70 THE GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES 



longer, and altogether more complex and differen- 

 tiated, some' forms, such as the Cervus dicranios of 

 Nesti, having the most complicated antlers known 

 either in the living or fossil state. Seeing this 

 steady progression in the complication of the ant- 

 ler, it might naturally be expected that were we to 

 trace this development backward we should grad- 

 ually come upon a zero of complication, and that 

 eventually the horn would completely disappear. 

 And this is precisely what we find to be the case. 

 The earliest cervine animals, or those of the 

 Lower Miocene period, are absolutely hornless, 

 and the series is thus made complete. The ques- 

 tion naturally arises : Are these earliest hornless 

 forerunners of the true deer deer or antelopes? 

 The fundamental distinction between these two 

 groups of animals lies in the fact that the horns 

 of the antelope are hollow, instead of solid, as in 

 the deer, simple, instead of branched, and that they 

 are not periodically shed. But if there are no 

 horns present, how are we to determine, in the 

 absence of these distinguishing characters, the 



