The Zoology of North American Big Game 



marked. All the Mazama type are without a true 

 brow-tine to the antlers; the lower ends of the 

 lateral metacarpals only remain; the vertical plate 

 of the vomer extends downward and completely 

 separates the hind part of the nasal chamber into 

 two compartments; and with hardly an exception 

 they have a large gland on the inside of the tarsus, 

 or heel. The complete development of these char- 

 acters is exhibited in northern species, and it has 

 been beautifully shown that as we go southward 

 there is a strong tendency to diminished size; to- 

 ward smaller antlers and reduction in the number 

 of tines; to smaller size, and finally complete loss 

 of the metatarsal gland on the outside of the hind 

 leg; and to the assumption of a uniform color 

 throughout the year, instead of a seasonal change. 



The two styles of antler which we recognize in 

 the North American deer are too well known to 

 require description. That characterizing the 

 mule deer (Mazama hemionus} and the Columbia 

 black-tailed deer (M. columbiana) , seems never 

 to have occurred in the east, nor south much be- 

 yond the Mexican border, and these deer have 

 varied little except in size, although three sub- 

 species have lately been set off from the mule deer 

 in the extreme southwest. 



The section represented by M. virglniana, with 

 83 



