FAMILY CERVID^E. 121 



I regret that I have had no opportunities of making a direct comparison of this tooth with that 

 of the American stag. A horn of the second year's growth was thrown out by a plough on 

 Grand Isle, which is now in the Cabinet of the University of Vermont, which we also refer 

 to the same species. 



DIMENSIONS. 



From tip to base in a straight line, 28" 50. 



Ditto ditto, measured along the curve, 33 ' 50. 



Circumference just above the tuberosities, 7 • 25. 



Ditto at the highest part of the curve, 4" 50. 



Ditto at five inches from the tip, 3' 25. 



Dr. Emmons appears disposed to consider the relics in question as having belonged to a 

 larger animal than the American Stag, and analogous to the Irish Elk ; this, however, is 

 merely offered as a conjecture. In the present imperfect state of our knowledge, I view it as 

 a distinct species, closely allied to the E. canadensis. 



GENUS RANGIFER. 



Horns in both sexes. Canine teeth in both sexes. Muzzle small. Horns slender, smooth, 

 palmated. Sub-orbital sinus. 



THE REIN-DEER. (Extirpated?) 



Rangifer tarandus. 



(MEDICAL COLLEGE, ALBANY.) 



Cervus tarandus. LlN. Syst. p. 93. 

 Caribou of the old French writers. 



C. tarandus. Harlan, Fauna Americana, p. 232. Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 2, p. 283, plate. Richardson, F. B. 

 A. Vol. 1, p. 238, figures. Emmons, Mass. Report, 1840, p. 78. 



Characteristics. Varying in color from deep brown to greyish white. About the size of the 

 common deer. 



Description. Body robust, and low on the legs. Snout thin, with oblique nostrils. Ears 

 large. Horns usually slender, very variable in form : They generally consist of brow antlers, 

 which are palmate and digitate ; the main stem directed backward, then curving forward, 

 with simple or palmated antlers, or else terminating in a broad palmated expansion, which is 

 often furnished with points. Legs robust. Hoofs rounded, consisting of a single plate folded 

 on itself, very broad, with a strong fringe of hairs around it. Fur close and compact, but com- 

 posed of two portions, one woolly, the other longer, straight and brittle. 



Fauna. 16 



