THE AMERICAN DEER 



973 



distance above the burr, and directed upwardly. It was long considered that this 

 subbasal tine represented the brow-tine of the antlers of the Old- World deer, and 

 attempts were made to correlate the other tines of the American deer with those of 

 the genus Cervus. Mr. Allan Gordon Cameron has, however, pointed out that this 



PROFILE VIEWS OP THE ANTLERS OF 

 THE MARSH DEER (A), THE VIRGIN- 

 IAN DEER (B), AND THE MULE- 

 DEER (C). 



is a totally erroneous notion; the 

 truth being, that while the mem- 

 bers of the genus Cervus have 

 originated in Europe from an 

 early antlerless deer-like creature 

 (Palceomeryx} , the representatives 

 of Cariacus have been indepen- 

 dently derived in North America 

 from a totally distinct ancestral 

 deer (Blastomeryx) .which was like- 

 wise unprovided with antlers. And 

 it will accordingly be self-apparent that the antlers of the Old and New- World deer 

 are not mutually comparable. Starting from the simple spike-like antlers of the 

 brockets of South America, we shall find that there is a transition through a 

 simply-forked antler to the complex type exhibited by the mule-deer; and it will 



