370 



UNGULATES. 



all other deer by the form and position of these appendages. Thus instead of being 

 placed low down on the forehead, the antlers take their origin on the upper part of 

 the skull, immediately over the occipital ridge, and are accordingly far behind the 

 eyes ; while as regards form they are distinguished by the great 

 development of the brow-tines in the males, which are more or 

 less laterally compressed, branched, and palmated, and descend 

 to a greater or less degree over the face, so that their lower edge 

 sometimes almost touches the nose. Then, again, there is such 

 an amount of individual variation that scarcely any two reindeer 

 can be found in which the antlers are precisely similar; while 

 frequently the two antlers of the same individual are widely 

 different from one another. 



The antlers are very long in proportion to the length of 

 the skull, and above the brow-tine, which is also branched 

 and often palmated, after giving off the bez-tine, the narrow 

 beam is continued backwards for some distance, till it bends 

 forward at an angle, usually giving off a small back-tine at 

 the bend. The beam is then continued upwards and forwards 

 THE BONES OF THE till it becomes palmated near the extremity, with a variable 

 LEFT FORE-FOOT OF nlim ber of points on its hinder border. In the reindeer of the 

 Dawkins.) * New World the antlers exhibit the greatest complexity of 



structure, the brow-tine of one side becoming enormously 

 developed and greatly palmated, while on the other it is aborted. 



In build the reindeer is a somewhat heavy animal, with short and rather stout 

 limbs, terminating in large hoofs. The main pair of hoofs, as shown in our figure, 



are rounded, broad and short, with the intervening cleft 

 very deep and wide; while the lateral hoofs are 

 unusually large and flattened from front to back. In 

 traversing snowfields the two main hoofs spread out 

 sideways, while the lateral pair come in contact with 

 the snow, by which means a large extent of surface is 

 afforded to support the weight. The muzzle of the 

 reindeer differs from that of all the deer hitherto 

 mentioned in being clothed with soft hairs of moderate 

 length. The neck has no distinct mane, but the throat 

 is fringed with long and rather stiff hair. The ears are 

 smaller than in any other deer, and thickly covered on 

 both sides with hair. The hair clothing the body is 

 from an inch to an inch and a half in length, and is 

 somewhat crimped or waved, while beneath this is a 

 coat of woolly under-fur. The general colour of the 

 reindeer is brownish grey, with the face, neck, and throat whitish, and the nose, 

 ears, and limbs brown. There are, however, great individual variations as regards 

 colour, some specimens being nearly or quite white throughout. In general the 

 tail is white, with a tinge of brown at the root and on the upper surface ; and there 

 is a distinct white ring round each fetlock. The hoofs are black, and the antlers 



UNDER SURFACE OF FOOT OF 

 REINDEER. 



