86 Tlic TVajnic, — Canadian Stag» 



XoMEN'ci<ATURE. — Thc followiiig arc the principal names under wliici 

 this noble an'rarJ has been recognised by various authors : — 



[ {Cerfdii Canada,) Fcrrault, 5[:m. Sur les Anira, vol. 2, p. 45 ; {Cervus 

 Major Amcrizaum) Catesby Carol, App. 2, 28 ; {Akes 

 Americanus, coraibiis teretibns,) Jeiierson Virginia, p. OG ; 

 {The Stag,) Perinant Arctic Zoology, vol. 4, p. 27 ; {Wewas' 

 ^•:.S9,) llcarnes Jour iial, page 3G0 ; {Red Deer,) Unirrcville; 

 {Ce-vus Strong If oc3ros,) Scbreber Saugtliiere, vol. 2, page 

 1074; {Wap'di,) AV'ardca des Etat3 Unis; {Cervus Cana- 

 densis,) Syaopsis of the Species of Mammalia, Griffith's 

 Cuvier, page 77G ; {Elaphus Canadensis,) DeKay, New 

 York, Fanna, page 118 ; anl also Audup.on & Bachman's 

 Qaadrapods of North America, vol. 2, page 83.] 



In Knight's Cyclo])osd!a of Natural History, vol. 1, pagcs815and 816, 

 there is a new classification of the Deer fajnily. In this arrangement the 

 genus Ela]")hu3 is suppressed altogether, and the Wapite is calieJ {Cervus 

 Canadensis,) the European Stag, {Cervus elaphus.) 



The Wapite, or Caiiad'an Stag, is commonly called the Elk in the 

 United States and Canada, a'though it is a member of a very d^fiercnt 

 genus. This misnomer is perhaps one of the most remarkable in Natural 

 History, and is still practised, even by the best autliors, though probably 

 out of deference to the p .'p-a;ar custom. In Europe no person would think 

 of confounding the Red Deer or Stag of the British Isles with the Elk of 

 Scandiuavhi. No two animals could well be more unlike each other, and 

 yet be contained in a single family. The Elk and the Stag of Europe both 

 belong to the family Cf.pvid.e or Deer, but they differ more widely frcra 

 each other than the Horse does from the Z-bra. and it would scarcely be 

 possible to convince any person tliat they could be the same species. 



Now, in America we have two species, the exact counterparts of the 

 two in Europe, each to each. We have the Wapite with round blanching 

 antlers, and canine teeth in the upper jaw of the male, and in all general 

 characters closely resembling the English Stag. It is only specifically dis- 

 tinct being lareror, its tail shorter, and sliditlv dfibring in colour. On the 

 other hand, we have the Moose with huge ilat horr.s, no canine teeth in the 

 upper jaw, and a long pendulous upper lip, the whole animal being so exactly 

 like the Elk of Europe, that the best naturalists are yet undecided as to the 

 propriety of separating it as a distinct species. The moose therefore is a 

 true elk, and the Wapite is a true stag or " Deer,'' in the common accepta- 

 tion of that word. Yet, by a strange perversion of terms, the name of the 

 one animal has been transferred to the other, and vice versa. The " Elk" ia 

 America is called a " Deer," and the " Deer" is called an Eik. 



The Wapite has been nearly, if not quite exterminated in Canada since 

 the arrival of the Europeans, and it should therefore be regarded by the 

 Is aturalists of this Province with an especial amount of interest. AVe have 

 been informed that it still exists in the western counties of the upper pro 



