560 



VERTEBRA T A. 







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"i 













"T^- B, 



THE ELK OR MOOSE. 



treading on its fore-heels, tossing the head and shoulders like a horse about to break from a trot 

 to a gallop. It does not leap, but steps without effort over a fallen tree, a gate, or a rail-fence, 

 During its progress it holds the nose up so as to lav the horns horizontally back. This attitude 

 prevents its Beeing the ground distinctly, and as the weight is carried very high upon its elevated 

 . it is said sometimes to trip by treading on its fore-heels, and occasionally to give itself a 

 heavy fall. It is probably owing to this occurrence that the Elk was believed by the ancients and 

 the rulgar to have frequent attacks of epilepsy, and to be obliged to smell its hoof before it could 

 recover; hence the Teutonic name of Elend— miserable — and the reputation, especially of the fore- 

 hoofs, as a specific against the disease. 



From this description it might seem that the Moose was an uncouth and unsightly animal, and 



1 O D J 



BO it i- when seen in a menagerie, or stuffed, in a museum ; but seen dashing through its native 

 forests, it is said to produce on the mind of the beholder a feeling of beauty and sublimity. 



During the winter months the Elk resides chiefly in hilly woods, in snowy weather seekingthe 

 covers, and in clear the open spaces. In summer it frequents swamps on the borders of lakes, 

 often going deep into the water to escape the sting of gnats, and to feed without stooping, 

 anal food in winter consists of the buds and bark of button-wood, spruce, and juniper-pine.-, 

 birch and maple, and under the snow it seeks mosses, but this is always with difficulty, for then 

 it is obliged to spread the fore-legs, or even, it is said, to kneel. The branches of trees it turns 

 down with the horns very dexterously. It is a long-lived animal, and does not attain its full 

 growth till fourteen years of age. The female has no horns; her period of gestation is nine 

 month-, and die produces from one to three at a birth about the middle of May. In summer an<l 

 autumn tie- Eli is seen in small herds ; in winter he is often alone or in company of two or thret ■ 

 His flesh b excellent, and i- Men every winter in the markets of New York and Boston. 'I'll' 

 skin is used for various kind- of covering. \ 



This animal has been sometimes domesticate.] in Europe, and lias even been taught to draw 

 sledges in Sweden. In the United States it is only known as a wild animal, extremely timorous, 

 and flying with terror from man. It was formerly much hunted by the Indians, and constituted 

 a large part of their food ; it is now more rare, but is still occasionally pursued, and the chase — • 



