160 Quadrupeds. 



Aft 



THE ELK, (Cervus Akes,) 



Is the largest of all the Deer kind. The antlers, at first 

 simple, and then divided into narrow slips, assume in the 

 fifth year the form of a triangular blade, dentated on the 

 external edge and very thick at the base ; they increase 

 with age, till they weigh fifty or sixty pounds, and have 

 fourteen branches to each horn. The Elk lives in forests, 

 feeding upon branches and sprouts of trees, and inhabits 

 Europe, Asia, and America ; in the last-named country 

 he is known by the name of the Moose Deer. There is 

 very little difference between the European Elk and the 

 American Moose Deer, though they are larger in the New 

 World than with us, owing perhaps to the extensive 

 forests in which they range. In all places, however, 

 they are timorous and gentle ; content with their pasture, 

 and never willing to disturb any other animal. The pace 

 of the Elk is a high, shambling trot, but it runs with 

 great swiftness. Formerly these animals were made use 

 of in Sweden to draw sledges, but their swiftness gave 

 criminals such means of escape, that this employment of 

 them was prohibited under great penalties. The female 

 is less than the male, and has no horns. 



