EXTINCT BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 281 
I fear that time will not permit me to say much of the experi- 
ments which have been made from time to time to re-introduce 
the Reindeer in this country. They have been frequently 
imported and turned out in what appeared to be situations suited 
to their habits, where suitable food also was to be obtained, but 
from some cause or other they have never lived very long. 
In the Gardens of this Society they have thriven very well. 
In March, 1878, two female Reindeers were received in exchange, 
and in May of the same year two young ones were born. At the 
present time there is one to be seen in one of the paddocks on 
the bank of the canal beyond the Elephant house. 
In the Wild Boar we have an animal which for several 
centuries later held its ground in England in spite of the adverse 
circumstances by which it was surrounded, and which eventually 
brought about its extinction. This was owing partly to its being 
a forest animal (and there was still forest enough in many parts 
of the country to afford it concealment), and partly to the fact 
that, being a beast of chase, it was for a long time protected to a 
great extent by those who delighted in Boar-hunting : that is to 
say, that while they hunted and killed individual boars from time 
time for their own amusement, they allowed no one else to do so 
except in their company, and the laws relating to trespass in 
pursuit of game were very stringent. 
As might be expected, we find records of the chase of the 
Wild Boar in England at a very early period; and even before 
the date of such records figures of the animal appeared on 
ancient British coins and Celtic works of art, showing that 
it was one of the oldest forest animals in Britain. The Romans, 
who hunted it here, whenever an extraordinary large and savage 
Boar was killed, were in the habit of erecting memorial stone 
altars, which they dedicated to the god Sylvanus out of gratitude 
for the death of the monster. This we know from the discovery 
of several such altars, or the remains of them, bearing inscrip- 
tions (in some cases nearly perfect) which explain their history. 
Time will not permit me to enlarge upon the curious repre- 
sentations of Wild Boar-hunting which appear upon Saxon MSS., 
Roman tablets, and Norman sculptures, and which are as 
interesting to the naturalist as they are to the archeologist. It 
must suffice if I refer briefly to a few of the more curious 
episodes in the history of the British Wild Boar from the time 
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