256 SEXUAL selection: mammals. Part II. 



American Journal ^^ says, tliat he has hunted for the 

 last twenty-one years in the Adirondacks, where the 

 Cervus Virginianus abounds. About fourteen years ago 

 he first heard of spihe-horn huehs. These became from 

 year to year more common ; about five years ago he 

 shot one, and subsequently another, and now they are 

 frequently killed. " The spike-horn differs greatly 

 " from the common antler of the C. Virginianus. It 

 *' consists of a single spike, more slender than the antler, 

 " and scarcely half so long, projecting forward from the 

 " brow, and terminating in a very sharp point. It gives 

 *' a considerable advantage to its possessor over the 

 " (common buck. Besides enabling him to run more 

 "swiftly through the thick woods and underbrush 

 " (every hunter knows that does and yearling bucks 

 ^'run much more rapidly than the large bucks when 

 *' armed with their cumbrous antlers), the spike-horn 

 " is a more effective weapon than the common antler. 

 '* With this advantage the spike-horn bucks are gaining 

 " upon the common bucks, and may, in time, entirely 

 "supersede them in the Adirondacks. Undoubtedly 

 " the first spike-horn buck was merely an accidental 

 "freak of nature. But his spike-horns gave him an 

 " advantage, and enabled him to propagate his pecu- 

 "liarity. His descendants, having a like advantage, 

 "have propagated the peculiarity in a constantly 

 "increasing ratio, till they are slowly crowding the 

 "antlered deer from the region they inhabit." 



Male quadrupeds which are furnished with tusks 

 use them in various ways, as in the case of horns. 

 The boar strikes laterally and upwards ; the musk- 

 deer with serious effect downwards.^^ The walrus, 



23 « The American Naturalist,' Dec. 1869, p. 552. 



2* Pallas, ' Spicilegia Zoologica,' fasc xiii. 1779, p. 18. 



