450 ZOOLOGY. 



Fossil remains of deer liave been found in botli Europe and Asia, in sucb 

 proportions as to induce the supposition that species were more numerous 

 during the tertiary epoch than in our days. More than forty species are 

 already named, and others not yet determined. Two species have been 

 signalized in the caverns of South America. There can be no doubt that 

 'some of them belong to the other genera of the famil}^, and some others will 

 constitute new ones, when they shall be better known ; for of a good many 

 we as yet possess but a fragment of the horns or of the teeth. The genus 

 Dicrocera has already been proposed for the oldest species of the meiocene 

 of France ; and the genus Megaceros for the gigantic fossil Irish deer, the 

 whole skeleton of which is known. 



The genus Dorcatheriiim differs from the deer in having seven molars 

 above and seven below, whilst the usual number is six in each side of both 

 jaws. Two species are described, one from Germany, the other from 

 France, both from the upper tertiary beds. 



The genus Palceomeryx is characterized by a different folding of the 

 enamelled plate of the teeth. Five extinct species have already been 

 referred to it. 



The genus Alces (the moose) is characterized by having the points of 

 the horns united into one blade or palm, more or less indented. The tail 

 very short. The moose {A. lohatus) belongs to this genus, the largest of 

 all the species of the cervine family. It is of the size of a horse, of a 

 blackish-grey, the adult male provided with broad flattened horns. The 

 ■snout is long and prehensile ; the neck provided with a mane. Inhabits the 

 American continent. The European elk or eland, Gervus alces [pi. 109, 

 fig.. 10), was formerly thought not to differ from it. A closer comparison 

 has shown that they are distinct. 



The genus Elaphus (the stags) is provided with horns in the male only, 

 which are round, very large, and rarely palmated. Canine teeth exist in 

 the upper jaw of the male ; the snout terminates by a distinct muzzle. 

 The American stag or elk {E. canadensis) is one fourth larger than the 

 European stag or red deer {pi. 107, figs. 1 and 2), and UM^jr of the same 

 color. The antlers are equally rounded, but more developed, and mostly 

 without a palm. Inhabits the temperate part of North America. The 

 remains of a fossil stag have been found ia the United States, and a 

 similar one in Europe, for which the genus Strongyloceros has been pro- 

 posed. 



The genus Tarandus (reindeer) is characterized by the presence of horns 

 and canine teeth in both sexes. The horns themselves are smooth and 

 palmated ; the muzzle is small :; the tail short ; the ears moderate. The 

 reindeer or cariboo of North America {T. hastalis) is a different species 

 from the European, T. furcifer {pi. 109, figs. 8 and 9). The latter, it is 

 well known, inhabits Lapland, where it is domesticated by the Laplanders, 

 who have numerous herds of them, which, during the summer, they lead to 

 the mountains, and in winter bring back to the plains. They are their only 

 beasts of burden and draught ; their flesh and milk serve them for food, their 

 skin for clothing, &c. 

 654 



