254 SEXUAL SELECTION I MAMMALS. Part IL 



Wapiti deer (Cervus Canadensis) in Judge Caton's park 

 in Ottawa, and several men tried to rescue him, the stag 

 " never raised his head from the ground ; in fact he kept 

 " his face almost flat on the ground, with his nose nearly 

 " between his fore-feet, except when he rolled his head 

 " to one side to take a new observation preparatory to 

 " a plunge." In this position the terminal j^oints of 

 the horns were directed against his adversaries. "In 

 "rollins: his head he necessarilv raised it somewhat, 

 " because his antlers were so long that he could not 

 " roll his head without raising them on one side, while 

 "on the other side they touched the ground." The 

 stag by this procedure gradually drove the i^arty of 

 rescuers backwards, to a distance of 150 or 200 feet ; 

 and the attacked man was killed.^^ 



Although the horns of stags are efficient weapons, 

 there can, I think, be no doubt that a single point 

 would have been much more dangerous than a branched 

 antler ; and Judge Caton, who has had large experi- 

 ence with deer, fully concurs in this conclusion. Nor 

 do the branching horns, though highly important as a 

 means of defence against rival stags, appear perfectly 

 well adapted for this purpose, as they are liable to 

 become interlocked. The suspicion has therefore crossed 

 my mind that they may serve partly as ornaments. 

 That the branched antlers of stags, as well as the 

 elegant lyrated horns of certain antelopes, with their 

 graceful double curvature, (fig. 62), are ornamental 

 in our eyes, no one will dispute. If, then, the horns, 

 like the splendid accoutrements of the knights of old, 

 add to the noble appearance of stags and antelopes, 

 they may have been partly modified for this purpose, 



-^ See a most interesting account in the Appendix to Hon. J. D. 

 Caton's pai)er, as above quoted. 



