328 



BRITISH MAMMALS 



present day. The extreme British measurement (which is 

 perhaps 42^ in.) of the length of red deer's antlers is exceeded 

 sometimes in Germany and Austria. The greatest length of any 

 known German head is ^f-|\ in. Mr. Millais is of opinion, in 

 his classic work on British Deer and their Horns, that there has 

 been a gradual degeneration in antlers amongst British deer. At 



Example of Well-developed Antlers in Stag of 12 or 13 Years Old. 



the present day those which are reputed to be first-class heads 

 seldom measure more than 34 in. -in length. Another point in 

 which British stags evince degeneration is the increasing tendency, 

 especially amongst those that are allowed to breed in and in, to- 

 slenderness of antler, in contradistinction to thickness and 

 palmation. Many of the modern antlers are slim and quite 

 rounded in beam, and the tines are short, and often tend to 



