THE ANTELOPE OF AMERICA. 



THE COAT. 



Dr. Murie pronounces the hair of the antelope to be like the 

 wool of the sheep. He says : " From a review of the foregoing 

 anatomy and externals of the Prong Buck, if I were asked by a 

 single term to denote what the animal is, I should be obliged to 

 Germanize the English phraseology and name it, giraffe-hoofed, 

 sheep-haired, deer-headed, goat-glanded antelope, — an expres- 

 sion, however rugged, yet explicit enough to baffle those who are 

 skeptical of gradational forms." I shall not stop to discuss the 

 characteristics stated, but will merely observe that I have been 

 unable to detect the resemblance which the hairs of the Prong 

 Buck bear to the wool of the sheep. They are coarser than the 

 hairs of any of the deer ; they are hollow, with a larger internal 

 cavity, are comparatively non-elastic, and exceedingly fragile. 

 When bent short, they break down and never straighten again. 

 They terminate in exceedingly sharp points, and although 

 crinkled are not wavy, like wool. They have no more felting 

 properties than dry brush-wood. The hair is largest a small 

 distance above the root, thence it tapers vei-y gradually for a 

 short space, and then more rapidly to the shai'p point. It is 

 very brittle and easily broken off below the point and above 

 the middle. The large internal cavity is filled with a light, 

 spongy pith, and the whole is so fragile as to be readily 

 crushed. 



The lower half of the hair is covered with an oleaginous sub- 

 stance which gives it flexibility and endurance. 



Other naturalists have failed to observe the fine under-fur, 

 found to a greater or less extent on all of the deer, which cer- 

 tainly also exists on the Prong Buck as well, and in considerable 

 quantities during the winter and spring. Pluck a lock of hair 

 from the side of the mounted specimen in my collection, by 

 grasping it near the roots, and sufficient fur will come with it 

 to hold the hairs together when suspended by a very few. This 

 fur is white, fine, and long, not crinkled, but carved into large, 

 irregular convolutions. 



This fur, like the fur on the deer, is not pointed, as is the 

 hair, but is of a uniform size its whole length, and terminates 

 abruptly. 



In winter costume, the hair on the body is from an inch and a 

 half to two inches in length. On the white patch on the rump, 

 it is from two and a half to three inches in length. The mane is 



