Chap. XVII. LAW OF BATTLE. 245 



of some other species of deer either normally or occa- 

 sionally exhibit rudiments of horns ; thus the female of 

 Geroidus moschatus has " bristly tufts, ending in a knob, 

 " instead of a horn ; " and " in most specimens of the 

 "female Wapiti (Cervus Canadensis) there is a sharp 

 " bony protuberance in the place of the horn." ^° From 

 these several considerations we may conclude that the 

 possession of fairly well-developed horns by the female 

 reindeer, is due to the males having first acquired them 

 as weapons for fighting with other males ; and secondarily 

 to their development from some unknown cause at an 

 unusually early age in the males, and their consequent 

 transmission to both sexes. 



Turninof to the sheath-horned ruminants : with ante- 

 lopes a graduated series can be formed, beginning with 

 the species, the females of which are completely desti- 

 tute of horns — passing to those which have horns so 

 small as to be almost rudimentary, as in Antilocapra 

 Americana — to those which have fairly well-developed 

 horns, but manifestly smaller and thinner than in the 

 male, and sometimes of a different shape,^^ and ending 

 with those in which both sexes have horns of equal size. 

 As with the reindeer, so with antelopes there exists a 

 relation between the period of the development of the 

 horns and their transmission to one or both sexes ; it 



similarly transferred to the female ; thus Mr. Boner, in speaking of an 

 old female chamois (' Chamois Hmiting in the Mountains of Bavaria,' 

 18G0, 2nd e lit. p. 363), says, " not only was the head very male-look- 

 " ing, but along the back there was a rid^e of long hair, usually to be 

 " found only in bucks." 



**» On the Cervulus, Dr. Gray, ' Catalogue of the Mammalia in 

 British Museum,' part iii. p. 220. On the Cervus Canadensis or Wapiti 

 see Hon. J. D. Caton, ' Ottawa Acad, of Nat. Sciences,' May, 18G8, 

 p. 9. 



^1 For instance the horns of the female Ant. Euchore resemble those 

 of a distinct species, viz. the Ant. Dorcas var. Corine, see Desmarest, 

 • Mammalogie/ p. 455. 



