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U. S. P. R. R EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



For the sake of illustrating the characters of the horns of the moose, I have given figures of 

 antlers of an adult from Maine, and of a young male, probably in the second year, from New 

 York. An extensive series of antlers from Sweden, in the Smithsonian collection, though 

 somewhat different from the American, before me, yet furnish nothing of apparent specific 

 value. 



Fig. 1. Alee americanus, No. 857. Maine. Adult. Left horn seen from the front. Size, 5.09 



inches to the inch of the figure. 

 Fig. 2. Alee americanus, No. 782. Hamilton county, N. Y. Young male of second year. Right 



horn from the front. Size, 4.10 inches to the inch. 



The moose is the largest of the American deer, quite equalling a horse in bulk. Its 

 range at the present day extends, on the west coast of America, from the shores of the Arctic 

 ocean nearly to the Columbia river. Further east, the northern limit is about -latitude 65, and 

 thence through Canada to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the northern parts of New 

 York. A few are still killed every year in Essex, Hamilton, and the adjacent counties of the 

 last mentioned State, although, owing to the comparatively inaccessible nature of their resorts, 

 their pursuit has become extremely difficult. 



It is somewhat unfortunate that the European name of this animal, the elk, should be 

 applied here to an entirely different deer. Much confusion has been produced in this way, and 

 it becomes necessary to ascertain the nationality of an author before it is possible to know 

 exactly what the word dk is intended to convey. 



