cervidj-: 



V-l 



principal weapons, and with a single blow from the hitter he has 

 been known to kill a wolf. The female often gives birth to two 

 fawns, and with these she retires into the deepest recesses of the 

 forest, the young remaining with her till their third year. The Elk 

 ranges, but in scanty numbers, over the whole of Northern Europe 

 and Asia, as far south as East Prussia, the Caucasus, and North 

 China, and over North America from the New England States 

 westward to British Columbia. Fossil species are found in the 

 Pleistocene deposits of Europe. 



Cervalces. 1 — A remarkable extinct Deer from the Pleistocene of 

 North America, described as Cervalces, appears in some respects 



Fig. 133.— Head of Elk (Alces machlis). 



(although a true Telemetacarpalian) to connect Alces with Cervus. 

 Thus the palmated antlers are divided into anterior and posterior 

 branches, but below this division there are two tines aj^parently 

 corresponding to the bez and posterior tines of Cervus gigunteus 

 (Fig. 130). 



Capreolvs. 2 — Antlers (in the existing species) less than twice the 

 length of the head, usually with three tines on each. Brow tine 

 developed from the anterior surface of the upper half of the antler, 

 and directed upwards. Lachrymal vacuity small. Premaxillaj not 

 always articulating with nasals. Auditory bullae slightly inflated, 

 rugose externally. Vertebrae : C 7, D 13, L 6, S 6, C 8. Tail very 

 short. Glands in fore feet rudimentary ; large in hind feet. 



The Roe, or Roe Deer (Capreolus caprea), is a small form dis- 



1 Scott, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1885, p. 181. 

 - Hamilton-Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kiwjdom, vol. v. p. 313 (1827). 



