744 



Till: STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Deer. A genus of ruminant quadrupeds 

 now const it mini!: the family (.YrnVAr, which some 

 naturalists have divided into a number of genera, 

 whilst others still regard it as forming only one. 

 Deer are animals of graceful form, combining 

 much compactness and .strength with slender- 

 ness of limb and fleetness. They use their power- 

 ful horns for weapons of defense, and sometimes 

 of offense; but in general they trust to llight for 

 their safety. They have a long neck, a small 

 head, which they carry high, large ears, and 

 large full eyes. In most of them there is, below 

 each eye, a sac or fold of the skin, sometimes 

 very small, sometimes of considerable size, 

 called the suborbitul sinus, lachrymal sinus, or 

 tear-pit, the use of which is not well known. 

 Deer have no cutting teeth in the upper, but 

 eii^lit in the lower jaw; the males have usually 

 two >hort canines in the upper, but neither sex 

 ha< any in the lower jaw; the praemolars are 

 three, and the true molars three on each side 

 in each jaw. They are distinguished from all 

 other ruminants by their branching horns 

 (antlers), which in most of the species exist in 

 the male sex only; they are solid and deciduous, 

 i. e., fall off annually, and are renewed with 

 -e of size, and of breadth of palmation, 

 and number of branches, according to the kind, 

 until the animal has reached old age, when the 

 size of the horns begins to diminish on each 

 annual renewal. Deer are found in almost all 

 parts of the globe except Australia and the south 

 of Africa, their place in the latter region being 

 supplied by antelopes in extraordinary number 

 and variety. Some of them live amidst the 

 snows of very northerly regions, and some in 

 tropical forests; the greater number inhabit 

 the warmer temperate countries, and they are 

 chiefly found in wide plains and hills of moderate 

 height, none dwelling on those lofty mountain 

 summits which are the chosen abode of some 

 animals of the kindred families of Antilopidoe, 

 Capridce and Moschidce, as the chamois, the 

 bouquetin, and the musk. The flesh (venison) 

 of most kinds of deer is highly esteemed for the 

 table, and they have long been regarded as among 

 the noblest objects of the chase. Only one spe- 

 cies, the reindeer, can be said to have been fully 

 domesticated and reduced to the service of man 

 although individuals of many species have been 

 rendered very tame. 



Dog. An animal well known for its attach- 

 ment to mankind, and remarkable for the al- 

 most infinite varieties, as to size, form, color, 

 and quality of the hair, which the influence of 

 domestication has brought about in the species. 

 It belongs to the order of carnivorous mammals, 

 and to that section of quadrupeds which is dis- 

 tinguished as digitigrade. The zoological genus 

 is termed Canis, and includes, besides the dog, 

 the jackal and the wolf; and by many writers 

 the fox is also placed in the same genus. It is 

 a question of considerable interest what was 

 the parent stock of the dog. Some zoologists are 

 of opinion that the breed is derived from the 

 wolf; others that it is a familiarized jackal; 

 all agree that no trace of it is to be found in a 

 primitive state of nature. That there are wild 

 dogs, we know. The Dhole of India and the 

 Dingo of Australia are remarkable examples, 



which exist in a state of complete independence, 

 and without any indication of a wish to ap- 

 proach the dwellings of man. These dogs, 

 however, throw very little light upon the ques- 

 tion. They may have escaped from the do- 

 minion or half-dominion of man. and have be- 

 taken themselves to a vagabond life. The food 

 of the dog is various. It will live on cooked 

 vegetable matter, but prefers animal food. In 

 drinking, it laps with the tongue. It never per- 

 spires, but the nose is naked and moist, and, 

 when hot, the tongue hangs out of the mouth, 

 and a considerable quantity of water drops from 

 it. The female goes with young sixty-three 

 days, and usually has about six or eight at a 

 litter, though sometimes more. The young are 

 blind at birth, and do not acquire their sight 

 until the tenth day. The dog attains its full 

 growth at the expiration of the second year, it 

 is old at fifteen years, and seldom lives beyond 

 twenty years. 



Eagle. A genus of birds belonging to the 

 order Accipitres, and to the same family as the 

 falcons and the hawks. They are found in all 

 parts of the globe. The size varies according 

 to the species, but all attain imposing dimen- 

 sions. The Golden Eagle measures about three 

 feet nine inches in height, and the spread of its 

 wings is nearly ten feet, while in the Imperial 

 Eagle the spread of the wings is only six feet. 

 The eagle soars at prodigious heights, and its 

 sense of vision is very highly developed. It 

 builds its nests in the clefts of the most inacces- 

 sible rocks, and lays generally two or three 

 eggs; the period of incubation is thirty days. 

 If captured young, the eagles are susceptible of 

 a certain amount of education; when taken old 

 they are quite untamable. Besides the Golden 

 Eagle and the Imperial Eagle, there are other 

 species, such as the American Eagle, White- 

 tailed Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, the Tawny Eagle, 

 and the Booted Eagle; and numerous smaller 

 species are to be met with in tropical regions. 



Elephant. A genus of mammals, the only 

 living representatives of the order ProboscideOf 

 or animals with a trunk or proboscis. They are 

 exclusively confined to the tropical regions of 

 the old world, in the forests of which they live 

 in herds. Only two existing species are known, 

 the Asiatic elephant and the African elephant. 

 In both species the two upper incisors, or front 

 teeth, are enormously developed, constituting 

 long tusks. The lower incisors are absent, and 

 there are no other teeth in the jaws except the 

 large molars, or grinders, which are usually 

 two in number on each side of each jaw. The 

 molar teeth are of very large size, and are com- 

 posed of a number of transverse plates of enamel, 

 united together by dentine. In the Indian ele- 

 phant the transverse ridges of enamel are narrow 

 and undulating, whilst in the African elephant 

 they enclose lozenge-shaped intervals. The 

 nose is prolonged into a cylindrical trunk, mov- 

 able in every direction, highly sensitive, and 

 terminating in a finger-like, prehensile lobe. 

 The nostrils are placed at the extremity of this 

 proboscis The feet are furnished with five toes, 

 but these are only indicated externally by the 

 divisions of the hoof; and the sole of the foot 

 is formed of a thick pad of integument. The 



