjac has been generally adopted in European languages for a small group of Deer indigenous to the southern and eastern parts of Asia and the adjacent islands, which are separated by very marked characters from all their allies. They are also called “Kijang” or “Kidjang,” and constitute the genus Cervulus of Blainville and most zoologists;—Styloceros of Hamilton-Smith, and Prox of Ogilby. They are all of small size compared with the majority of Deer, and have long bodies and rather short limbs and neck. The antlers, which as in most Deer are present in the male only, are small and simple, and the main stem or beam, after giving off a very short brow tine, inclines backwards and upwards, is unbranched and pointed, and when fully developed curves inwards and somewhat downwards at the tip. These small antlers are supported upon pedicles or permanent processes of the frontal bones, longer than in any other Deer, and the front edges of which are continued downwards as strong ridges passing along the sides of the face above the orbits, and serving to protect the large supraorbital glands lying on their inner sides. The lachrymal fossa of the skull, in which is lodged the large suborbital gland or crumen, is of great depth and extent. The upper canine teeth of the males are strongly developed and sharp, curving downwards, backwards, and outwards, projecting visibly outside the mouth as tusks, and loosely implanted in their sockets. In the females they are very much smaller. The limbs exhibit several structural peculiarities not found in other Deer. The lateral digits of both fore and hind feet are very little developed, the hoofs alone being present and their bony supports (found in all other Deer) wanting. There is a tufted gland on the outer side of the metatarsus.

The Muntjacs are solitary animals, very rarely even two being seen together. They are fond of hilly ground covered with forests, in the dense thickets of which they pass most of their time, only coming to the skirts of the woods at morning and evening to graze. They carry the head and neck low and the hind-quarters high, their action in running being peculiar and not very elegant, somewhat resembling the pace of a sheep. Though with no power of sustained speed or extensive leap, they are remarkable for flexibility of body and facility of creeping through tangled underwood. They are often called by Indian sportsmen “Barking Deer,” a name given on account of their alarm cry, a kind of short shrill bark, like that of a fox but louder, which may often be heard in the jungles they frequent both by day and by night. When attacked by dogs the males use their sharp canine teeth with great vigour, inflicting upon their opponents deep and even dangerous wounds.

There is some difference of opinion among zoologists as to the number of species of the genus Cervulus. Sir Victor Brooke, who investigated this question in 1878 (see Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for that year, p. 898), came to the conclusion that there are certainly three which are quite well marked, viz.—

C. muntjac (Fig. 126), found in British India, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Hainan, Banca, and Borneo. The general colour is a bright yellowish-red, darker in the upper parts of the back; the fore legs from the shoulder downwards and the lower part of the hind legs, dark bluish-brown; anterior parts of the face from the muzzle to between the eyes, brown—a blackish line running up the inside of each frontal ridge; chin, throat, inside of hind legs, and under surface of tail white. The female has a black bristly tuft of hair on the spot from which the pedicles of the antlers of the male grow. The average length of the male, according to Jerdon, is 3½ feet, tail 7 inches, height 26 to 28 inches. The female is a little smaller. The specimens from Java, Sumatra, and Borneo are of larger size than those from the mainland, and may possibly be of distinct species or race.

C. lacrymans of Milne-Edwards, or Sclater’s Muntjac of Swinhoe, from Moupin, and near Hangchow, China.

C. reevesi, a very small species from southern China.

Subsequently the name C. crinifrons has been applied to a Muntjac from Ningpo, China, readily distinguished from all other species by its bushy forehead and long tail. Another species from Tenasserim has been described as C. feæ.

Small Deer from the European Pliocene have been provisionally referred to Cervulus, but the so-called Prox furcatus, of the Miocene, is now included in Palæomeryx.

Elaphodus.[198]—Antlers very small, unbranched, supported on long, slender, converging pedicles. Ascending rami of premaxillæ shorter than nasals. No supraorbital ridges or frontal glands. Upper canines of male long, but not everted. A distinct frontal tuft of hair. Other characters as in Cervulus.

This genus (which has also received the name of Lophotragus) is represented by a small Deer (Fig. 127) from China of about the same size as the Indian Muntjac. The male has minute simple antlers and very large canine teeth. There are no supraorbital glands, nor is there a tufted gland on the metatarsus. The limbs have the same peculiarities as in Cervulus, but the mesocuneiform may also ankylose with the ectocuneiform, and traces of the metacarpals may remain. The hair is coarse and somewhat quill-like.

Cervus.[199]—The great majority of the Deer of the Old World may be included in this large genus, which is one not easy of definition. The antlers of the male are, however, large, and two or three times the length of the head, and may be either rounded or palmate; the canines are never large; the ectocuneiform of the tarsus remains distinct from the naviculo-cuboid; the lateral digits are represented by their phalanges; and the skull does not carry prominent frontal ridges. Vertebræ: C 7, D 13, L 6, S 4, C 11-14. The size of the lachrymal fossa and vacuity, and the degree of inflation of the auditory bulla, are subject to variation in the different groups into which the genus may be divided.

The Rusine group is characteristic of the Oriental region, where it is typically represented by the Sambur (C. aristotelis) of India, Burma, and China. The antlers are rounded, and often strongly grooved, without a bez tine, and with the beam simply forked at the extremity, upright, and but slightly curved; the angle formed by the brow tine, which rises close to the burr, being acute. The molars are markedly hypsodont, with small accessory columns. The lachrymal fossa is deep and the vacuity large; the auditory bulla is slightly inflated and rugose. Tail moderate; neck maned.

The Sambur, which is abundant in hilly districts, is a fine animal, standing nearly 5 feet in height, and of massive build; the general colour being deep brown. C. equinus, of Borneo, Sumatra, and Singapore, C. swinhoei, of Formosa, C. philippinus, and C. alfredi of the Philippines, are closely allied species, of which the two latter are of smaller dimensions. The Indian Hog Deer (C. porcinus) is a still smaller form, not larger than the Roe. C. hippelaphus of Java, C. timoriensis, and C. moluccensis are distinguished by the posterior branch of the beam of the antler being considerably larger than the anterior.

The Rucervine group is another strictly Oriental one, and is represented by the Swamp Deer (C. duvaucelli) of India, the closely allied C. schomburgki of Siam, of which the antlers are shown in Fig. 119 (p. 309), and C. eldi of Burma and Hainan. The beam of the antler is somewhat flattened, and more curved than in the Rusine group; the large brow tine is given off from the beam at an obtuse angle and curves upwards; the beam bifurcates into two branches, which again divide. Skull as in the Rusine group, but relatively narrower. Tail short; neck maned.

The Swamp Deer is somewhat smaller than the Sambur, and of a full yellowish colour. Fossil representatives of this group occur in the Pliocene of India.

The Elaphurine group is represented only by the very aberrant C. davidianus of Northern China. In size and proportions this species approximates to the Swamp Deer, but the antlers are peculiar in rising straight from the brow and then giving off a long and straight back tine (correlated by Sir V. Brooke with the posterior branch of the Rusine antler); the summit of the beam is forked, and in old individuals the two tines of the fork may again branch. Nasals long, and much expanded between the lachrymal vacuities, of which they form the inner border; lachrymal fossa large and deep. Tail long; neck maned.

The Axine group includes only the well-known Axis of India, readily distinguished by the white spots with which the body is marked. Antlers of a Rusine type, the beam being much curved, and the brow tine usually given off at an acute or right angle. Molars very hypsodont. The coloration of the Axis is more brilliant than that of any other member of the family.

Here may be noticed a group of Deer mainly characteristic of the eastern Palæarctic region, frequently known as the Pseudaxine group, which appears to connect the Axine with the Elaphine type. Well-known representatives of this group are C. sika (Fig. 128) of Japan, C. mantchuricus of China, and C. taëvanus of Formosa. The antlers have a brow and tres tine, and then a forked beam, of which the posterior tine is the smaller. The lachrymal vacuity and fossa are of moderate size; and the auditory bulla is only moderately inflated, and quite smooth externally. Tail moderate; neck maned. In summer the coat is spotted, but is plain in winter. A herd of C. sika have been acclimatised in Ireland by Viscount Powerscourt, at Powerscourt, County Wicklow. A number of Deer from the Pliocene of Europe, such as C. perrieri and C. etueriarum, appear to be allied both to the Pseudaxine and Axine groups.

The Elaphine or typical group is at once characterised by the presence of a bez tine to the antlers (Fig. 129), in which the beam is rounded, and splits up near the summit into a larger or smaller number of snags, often arranged in a cup-like manner. Skull as in the preceding group. All the species large. The Red Deer, C. elaphus, which is dark brown in colour, with a light patch on the rump, inhabits Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa—the so-called Barbary Deer not being specifically distinct. A full-grown Scotch Stag is fully 4 feet in height at the withers. The antlers are shed between the end of February and the early part of April; old animals shedding earlier than younger ones. The young, which (as in all the members of the genus except some of the Rusine species) are spotted, are born at the end of May or the beginning of June. The points on the antlers increase in number with the age of the creature, and when twelve are present it is known in Scotland as a “royal stag.” This number, however, is sometimes exceeded, as in the case of a pair of antlers, weighing 74 lbs., from a stag killed in Transylvania, which had forty-five points. The antlers during the second year consist of a simple unbranched stem, to which a tine or branch is added in each succeeding year, until the normal development is attained, after which their growth is somewhat irregular. Many of the antlers dug up in British peat-beds (as Fig. 118) are larger than those of living individuals, and in the cave-deposits of England and the Continent antlers are met with rivalling those of the Wapiti in size; these large fossil antlers probably indicating the ancestral form from which the Red Deer and several of the allied species are descended.

The North American Wapiti (Cervus canadensis, Fig. 129), the Persian Maral (C. maral), the Kashmir Stag (C. cashmeerianus), as well as C. affinis of Tibet, are all closely allied to the Red Deer, but are of larger size, this being especially the case with the first two. A fine example of the antlers of the Wapiti is shown in the accompanying woodcut, and exhibits the absence of a cup at the surroyals, by which this species is distinguished from the Red Deer.

The last, or Damine group of existing Deer includes the Common and the Persian Fallow Deer. These are readily characterised by the palmation of the antlers in the region of the surroyals and the spotted coat. The Common Fallow Deer (C. dama) stands about three feet in height. The Persian Fallow Deer (C. mesopotamicus) is very closely allied, differing only in its slightly larger size and the form of the antlers, the two breeding together. The common species, although now kept in English parks, does not appear to be a native of this country, having probably been introduced from the regions bordering the Mediterranean. The fur is of a yellowish-brown colour (whence the name “fallow”), marked with white spots; there is, however, a uniformly dark brown variety found in Britain. The bucks and does live apart, except during the pairing season; and the doe produces one or two, and sometimes three fawns at a birth. The Fallow Deer from the Pleistocene and Pliocene deposits of the East Coast described under the names of C. browni and C. falconeri appear to have been closely allied to the existing species. The remarkable C. verticornis, of the Norfolk Forest-bed, is regarded as an aberrant member of this group, in which the antlers are very short and thick, with the brow tine cylindrical and downwardly curved, and the beam expanded above the tres tine into a crown with two points.

The extinct Irish Deer (Cervus giganteus), of which the skeleton is shown in the woodcut (Fig. 130), is the only representative of the Megacerotine group. The antlers, which may have a span of over 11 feet, are enormously palmated, and have a bifurcated brow tine, a small bez tine, and a third posterior tine. The skeleton measures upwards of 6 feet at the withers. Remains of this species are especially common in the peat-bogs of Ireland, but are also met with in Pleistocene deposits over a large part of Europe. In addition to the forms already mentioned there are many other fossil species of Cervus, some of which, like the English Pleistocene C. sedgewicki, cannot be included in any of the existing groups. There is no conclusive evidence of the existence of any species of Cervus before the Lower Pliocene period.

Telemetacarpalia.—This section includes all the Deer of the New World, together with some Old World forms, and is characterised by retaining the distal extremities of the lateral (second and fifth) metacarpals. With the exception of Alces, Capreolus, and Hydropotes (which are either partly or entirely Old World types), the vomer is so much ossified as to divide the posterior bony nares into two distinct orifices (Fig. 132).

Rangifer.[200]—The Reindeer, or Caribou as it is termed in North America, is the sole representative of the genus Rangifer, which is sufficiently distinguished from all its allies by the presence of antlers in both sexes. The lachrymal vacuity is small. This animal is distributed over the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America; the differences which may be observable in specimens from different regions not being sufficient to allow of specific distinction. The Reindeer is a heavily built animal, with short limbs, in which the lateral hoofs are well developed, and the cleft between the two main hoofs is very deep, so that these hoofs spread out as the animal traverses the snow-clad regions in which it dwells. The antlers (Fig. 131) are of very large relative size. There is a bez as well as a brow tine, which are peculiar in being either branched or palmated. In the American race (Caribou), as well as in some of the specimens found fossil in the English Pleistocene (Fig. 131), one of the brow tines is generally aborted to allow of the great development of the other. The dentition of the Reindeer is frequently remarkable for the very small size of the posterior lobe of the last lower molar. Vertebræ: C 7, D 14, L 5, S 5, C 11.

The Reindeer has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, and is of especial value to the Laplanders, whom it serves as a substitute for the Horse, Cow, Sheep, and Goat. It is capable of drawing a weight of 300 lbs., and its fleetness and endurance are remarkable. Harnessed to a sledge it will travel without difficulty 100 miles a day over the frozen snow, on which its broad and deeply cleft hoofs are admirably adapted for travelling. During the summer the Lapland Reindeer feeds chiefly on the young shoots of the willow and birch; and since at this season migration to the coast seems necessary to the well-being of this animal, the Laplander, with his herds, sojourns for several months in the neighbourhood of the sea. In winter its food consists chiefly of the so-called reindeer-moss and other lichens which the animal makes use of its hoofs in seeking for beneath the snow. The wild Reindeer grows to a much greater size than the tame breed; but in Northern Europe the former are being gradually reduced through the natives entrapping and domesticating them. The tame breed found in Northern Asia is much larger than the Lapland form, and is there used to ride on. Remains referable to the existing species are found in the cavern and other Pleistocene deposits of Europe.

Alces.[201]—The Elk or Moose (Alces machlis) has the same general distribution as the Reindeer, and is likewise the single existing representative of its genus. It is the largest existing member of the family, attaining sometimes a height of 8 feet at the withers. The antlers (Fig. 133) have neither brow nor bez tine, but form an enormous basin-shaped palmation, primarily composed of an anterior and a posterior branch; their weight may be as much as 60 lbs. The nasal bones are very short, and the narial aperture of great size. The Elk is covered with a thick coarse fur of a brownish colour, longest on the neck and throat. Its legs are long and its neck short, and as it is thus unable to feed close to the ground, it browses on the tops of low plants, the leaves of trees, and the tender shoots of the willow and birch. Its antlers attain their full length by the fifth year, but in after years they increase in breadth and in the number of snags, until fourteen of these are produced. Although spending a large part of their lives in forests, Elks do not suffer much inconvenience from the great expanse of their antlers, as in making their way among trees they are carried horizontally to prevent entanglement with the branches. Their usual pace is a shambling trot, but when frightened they break into a gallop. The natural timidity of the Elk forsakes the male at the rutting season, and he will then attack whatever animal comes in his way. The antlers and hoofs are his principal weapons, and with a single blow from the latter he has been known to kill a wolf. The female often gives birth to two fawns, and with these she retires into the deepest recesses of the forest, the young remaining with her till their third year. The Elk ranges, but in scanty numbers, over the whole of Northern Europe and Asia, as far south as East Prussia, the Caucasus, and North China, and over North America from the New England States westward to British Columbia. Fossil species are found in the Pleistocene deposits of Europe.

Cervalces.[202]—A remarkable extinct Deer from the Pleistocene of North America, described as Cervalces, appears in some respects (although a true Telemetacarpalian) to connect Alces with Cervus. Thus the palmated antlers are divided into anterior and posterior branches, but below this division there are two tines apparently corresponding to the bez and posterior tines of Cervus giganteus (Fig. 130).

Capreolus.[203]—Antlers (in the existing species) less than twice the length of the head, usually with three tines on each. Brow tine developed from the anterior surface of the upper half of the antler, and directed upwards. Lachrymal vacuity small. Premaxillæ not always articulating with nasals. Auditory bullæ slightly inflated, rugose externally. Vertebræ: C 7, D 13, L 6, S 6, C 8. Tail very short. Glands in fore feet rudimentary; large in hind feet.

The Roe, or Roe Deer (Capreolus caprea), is a small form distributed over Europe and Western Asia, being one of the species found in the British Isles. The male is somewhat over two feet in height at the withers, of a dark reddish-brown colour in summer, with a white patch on the rump. The small antlers are approximated at their bases, and consist of a rugged beam rising vertically for some distance, then bifurcating, and the posterior branch again dividing. The Roe dates from the Pleistocene period. Extinct Deer from the Continental Pliocene have been provisionally referred to Capreolus.

Hydropotes.[204]—No antlers in either sex. Lachrymal fossa deep and short (Fig. 134); lachrymal vacuity of moderate size. Orbits small and but slightly prominent. Auditory bulla much inflated. Angle of mandible much produced backwardly (Fig. 134); alveolar margins of mandible in diastema sharp and everted. Canines of male very large, and slightly convergent. Vertebræ: C 7, D 12, L 6, S 4, C 10. No tufts on metatarsals. Foot glands small in fore feet, deep in hind ones.

The Chinese Water Deer (H. inermis) is the sole representative of this genus. In the absence of antlers and the large canines of the male it resembles Moschus, although very different in other respects. Thus the brain (Fig. 135) has the hemispheres much convoluted, as in other Cervinæ, and approximates to that of Pudua; while the placenta and viscera likewise agree with those of the true Deer. In the total absence of any ossification of the vomer to divide the posterior nares Hydropotes resembles Capreolus and differs from all the following genera. The Chinese Water-Deer is nearly of the same size as the Indian Muntjac. It has short legs and a long body, the hair covering the latter being of a light reddish-brown. It is a remarkably prolific animal, differing from all other Deer in producing five or six young at a time.

The mandible of a ruminant from the Middle Miocene of Gers in France, described under the name of Platyprosopus, presents such a marked resemblance to Hydropotes in the form of the angle as to suggest a more or less intimate affinity.

Cariacus.[205]—Skull (Fig. 132) with the vomer dividing the posterior nares into two distinct chambers; premaxillæ not reaching nasals. Antlers never greatly exceeding the length of the head. Lachrymal vacuity very large, and lachrymal fossa small. Auditory bullæ slightly inflated. Vertebræ: C 7, D 13, L 6, S 4, C 13. Tail long or short. Colour uniform in adult.

This genus, which agrees with the Reindeer in the division of the posterior nares by the ossified vomer, comprises a number of species confined to the New World, none of which attain very large dimensions, and the antlers of which are relatively smaller than in the existing species of Cervus. The genus may be divided into groups.

The typical Cariacine group, as represented by C. virginianus, has well-developed antlers, with a short brow tine rising from the inner side of the beam, and directed upwards, and several branches; a long tail; and no upper canines. In this species, as well as in C. mexicanus and other forms, the antlers do not divide dichotomously, and the lachrymal fossa is of moderate depth. The Mule Deer (C. macrotis) of North America is distinguished by the dichotomous branching of the antlers and the deeper lachrymal fossa. The Virginian Deer is somewhat smaller than the Fallow Deer, and of a uniform reddish-yellow colour in summer, and light gray in winter.

The Blastocerine group of South America is represented by C. paludosus and C. campestris, and has dichotomous antlers, with no brow tine, and the posterior branch the larger, a short tail, and no upper canines. The Furciferine group includes C. chilensis and C. antisiensis, confined to western South America. The antlers are not longer than the head, with a large anterior tine curving forwards at right angles to the simple posterior one. Auditory bullæ slightly inflated, and rugose. Upper canines may be present. The species are of medium size. C. clavatus, of Central America, while resembling this group in the characters of the skull and the arrangement of the hair on the face, agrees with the next one in having simple spike-like antlers.

The South American Coassine group comprises the small forms known as Brockets, in which the antlers form simple spikes not exceeding half the length of the head. Some six species are known.

Remains of Cariacus, mostly or entirely referable to existing species, are of common occurrence in the Brazilian cave-deposits. Blastomeryx, of the Pliocene of North America, is believed to be an allied type.

Pudua.[206]—Antlers in the form of minute simple spikes. Distinguished from the Coassine group of Cariacus by the articulation of the premaxillæ with the nasals (as in the Furciferine group), and the coalescence of the ectocuneiform with the naviculo-cuboid, as well as by various external characters. No upper canines. Represented only by the very small P. humilis of the Chilian Andes.

Extinct Genera.—In the European and other Tertiary deposits several genera of extinct Cervidæ occur, of which the more important may be briefly mentioned. Amphitragulus, of the Lower Miocene of the Continent, has four lower premolars, brachydont molars, and no antlers; the largest species being somewhat bigger than the Musk-Deer. The closely allied Palæomeryx (Dremotherium or Micromeryx) generally has but three lower premolars, and the brachydont upper molars (Fig. 122), like those of Amphitragulus, want the small accessory inner column[207] found in modern Deer. In P. feignouxi, of the Lower Miocene, the lateral metacarpals, although slender, were complete, and the males had large canines, but no antlers. P. furcatus, of the Middle Miocene, had small antlers, and the canines appear to have been reduced in size. This genus, besides being represented in the European Miocene, also occurs in the Pliocene of India and China; some of the species being as large as the Red Deer.

Family Giraffidæ.

In the existing genus the frontal appendages consist of a pair of short, erect, permanent bony processes placed over the union of the frontal and the parietal bones, ossified from distinct centres, though afterwards ankylosed to the skull, covered externally with a hairy skin, present in both sexes, and even in the new-born animal. Anterior to these is a median protuberance on the frontal and contiguous parts of the nasal bones, which increases with age, and is sometimes spoken of as a third horn. Skull with a lachrymal vacuity. No upper canines. Molars brachydont, with rugose enamel; the upper ones having no inner accessory column. Lateral digits entirely absent on both fore and hind feet, even the hoofs not developed. Humerus with double bicipital groove. Vertebræ: C 7, D 14, L 5, S 3, C 20. Gall-bladder generally absent. Male reproductive organs and placenta of a Bovine type. Dentition: i ⁰⁄₃, c ⁰⁄₁, p ³⁄₃, m ³⁄₃.