HYRAXES, ELEPHANTS, AND UNGULATES • 295 



is, however, highly desirable, and the areas of the two 

 sub-species require to be carefully studied. 



Section X. — Distribution of Deer 



The seventh family of Ungulates which we now come 

 to, though it cannot rival the Bovidm, is likewise of 

 importance in an economic point of view, the flesh of 

 nearly all the Deer- tribe forming an acceptable food for 

 mankind. In our survey of the deer we shall follow as 

 nearly as possible Mr. Lydekker's " Deer of all Lands," 

 the most recent and best authority on the subject. Mr. 

 Lydekker acknowledges eleven genera of this family, 

 containing altogether nearly sixty species. Of these 

 genera ten belong to the typical Deer and one to the 

 Musk-deer (Moschus). • 



Deer are found in all the six Regions of the world 

 except the Australian and Ethiopian. Their absence 

 in Australia, as is the case with nearly all the highly 

 organized groups of mammals, can be easily understood, 

 but it is difficult to imagine why there should be no Deer 

 in the Ethiopian Region, when in the New World they 

 have passed so abundantly into South America. We are not 

 aware that any explanation can be given of this anomaly, 

 unless it be that their place is taken by the Antelopes. 

 Commencing with the Reindeer (Rangifer) and the Elk 

 (Alces), we find these two types restricted to the northern 

 portions of the Pakearctic and Nearctic Regions. Whether 

 it is possible to recognize more than one species of each 

 of these forms is a matter of doubt. At any rate all the 

 local races of both the genera are closely allied. 



