THE DEER IN RICHMOND PARK 119 



did bite others, inflicting very severe wounds ; for 

 though the stag has only a pad of bone in the upper 

 jaw, the lower is armed with from four to eight very 

 sharp incisors. They are also fond of licking each 

 other, and it was found that the saliva of an infected 

 deer was fatal to a dog ; a healthy doe after being 

 bitten by it also died rabid. It was hoped that the 

 further spread of disease might be checked by isolating 

 the animals infected : a plan which was rendered less 

 difficult than might be supposed by a habit which the 

 deer have, after the breeding-season, of dividing into 

 separate herds into which intruders are not admitted. 

 As the disease was apparently confined to a single herd, 

 it seemed probable that by separating this from the 

 others the disease might be kept within bounds. 



" On the north side of the park near the head-keeper's 

 lodge is an old enclosure, which was enlarged, and the 

 herd were then decoyed into it by food placed inside. 

 This was not difficult, as during the winter months the 

 deer are always fed with hay, maize, and swede turnips, 

 and the heavy snow made them tamer than usual. 

 The ground was well suited for keeping them in health, 

 as it is on a hill, with a good supply of water, and 

 dotted with large trees and patches of bracken for 

 shelter. In July about thirty stags and fifty hinds 

 were left in the enclosure ; the stags keeping in a 

 separate herd and lying quiet, as their horns were in 

 the velvet, when they are very tender. But though 

 apparently healthy, several stags had been shot the day 

 before my visit, and had no doubt left the seeds of 



