35% THE ELK AND 



The hair which covered the body was (o 

 brittle, that, when (lightly pulled, it broke tranf- 

 verlely. It lay in an undulated form, and its 

 fubftance refembled the pith of rufhes. The 

 brittle part of it was white. The hair on the 

 head and the under part of the legs, as far as 

 the hoofs, had not this fragility, but, on the 

 contrary, was as ftrong as that of a cow. 



The coronet of the hoofs was covered on all 

 fides with very long hair. Between the toes of 

 the hind feet there was a broad pellicle, com- 

 pofed of the fkin which covers the body, but 

 interfperfed with fmall glands. 



In the hind feet, at the height of the coronets, 

 a kind of canal, fuflicient to admit a goofe quill, 

 and rilled with very long hairs, penetrated as far 

 as the articulation of the canen with the fmall 

 bones of the toes. I difcovered no fuch canal 

 in the fore feet; neither do I know the ufe of it. 



The figure of this animal differed much from 

 that deicribed by other authors, becaufe it was 

 extremely emaciated. The length of the body, 

 from the muzzle to the anus, w T as five feet,- and 

 its height before three feet. 



The eyes differ not from thofe of the fallow- 

 deer or ftae. The pupil is tranfverfe ; and the 

 iris is brown, inclining to black. The eye-pits 

 refemble thofe of the ftag, and are filled with a 

 whitifh, refinous, and fomewhat tranfparent 

 matter. As in the fallow-deer, there are two 

 lachrymal du&s and canals. The upper eye- 

 lid 



