278 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
Although eaten by the Indians, the flesh is inferior and no 
attempt seems to have been made to domesticate our species. 
The hide, therefore, is the most valued article furnished by 
the caribou, and in a short time, like so many other large ani- 
mals, the caribou will cease to be a member of our fauna. 
Cervus canadensis ERXL. 
AMERICAN ELK. 
Plate VI. 
The only true Cervus of Minnesota, and the largest animal in 
America, except the moose, still exists, though in diminished 
numbers, in the northern wilderness. The elk may be taken 
as the type of a true deer, and the poetic associations and fan- 
cies which cling to the stag of Europe might better have been 
engrafted upon this species than the Virginia deer, as has hap- 
pened. The elk is, however, so much larger than the stag, 
though by some regarded as not specifically distinct, and so 
much more rare than the deer that it has come to be regarded 
as one of the peculiar outgrowths of our own country, while 
few ever think of the Virginia deer as radically different from 
the European red deer. 
The short body, slender and rather long legs, small feet, 
slender head and graceful neck, make up the ensemble so fami- 
liar, at least through illustrations, but no illustration can do 
justice to the majesty of the stag at bay with flashing eye and 
threatening antlers. The elk may be regarded as par excellence 
the game mammal of America. The antlers are large and much 
more uniform in size and form than either of the preceding. 
The antler consists of the beam or main trunk, in this case 
cylindrical and polished, chief branches called tines, minor 
branches called snags, and tubercles. The position and relative 
size of the tines are of especial importance in distinguishing 
species. The lowest considerable tine is the brow-tine, extend- 
ing forward, the next the bez-tine, then the royal, sur-royal 
tine, etc. In the elk the brow-tine springs from immediately 
above the burr and forms a gentle downward curve. The bez- 
tine extends laterally and is nearly of the same size. A con- 
siderable interval separates the royal tine, which is smaller 
than the preceding. The beam now is reduced in size and 
gives off more or fewer anterior tines which vary with age and 
otherwise. Occasionally these upper tines spring from the 
same point forming a depression surrounded by diverging 
