CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 71 



I have treated of the exquisite sense of smell 

 peculiar to the deer. The sense of vision is 

 equally acute, and I may remark that, to my mind, 

 the eye of the deer is unequalled by that of any 

 animal with which I am acquainted. Not even 

 the eye of the gazelle is in my opinion so beautiful 

 as the full, dark, thoughtful orb of the deer. It 

 displays a peculiar weeping aspect, more observable 

 in the stag than in the hind. The glandular saccus, 

 or tear-pit, placed at the inner angle of the eye, 

 does not communicate with the nose by glandular 

 passages. It can be opened and shut at the will 

 of the animal, and is formed by a fold of the skin ; 

 and the moisture lodged in it has been mistaken for, 

 or described as tears. Thus Shakespeare : — 



' He lay along 

 Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out 

 Upon the brook that brawls along this wood : 

 To the which place a poor sequester'd stag, 

 That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt, 

 Did come to languish ; and, indeed, my lord, 

 The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans 

 That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat 

 Almost to bursting ; and the big round tears 

 Coursed one another down his innocent nose 

 In piteous chase ; and thus the hairy fool, 

 Much marked of the melancholy Jaques, 

 Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook, 

 Augmenting it with tears.' 



