194 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



does not decidedly assume this, character till the animal becomes 

 nearly adult ; although after the first, it begins to show a ten- 

 dency to flatten at the place of bifurcation. 



I have experienced much difficulty in determining the ages of 

 the Moose, upon which were grown the different antlers which I 

 have examined, nor have I yet arrived at a satisfactory result. 

 Hunters, of large experience and also good observers, will dis- 

 agree as to the age of a young animal judging from the antlers, 

 some believing it to have been one year old, while others pro- 

 nounce it to have been two years old. For instance, I have in 

 my collection six sets of moose antlers, showing a regular grada- 

 tion in size and development ; and yet the largest was sent me 

 from Halifax, as coming from an animal four years old, which I 

 think is correct, while it is a disputed question, whether the 

 smallest are from an animal one or two years old, though I be- 

 lieve it to be from the latter. It is almost impossible to settle 

 these questions with certainty, except where the animal is grown 

 in domestication ; and even then, many specimens must be ex- 

 amined to avoid being misled, for on the other members of the 

 family a wide difference is observed in the development of the 

 first antlers ; some being spikes, while others are bifurcated, as 

 we shall have occasion hereafter to notice. 



The character of the palm on the antlers of the JNloose is an 

 irregular, oblong sheet terminating the beam. It is thinner 

 in the middle than at the circumference, and has snags of a 

 greater or less length set upon the border ; which snags vary 

 very much in number and size. It is rare that more than one of 

 these palms is found on the same antler, yet sometimes a 

 branch, when it is nearly the size of the beam above the fork; 

 has a well-formed palm ; but in that case neither may be ex- 

 pected to be as large as when the beam alone bears the palm. 

 Some specimens have been met with where the beam low down 

 has divided into nearly equal branches with palms of nearly 

 equal size. 



An example of this is shown in the illustration upon the next 

 page, which is from a Scandinavian elk which I met in the Royal 

 Museum in Copenhagen. It was difficult to show both palms in 

 the drawing. The left antler divides into nearly equal parts, the 

 one above the other, four inches from the burr, and on each 

 branch is a well-formed palm. In the collection of the Chicago 

 Academy of Sciences, which was destroyed in the fire of 1871, 

 was a fossil skull and antlers of a Moose, one of which antlers was 

 divided near the burr, presenting good palms on each division. 



