18/8.] 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE CERVID^E. 



893 



LV. fig. 4) I have the pleasure of exhibiting this evening. It will 

 be seen that it presents the same peculiarities that are characteristic 

 of the distant descendants of its original owner, and that we have 

 here a direct proof of heredity transmitting, and to a very great 

 extent fixing, a definite and prominent variation'. 



Did space permit I could give many more illustrations corrobo- 

 rating the evidence of the above-mentioned facts. Innumerable in- 

 stances of the power of heredity to transmit and fix variations in the 

 antlers until some stronger influence interferes, are enacted annually 

 before my eyes, amongst about 600 Deer of several different specie's 

 preserved in my parks. Enough has, however, I think, been ad- 

 duced to leave the onus probandi upon those who deny to characters 

 derived from the antlers the right to be considered one of the surest 

 land-marks of affinity in the Cervidse. 



IV. Geographical Distribution of the Cervidse, and Remarks thereon. 



1 The production of so marked a variation from the form of antler typical 

 of Dama vulgaris in the short space of fifty years as that exhibited by the 

 Castle-Caldwell Fallow Deer might be considered as tending to prove the 

 instability of the original specific characters. It may, however, be observed 

 that the general form of antler typical of the species has not been obliterated 

 by the evolution of the characters now peculiar to the variety, but tbat, on the 

 contrary, heredity has preserved a record of the earlier, or specific, alongside of 

 the later, or varietal, modification. Essentially analogous phenomena are pre- 

 sented by the antlers typical of the species and subgenera of the Cervidse, the 

 distinctive specific characters being, in every instance, an evident modification 

 of the form of antler characteristic of the subgenus. 



