48 Sport and Life. 



the Field and elsewhere, this honour was accorded to the head of 

 the second largest wapiti I have ever killed.* 



I am tempted to indulge in this blowing of my own little 

 trumpet in vindication of a trophy I am rather proud of, as the 

 writer of the chapters on American big game in the " Badminton 

 Library," stated that according to the catalogue measurements 

 the best wapiti head in the American Trophy Exhibition was 

 Mr. Cooper's. t Had he said the longest instead of the best, I 

 should have had nothing to complain of. 



But, after all, the superiority of one head over the other was in 

 this, as in most other instances, strictly speaking, only a matter of 

 opinion, and not one of absolute fact, which latter, I contend, it 

 would have become had a fourth point of merit namely, weight 

 been added to length, width, and circumference, which were the 

 three dimensions which the experts decided were the essential 

 ones. 



In Austria and Germany, where antler lore has for centuries 

 been made a regular study, the best judges consider that the most 

 telling point of merit is the weight of the antlers. In the instance 

 under discussion the circumferences of the antlers were invariably 

 taken between the bay and tray tine. At this point of measure- 

 ment Mr. Cooper's head taped |in. more than mine; but, on the 

 other hand, as several careful though unofficial measurements amply 

 proved, my antlers kept their beam much further up than Mr. 

 Cooper's, and unprejudiced persons acknowledged that there could 

 be no doubt that my head was the heavier of the two. I am very 

 sure that, could both sets of antlers have been detached from the 

 stuffed heads on which they were unfortunately mounted, and then 

 placed on the scales, my' trophy would have been found to weigh 



* The catalogue said (p. 23) that it " has justly been selected by many as the 

 best head in the room for weight, length, and symmetry," and (p. 38) "for size 

 and spread of horns it is by far the best." The Field (May 21, '87) : " The 

 first for size." The Sporting and Dramatic: "Carries off the palm as the 

 finest wapiti head in the show," &c. 



f Field, October 6, 1894. 



