DEER KIND. 309 



there till his strength is renewed. Thus is his 

 whole life passed in the alternations of plenty 

 and want, of corpulence and inanition, of health 

 and sickness, without having his constitution 

 much affected by the violence of the change. 

 As he is above five years coming to perfection, 

 he lives about forty years ; and it is a general 

 rule, that every animal lives about seven or eight 

 times the number of years which it continues to 

 grow. What, therefore, is reported concerning 

 the life of this animal, has arisen from the credu- 

 lity of ignorance. Some say, that a stag having 

 been taken in France, with a collar on which 

 were written these words, " Caesar hoc me dona- 

 vit," this was interpreted of Julius Caesar ; but 

 it is not considered that Caesar is a general name 

 for kings, and that one of the emperors of Ger- 

 many, who are always styled Caesars, might have 

 ordered the inscription. 



This animal may differ in the term of his life, 

 according to the goodness of his pasture, or the 

 undisturbed repose he happens to enjoy. These 

 are advantages that influence not only his age, 

 but his size and his vigour. The stags of the 

 plains, the valleys, and the little hills, which 

 abound in corn and pasture, are much more cor- 

 pulent and much taller than such as are bred on 

 the rocky waste, or the heathy mountain. The 

 latter are low, small, and meagre, incapable of 

 going so swift as the former, although they are 

 found to hold out much longer. They are also 

 more artful in evading the hunters : their horns 

 are generally black and short, while those of the 



