94 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
But this has little to do with the question raised by Herr 
Jeitteles, namely, whether the Fallow Deer now living in Northern 
and Central Europe was introduced—like the horse into South 
America—by the hand of man. 
On this point Sir Victor Brooke says (J. c.):—“ Whether the 
Fallow Deer became extinct in Northern Europe before the advent 
of prehistoric man, or whether it continued to exist in these islands 
even at the commencement of the Roman occupation, are questions 
beside that of the truth of the “ancient belief” to which Mr. Boyd 
Dawkins shows such firm allegiance. “In either case the species 
may have been reintroduced by the Romans, a people whose 
magnificently lavish expenditure upon luxury and pleasure despised 
bounds.” 
While on the subject of Fallow Deer, it will not be out of place 
to call attention to the fact that the Fallow Deer of Western Persia 
(and therefore presumably the animal found in Western Asia, 
referred to by Herr Jeitteles) has been shown by Sir Victor Brooke 
to be a larger animal distinct from Cervus dama. He has described 
and figured it under the name of Cervus mesopotamicus (Proc. Zool. 
Soc. 1875, pl. xxxviii.) from specimens procured in the Provinces 
of Khurzistan and Luristan, in Western Persia, at the head of the 
Persian Gulf. 
The peculiarity of this species lies chiefly in the shape of the 
horns, which are palmated immediately above the burrs, with a 
strong cylindrical beam rising from the posterior corner of the 
palm, and terminating in three well-developed tines. In other 
words, the cylindrical beam is above the palmation, or precisely 
the reverse of what obtains in Cervus dama. 
Sir Victor Brooke says:—“In the development from the fan- 
shaped palm of a definite strong cylindrical beam, terminated with 
points, the new species presents a type of horn which stands unique 
amongst existing Cervide.” 
