32 REPORT ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 



almost as easily as pipe- stems, and their spinal columns will not bear 

 the weight of a few pounds, if suddenly placed upon them. Indeed, 

 the favorite manner of throwing a reindeer down is for a man to lean 

 across its back, gradually laying on his whole weight, until it drops to 

 its knees and then to the ground. We have found also that a slight 

 injury to the back is more serious than a broken leg, for in the case of 

 several that we have tried to nurse back to vigor that have been injured 

 in this way, in every instance they have had to be killed. 



A full grown reindeer — and they may be considered full grown at the 

 age of three years — is about 1J feet high and about 7 feet long from its 

 nose to its tail. 



One will weigh at this age, when in good condition, about 250 pounds, 

 and will girth about 5i feet. There is little difference in size between 

 a male and female, but a gelding is a trifle heavier. 



The horns of the reindeer, when full grown, measure about 2£ feet 

 from tip to tip, and there is but little difference between those of the 

 male and female. Those of the male are a little larger around. Some- 

 times there is a fan-shaped horn extending from the inside of one or 

 the other, about a foot in length. If it has any special use, such as 

 digging into the snow for food, we have never been able to witness it, 

 and if used by them when amid dense undergrowth, we are unable to 

 say in what manner, as this country is destitute of anything in the way 

 of trees, except a few scattering alder and willow bushes of stunted 

 growth. 



The horns of the 1-year old are usually of but one prong on both 

 sides of the head, 18 inches or so long, having a sprout or two on each 

 2 or 3 inches long. In the 2-years old the horns are more fully devel- 

 oped, and, like other animals, there are cases where full growth occurs 

 in some earlier than in others. 



It is a very common thing for a reindeer to have a horn broken off, 

 and it is very easily done. Indeed, by the middle of winter nearly every 

 reindeer had lost one or both of its horns, or fragments only were left. 

 In two or three instances where a sled deer had lost one horn, we sawed 

 the other off within a few inches of its head, and it occasioned no pain. 



The reindeer that had lost its horns commenced to sprout new ones 

 as early as April 7, and within a couple of weeks they were 4 or 5 inches 

 long, of a dark brown color, and well covered with short fuzzy fur. All 

 deer shed their horns soon after spring conies, and by the first of June 

 the new ones are from 1 to 2 feet in length, being yet in the velvet, but 

 rapidly harden as soon as the cold weather approaches. 



The horns of the reindeer are of very little use to the natives. Their 

 greatest thickness is only about 2 inches at the head, and they gradu- 

 ally taper to a point. The only use we have seen them put to is for 

 bents to a sled. They are cut so as to preserve the curve, the ends 

 resting on the runners, and the middle supporting the strips of wood 

 on the top of the sled. 



