194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1885. 



palmed moose antlers from Sweden, and those found fossil in 

 America, as illustrated by Judge Caton, 1 or as in the case of the 

 curiously palmated antlers from Texas, reported by the same ob- 

 server (American Naturalist, vol. xviii, p. 136). While of course 

 this may possibly be the case, it seems very improbable for the 

 following reasons : (1) The symmetry of the antlers, which show 

 no sign of injury or distortion, and which are precisely alike on 

 both sides, except that on one side two tines ai-e bifid, which on 

 the other are single. But such inequality is very common on all 

 large antlers ; in fact, is rather the rule than the exception. The 

 double-palmed antlers of which Judge Caton speaks are so only 

 one side. (2) Monstrosities, except in cases of atavism or in 

 mere repetition of parts normally present, are much more apt to 

 be in the direction of simplification than of increased complexit}'. 

 It is therefore very unlikely that these antlers are simply sports 

 from the ordinary Alces type, for they contain elements which are 

 never found in the moose, but which seem rather to belong to 

 the true deer. 



Gray's view that Cariacus lacks the brow-antler can hardly be 

 correct, as the so-called "basal-snag" of that genus is clearly 

 nothing else. Prof. Cope's statement 2 that palmation of the 

 antlers transfers a form from Cariacus to Alces, is one that I 

 cannot accept. Of the many differences which separate the two 

 genera, the palmation of the antlers is the least important. Any 

 such transfer must ignore the much more significant features of 

 the teeth, skull, and limbs. 



Skeleton of the Trunk. 



Cervical Vertebrae. The neck is short when compared with the 

 height of the animal, shorter even than in the moose. The atlas 

 is provided with a large and heavy hypapophysis, of which only 

 a small rudiment is to be seen in the moose or in Megaceros, but 

 is quite well developed in Cervus elaphus. Richardson, however, 

 figures a moose's atlas from Canada, in which the hypapophysis 

 is very distinct (Zoology, Voyage of Herald, pi. xxi and xxii). 

 The remaining cervicals show only differences of detail from those 

 of Alces; thus the transverse process of the axis is more slender, 



1 Antelope and Deer of America, p. 194. 



2 American Naturalist, vol. xviii, p. 738. 



