Chap. XVII. LAW OF BATTLE. 259 



which the horns are periodically renewed, the drain 

 on the constitution must be greater; the horns, for 

 instance, of the moose weigh from fifty to sixty pounds, 

 and those of the extinct Irisli elk from sixty to seventy 

 pounds, — the skull of the latter weigliing on an average 

 only five and a quarter pounds. With sheep, although 

 the horns are not periodically renewed, yet their de- 

 velopment, in the opinion of many agriculturists, en- 

 tails a sensible loss to the breeder. Stags, more- 

 over, in escaping from beasts of prey are loaded with 

 an additional weight for the race, and are greatly 

 retarded in passing through a woody country. The 

 moose, for instance, with horns extending five and a 

 half feet from tip to tip, although so skilful in their 

 use that he will not touch or break a dead twig 

 when walking quietly, cannot act so dexterously whilst 

 rushing away from a pack of Avolves. " During his 

 " progress he holds his nose up, so as to lay the 

 " horns horizontallv back ; and in this attitude cannot 

 " see the ground distinctly." ^° The tips of the horns 

 of the gi'eat Irish elk were actually eight feet apart ! 

 Whilst the horns are covered with velvet, which lasts 

 with the red-deer for about twelve weeks, they are 

 extremely sensitive to a blow ; so that in Germany 

 the stasis at this time chani^e their habits to a cer- 

 tain extent, and avoid dense forests, frequenting young 

 woods and low thickets.^^ These facts remind us, that 

 male birds have acquired ornamental plumes at the 

 cost of retarded flight, and other ornaments at the cost 

 of some loss of power in their battles with rival males. 



^^ Eiehardson, 'Fauna Bor. Americana,' on the uaoose, Alces palmata, 

 p. 23G, 237 ; also on the expanse of the horns ' Land and "Water,' 

 1869, p. 143 See also Owen, ' British Fossil Mammals,' on the Irish 

 elk, p. 447, 455. 



31 ' Forest Creatures,' by C. Boner, 18G1, p. GO. 



s 2 



