126 



Div. 1. YERTEBRATE ANIMALS.— MAMMALIA. 



Class 1, 



many points. When very old, tlie Stag; becomes blackish, and the hairs on the neck lengthen and become erect. The 

 aiitiers are shed in spring;, the old ones losing them first ; and are reproduced in summer, during the whole of 

 which period the males associate separately. When they are grown again, the rutting season commences, which 

 lasts three weeks, at which time the males become furious. Both sexes unite in vast herds to pass the winter. 

 The hind carries eight months, and brings forth in May ; the fawn is fulvous, spotted with white. 



The Canadian Stag, or TJapiti; Elk of the Anglo-Americans (C. canadensis, Gm.; C. stro/igi/loceros, Schreb.) 

 — A fourth larger than our Stag, and nearly of the same colour, but with the disk of the crupper larger and paler, 

 the horns equally round, but more developed, and without a palm. Inhabits all the temperate parts of North 

 America. 



The Virginian Stag, or Deer of the Anglo-Americans (C virginianus, Gm.). — Less than ours, and more elegantly 

 formed; the muzzle more pointed; of a pale fulvous in summer, reddish-grey in winter; the under part of the 

 throat and tail white at all seasons. Antlers shorter than in the European species, and very differently formed. 



The species inhabiting warm climates do not change 

 colour. There are several in South America, at pre- 

 sent but imperfectly determined ; as C. paludosus, 

 Desm. ; C campestris, F. Cuv. ; C. nemoralis, 

 H. Smith, &c. There are also several in the East In- 

 dies ; as the Axis (C. ajcis, Lin.), permanently spotted 

 with pure white, and which is indigenous to Bengal, 

 but propagates easily in Europe : also C. Aristotelis, 

 Cuv., which, with long hairs on the neck and throat, 

 and inhabiting the north of India, must correspond 

 with the i?(>jBrf(7^A!« of Aristotle, &c., &c. Several of 

 these have canine teeth. 



The Roe (C capreolus, Lin.), — with but two tines to 

 its antlers ; of a greyish-fulvous ; the buttocks white ; 

 no infra-orbital sinuses, and scarcely any tail. Some 

 mdividuals are very bright russet, and others black- 

 ish. This species lives in pairs in the elevated forests 

 of temperate Europe, sheds its antlers at the close of 

 autumn, renews them in winter, undergoes the rut in 

 November, and remains with young five months and 

 a half. Its flesh is much more esteemed than that of 

 the Stag. There are none in Russia. The Tartarian 

 Roe (C. j)i/gargus, Pallas) is larger, with longer hair, 

 and horns more spinous at their base. It inhabits 

 the high grounds beyond the Volga. There are also 

 some Roes in America, the antlers of which always 

 remain simple, or without tines ; as C. ru/us, F. Cuv., 

 with canines in both jaws, C. nemorivagus, F. Cuv., 

 and C. simplicicornis, H. Smith. 

 In India there are some small species which might 

 Fig. 66.— Cerrus nmcrourus. be separated from the other Roes, having sharp ca- 



nines, and short antlers borne upon pedicles, covered with hair on the forehead : such are the Muntjac, or Kijang, 

 (C. muntjac, Gm.), which is found in small herds at Ceylon and Java, the C. phllipplnus, H. Smith, C. vioscnatits. 

 Id., &c. 



The Giraffe {Cameleopardalis, Lin.) — 

 Is characterized by conical horns in both sexes, that are always covered with a hairy skin, and never 

 fall. The bony nucleus of them is articulated during youth to the frontal bone by a suture. In the middle 

 of the forehead, there is an eminence or third horn, broader and much shorter, but equally articulated 

 by suture. This animal is in other respects one of the most remarkable that exist, on account of the 

 great length of its neck and the disproportionate extension of its fore-legs.* 



Only one species is known (C. giraffa, Lin.), confined to the deserts of Africa, which has short hair, marked 

 with angular fulvous spots on a greyish ground, and a slight mane on the hind-neck. It is the tallest of all 

 animals, its head being frequently raised eighteen feet from the ground. Its disposition is gentle, and it feeds on 

 leaves. 



The Ruminants with hollow horns — 

 Are more numerous than the others, and we have been necessitated to divide them into 

 genera upon characters of trivial import, derived from the form of the horns, and the propor- 

 tions of the various parts. To these M. Geoffroy has advantageously added those afforded by 

 the substance of the frontal prominence, or the bony nucleus of the horn. 



• The Uimfff it enentially » modified Deer, with persibtcnt horns. | large gall bladder, like the Antelopes j whereas no trace of this 

 Of three dis.ected, however, bj Prof. Owen, one proved to possess a '.receptacle existed in either of the others, u in the Ueer tribe— Ed 



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